Wizz Air Holdings PLC on Wednesday reported a surge in annual revenue with high hopes for strong consumer demand in the summer, but the company withheld financial guidance in light of macroeconomic volatility.

For the financial year ended on March 31, the Budapest-based budget airline’s revenue more than doubled to €1.66 billion, compared to €739.0 million a year ago. Pretax loss, however, widened to €641.5 million from €566.5 million.

Wizz Air Holdings shares were down 7.6% at 2,550.00 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.

The company noted an increase in net financial expenses to €86.7 million compared to €66.8 million recorded in the last financial year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization jumped closer to breakeven at a loss of €19.0 million, narrowed substantially from a €182.8 million loss.

Wizz Air Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi said: ‘The industry is witnessing supply-chain issues across airports, including in our network. Shortages of staff in air traffic control, security and other parts of the supply-chain are impacting airlines, our employees and our customers directly. We are deploying extra resources to minimize disruptions and urge all other stakeholders to do the same, having customers’ best interests always in mind.’

Total cash as at March 31 stood at €1.38 billion, down from €1.62 billion on the same date last year.

Looking ahead, Wizz Air believes it can return to pre-Covid productivity during the next financial year but warns of an operating loss for the first quarter of the next financial year.

‘The airline industry remains exposed to externalities such as air traffic control disruption and continuing operational issues within the airports sector, adding to a volatile macro environment. As a result, at this point, we are not providing further financial guidance for the year,’ noted the company.

On the positive side, Wizz Air said that summer demand indicators remain excellent, supported by strong consumer dynamics. It also expects to fly 30% more capacity and 40% more in the first and second quarters of the next financial year.

On Monday, Wizz Air reported higher passenger numbers for May than it carried before the pandemic. The firm said it carried 4.1 million passengers last month. The figure was well above the virus-reduced total of 840,445 in May 2021, and higher than the 3.5 million passengers it carried in May 2019.

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