No-frills airline Easyjet (LON:EZJ) said total revenue per seat grew by 5.1% (0.8% constant currency) in the half-year to end-March, driven by good consumer demand. Underlying pre-tax loss was £78.7m, slightly better than the group's guidance. The £51.1m reduction in underlying pre-tax loss compared to the prior year is driven by a unit fuel cost decrease equivalent to £80m, partially offset by lower interest income of £11m and £25m of lost contribution and additional cost due to unusual snow disruption.
Operating cost per seat (excluding fuel and currency movement) increased by 4.3% for the half year mainly because of the impact of the snow disruption in December and January; excluding this, operating cost per seat rose by 1.9% (excluding fuel and currency movement).
easyJet reported progress on cost reduction targets with initiatives in place to cover 70% of the £190m per annum target.
The group enjoyed strong positive cash flow generation with cash and money market deposits increasing in the six months by £283m to £1.358bn (excluding restricted cash of £101m). Sufficient resources are in place, through a combination of undrawn committed facilities and surplus cash, to fund future aircraft deliveries for at least the next 18 months.
Capacity, measured in seats flown, grew by 7.9%. Passenger numbers grew by 10.6% to 21.5 million with 54% of passengers now originating outside the UK, an increase of 4 percentage points compared to the prior period.
easyJet's position in European short haul aviation has strengthened and easyJet has increased its market share from 6.5% to 7.6% of short haul aviation over the past 12 months.
Estimated full year pre-tax profit would have been in the range of £175m to £200m at current exchange rates and fuel price, prior to the recent volcanic ash related disruption. This disruption has caused additional cost and lost contribution estimated at between £50m and £75m. Therefore, the Company has revised its profit expectations for the year to a range of £100m to £150m at current exchange rates and fuel price.
Andy Harrison, CEO, said: "easyJet will deliver substantial profit growth in 2010 through the worst recession in 70 years and even after absorbing snow and volcanic ash related disruption costs from the worst snowfall in 30 years and an unprecedented five day closure of much of European airspace. We expect to grow our passenger numbers by…
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