“Robust customer demand” drives easyJet’s full year performance

Budget airline easyJet has reported the continuation of a ‘solid performance’ in the fourth quarter of the year.

The firm has made a trading statement ahead of its full year results, which is expected to report its headline profit before tax as between £420m and £430m.

According to easyJet, passenger numbers for the year are expected to increase by 8.6 per cent to 96 million, driven by a capacity increase of 10.3 per cent to 105 million seats.

The firm attributes the passenger number rise to increased demand as a result of strike disruption to airlines such as British Airways and Ryanair.

It is anticipated that easyJet’s total headline cost for the year will increase by around 12 per cent due to increased capacity, higher unit fuel costs and ‘adverse foreign exchange movements’.

However, the airline expects that its own ‘self-help’ initiatives will offset this cost increase.

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, commented: “easyJet has continued to perform in line with expectations, despite challenging market conditions.

“As a result of our self-help initiatives and the increased demand due to disruption at British Airways and Ryanair, we anticipate achieving headline profit before tax for the full year 2019 of between £420m and £430m, in the upper half of our previous guidance range.

“Our implementation of initiatives in the fourth quarter to optimise yield has led to solid revenue performance with total revenue per seat at constant currency set to increase for the full year.

“We have continued to invest in operational resilience, with the programme successfully reducing the impact of disruption on our operations. As a result, we expect to report a fall in headline cost per seat for the year, excluding fuel at constant currency.”

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