Luton - EasyJet posted a record full-year profit after a boost in summer ticket sales more than made up for disruptions earlier in 2015 that included labor unrest, airport fires and terrorism incidents in two of its markets.
Pretax profit in the 12 months ended Sept. 30 rose 18 percent to 686 million pounds ($1.04 billion) from 581 million pounds a year earlier, Luton, England-based EasyJet, Europe’s second-biggest low-cost airline, said Tuesday in a statement.
Earnings were at about the midpoint of a forecast range outlined in early September and missed the 689 million-pound average of 21 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
EasyJet and larger competitor Ryanair Holdings gained customers in mid-2015 as the UK’s wettest August in a century encouraged Britons to seek sunnier places elsewhere in Europe for vacation.
EasyJet’s fiscal-year passenger numbers rose 6 percent, and 91.5 percent of available seating was filled. The sales boost helped offset effects on travel of a French air- traffic controllers strike in April, two fires at EasyJet’s Italian base at Rome Fiumicino airport, and terrorist attacks in Souse, Tunisia, in July and Paris in January.
“Our outlook for the longer term is positive,” CEO Carolyn McCall said in the statement. “We will see passenger growth of 7 percent a year.”
The UK company raised its earnings forecast in September, predicting that pretax profit would amount to 657 million pounds to 700 million pounds instead of a 620 million-pound to 660 million-pound range.
BLOOMBERG