easyjet interim management statement for the quarter ended 30 June 2010
Highlights:
· Total revenue up by 5.3% to £759.2 million
· Total revenue per seat increased by 3.5% to £53.23, driven by passenger revenue growth up 4.5% (reported and constant currency) reflecting the strength of the easyJet network
· Volcanic ash caused significant disruption to the operation in the period with 7,314 flights cancelled impacting nearly a million passengers and costing an estimated £65 million in lost contribution and additional costs caused by application of EU Regulation 2004/261
· Seats flown grew by 1.7%, before the impact of the volcano planned seat growth was 10%. The load factor increased by 1.4 percentage points to 86.1%
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· Improvement in underlying margins with operating costs4 per seat at constant currency, excluding fuel, up 1.8% excluding the additional cost resulting from the disruption to European airspace from volcanic ash
· Strong balance sheet with cash and money market deposits of £1,304 million (excluding restricted cash), consequently easyJet had net cash of £47.1 million at 30 June 2010
· Forward bookings are in line with the prior year and with 64% of the fourth quarter seats now sold the company continues to expect to make a pre-tax profit for the year of between £100 million and £150 million at current exchange rates and fuel prices
Commenting on the results, Carolyn McCall, easyJet Chief Executive said:
“easyJet has continued to deliver a good commercial performance in the quarter with total revenue up 5.3%. This was in spite of the challenges presented by significant disruption caused by volcanic ash and, more recently, the combination of air traffic control industrial action and crewing issues in some parts of our network. We have put a mitigation plan in place in response to these recent issues in order to minimise the future impact to our passengers and staff.
The Company continues to expect to make a pre-tax profit for the year of between £100 million and £150 million at current exchange rates and fuel prices. This performance demonstrates the quality of the easyJet network built around offering the lowest fares to the most convenient airports.
Chris Kennedy and I are now in our fourth week at easyJet and have been impressed by the enthusiasm of all the people we have met. We and the rest of the Board want to thank them for their efforts over the past quarter.”