easyJet PLC
07 August 2007
07 August 2007
Q3 STATISTICS
ON TRACK TO DELIVER FULL YEAR PROFIT GROWTH OF 40% - 50%
___________________________________________________________
Three months ending June 2007 June 2006 Change
Passengers (m)1 9.9 8.8 +13.0%
Load factor2 84.5% 86.0% -1.5%pts
Total revenue3 (£m) 486.5 460.2 +5.7%
Total revenue per seat4 (£) 41.46 45.07 -8.0%
Average operating aircraft 126 110 +15.1%
ASKs (bn) 11.7 9.9 +17.3%
RPKs (bn) 9.9 8.6 +15.6%
Average sector length (km) 993 973 +2.1%
_____________________________________________________________________
Note: easyJet does not publish full quarterly results, but issues a trading
statement for the first and third quarters as a supplement to its regular
monthly passenger statistics (see separate release for July statistics).
Commenting on easyJet's third quarter performance, the company's Chief Executive
Andy Harrison said:
'A strong increase in passenger numbers to almost 10m and continued high load
factors in the third quarter reflect the strength of easyJet's business model,
based on low fares with care and convenience.
'Our future success is underpinned by our commitment to offering our customers
the lowest fares to Europe's most popular and convenient airports. These results
provide further support to our maintained profit guidance for the full year'
Q3 performance
easyJet continued to expand in its non-UK markets in the period, with the
addition of six routes to its Milan base and the addition of three new countries
to the network; Austria, Belgium and Romania. The airline now serves 318 routes
to 83 airports in 22 countries and has become the second largest carrier in
Portugal.
The impact of reduced lead in fares, increased promotional activity and the
doubling of Air Passenger Duty in the UK has resulted in a fall in total revenue
per seat of 8% compared to the same quarter last year. Rapid growth outside the
UK means 46% of easyJet's revenues are now in currencies other than GBP and at
constant exchange rates, unit revenues were down 7% per seat or 5% per
passenger.
Offsetting the impact of foreign exchange rates on revenues, the strength of
Sterling has had a positive impact on costs with 35% of our costs in US Dollars,
26% Euros and 8% Swiss Francs. Continued investment in a modern, low cost fleet
and on-going improvements in efficiency have resulted in unit costs, excluding
fuel, being down in excess of 10% compared to the same period last year.
easyJet's ancillary offering remains strong and the company continues to
innovate in this area. In the quarter, the company launched easyJetHolidays,
which will enable its customers to save time, money and effort while offering
totally flexible holidays to suit the traveller's individual needs.
easyJetHolidays offers access to over 900 daily flights and a choice of 10,000
hotels and apartments, underpinned by a price promise guarantee.
On 2nd August easyJet became the first major European airline to offer its
customers the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions of their flights by
investing exclusively in United Nations-certified projects.
Outlook
Today, easyJet also announced its July traffic statistics with strong load
factors of over 88%, which reflect the success of the company's pricing
strategy. The company expects to maintain high load factors for the summer,
while 2nd half guidance on revenue per seat remains unchanged, down 5% - 10%.
easyJet continues to make good progress on costs, evidenced by the recently
announced $1 billion, 10 year engine maintenance and overhaul deal and continued
improvements in operating efficiency. As a result, fourth quarter unit cost
reductions, excluding fuel, will continue at a similar rate to the third quarter
and better than previously expected. For the full year, the company's total unit
fuel costs will be slightly down versus last year.
easyJet's full year guidance remains unchanged, for the year to September 2007
the company expects pre-tax profit growth of 40% to 50%.
END
1. Represents the number of earned seats flown. Earned seats include seats that
are flown whether or not the passenger turns up because easyJet is a no-refund
airline, and once a flight has departed a no-show customer is generally not
entitled to change flights or seek a refund. Earned seats also include seats
provided for promotional purposes and to staff for business travel.
2. Represents the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of seats
available for passengers. No weighting of the load factor is carried out to
recognise the effect of varying flight (or 'stage') lengths.
3. Represents statutory revenue (unaudited)
4. Represents total revenue divided by the number of seats flown available for
passengers.
For further details please contact:
easyJet plc
Andrew Barker, Investor Relations +44 (0) 1582 525 982
Toby Nicol, Corporate Communications +44 (0) 1582 525 339
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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