easyJet PLC
22 February 2006
22 February 2006
EASYJET AGM TRADING UPDATE: FULL YEAR GUIDANCE MAINTAINED
Speaking at the Company's Annual General Meeting in Luton, Sir Colin Chandler,
Chairman of easyJet plc, said:
'In November 2005, we announced an improvement in profit before tax of 9% to
£67.9m (restated under IFRS to £82.6m) for the year ended 30 September 2005.
This achievement, in tough market conditions, resulted from increased capacity
and unit revenues and impressive progress in reducing costs, apart from fuel.
'The same trends have continued into the first quarter of 2006. Unit revenue
(total revenue per seat flown) rose by 1.8% compared to the same period last
year, helped by double digit growth in ancillary revenue per seat, and continued
successful growth especially from our young bases in Berlin, Dortmund and Basel.
Unit costs excluding fuel fell by 5% in the period. However, rising fuel prices
caused total unit costs to rise by 3% in the quarter.
'Our full year guidance remains unchanged. In the current financial year we
expect to deliver capacity growth, measured by available seats, of 15%. Our
strong focus on controllable costs will continue and should result in a 3-5%
reduction in cost per seat, before fuel. We anticipate a slight reduction in
total revenue per seat for the year. Lower unit passenger revenues are expected
to be partly offset by ancillary revenues, which will improve with double digit
percentage growth supported by a series of new initiatives. Overall, we plan to
achieve mid to high single-digit percentage profit growth in the current
financial year.
'For the first half of the year, we expect a 50% increase in unit fuel costs.
This price impact will result in an additional charge of roughly £55m. In
addition, the timing of Easter, falling in April, will have a negative impact on
our first half compared with last year. Our good performance on reducing costs
and increasing ancillary revenues has partially mitigated the increase in fuel,
and as a result we anticipate a pre-tax loss of approximately £45m for the first
half of the year. This result is in line with our full year guidance and
compares to a pre-tax loss, reported under IFRS, of £22m for the first half of
last year.
'My colleagues and I were delighted to welcome our new Chief Executive, Andy
Harrison, who joined us on 1 December 2005 with an impressive record of success
at RAC plc. Andy has already made his mark on the business and he and the
management team are committed to achieving the return on equity target which was
approved by shareholders in September 2005 as part of a Long Term Incentive Plan
which aligns the interests of management and shareholders. The continuing
reduction in unit costs, excluding fuel, is evidence of this commitment to date
and gives me confidence that shareholders will see an improvement in the
company's profitability over the years ahead.
'easyJet continues to adhere to its proven business model providing high
frequency, good quality services between convenient airports at low cost. Our
intention to continue to grow the business is evidenced in our recent decision
to take 20 further A319s in 2008 and 2009 and in our ongoing network development
through new destinations, routes and frequencies.'
Ends
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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