EasyJet on track for record profits after bumper Easter

Times

17-07-2025

EasyJet is on track for record profits but warned that a cocktail of French air traffic control strikes, rising fuel prices because of Middle East instability and passengers booking trips ever later could yet impinge on its full-year results.
That uncertainty further took the wind out of shares in the short-haul carrier-cum-package holiday group after a strong rally during the spring.
From a low of 427p in early April, the stock increased by almost 40 per cent to a high of 587p last month.
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Recent falls continued in early trading on Thursday, however, the shares being marked down by as much as 7 per cent, or 37.7p, to 488.1p.
The broker Panmure Liberum, which had been forecasting full-year profits of £709 million, cut its estimates by 7 per cent to £660 million.
EasyJet reported a 21 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £286 million in the three months to the end of June, the third quarter of its financial year, helped by this year's later Easter, the first big holiday getaway of the calendar year.
That still leaves it in the red to the tune of £108 million for the first nine months of its financial year after heavy losses of £394 million over the seasonally slower winter months.
The consensus of analysts' forecasts before today had easyJet making profits for its full year to the end of September of about £705 million.
That indicated that they expected easyJet to book about £800 million of profits during the current peak summer holiday season, always the most lucrative of times for European airlines.
Last year the group reported profits of £610 million for the full year, including £190 million from its package holiday business, which began trading as the world came out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year easyJet is expecting the holiday business to contribute £235 million of profits, up nearly a quarter year on year and accounting for about a third of the group's earnings.
'The outlook for the full year remains positive with good profit growth expected year on year, albeit impacted by recent higher fuel costs and the scale of industrial action by French air traffic control,' easyJet said in a third-quarter trading update released to the stock market.
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'The trend towards later bookings continues to be seen, meaning that the final outcome for the full year will, as always, depend on late summer bookings and the associated yields [the amount of money an airline makes per seat dependent on the fare they can get away with charging].'
The company gave no detailed guidance as to the full-year outcome, which indicates that it is comfortable with where the analysts' consensus had been.
In the spring trading quarter, easyJet reported revenues up nearly 11 per cent at £2.91 billion after carrying 25.8 million passengers, up 2.2 per cent year on year, on its 344-strong fleet of aircraft.
'We performed well in the quarter, increasing profits alongside improving operational performance,' said Kenton Jarvis, easyJet's chief executive since the turn of the year, when he stepped up from finance director.
Of more recent events, he added: 'We are extremely unhappy with the strike action by the French air traffic controllers in early July, which as well as presenting unacceptable challenges for customers and crew also created unexpected and significant costs for all airlines.'