- Meeson will stay in current role until successor found
- Key player in Jet2’s history departs
- Jet2 full year pre-tax profits in line with expectations
Shares in Jet2 (JET2:AIM) fell over 14% to £10.85 in morning trading as the low-cost airline’s executive chairman Philip Meeson announced he was stepping down from the board.
His announcement disappointed investors and overshadowed an upbeat set of full year results from the low-cost airline.
Meeson will move into a non-executive chair role during the year but remain in his current role until a successor is appointed.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: ‘One way to measure the respect for a leader of a company is to look at what happens to the share price on news of their departure. A big fall in Jet2, with executive chairman Philip Meeson announcing he plans to step down from the board, is therefore revealing.
‘He led the takeover of a group of cargo airlines and then invested heavily to expand both the fleet and a ground transportation arm. Twenty years ago, the group expanded into the passenger airline industry, serving customers from the North of England. It subsequently sold the freight distribution operations and focused on Jet2, which today is one of the UK’s most popular choices for flights and package holidays.
‘The key question now is when will Meeson start selling down his 18.3% stake in the business? He is the largest shareholder in Jet2 by a mile and it is natural to expect someone stepping down, and at his age (75), to want to crystallise some of the gains he’s made over the years.’
RESULTS IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS
Jet2 reported a group pre-tax profit before foreign exchange revaluation of £390.8 million for the year ending 31 March 2023, compared to a £376.2 million loss a year earlier.
This was 48% higher than the £264.2 million pre-tax profit generated in the pre-covid financial year ending 31 March 2020.
Jet2.com flew a total of 16.22 million single sector passengers compared to 4.85 million in 2022, an increase of 234%.
Sale seat capacity for summer 2023 is currently 7.5% higher than summer 2022 at 15.29 million seats.
The low-cost airline said, ‘package holiday customers represent over 73% of total departing passengers at present’.
The company also announced that it will start operations from Liverpool John Lennon Airport from March 2024 – its 11th UK base.
DISCLAIMER: Financial services company AJ Bell referenced in this article owns Shares magazine. The author of this article (Sabuhi Gard) and the editor (James Crux) own shares in AJ Bell.
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