Jet2 PLC on Wednesday tightened annual profit guidance and set out a promising outlook for the key summer 2024 holiday season, but noted ‘more competitive’ pricing recently.

Shares in the airline and package holiday company fell 5.6% to 1,405.15 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

Jet2 said that for the financial year that ended March 31, it now expects to report pretax profit before foreign exchange revaluation in the range of £515 million to £520 million. It would be an increase of around a third year-on-year and would be an outcome in line with current market expectations, Jet2 said, noting consensus of £519 million. Its previous profit outlook range was £510 million and £525 million, so it has lifted the bottom end of its guidance but nudged lower the top end.

Looking to summer, Jet2 said seat capacity is 12% higher than it was for 2023.

‘The season is 55% sold, with average load factors 1.0ppt ahead of summer 2023 at the same point. Forward bookings for package holiday customers are up by 13% and we are also seeing healthy demand from flight-only passengers for which bookings are currently up by over 18%. Consequently, the package holiday mix of total departing passengers is 74% and 1ppt below last year,’ Jet2 said.

‘Booked to date pricing for summer 2024 across both our leisure travel products is showing a modest increase compared to the same period last year which is helping to mitigate previously announced increases in input costs.’

However, Jet2 added that ‘pricing has been more competitive’ recently, particularly for April and May getaways.

Jet2 said it is ‘well set’ for a decent summer in 2024. It added it is over 90% hedged for fuel for the summer season, and over 80% hedged for the whole of the current financial year. It decided against providing profit guidance for the current year, however.

‘In summary, we are pleased with our progress for FY25 to date although as ever, we remain mindful of the current macro-economic and geo-political environments and how these may impact future consumer spending,’ Jet2 said.

‘Consequently, and with over 40% of summer 2024 and the majority of winter 2024/2025 seasons still to sell, it is too early to provide guidance as to group profitability for FY25.’

Jet2 will report annual results on July 11. At that time, it said, it will provide ‘a fuller outlook for the all-important summer 2024 trading period’.

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