- Passengers up 8% year-on-year
- Pre-tax profit of easyJet holidays circa £31 million
- £40 million direct impact from Middle East conflict
Shares in EasyJet (EZJ) gained over 3% in morning trading to 535p after the low-cost airline said winter losses for full year 2024 had been reduced by more than £50 million as summer demand continued.
EasyJet now expects a headline pre-tax loss of between £340 and £360 million which is an improvement despite ‘headwinds from fuel cost per seat inflation of 6% and the conflict in the Middle East’ which resulted in a ‘direct impact’ of circa £40 million.
EasyJet said all flights to Israel have now been suspended for the summer.
The announcement came as the low-cost airline gave a trading update for the six months ending 31 March 2024.
EASYJET HOLIDAYS GROWTH
The budget airline said EasyJet holidays continued to grow after reporting a £31 million pre-tax profit, a gain of 206% compared to the same year ago period with a 42% growth in customers.
The company has also expanded its international network by launching new bases in Alicante, Spain and Birmingham in the UK.
Bookings for summer 2024 continue to build well, with an increase in volume and pricing compared to the same period last year, underpinned by strong demand for EasyJet’s primary airport network.
Year-to-date shares in the Luton Airport-based airline have been solid gaining 6%.
EXPERT VIEW
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said: ‘Consumers still seem to be willing to prioritise travel with the disposable income they have and by boosting capacity and rolling out its package holidays venture, EasyJet has positioned itself to take advantage of this trend.
'At what point people’s willingness and ability to spend money on a week in the sun dries up remains to be seen and this, along with pressures around the industry’s environmental impact, are the obvious clouds on an otherwise sunny horizon for EasyJet.'
DISCLAIMER: Financial services company AJ Bell referenced in this article owns Shares magazine. The author of this article (Sabuhi Gard) and the editor (Martin Gamble) own shares in AJ Bell.
