Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - Low-cost airline easyJet PLC said Tuesday that its pretax loss narrowed in the six months to the end of March as total revenue rose as the mild winter reduced the need for costly de-icing of its planes and reduced disruption.
In its half-year report for the six months to March 31, 2014, easyJet said its pretax loss narrowed by 13.6% to GBP53 million from GBP61 million last year. Total revenue rose 6.3% to GBP1.7 billion from GBP1.6 billion for the comparable six months.
During the period, total revenue per seat increased by 1.5% year-on-year on a constant currency basis, and by 2.6% per seat on a reported basis, to GBP54.80 driven, in part said easyJet, by a number of digital and revenue management initiatives, increased average sector length and allocated seating.
The original model for most low-cost airlines was that seats weren't allocated and passengers took seats on a first-come, first-served basis. However, that proved unpopular with customers as families and groups could end up being split up for the duration of the flight. easyJet trialled allocated seating in 2012, and introduced it across its fleet in November of that year following positive customer feedback.
The airline carried 12 million business passengers for the first time in the 12 months to March 31, 2014, it said, as average load factors increased by 0.4% to 89.0% whilst capacity grew by 3.6% to 31.1 million seats.
easyJet said that it delivered GBP14 million in annualised savings during the period, delivering a stronger-than-expected cost performance as it remained focused on a number of revenue initiatives.
During the half-year, the company launched new bases in Naples, its third in Italy, and Hamburg, its second in Germany, bringing the total number of easyJet bases to 24. easyJet also returned GBP308 million or 77.6 pence per share to shareholders through the payment of an ordinary dividend - at three times earnings cover - and a special dividend.
"easyJet has delivered a solid first half performance despite the less benign capacity environment. The results reflect our on-going progress against our strategic priorities, and demonstrate the structural advantage easyJet has against both legacy and low cost competition in the European short haul market," said Carolyn McCall, easyJet Chief Executive.
In March the low-cost airline said it expected its pretax loss for the first-half of its financial year to be significantly narrower than it previously expected, after the mild winter reduced the need for costly de-icing of its planes and reduced disruption, calling a pretax loss of between GBP55 million and GBP65 million for the period to the end of March.
Airlines and travel companies tend to be loss-making over the winter period, making most of their money during the summer months when there are more travellers.
The company cut its cost expectations because its planes needed less de-icing and there was less weather-related disruption in the three months to the end of March. The airline said the reduction also reflected the early delivery of the benefits of some of its efficiency improvement programme.
Looking ahead, McCall said, "By continuing to deliver our strategy of offering customers lower fares to great destinations with friendly service while focusing upon costs, we can continue to deliver sustainable growth and returns for our shareholders. There continue to be a number of attractive opportunities for easyJet to grow profitably in Europe and we look forward to making further progress in the second half of the year."
Shares in easyJet were trading 4.37% lower at 1,654.48 pence per share Tuesday morning, the biggest faller on the FTSE 100.
By Alice Attwood; aliceattwood@alliancenews.com; @AliceAtAlliance
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
