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LONDON (Alliance News) - easyJet PLC on Tuesday reported a drop in profit in its recently ended financial year and trimmed its dividend as a result, having taken a big hit to demand from the multiple terrorist attacks which have plagued the European travel industry of late and the weak pound following the UK's decision to leave the European Union.
The low-cost airline said pretax profit in the year ended September 30 fell to GBP495 million from GBP686 million the year before, as revenue slipped very slightly by 0.4% to GBP4.67 million from GBP4.69 million and pretax margin declined by 4.0 percentage points to 10.6% from 14.6%.
easyJet said revenue was hit by a 6.4% decrease in revenue per seat due to "external events" including the various terrorist attacks which have occurred in Europe and North Africa over the past year. These events hit profit by GBP150 million, while easyJet also suffered an GBP88 million hit from the depreciation of sterling.
As a result, easyJet cut its total dividend for the year to 53.8 pence from 55.2p.
On a more positive note, easyJet said it carried a record number of passengers in the year of 73.1 million, which is up 6.6% on the prior year, while load factor also reached a record 91.6%, up from 91.5% the year before.
"Looking ahead, the easyJet model remains strong as does the demand environment and we continue to see opportunities in the medium term to grow revenue, profit and shareholder returns. In a tougher operating environment strong airlines like easyJet will get stronger and we will build on our already well-established network," Chief Executive Carolyn McCall said in a statement.
"Almost half of our growth next year will be in the UK, with significant growth also in Switzerland, France and Italy. Our strategy of strengthening our positions at our key airports will see double-digit growth in key bases in London, Manchester, Venice, Berlin and Amsterdam," she added.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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