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LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - EasyJet plunged to a 1.27 billion
pound ($1.68 billion) loss in the 12 months to the end of
September, showing the extent of the impact of the pandemic on
the British low-cost airline which had never before made an
annual loss in its 25 year history.
With travel at anaemic levels during the second wave of the
virus in Europe, easyJet said quarterly cash burn, a key metric
watched by investors keen to see costs reduced, improved to 651
million pounds from 774 million pounds in the previous period.
EasyJet also said on Tuesday that after talks with the Bank
of England and the UK government's finance ministry, it will
extend its borrowing under a COVID Corporate Finance Facility,
staggering repayments and relieving pressure on its balance
sheet.
The airline has repeatedly said it is keeping its liquidity
position under review as the outlook for travel has worsened.
The reported annual loss before tax of 1.27 billion pounds
compared to the 430 million pounds profit it made in the
previous year. On a headline basis, it made a loss of 835
million pounds, in line with an October forecast.
It is currently flying around 20% of planned capacity and
said short-term uncertainty was such that it could not provide
any financial guidance.
To survive the pandemic so far, the airline has raised over
1 billion pounds from sale and leaseback deals for its aircraft,
taken a 600 million pound loan from the government, cut 4,500
jobs, and tapped shareholders for 419 million pounds, and has
said it could need to do more.
($1 = 0.7565 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by James Davey and Paul
Sandle)
