EasyJet posts 51 pct rise in annual profit

LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - British airline easyJet reported a 51 percent rise in full year profit and said it wouldreturn 175 million pounds ($282 million) to shareholders througha special dividend.

The Luton, southern England-based firm said on Tuesday itmade a pretax profit of 478 million pounds for the year to theend of September on sales 10.5 percent higher at 4.26 billionpounds.

EasyJet last month said it expected to report an annualpretax profit of 470-480 million pounds compared with itsprevious guidance of 450-480 million pounds.

The company proposed a full year dividend of 33.5 pence ashare, 55.6 percent up on last year, and a special dividend of44.1 pence per share, making a total payout to investors of 308million pounds.

It said forward bookings were in line with last year butthat its first quarter would be impacted by tough year-on-yearcomparisons due to strong post-Olympics demand in the UK andtravel restrictions to Egypt.