British airline easyJet forecasts annual pre-tax profits of between 440 and 460 million pounds (510 and 533 million euros) this Thursday, thanks to strong demand in the summer, which will restore dividend payments.
In a financial update, the airline highlighted record pre-tax profits of between £650 million and £670 million (€753 million and €776 million) in the fourth quarter.
Passenger numbers grew by 8% between July and September 2023 compared to the same quarter last year, and revenue per seat increased by 9%.
The airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Johan Lundgren, highlighted at a conference with journalists that EasyJet’s holiday packages performed particularly positively, generating around £120 million in pre-tax profits that year. in the segment.
“This performance was driven by the strategic decisions and changes we made during the pandemic that were intended to make the company structurally stronger and more profitable than ever, transform the business by optimizing our network, increasing flexibility and to achieve sustainable cost savings.” he emphasized.
In the medium term, Lundgren says, the low-cost company expects to achieve annual pre-tax profits of more than one billion pounds (1.16 billion euros), implying a margin of seven to ten pounds (8.1 versus 11. 6 euros) per seat. , compared to the current five pounds (5.8 euros).
For this financial year, easyJet plans to reinstate dividends and pay out 10%, with the expectation of increasing this to 20% the following year.
The company also announced the expansion of its fleet, with an effective order for 157 aircraft from Airbus (56 Airbus A320neo and 101 Aurbus A321neo) and the right to purchase another 100 aircraft.
“This will also increase the average number of seats per flight from 179 seats to approximately 200 seats by the year 2034,” the CEO explains.
Source: DN
