10th May 2016 06:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - easyJet PLC on Tuesday said it swung to a loss in the first half of its financial year due to negative movements in foreign exchange rates, and warned about the effect the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels will have on its third-quarter performance, but it increased its dividend payout ratio.
The low-cost airline said it suffered a GBP24 million pretax loss in the six months ended March 31, having made a GBP7 million pretax profit in the first half of the prior year.
Revenue rose very slightly to GBP1.77 billion from GBP1.76 billion, but revenue per seat fell by 6.6% to GBP51.29. Load factor remained flat at 89.7% and the number of passengers carried grew to 31.0 million from 28.9 million.
easyJet said revenue and passenger numbers were helped by its biggest ever ski season, while UK beach traffic also provided a "healthy start" to the year.
Profit, however, was hit by an "adverse foreign exchange impact" of GBP33 million, and would have been broadly flat on a constant currency basis, easyJet said.
The airline also warned that third-quarter revenue per seat will decline by around seven percentage points due to the earlier timing of Easter this year and the fallout from the terrorist attacks in Brussels in March.
easyJet also said it will increase its annual dividend payout ratio to 50% of post-tax income from 40% previously.
"We are confident that over the full year we will again grow passenger numbers, revenue and profit. As a result of easyJet balance sheet and the board's confidence in the future success of the business, the annual dividend payout ratio will increase by a quarter to 50% subject to AGM approval," Chief Executive Carolyn McCall said in a statement.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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