7th Nov 2018 08:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - Europe-focused low-cost airline Wizz Air Holdings PLC on Wednesday reduced its annual profit guidance as profit dipped in the first half despite double digit revenue growth.
FTSE 250-listed Wizz Air previously expected net profit for the year ending March 31, 2019 to be in the range of EUR310 million to EUR340 million.
However this has been reduced to EUR270 million to EUR300 million as a result of higher fuel price and disruptions in summer, with the cancellation of 251 flights by Wizz Air.
For the six months to the end of September, Wizz Air reported a pretax profit of EUR295.5 million, down 1.7% from EUR300.7 million a year before, due to higher costs, mainly in fuel and staffing.
Fuel costs rose by 43% to EUR349.5 million from EUR244.2 million, while staff costs rose by 36% to EUR98.7 million from EUR72.7 million.
Revenue, however, saw double digit growth of 20% to EUR1.38 billion from EUR1.15 billion the prior year, as passenger ticket revenue rose by 25% to EUR858.6 million and non-ticket revenue by 12% to EUR520.5 million.
"The operating environment in the first half was particularly challenging for all European airlines with unprecedented disruptions caused by ATC strikes, slot constraints as well as heavily congested airports. These conditions also coincided with the company's ramp up of our new UK airline, Wizz Air UK, and an extensive delivery program of 17 aircraft in 17 weeks. Our operations are now back on track with October and November KPIs ahead of last year," said Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi.
Shares in Wizz Air were down 1.9% at 2,617.00 pence on Wednesday.
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