30th Jan 2019 08:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Wizz Air Holdings PLC on Wednesday reiterated its annual guidance despite reporting a sharp decrease in profit in the third quarter of its current financial year.
Shares in Wizz Air were down 3.6% at 2,940.00 pence on Wednesday.
The low-cost airline reported that pretax profit in the three months ended December 31 dropped to EUR1.8 million from EUR14.6 million the year before, despite revenue rising by 22% to EUR512.7 million from EUR422.9 million.
Pretax profit fell due to a substantial rise in operating expenses, up 26% to EUR512.7 million from EUR408.2 million, with staff and fuel costs both jumping by 40% year-on-year to EUR50.6 million and EUR166.2 million, respectively.
Despite the profit drop, Wizz Air maintained its net profit guidance for the full year in a range of EUR270.0 million to EUR300.0 million.
Net profit in the third quarter was EUR1.7 million, down by 88% from EUR14.0 million the year before.
Wizz Air said it carried 8.1 million passengers in the quarter, up 15% from 7.1 million the prior year, and its load factor rose by 2.0 percentage points to 91.4%.
Ticket revenue increased 20% to EUR291.1 million and ancillary revenue grew 22% to EUR221.5 million. Ancillary revenue is generated from non-ticket sources, such as baggage fees and on-board food and services.
"The introduction of a new carry-on bag policy in November of last year contributed to a strong performance in ancillary revenue with unit revenue per passenger 7% higher in the quarter," said Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi.
"Wizz Air remains well on track to deliver its mission to be the undisputed ultra-low cost carrier in the industry as cost leadership positions the airline for disproportionate growth opportunities across Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe, and makes us an increasingly formidable business under any market circumstances," added Varadi.
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