4th Nov 2015 08:04
LONDON (Alliance News) - Wizz Air Holdings PLC Wednesday reported growth in profit and an increase in the number of passengers carried in the first half of its financial year, and said that while unit revenues will decline in the second half, it has entered into a robust third quarter.
The Central and Eastern Europe-focused low-cost airline said its pretax profit in the six months ended September 30 rose 16% to EUR190.9 million from EUR164.0 million in the first half of the prior year, as revenue rose 15% to EUR836.4 million from EUR727.3 million.
The number of passengers carried also increased by 20% to 10.7 million from 8.9 million.
Wizz Air confirmed that it estimates it will grow capacity by around 18% in the full year, and that it anticipates the downward trend in unit revenues will continue in the second half as lower fuel prices feed through to lower air fares.
The airline said it expects to report an underlying net profit in the range of EUR190 million and EUR200 million in the full year, following on from a strong first-half performance and robust third-quarter bookings.
"We have a strong balance sheet, proven management team, best-in-class fleet and leading market position in CEE. This winning formula leaves Wizz Air well placed to continue to deliver significant growth and returns for our shareholders," Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi said.
In a separate statement, Wizz Air said its load factor increased by 1.9 percentage points in October to 88.2% from 86.3% in the same month the prior year. The number of passengers carried also rose 23% to 1.7 million in October from 1.4 million.
Wizz Air also separately announced that Varadi's contract with the group has been extended by five years and said Chief Financial Officer Mike Powell has left the company for personal reasons.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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