22nd Feb 2006 10:00
easyJet PLC22 February 2006 22 February 2006 EASYJET AGM TRADING UPDATE: FULL YEAR GUIDANCE MAINTAINED Speaking at the Company's Annual General Meeting in Luton, Sir Colin Chandler,Chairman of easyJet plc, said: "In November 2005, we announced an improvement in profit before tax of 9% to£67.9m (restated under IFRS to £82.6m) for the year ended 30 September 2005.This achievement, in tough market conditions, resulted from increased capacityand unit revenues and impressive progress in reducing costs, apart from fuel. "The same trends have continued into the first quarter of 2006. Unit revenue(total revenue per seat flown) rose by 1.8% compared to the same period lastyear, helped by double digit growth in ancillary revenue per seat, and continuedsuccessful growth especially from our young bases in Berlin, Dortmund and Basel.Unit costs excluding fuel fell by 5% in the period. However, rising fuel pricescaused total unit costs to rise by 3% in the quarter. "Our full year guidance remains unchanged. In the current financial year weexpect to deliver capacity growth, measured by available seats, of 15%. Ourstrong focus on controllable costs will continue and should result in a 3-5%reduction in cost per seat, before fuel. We anticipate a slight reduction intotal revenue per seat for the year. Lower unit passenger revenues are expectedto be partly offset by ancillary revenues, which will improve with double digitpercentage growth supported by a series of new initiatives. Overall, we plan toachieve mid to high single-digit percentage profit growth in the currentfinancial year. "For the first half of the year, we expect a 50% increase in unit fuel costs.This price impact will result in an additional charge of roughly £55m. Inaddition, the timing of Easter, falling in April, will have a negative impact onour first half compared with last year. Our good performance on reducing costsand increasing ancillary revenues has partially mitigated the increase in fuel,and as a result we anticipate a pre-tax loss of approximately £45m for the firsthalf of the year. This result is in line with our full year guidance andcompares to a pre-tax loss, reported under IFRS, of £22m for the first half oflast year. "My colleagues and I were delighted to welcome our new Chief Executive, AndyHarrison, who joined us on 1 December 2005 with an impressive record of successat RAC plc. Andy has already made his mark on the business and he and themanagement team are committed to achieving the return on equity target which wasapproved by shareholders in September 2005 as part of a Long Term Incentive Planwhich aligns the interests of management and shareholders. The continuingreduction in unit costs, excluding fuel, is evidence of this commitment to dateand gives me confidence that shareholders will see an improvement in thecompany's profitability over the years ahead. "easyJet continues to adhere to its proven business model providing highfrequency, good quality services between convenient airports at low cost. Ourintention to continue to grow the business is evidenced in our recent decisionto take 20 further A319s in 2008 and 2009 and in our ongoing network developmentthrough new destinations, routes and frequencies." Ends For further details please contact: easyJet plc Andrew Barker, Investor Relations +44 (0) 1582 525 982 Toby Nicol, Corporate Communications +44 (0) 1582 525 339 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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