5th Aug 2005 07:00
easyJet PLC05 August 2005 5 August 2005 EASYJET Q3 STATISTICS___________________________________________________________________ Three months ending June 2005 June 2004 Change Passengers (m)1 7.6 6.3 +20.6%Load factor2 84.9% 82.9% +2pp Total revenue (£m) 342.9 286.9 +19.5%Total revenue per seat (£) 38.43 37.86 +1.5%Average operating aircraft 95 85 +11.8% ASKs (bn) 8.4 6.8 +22.9%RPKs (bn) 7.1 5.6 +26.4% Average sector length (km) 941 898 +4.8%____________________________________________________________________ Note: easyJet does not publish full quarterly results, but issues a tradingstatement for the first and third fiscal quarters as a supplement to our regularmonthly passenger statistics (see separate release for July statistics). Q3 performance easyJet had a good third quarter, in the face of a rising fuel price and astrengthening US Dollar. Unit revenue (total revenue per seat flown) rose by1.5% when compared with Q3 last year, in spite of Easter falling outside of theperiod this year. The revenue performance improved through the quarter, withunit revenue improvements exceeding 4% in June. Unit costs (total costs before tax and goodwill amortisation, per seat flown)rose by 6.5%, but this was after a 61% increase in the Sterling fuel cost perseat. Unit costs ex-fuel fell by 2.6% when compared with Q3 last year (thereduction accelerated from the H1 fall of 1.5%). Within the total revenue, passenger revenue per seat flown rose by 0.8%, whileancillary revenue per seat flown grew by 12%, reflecting a continuation of thestrong growth seen in the first half. Commenting, Chief Executive Ray Webster said: "Since the end of Q3, the Group's performance has been affected by a number ofexternal factors. On the negative side, the fuel price has continued to rise,and the US Dollar has strengthened against Sterling. But on the positive side,these factors have been more than offset by our efforts to improve our revenuemix, by the growing diversity of our route network, and by the fact that we havechosen not to impose fuel surcharges on our passengers. In the current market,our already low fares are now even more attractive. "The London terrorist bombings affected demand for inbound travel to London but,barring further incidents, are not expected to have a material impact on theresult for the year. "We expect unit revenue (total revenue per seat) for the year to finish slightlyahead of last year. If the spot price of jet fuel and exchange rates stay atcurrent levels, we now expect our total fuel cost for this financial year toreach £260m. At the time of our interim results in May, we stated that weexpected our full year reported pre-tax profit 'to be below last year but inline with current expectations.' Due to the improving revenue position and ourcontinued focus on cost, we now expect that reported pre-tax profit for thecurrent financial year will be broadly in line with last year." END For further details please contact: easyJet plc Analysts: Andrew Barker, Investor Relations +44 (0) 1582 525 274 Press: Toby Nicol, Corporate Communications +44 (0) 1582 525 339 1.Represents the number of earned seats flown. Earned seats include seats thatare flown whether or not the passenger turns up because easyJet is a no-refundairline, and once a flight has departed a no-show customer is generally notentitled to change flights or seek a refund. Earned seats also include seatsprovided for promotional purposes and to staff for business travel. 2. Represents the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of seatsavailable for passengers. No weighting of the load factor is carried out torecognise the effect of varying flight (or "stage") lengths. 3. Represents unaudited statutory revenue, which includes the invoiced value ofairline and ancillary services, net of passenger taxes and discounts. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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