EasyJet profit takes off
November 19, 2013
EasyJet reported Tuesday its bottom-line earnings in the 2012/2013 business year amounted to 398 million pounds (474 million euros or $640 million).
Profit before tax came in at 478 million pounds, a 51-percent increase year-on-year. The company's shares soared at the London stock exchange after the news, bucking the general trend on stock markets on Tuesday.
EasyJet added its full-year revenues rose by 10.5 percent to 4.26 billion pounds. The low-budget airline proposed a special dividend of 44.1 pence per share.
Leaving Ryanair behind
The results reflect easyJet's continued structural advantage in the European short-haul market against both the legacy and low-cost competition," CEO Carolyn McCall said in a statement. McCall also said the recent decision to allocate individual seats to passengers, instead of inviting them to fend for themselves on board, was a key reason for the upswing.
She added the firm would continue to deliver a strategy of offering customers low fares to many destinations with friendly service. "This means we're well placed to continue to deliver sustainable returns and growth for our shareholders," McCall commented.
EasyJet only last month revised its profit outlook upwards, while Irish low-cost rival Ryanair had had to issue a profit warning twice within just two months and said it was trying to rectify the situation by throwing its no-seat-allocation policy overboard.
hg/msh (dpa, Reuters)