EasyJet says annual earnings will increase 40 to 50 percent |
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Published
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Mon, 07 Aug 2006 10:50
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LONDON - Low-cost airline EasyJet announced on Monday that its full-year revenues as well as costs would be marginally higher than expected. However the group said that annual earnings would still be increased by 40 to 50 percent.
EasyJet also revealed that its load factor for the month of July was 90.4 percent. Load factor is a measure of how well an airline is filling up its seats. Additionally the passenger traffic for July was up by 11.3 percent. "We now expect full year capacity growth to be in the region of 13 percent and expect unit revenue and unit costs to be slightly higher than our previous guidance," EasyJet said in a trading update. In its third-quarter forecast, the airline said that the pre-tax profit growth for the year would be up by 40-50 percent.
The group also said that capacity growth would be 13 percent this year. This figure is lower than the 15 percent expected by analysts. Following the update, EasyJet shares dipped 1.3 percent to 426 pence in early trading. Analysts said the company was reining its growth forecasts due to problems it has with crew. There is a paucity of trained crew to fill up the aircraft. UBS alluded to this in a note to clients, "This will mean higher costs and puts into question the prior leanness of operations and how much extra cost will be needed on an ongoing basis," it said.
EasyJet also revealed that it carried 8.8 million passengers in the three months ending June. This number was 15.8 percent higher than the 7.6 million reported at the same time last year. EasyJet's rivals Ryanair and British Airways had last week forecast a tough winter period and said competition my decrease ticket prices.
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