easyJet achieves rise in passengers and revenue in first quarter

23rd Jan 2014 07:03

- Revenue per seat climbs in Q1- Passengers carried and load factor rises- First half losses expected to narroweasyJet carried 14.3m passengers in the first quarter, an increase of 4.2 per cent against the previous year. The European airline achieved a 3.4% jump in revenue per seat on a reported basis to £55.71 in the three months ended December 31st, despite strong prior year comparators from post-London Olympics trading and fierce competition. EasyJet said revenue was driven by "careful management of capacity, combined with the performance of allocated seating and the management of fees and charges".The load factor, the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of seats available, climbed 0.1 percentage point to 88.7%. Seats flow rose 4.1% to 16.1m.Cost per seat, excluding fuel, rose by 3% and by 1.2% on a constant currency basis, reflecting increases in charges at regulated airports and in maintenance costs associated with the planned ageing of the fleet and a higher proportion of leased aircraft.The company's on-time performance improved despite a strike by Italian Air Traffic Controllers in October, power outages at Gatwick in October and on Christmas Eve, an Air Traffic Control computer systems failure in the UK and adverse weather conditions in December across Northern Europe.Chief Executive Carolyn McCall, said: "easyJet has made a good start to the year. We have delivered revenue per seat growth in the quarter against a challenging competitive environment and the tough comparison with the prior year. The performance in the quarter demonstrates our continued focus on cost, progress against our strategic priorities and easyJet's structural advantage in the European short-haul market against both the legacy and low-cost competition. "Our strategy of offering our customers low fares to great destinations with friendly service and a focus on cost control ensures that we can continue to deliver sustainable growth and returns for our shareholders." easyJet expects to report a first half loss before tax of between £70m and £90m assuming normal levels of disruption, compared to the £61m loss reported in the first half of last year. Last year Easter was on March 31st resulting in £25m additional revenue in the first half of 2013. In this financial year Easter will fall in April. RD