easyJet to pay special dividend after revenues soar

15th Nov 2011 07:49

Airline easyJet is set to pay a £195m dividend after its revenues soared 16% in the year ended 30 September. Revenue leapt from £2.97bn to £3.45bn, leading to a 60.8% rise in reported profit before tax of £248m (2010: £154m). The one-off payment, together with the ordinary dividend of 10.5p per share,equates to 45.4p per share, to be paid in March next year. Revenue per seat was up 4.1% to £55.27, while earnings per share were also flying high, with an 85% leap to 52.5p per share. The firm, which saw a £100m hike in fuel costs over the year, said the strong performance is due to firm control of costs, effective yield management, the strength of easyJet's network and its focus on customers. Carolyn McCall, easyJet chief executive said: "easyJet has made great progress this year. Our strong operational and financial performance is a result of the hard work and commitment of easyJet's people in delivering on our cause to make travel easy and affordable for our customers. "Despite the headwinds of higher fuel costs and a weak and uncertain economic outlook, our focus on customers, robust operational performance, the strength of easyJet's network combined with cost control and capital discipline means that easyJet is well placed to succeed."Cash was also up at the end of the year, rising from £912m to £1.1bn. However, the firm added that it expects to maintain capacity levels for the first half of this year, as a result of turbulence in the Eurozone, but will increase by 4% over the full year. NR