Jet2 PLC (AIM:JET2) backed its outlook for the financial year despite reporting a slowdown in bookings in recent weeks.
The low-cost airline said bookings for the Winter 23/24 season have been a “little slower in recent weeks”, with average load factors currently 1.3 percentage points down on Winter 2022/23 at the same point, although average pricing remains robust.
Nonetheless, Jet2 said it is currently on track to deliver profit before forex revaluation and taxation for the financial year of between £480 million and £520 million, in line with previous guidance.
For the half year ended 30 September 2023, the firm reported a 24% jump in revenue to £4.41 billion from £3.57 billion the year prior, while operating profit increased by 19% to £617.0 million from £516.6 million.
Looking ahead, the airline said current seat capacity for Summer 2024 at 17.19 million seats is approximately 12% higher than Summer 2023 and bookings and pricing at this early stage are “encouraging”, with average load factors 2.0 percentage points ahead of the year before.
The firm said seat capacity increased 7% in the first half and the business achieved an average load factor of 90.7% - unchanged from the previous year - with higher margin per passenger Package Holiday mix of total departing passengers up 4.9 percentage points to 70.8% from 65.9%.
The interim dividend was increased to 4p from 3p.