Jet2 PLC (AIM:JET2) announced a £250 million share buyback as profits fell less than expected in a year when it carried a record number of passengers but was hit by higher taxes, fuel costs and investment in its London Gatwick expansion.
The package holiday operator and airline said profit before tax fell 7% to £551 million in the year to 31 March from £593.2 million a year earlier, while revenue rose 4% to a record £7.48 billion.
Operating profit slipped 2% to £439.6 million, which is towards the top of its previously guided operating profit range of around £435-440 million given in April.
The group carried a record 20.83 million passengers during the year, up 5%. Flight-only passengers increased 15% to 7.6 million, while package holiday customers edged up 1% to 6.6 million.
Jet2 said the lower profits reflected £11 million of start-up costs at London Gatwick and about £50 million of additional costs from higher employment taxes and sustainable aviation fuel premiums.
Despite the decline in earnings, the company said trading had strengthened ahead of the peak summer season.
Capacity for summer 2026 is 7.7% higher than a year earlier, with booked passenger numbers up 7.1% and average load factors for the first four months running 1.2 percentage points ahead of last summer after what it described as reduced geopolitical uncertainty.
Chief executive Steve Heapy called it "another period of strong progress for Jet2" and "a resilient operating profit performance even after absorbing Gatwick start-up investment and wider industry cost pressures".
The group finished the year with net cash of just over £2 billion and announced a new £250 million share buyback alongside a proposed final dividend of 12.4p a share, up 2%.
