EasyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) has reported some of its ‘best results ever in the winter trading period’ as revenues for the first half of its financial year topped £2bn.
The FTSE 100 airline operator reported a narrowed pre-tax loss of £68mln, up from a £236mln loss last year, while revenues climbed to £2.18bn from £1.83bn previously.
READ: easyJet's losses expected to narrow on back of increased passenger loads
Excluding its Tegel airline, the group reported a headline pre-tax profit for the period of £8mln, up from a £212mln loss last year.
The results will come as a surprise to analysts at UBS, who had predicted that the airline’s pre-tax losses would narrow to £113mln from £212mln the year before.
The airline also saw passenger numbers for the period increase 8.8% to 36.8mln, with capacity rising 7.8% to 40.4mln compared to a year ago.
Improvements in the figures were supported by a positive trading environment and higher load factors, capacity reductions by other airlines, and a change in the timing of Easter.
In its outlook, the group said it expected headline pre-tax profits for the full-year, including the impact of the headline loss from Tegel, to be between £530mln-£580mln.
Johan Lundgren, chief executive of EasyJet, said: "easyJet has delivered an excellent performance reporting a profit of GBP8 million, one of our best results ever in the winter trading period (excluding the one-off impact of the start-up of our Tegel operation). Total revenue was above GBP2bn for the first time, up almost 20% year-on-year. This was driven by a record number of passengers at 37 million and our highest ever ancillary sales,
He added: "I have today announced an increase in investment in easyJet Holidays to gain a greater share of that market, showcased a series of initiatives to increase the number of passengers travelling on business and revealed plans to introduce a new loyalty programme,"
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com, commented: "EasyJet swung to a rare winter profit off the back of record passenger numbers and revenues as its efforts to capitalise on the collapse of rivals last year shows signs of paying off and the integration of Tegel operations seems to be going to plan. Revenue and passenger growth was exceptionally strong, with loads also very firm, undoubtedly boosted by failure of Air Berlin, Alitalia and Monarch, as well as the troubles at Ryanair.
He added: “Margin growth is impressive - costs were close to flat but revenues per seat much better, which may be down to the loss of capacity in routes served by failed competitors combined with savings. The problem may be maintaining this kind of growth as short-haul airlines tend to have a habit of competing away margin growth.”
In late-morning trading Tuesday, EasyJet shares were up 2.9% at 1,734.5p.
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