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(qlmbusinessnews.com via telegraph.co.uk – – Tue, 21 Nov, 2017) London, Uk —
Pre-tax profits at easyJet slumped 24pc to £385m last year, despite a record 80.2m travellers choosing to fly with the budget airline.
The industry is in the middle of a price war thanks to a glut of available seats, while easyJet said it was also impacted by currency headwinds of £101m and higher staff costs.
Outgoing chief executive Carolyn McCall said: “EasyJet's model is resilient and sustainable and we now have a huge amount of positive momentum which will enable the airline to continue to grow profitably.”
Revenues in the year to September 30 climbed 8.1pc to around £5bn, despite a fall in revenue per seat of 0.4pc to £58.23.
Easyjet said earnings had continued to climb in the first quarter of this year, “primarily as a result of some capacity leaving the market”. Its rival Monarch collapsed last month, while Alitalia and Air Berlin went into administration earlier in the year.
In October easyJet agreed a deal to acquire part of Air Berlin’s operations at Tegel airport for €40m (£35.4mn) and it is also bidding for some of Alitalia’s business.
Ms McCall will leave the airline next week and be replaced by Tui boss Johan Lundgren on December 1.
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