UK no-frills airline EasyJet said today that it expected pre-tax profit growth of between 40-50% during 2005-06 owing to an improved revenue outlook. Previously, EasyJet had forecast underlying profit growth of between 10-15%.
'The improved revenue outlook leads us to increase our profit guidance,' EasyJet said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. Investors cheered the news, sending the company's share price surging over 8% in London.
In a trading update, EasyJet said that for the three months to the end of June, total revenue per seat climbed 17% compared to the same time last year.
'This is partly attributable to the timing of Easter, which did not fall in the comparative quarter in 2005, but also reflects underlying revenue strength,' it said.
The low-cost airline said passenger numbers rose 15.6% in June to 2.99 million compared with the same month a year earlier. The load factor, or percentage of seats filled, increased two percentage points to 87.6%.
It added that it expected passenger revenue per seat to climb by between 3-4% for the full year, which concludes at the end of September.
