UK airline Easyjet said today it still expects pre-tax profits to rise by between 40% and 50% for the year to September as it reduces costs.
This comes after rival Ryanair reported a 33% rise in annual net profit on Tuesday, but forecast a more modest 5% profit growth in the year ahead.
Easyjet said today it is leaving its guidance for the year unchanged and expects in the second half to see increased momentum in cost reductions with unit costs, not including fuel, down over 5% compared to the previous year.
It said that for the second half of the year it expects total revenue to decline between 5% and 10% compared to the previous year.
The airline said its load factor - the percentage of seats filled - in May was down 0.3 points at 83.9% from May 2006, and on an annual basis it was down 0.2 points at 84.2%.
Passenger numbers however were up 13.8% on the month to 3.34 million compared to May 2006.
Meanwhile Ryanair's load factor weighed in at 80% for May, down 2 points on the same month the previous year, and yesterday Aer Lingus said its load factor was down 2 points at 74.1%.
