British low-cost airline Easyjet has guided to annual profit growth of up to 14%, and said some of the headwinds it had flagged two months ago had been offset by higher demand on beach holiday routes.
The guidance from Easyjet, Europe's second-biggest budget carrier, comes after it said in May that competitive pressure on ticket prices meant revenue per seat would be lower in this period, while air traffic control strikes in France would hit profits.
That outlook compared unfavourably with larger competitor Ryanair, which said in May that average fares would remain broadly flat in the key summer months.
Easyjet said on that its revenue per seat performance in its fiscal third quarter was better than it had forecast in May, helped by higher demand for beach routes across Europe and successful revenue management initiatives.
"Our third quarter performance means that for the full year easyJet will grow revenue, profits and dividends," chief executive Carolyn McCall said in a statement.
For the twelve months to the end of September, Easyjet guided to annual profit growth of between 7% and 14%, putting it on track at the mid-point to meet analyst forecasts for a 10% rise.
Easyjet said that it expected full-year pre tax profit in the range of £620m and £660m, compared with a company-supplied consensus forecast of £638m from a poll of 24 analysts.
However, the airline did warn of uncertainty in the current macro and operational environment given the situation in Greece and recent events in North Africa, plus the impact of a fire at Fiumicino airport in Rome and various threats of industrial action.
