Low-cost airline easyJet Plc (EZJ.L, ESYJY.PK) reported that loss before tax for six-month ended 31 March 2013 narrowed to 61 million pounds from the previous year's 112 million pounds.
Loss for the period also narrowed to 47 million pounds from the prior year's 90 million pounds, with basic loss per share narrowing to 12.0 pence from the last year's 21.2 pence.
Total revenue for the period increased to 1.601 billion pounds from last year's 1.465 billion pounds.
Total revenue per seat increased by 8.6% year on year on a constant currency basis, and by 5.8% per seat on a reported basis, to 53.39 pounds as the half year benefited from an early Easter, competitor capacity retrenchment, returns focused changes to easyJet's network and improvements to its revenue management system.
Average load factors increased by 1.7 percentage points to 88.6% whilst capacity grew by 3.3% to 30 million seats.
With around 50% of second half seats now booked, trading in the second half of the year continues to be in line with management's expectations, the airline said. The movement of Easter in 2013 into the first half of the financial year is expected to reduce revenue per seat growth in the second half of the year by one percentage point. Consequently, revenue per seat growth at constant currency for the six month period to 30 September 2013 is expected to be around 4%.
Whilst there is always the potential for unexpected events to impact short term financial performance, the outlook for the second half of the financial year combined with the strong reduction in first half losses means that easyJet expects to deliver improved returns and profitability for the year ending 30 September 2013.
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