easyjet released final results for the year ending 30th September on Tuesday and investors welcomed them, pushing shares over 7% higher.
The low-cost carrier said passenger numbers had risen 9.7% over the past year helping revenue jump by 8.1% to £5.05 billion.
The company pointed to ‘rigorous cost control’ and savings of £85m to help offset a drop in revenue per seat.
Out-going Carolyn McCall, easyJet Chief Executive, commented on the results saying:
“easyJet delivered a robust performance during a difficult year for the aviation industry, flying a record 80 million passengers at our highest ever annual load factor of 92.6% whilst growing capacity by 8.5% and revenues by over 8.1% to more than £5 billion.
“Our planned approach of achieving number one or two positions at Europe’s leading airports, friendly and efficient customer service and a continuous focus on sustainable cost control has put easyJet at a strategic advantage during a period when there have been bankruptcies and some airlines have struggled operationally. 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.
“On a personal note, this will be my final set of results as CEO and I would like to thank all of easyJet’s people who have contributed so much to easyJet’s success story. I wish them all the very best for the future.”
Touching on the Air Berlin acquisition, easyjet said it would incur losses in the region of £60m for the newly acquired operation at Berlin Tegel airport.
Shares in easyjet rose to 1369p, up 7% at the time of writing.