Easyjet investors will be delighted Ryanair’s problems are not industry-wide. Easyjet shares sank earlier this week after its peer announced falling profits and said it would cut its fares. Easyjet is experiencing no such problems.
EasyJet has reported a strong performance in its third quarter with headline profit before tax increasing 16% to £236 million as passenger numbers increased by 8% year-on-year, reflecting robust demand absent from Ryanair’s recent update.
Revenue per seat (RPS) also saw a modest increase of 1% year-on-year, aligning with the company’s guidance.
The easyJet holidays division performed exceptionally well, delivering £73 million in profit before tax, up from £49 million in the same quarter last year. This represents a remarkable 49% growth in profitability, accompanied by a 33% increase in passenger numbers for the holiday segment. The success of this division is contributing significantly to the overall positive performance of the company.
“Our strong performance in the quarter has been driven by more customers choosing easyJet for our unrivalled network of destinations and value for money,” said Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet.
“This result was achieved despite Easter falling into March this year, demonstrating the continued importance of travel and this means we remain on track to deliver another record-breaking summer, taking us a step closer to our medium term targets.”
Looking ahead, the airline said it expects to reach a capacity of approximately 100 million seats for FY24. Furthermore, the fourth quarter of 2024 is anticipated to continue the positive trend seen in Q3, with revenue per seat expected to maintain its upward trajectory. Easyjet may well be eating Ryanair’s lunch.
The holiday division is projected to deliver over £180 million in profit before tax, representing more than 48% profit growth year-on-year.
Bookings for the fourth quarter are strong, with 69% of capacity already sold, which is 1 percentage point higher than the same period last year. Additionally, easyJet has 7% more capacity on sale. This translates to 1.5 million more seats sold for the peak summer period compared to the previous year.