easyjet

Easyjet shares (LON:EZJ) plunged during Tuesday trading, despite the airline posting a 41% rise in profits for the year.

Despite continual uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the low-cost airline reported pre-tax profits soared of £578 million for the year to 30 September.

Easyjet noted a record number of passengers of 88.5 million, an increase of 10.2%.

It added that its cost savings initiatives of £107 million had been achieved, proving an improvement from the £85 million saved back in 2017.

Nevertheless, across the period, it also incurred costs of £133 million.

This figure included £40 million spent developing its presence at Tegel airport, alongside an additional £65 million spent on IT development.

Overall, headline profit before tax came in at £578 million, up 41.4% from 2017. In addition, pre-tax profit per seat rose by 28.7% to £6.07 per seat, during the period.

Easyjet announced a proposed dividend of 58.6 pence, marking a 43% increase on 2017’s dividend.

Whilst Easyjet’s results prove promising for the year, for the most part, airlines continue to struggle amid rising fuel prices.

Last week, Flybe (LON:FLYB) announced it was putting itself up for sale following various profit warnings.

Similarly, Irish low-cost airline Ryanair (LON:RYA) issued a profit warning, blaming both rising fuel prices and strike action for falling behind expectations.

Shares in Easyjet are currently -5.57% as of 14.51PM (GMT).

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Nicole covers emerging global economic and political events for The UK Investor Magazine. Her focus is particularly upon company news and political developments in Europe and the US.