The owner of Jet2, Dart Group, posted a 36% increase in profit before tax on Thursday in its yearly results.
The leisure travel and distributions and logistics group outlined in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2019 that profit before tax amounted to £177.5 million, up 36% on the £130.2 million figure recorded in 2018.
Basic earnings per share increased by 36% to 97.98p.
The company said that its performance is a reflection of the growing success of its leisure travel products. It offers holiday flights with its airline Jet2.com and package holidays with its licensed tour operator Jet2holidays.
“We know that taking a holiday is one of the most important family experiences of the year. We therefore do our very best to ensure that each of our customers ‘has a lovely holiday’ that can be both eagerly anticipated and fondly remembered, supported by our core principles of being family friendly, offering value for money and giving great customer service,” the Chairman of Dart Group said in a company statement.
Its distribution and logistics business, Fowler Welch, also proved successful, continuing to draw in new business from existing and new customers alike.
Concerning its outlook, the Chairman added that “though overall demand for our leisure travel products has continued to strengthen since the start of the new financial year, it is clear from our forward booking trends that generally, less confident consumers are booking later than last year and therefore pricing for both our flight-only and package holiday products has to be continually enticing.”
“Nevertheless, with still some way to go in the booking cycle, the Board remains optimistic that current market expectations for Group profit before foreign exchange revaluations and taxation for the year ending 31 March 2020 will be met.”
Sector wide issues were highlighted in the results, in particular the cost pressures faced by the travel industry in relation to fuel, carbon and other operating charges.
Lufthansa (ETR:LHA) posted a deeper loss in April for its first-quarter of 2019, blaming higher fuel costs.
Low-cost airline Ryanair (LON:RYA) joins the list of airlines struggling amid rising costs and overcapacity, with the Hungarian airline Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) also revealing its difficulties amid the increasing cost of fuel.
Shares in Dart Group plc (LON:DTG) were up 2.91% as of 11:10 BST Thursday.
