easyJet today said it has delivered a solid performance in the fourth quarter with robust customer demand and the delivery of self-help initiatives driving performance in both passenger and ancillary revenue per seat.
The company says cost performance remained strong and in line with expectations despite a difficult Q4 with disruption at Gatwick and storms across Europe.
easyJet expects to deliver Full Year 2019 headline profit before tax of between £420 million and £430 million. This is in the upper half of the previous guidance range.
Passenger numbers for the full year increased by 8.6% to 96 million, driven by an increase in capacity of 10.3% to 105 million seats. Load factor for the full year will decrease by 1.4 percentage points to 91.5%.
Total revenue per seat at constant currency for the full year will decrease by circa 2.7%. Total revenue per seat at constant currency for the second half will increase by circa 0.8%.
easyJet said it saw increased demand due to strikes at British Airways and Ryanair
Total headline cost for the full year will increase by circa 12.0% due to increased capacity, higher unit fuel costs and adverse foreign exchange movements.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet Chief Executive said: "easyJet has continued to perform in line with expectations, despite challenging market conditions.
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"As a result of our self-help initiatives and the increased demand due to disruption at British Airways and Ryanair, we anticipate achieving headline profit before tax for the full year 2019 of between £420 million and £430 million, in the upper half of our previous guidance range.
"Our implementation of initiatives in the fourth quarter to optimise yield has led to solid revenue performance with total revenue per seat at constant currency set to increase for the full year. We have continued to invest in operational resilience, with the programme successfully reducing the impact of disruption on our operations. As a result, we expect to report a fall in headline cost per seat for the year, excluding fuel at constant currency.
"I would like to thank all our people for their continued tireless work in delivering the warmest welcome in the sky to all our customers."