18/11/2008

Easyjet Pre-Tax Profits Plummet

Budget Airline EasyJet have seen pre-tax profits plummet by 45% to £110m despite carrying 17.3% more passengers over the year.

The firm aims to meet difficult future economic conditions by concentrating on offering passenger value, cutting costs, and saving cash. Orders for new planes will be reduced.

Andy Harrison, EasyJet chief executive, said there was evidence of a "flight to value" for both business and leisure passengers.

Easyjet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who raised his stake in the firm to 26.9% last week called for a cautious outlook. In a letter to the board published at the end of EasyJet's annual results, Haji-Ioannou criticised the airline's ambitious expansion plans: "I would like to place on record that I believe that with careful cash management and in particular more prudent capital expenditure, EasyJet and its shareholders will be the winners in European short-haul aviation.

"We must focus on cash flows forecasts and not on carrying more passengers," he said.

Mr Harrison said: "EasyJet delivered a good trading performance in the financial year ending September 2008... We recognise that economic conditions will be very difficult and EasyJet is planning accordingly."

Winter bookings for the first quarter of 2009 are slightly ahead of last year: "Partly a reflection of the reduction in competitive capacity on our routes and partly our own decision to restrict our growth in seats flown," said Mr Harrison

(GK/JM)

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