EasyGroup boss Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou slams Fastjet for reporting 2015 results “two months late”
Entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has issued another attack on African budget airline Fastjet, over its financial results for 2015, which were released earlier today.
The low-cost carrier reported that revenue grew 21 per cent to $65.1m (£45.1m) from $53.8m in 2014, and also said it had narrowed its post-tax loss for the year to $16.9m from $58.5m.
Haji-Ioannou, whose EasyGroup business owns the Fastjet brand, said the results were "at least two months later" than Fastjet chairman Colin Child had promised.
The EasyGroup boss also said the results came three days after a request for a general meeting to remove Child from the board.
"No doubt our pressure has had some effect on him," Haji-Ioannou said.
He added that the results announcement from Fastjet "reconfirms that Child has not achieved any of his two objectives".
"Child states that the “search for new chief executive officer [is] well advanced' but after such a prolonged period, EasyGroup no longer has any faith in Colin Child’s ability to appoint a new CEO in the near future," said Haji-Ioannou.
"Furthermore, there is not a single word about the need to closed down the Gatwick office nor any tangible evidence of cost cutting." EasyGroup wants Fastjet's head office moved from Gatwick to Tanzania.
"Fastjet by the end of the year will have a fleet of 3 aircraft and some 200 plus people working at head office… By far the worse ratio in the industry," the EasyJet founder continued.
Haji-Ioannou has threatened Fastjet with legal action in the past – earlier this year he contacted the budget carrier's board to outline his concerns over a number of licence breaches and slammed the company for hurting revenues by refusing to accept credit cards at ticket offices in Dar es Salaam. The African firm's share price dropped by 11 per cent after Haji-Ioannou's made his grievances public.
Fastjet shares have fallen by almost eight per cent today.
The company declined to comment.