Easyjet reaffirms guidance as losses narrow significantly
Easyjet has reaffirmed full-year profit guidance after quarterly losses more than halved and booking momentum continued to build ahead of the busier easter and summer months.
The budget airline expects to report a headline pre-tax profit of £709m in 2025, up from a prior year haul of £610m and in line with consensus.
It said on Wednesday quarterly passenger growth had increased seven per cent to 21.2m, while group revenue rose 13 per cent to £2.04bn.
Losses in the three months ending 31 December narrowed from £126m to £61m, driven by the strong performance of its holiday arm, Easyjet Holidays.
Easyjet Holidays delivered £43m in profit over the period, up around 40 per cent year-on-year. The division said it expects its customer base to grow by around a quarter in 2025.
Boss Kenton Jarvis, the former Easyjet CFO who replaced Johan Lundgren at the turn of the year, said there had been “continuing demand” for flight and holiday bookings over the summer.
First half bookings are already 93 per cent sold.
“We have one million more customers already booked, with firm favourites like Palma, Faro and Alicante as well as new destinations like Tunisia and Cairo proving popular,” Jarvis added.
“All of this demonstrates positive progress towards our medium term target to deliver more than £1bn of profit before tax.”
Shares are up around 1.42 per cent over the last 12 months.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Demand trends have been strong, and with short-haul capacity across Europe remaining constrained, easyJet’s been able to hold prices firm.
“Passenger numbers were up 7% meaning its planes are flying even more full, on average, as consumers remain unafraid to spend their hard-earned cash chasing the sun. Alongside lower fuel prices, all of these dynamics are having a positive impact on profitability.”
He added: “The package holiday division continues to impress, delivering another period of double-digit profit growth, albeit from a low base. The addressable market for package holidays is huge, and this segment has a long runway ahead if it can keep nailing delivery.”