Wizz Air flies past airline gloom with upbeat profit predictions
Ftse 250 airline Wizz Air said it expects net profit for the year to land in the upper half of its expected guidance, in a trading update today.
The announcement follows a gloomy update yesterday from fellow low cost airline Easyjet which led to a nearly 10 per cent dip in its share price, and dragged down other listed airlines as fears grow around demand for the summer season.
Read more: Easyjet shares lose altitude on weaker passenger traffic outlook
Eastern Europe-focused Wizz Air however, showed no such worries, saying “demand across the company's markets remains robust” with passenger numbers and revenue both climbing.
Wizz Air said trading in its fourth quarter to 31 March is in line with expectations and said it expects to deliver net profit in the upper half of its guidance range of between €270m and €300m (£232m and £257m).
It said load factors were up 2.6 percentage points to 94.1 per cent and said the new financial year had started well with revenue per available seat per kilometre forecast to increase four per cent year-on-year in the first quarter.
Read more: Budget airline passenger numbers soar in February
Wizz Air said it had taken delivery of its first two Airbus A321 Neo planes, taking its fleet to 112 aircraft.
It said it will issue preliminary results for the year ended 31 March on 31 May at which point it will provide full year guidance for the current financial year “as well as an outlook for the all-important summer trading”.