Results at a glance
|
|
2012 |
2011 |
Change |
|
|
Total revenue (£ million) |
1,465 |
1,266 |
15.7 |
% |
|
Loss before tax (£ million) |
(112) |
(153) |
26.8 |
% |
|
Pre-tax margin (%) |
(7.6) |
(12.1) |
+4.5 |
ppt |
|
Return on capital employed (%) (1) |
(5.0) |
(7.5) |
+2.5 |
ppt |
|
Loss per share - basic (pence) |
(21.2) |
(26.6) |
20.3 |
% |
Careful allocation of capacity, revenue initiatives and tight control of costs, combined with exceptionally low levels of disruption compared to previous years has enabled easyJet to reduce its first half pre-tax loss by £41 million to £112 million despite an £87 million increase in its unit fuel costs. The results are ahead of the guidance issued in November 2011 and in January 2012.
Total revenue per seat grew by 11.9% to £50.47, and by 11.2% at constant currency driven by a combination of tighter market capacity, improvements in revenue management, website initiatives and the 'europe by easyJet' marketing campaign. Seats flown grew by 3.5% and the average load factor improved by 1.5 percentage points.
Passengers flown grew by 5.4% to 25.2 million. easyJet continued to grow its share of the short-haul business travel market.
Total cost per seat excluding fuel grew by 2.1% to £37.70, and by 1.5% on a constant currency basis as easyJet benefited from the exceptionally low levels of disruption in the period. easyJet lean continues to deliver benefits particularly in the area of ground handling and line maintenance.
easyJet continued to deliver best in class on time performance across the network with arrivals within 15 minutes increasing by 16 percentage points to 89%. The good performance contributed to a 7 percentage point increase in overall customer satisfaction to 85%.
Cash and money market deposits decreased year on year by £226 million following the payment in March of a £150 million special dividend and the £46 million ordinary dividend. easyJet ended the period with £42 million of net cash.
With nearly half of summer seats now sold, in line with the prior year, the performance of the business continues as outlined in the 26 March 2012 pre-close trading update.
Commenting on the results, Carolyn McCall, easyJet Chief Executive said:
"In the first six months of the year easyJet has continued to deliver improvements in customer satisfaction, operational, and financial performance. We have also returned £196 million to our shareholders.
The economic environment remains uncertain, and the aviation industry faces headwinds such as the recent increase in UK APD. However, easyJet's strategy of low fares and our focus on making it easy for our customers, aligned with tight cost management and strictly managed allocation of capital, ensures that easyJet is well positioned to deliver good results for shareholders."
