Reported full-year figures from Flybe (FLYB) were as grim as expected - although much of that reflects a £23.2m hit from one-off costs associated with a restructuring programme that's intended to pull the regional airline out of its dive.
But progress with that effort has been relatively swift - the group delivered £40m of savings this year, compared with the £25m that had been forecast. Group headcount has been cut by 490, while its pilots accepted a 5 per cent pay cut in return for more time off. The turnaround measures are being financed by a transfer of Gatwick landing slots to easyJet and the deferral of further plane deliveries. Such tough measures are needed as Flybe's core UK market is still struggling for altitude. In fact, the company isn't seeing any increase in underlying demand and capacity is still going spare - so UK revenues declined by 2.2 per cent in the period to £575m, while the reported loss here soared to £32.5m from last year's 2.2m loss. Pricey fuel is another worry - costs here increased from £106.4m to £122.6m during the year and fuel cost per seat rose 1.6 per cent to £10.85.
Analysts at broker Espirito Santo expects Flybe to breakeven in the year to end-March 2014.
FLYBE (FLYB) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 44.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £33.5m | |
| TOUCH: | 44-45.3p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 80p | LOW: 40p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 64p* | NET DEBT: | 138% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 571 | 24.6 | 42.0 | nil |
| 2011 | 596 | -4.30 | 6.40 | nil |
| 2012 | 615 | -6.20 | -8.50 | nil |
| 2013 | 614 | -40.7 | -55.6 | nil |
| % change | - | - | - | - |
Ex-div:- Payment:- *Includes intangible assets of £13.2m, or 18p a share | ||||
