There was certainly a 'feel good factor' when it came to Dart 's (DTG) results: the shares jumped 9 per cent on news that full-year numbers will fly above consensus forecasts. The travel and leisure group said a strong number of winter bookings has made it optimistic about an earnings beat, despite the fact that second-half numbers will be under pressure from costs associated with the launches of new bases in Birmingham and London Stansted. However, this will mean the company can offer more flights next summer.
There's also been an increased take-up of package breaks sold under the Jet2holidays brand. These now account for half of customers flown, up from 42 per cent this time last year. Its Jet2.com airline brand represents the other half, although passenger numbers fell to 2.51m from 2.65m - probably because more people are choosing packages, which suits management as they're higher margin.
Five out of 30 new Boeing 737-800NG aircraft have been received, with the remainder due in April 2018. However, capacity expansion of 13 per cent meant load factors dropped from 94.1 per cent to 93.2 per cent during the period.
Analysts at Canaccord Genuity expect adjusted pre-tax profit of £90.4m in the year to March 2017, leading to EPS of 48.3p, compared with £106m and 60.8p in FY2016.
| DART GROUP (DTG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 429p | MARKET VALUE: | £635m | |
| TOUCH: | 428-430p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 684p | LOW: 355p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1% | PE RATIO: | 6 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 380p | NET CASH: | £331m | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1.02 | 147 | 79.8 | 0.90 |
| 2016 | 1.24 | 164 | 90.7 | 1.38 |
| % change | +21 | +12 | +14 | +53 |
Ex-div: 5 Jan Payment: 1 Feb | ||||
