Weak consumer confidence, higher taxes and soaring fuel costs are making life tough for budget airlines, but easyJet managed an impressive full-year profit as passenger numbers increased and non-fuel costs fell. There was also confirmation of a maiden dividend, and an accompanying £150m special payout worth 34.9p a share.
Underlying pre-tax profit, after adjusting for 2010's £27m volcanic ash cloud-related hit, grew 31.5 per cent - impressive given that rising fuel costs added £184m to the bill. easyJet has hedged 73 per cent of its jet fuel requirement for 2012, too, but will still spend an extra £220m on juice in the current financial year. To offset that, passenger traffic must keep growing at its current rate. Europe’s fourth-largest short-haul carrier wants to grow the contribution from business travellers by £100m. Their number grew by 1m to 9.5m during the period, helping swell the passenger list by 11.8 per cent to 54.5m. Meanwhile, underlying cost per seat fell 1.3 per cent. For the first half, capacity should be flat and revenue per seat up by “mid-single digits”.
Broker Panmure Gordon expects an adjusted EPS of 38.1p for 2012 (2011: 52.5p).
EASYJET (EZJ) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 360p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.55bn | |
| TOUCH: | 360-361p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 479p | LOW: 300p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.9%† | PE RATIO: | 7 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE | 396p* | NET CASH: | £100m | |
| Year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 1.80 | 202 | 36.6 | nil |
| 2008 | 2.36 | 110 | 19.8 | nil |
| 2009 | 2.67 | 54.7 | 16.9 | nil |
| 2010 | 2.97 | 154 | 28.4 | nil |
| 2011 | 3.45 | 248 | 52.5 | 10.5† |
| % change | +16 | +61 | +85 | - |
Ex-div: 29 Feb Payment: 23 Mar *Includes intangible assets of £451m, or 105p per share †Excludes 34.9p special dividend | ||||
