A difficult European airline market appears to be working to easyJet’s (EZJ) advantage. This time last year, the demise of Monarch relieved some of the overcapacity in the European airline market and 12 months on, easyJet has shelled out €40m (£35.6m) for the seven airport slots at Berlin Tegel airport that used to belong to the now-defunct Air Berlin. This contributed to a 10.2 per cent uptick in group passenger numbers, to a record 88.5m, with revenue per available seat up 6.4 per cent to £61.94. That's despite a total £152m loss incurred on the acquisition, although potential scheduling improvements should buck up operations this year.
The budget airline is planning to add 10 per cent to its capacity during FY2019, which means revenue per available seat is expected to decline by low to mid-single digits, against a tough comparative during the first half. Fuel costs are also expected to rise, although easyJet’s hedging policy should provide a decent financial buffer over the next 18 months.
Prior to the results analysts at Liberum expected adjusted pre-tax profit of £536m during the year to September 2019, giving adjusted EPS of 112p, compared with £578m and 118p in FY2018.
| EASYJET (EZJ) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 1,148p | MARKET VALUE: | £4.56bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,148-1,150p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,809p | LOW: 1,062p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 5.1% | PE RATIO: | 13 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 820p | NET CASH: | £396m | |
| Year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 4.53 | 581 | 115 | 45.4 |
| 2015 | 4.69 | 686 | 139 | 55.2 |
| 2016 | 4.67 | 507 | 111 | 53.8 |
| 2017 | 5.05 | 385 | 77.4 | 40.9 |
| 2018 | 5.90 | 445 | 90.9 | 58.6 |
| % change | +17 | +16 | +17 | +43 |
| Ex-div: | 28 Feb | |||
| Payment: | 22 Mar |
