18 May 2023 – easyJet’s revenue rose 80% to £2.7bn in the first half. This reflected a 25% increase in capacity and 41% improvement in passenger numbers to 33.1m. On average, planes were 87.5% full compared to 77.3% at the same time last year. easyJet has been able to increase its average ticket prices, which has also helped performance. easyJet’s ancillary revenue, which includes extra items like legroom and food, was up 83% to £940m.
The ramp up in capacity, wider inflation and higher fuel costs meant costs were up 52%. As a result, there was a pre-tax loss of £415m, despite the higher revenue.
The group generated free cash flow of £531m, while net debt was £156m at the end of the period.
easyJet has said bookings for the rest of the year remain strong, with bookings for the third quarter at 73% of available capacity.
The shares rose 1.5% following the announcement.
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown:
“easyJet is enjoying the spoils that come with a Covid-restriction-free summer. Trips abroad are so important to the group’s core customers, easyJet’s been able to pump up its ticket prices and passengers are still pouring on board. One of the areas that makes easyJet more resilient is its risk-free strategy of focussing on favourable airports, which is more expensive, but more attractive than flying into less convenient hubs.
The rapid expansion of easyJet Holidays is also important. Not only is this a future growth driver, it speaks volumes about the kind of getaways people are after. The no-nonsense cross-selling opportunities are being lapped up by customers who don’t want to trawl separate travel and accommodation sites.
Looking further ahead, there is still some way to go before easyJet can charter a path to better profitability. Wider inflation is unlikely to unwind fully for a while, although the majority of the heavy lifting for getting capacity back online has been done, which should help. Bookings for the rest of the year look in reasonable shape, but they still need a bit more meat on their bones before the turnaround can be signalled a fait accompli”
