2012-11-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Strategy continues to deliver record profits, growth in profit margins and improved returns for shareholders
Results at a glance
| 2012 | 2011 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (£ million) | 3,854 | 3,452 | +11.6% |
| Profit before tax (£ million) | 317 | 248 | +27.9% |
| Pre-tax margin (%) | 8.2% | 7.2% | +1.0ppt |
| Basic earnings per share (pence) | 62.5 | 52.5 | +19.0% |
| Proposed dividend – ordinary (pence per share) | 21.5 | 10.5 | +104.8% |
| Return on Capital Employed (%) – excluding operating leases adjustment | 14.5% | 12.7% | +1.8ppt |
| Return on Capital Employed (%) – including operating leases adjustment | 11.3% | 9.8% | +1.5ppt |
| Return on equity | 14.6% | 14.0% | +0.6ppt |
- easyJet has delivered improved returns for shareholders and growth in a challenging economic environment. Profit before tax was up by 27.9% to a record £317 million and pre-tax profit margins grew by 1 percentage point to 8.2% despite a £182 million increase in unit fuel costs. Return on Capital Employed excluding operating lease adjustment improved by 1.8 percentage points to 14.5% (while Return on Capital Employed including operating lease adjustment improved by 1.5 percentage points to 11.3%.)
- Total revenue per seat grew by 5.9% (7.5% at constant currency) to £58.51 driven by: improved load factors; the annualisation of changes to fees and charges made in 2011; the careful targeting of capacity to markets with the strongest returns potential; improvements to easyJet.com; the success of the ‘Europe by easyJet’ campaign and from capacity constraint in the market.
- Seats flown grew by 5.5% to 65.9 million, load factors increased by 1.4 percentage points to 88.7% and passenger numbers rose 7.1% to 58.4 million.
- Cost per seat excluding fuel fell by 1% for the full year (and grew by 1.8% at constant currency). Unit cost increases were driven by increased charges at regulated airports especially in Spain and Italy and higher load factors. Cost pressures were partially offset by shorter average sector lengths, the easyJet Lean programme delivering significant savings in ground handling and non-regulated airport charges, by the increased proportion of larger A320 aircraft in the fleet and by the exceptionally low levels of disruption in comparison to previous years.
- easyJet generated operating cash (excluding dividend payments) of £457 million in the year, an increase of 7.8% compared to the prior year.
- In light of the continued strong financial performance of easyJet and the confidence in easyJet’s position within European short-haul aviation, the Board has decided to amend the dividend policy from this year to pay out one-third of profit after tax each year, up from the one-fifth payout introduced last year. As a result the recommended ordinary dividend is 21.5pence per share or £85 million.
- Earnings per share grew 19.0% to 62.5 pence per share.
Commenting on the results, Carolyn McCall easyJet Chief Executive said:
“These results demonstrate that easyJet is a structural winner in the European short-haul market against both legacy and low cost competition. The strength of easyJet’s business model and strategy coupled with the hard work and dedication of the easyJet team has delivered record profits as well as a significant increase in returns for shareholders during the year.
As evidence of its confidence in easyJet’s current position and future prospects the Board proposes to increase the dividend from 10.5p to 21.5p for the year ended September 2012 which will see our shareholders benefit from easyJet’s success with £85m of dividends.
“Whilst there is always the potential for unexpected events to temporarily impact financial results the Board of easyJet is confident that its business model, strategy and people will consistently continue to generate superior returns and growth for shareholders.”
For further details please contact easyJet plc:
| Institutional investors and sale side analysts: | ||
| Rachel Kentleton | Investor Relations | +44 (0) 7961 754 468 |
| Tom Oliver | Investor Relations | +44 (0) 7950 996 262 |
| Media: | ||
| Paul Moore | Corporate Communications | +44 (0) 7860 794 444 |
| Edward Simpkins | RLM Finsbury | +44 (0) 207 251 3801 |
| +44 (0) 7947 740 551 | ||
There will be an analyst presentation at 9:30 am on 20 November 2012 at Nomura, One Angel Lane, London, EC4R 3AB.
A live webcast of the presentation will be available at www.easyJet.com
Audio Details
- UK & International Number +44 (0) 203 140 0722
- US Number +1 718 705 7514
Playback Details
- UK Playback Number +44 (0) 203 140 0698
- US Playback Number +1 877 846 3918
- Playback Pin Code 387362#
The replay service will be available up until 27 November 2012
View the full press release in PDF format.
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