Wizz Air Holdings Plc announces its audited results for the full year ended 31 March 2016

UNDERLYING NET PROFIT* INCREASES 53% ON 21% PASSENGER GROWTH

Budapest, Hungary, 2016-May-26 — /Travel PR News/ — Wizz Air Holdings Plc (“Wizz Air” or the “Company”), the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe 1 ], today announces its audited results for the full year ended 31 March 2016 (“FY2016” or “F16”).

Full year to 31 March

FY2016

 

FY2015

 

Change

Passengers carried (million)

20.0

16.5

+ 21%

Load factor (%)

88.2%

86.7%

+1.5 pp

Year End Fleet

67

55

+ 22%

Revenue (€ million)

1,429

1,227

+ 16%

Reported net profit (IFRS) (€ million)

193

183

+ 5%

Underlying net profit (€ million)[2]

224

146

+ 53%

Underlying net profit margin (%)

15.7

11.9

+3.8 pp

Free cash (€ million)

646

449

44%

RECORD PROFITABILITY AND MARGIN EXPANSION IN F16

  • •Total revenue increased by 16% to €1,429 million
    • •Ticket revenue up 13% to €895 million
    • •Ancillary revenue up 23% to €534 million
  • •Underlying net profit was a record €224 million, an increase of 53% compared to the previous financial year
  • •Underlying net profit margin* of 16%, an increase of 3.8 percentage points

CONTINUED GROWTH IN Q4

  • •Revenue growth of 20% to €282 million
  • •Q4 FY2016 underlying net profit of €1 million compared to loss of €11 million in Q4 FY2015
  • •Seat capacity growth was 19% and load factor increased by 1.8 percentage points to 85.4%
  • •Strong end to the quarter due to the timing of Easter

STRONG FULL YEAR OPERATING PERFORMANCE ACROSS KEY METRICS

  • •Passengers carried up 21% to 20 million and load factor up 1.5 percentage points to 88.2%
  • •Total unit costs fell by 5% to 3.43 euro cents per ASK[3]
  • •Ancillary revenue per passenger increased by 2% to €27
  • •Wizz Discount Club membership was 815,000 by the financial year end, an increase year-on-year of 40%

CONTINUED EXPANSION THROUGH CEE

  • •69 new routes added in FY2016 including routes to three new CEE destinations and 12 new Western European destinations
  • •Four new operating bases opened during FY2016, in Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Kosice (Slovakia), Lublin (Poland) and Debrecen (Hungary)
  • •Three new operating bases announced during FY2016, Iasi and Sibiu (Romania) and Kutaisi (Georgia)

FLEXIBILITY TO SUSTAIN STRONG GROWTH

  • •Strong balance sheet with free cash of €646 million at FY2016 and net debt to EBITDAR ratio of 1.4 times
  • •Deployment of larger 230-seat Airbus A321ceo, driving efficiency
  • •Purchase agreement for 110 Airbus A321neo aircraft to drive future growth

Commenting on the results, József Váradi, Wizz Air’s Chief Executive Officer said:

I am delighted to report another remarkable year for us as we delivered a strong operating performance across all key metrics. We continue to build on our market leadership in Central and Eastern Europe and have a strong balance sheet and an attractive order book of existing and new technology aircraft to drive growth.

We delivered an underlying net profit after tax of €224 million, an increase of 53% compared to FY2015. Our underlying net profit margin increased from 11.9% to 15.7% over the course of the financial year and passenger numbers increased by 21.2% to 20 million.  Notwithstanding the fact that Easter fell one week earlier in 2016 than in 2015 pushing a higher proportion of this high yield traffic into FY 2016, we currently expect a further significant rise in the Group’s net profit for the current financial year to 31 March 2017 (“FY2017”) to a range of between €245 million and €255 million (excluding exceptional items). This guidance is heavily caveated by the revenue performance for the second half of FY2017, a period for which we currently have limited visibility.

We will continue to expand our route network, drive efficiency in our operating model, and enhance our compelling customer proposition to sustain growth and drive returns for shareholders.”



[1] Central and Eastern Europe, or CEE, is a region comprised of Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech    Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia,             Slovenia and Ukraine.

[2] Underlying net profit is defined as reported net profit under IFRS less unrealised FX gains/losses and exceptional items.

[3] ASK:  available seat kilometres

Notes: 2016, F16, FY16 and FY 2016 in this document refer to the financial year ended 31 March 2016

2015, F15, FY15 and FY 2015 in this document refer to the financial year ended 31 March 2015

Equivalent terms are used for prior financial years