EasyJet announces huge increase in annual profits and says 'future is bright'

Budget airline easyJet has reported a 34% surge in annual profits, stating that the "future for the company is bright". The carrier revealed headline pre-tax profits of £610 million for the year ending September 30, a significant increase from £455m the previous year. Passenger numbers also rose by 7%, reaching 89.

7 million over the past 12 months. The firm's trading was further bolstered by strong demand for easyJet Holidays, with the division's pre-tax profits soaring to £190m up 56% from last year, driven by a 36% increase in customer numbers. Outgoing chief executive Johan Lundgren, who will be succeeded by chief financial officer Kenton Jarvis on January 1, said the financial results reflect "the effectiveness and execution of our strategy as well as continued popularity of our flights and holidays".



He added: "It also represents a significant step towards our goal of sustainably generating over £1 billion annual profit before tax." Mr Lundgren expressed his pride in what has been achieved during his seven-year tenure at easyJet, and assured that "the future for the company is bright". Incoming boss Mr Jarvis stated: "The airline will continue to grow, particularly on popular longer leisure routes like north Africa and the Canaries.

I am looking forward to taking over the controls of this fantastic business in the new year and we still have a lot to go for as we progress towards our ambitious targets. "Our clear purpose as an airline is to make low-cost travel easy, so to make it easy in terms of being accessible and reliable for the customer, and make it low-cost so that it can be affordable for the customer. That’s why easyJet was founded on that premise nearly 30 years ago and that’s what we really want to focus on as a business.

" "In the UK we’ve seen great growth this year. Our customers have gone from 1.9 million to 2.

6 million. But that’s a move from 5% to 7% (package holiday) market share in the UK." We know that the bigger tour operators, Tui and Jet2, both have almost 20% each, so there’s a lot of opportunity for easyJet Holidays.

" EasyJet's efforts seem to be paying off with the announcement that its airline business slashed winter losses by £40m, courtesy of "a combination of productivity and utilisation benefits". The introduction of 16 new A320neo aircraft within the year has prompted a rise in the average seat count from 179 to 181 on their planes, generating roughly £25m in cost efficiencies. Shareholders have cause to celebrate as easyJet's board suggests paying out dividends of £92m leaping from £34m the previous year, which equates to 20% of the headline profit after tax.

Looking ahead, easyJet anticipates yet another drop in winter losses for 2024/25, with expectations set for a "significant improvement" as the quarter ending December draws closer. The airline also predicts an increase of about 8% in available seat kilometres – a metric that combines the number of available seats with the distance flown – over the next year. The average flight length is also expected to see a rise of approximately 5%.

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