Jet2 PLC Trading Update

RNS Number : 7576L

Jet2 PLC

24 April 2024

 

24 April 2024

Jet2 plc

("the Group")

Trading Update

Jet2 plc, the Leisure Travel group, announces the following update on trading.

Year ended 31 March 2024 (FY24)

Following the trading update in mid-February, the Board now expects to report a Group profit before foreign exchange revaluation and taxation for the year ended 31 March 2024 of between £515m and £520m (previously £510m to £525m), an increase of approximately 33% on the prior year and in line with current market expectations⁽¹⁾. Our Balance Sheet position remains very strong with total cash at 31 March 2024 of £3.2bn and an 'Own Cash' balance (excluding customer advance deposits) of £1.3bn.

Year ending 31 March 2025 (FY25)

On sale seat capacity for Summer 2024 is currently 12.3% higher than Summer 2023 at 17.1m seats. The season is 55% sold, with average load factors 1.0ppt ahead of Summer 2023 at the same point. Forward bookings for package holiday customers are up by 13% and we are also seeing healthy demand from flight-only passengers for which bookings are currently up by over 18%. Consequently, the package holiday mix of total departing passengers is 74% and 1ppt below last year.

Booked to date pricing for Summer 2024 across both our leisure travel products is showing a modest increase compared to the same period last year which is helping to mitigate previously announced increases in input costs, although recently, pricing has been more competitive, particularly for April and May departures.

Since February, we have taken delivery of a further two new CFM powered A321neo aircraft from Airbus in line with our agreed delivery schedule, with both paid for from our own cash reserves. We now have seven in our fleet ahead of Summer 2024 with another four aircraft from our order planned to arrive before the end of FY25. Additionally, in late March, flight operations from our new Liverpool Airport base commenced successfully, with forward bookings encouraging and customer feedback very positive.

Operationally we are well set for a successful Summer 2024 season with the required number of aircraft to support our flying programme and sufficient, fully trained resources to operate our end-to-end product proposition to our normal high standards of customer care. We are also over 90% hedged for fuel for the season and over 80% for the full financial year in line with our well-established hedging policy, providing important cost certainty given unfolding events in the Middle East.

Furthermore, on 26 March, we were pleased to announce expansion of our UK footprint at Bournemouth Airport, where flights will commence from 1 April 2025. This will become Jet2's 12th airport base demonstrating confidence in our Customer First proposition.

In summary, we are pleased with our progress for FY25 to date although as ever, we remain mindful of the current macro-economic and geo-political environments and how these may impact future consumer spending. Consequently, and with over 40% of Summer 2024 and the majority of Winter 2024/2025 seasons still to sell, it is too early to provide guidance as to Group profitability for FY25.

Steve Heapy, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are pleased with the strong financial results for FY24 which underlines the resilience, flexibility and popularity of our product offering, plus the outstanding customer service provided by our Colleagues. Although still very early in FY25, we remain confident that as a much trusted holiday provider with an end-to-end customer care approach underpinned by our principles of 'People, Service, Profits', our Customers will continue to travel with us from our Rainy Island to the sun spots of the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands and to European Leisure Cities."

The Group will announce its Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 March 2024 on 11 July 2024 at which point it will provide a fuller outlook for the all-important Summer 2024 trading period.

For further information, please contact:

 

Jet2 plc Steve Heapy, Chief Executive Officer	Tel:              0113 239 7692
Gary Brown, Group Chief Financial Officer ​
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited Nominated Adviser Katy Birkin   Camilla Hume George Lawson ​	Tel:              020 7220 0500
Canaccord Genuity Limited Joint Broker Adam James ​	Tel:              020 7523 8000
Jefferies International Limited Joint Broker Ed Matthews ​	Tel:              020 7029 8000
Buchanan Financial PR Richard Oldworth Toto Berger	Tel:              020 7466 5000

(1)  Based on company compiled consensus, the Board believes the current average market expectations for Group profit before FX revaluation and taxation for the year ending 31 March 2024 to be £519m.

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information as stipulated under the UK version of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (2014/596) which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended and supplemented from time to time, until the release of this announcement.

Notes to Editors

·	Jet2holidays is the UK's largest package holidays provider and Jet2.com is the UK's third largest airline by number of passengers flown.
·	Jet2 currently operates from 11 bases across the UK - Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool John Lennon, Leeds Bradford, London Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle. Operations at Bournemouth Airport will commence in April 2025.

 

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