Wednesday May 7, 10:38 AM
easyJet says losses deepen on soaring fuel bill
LONDON (AFP) - No-frills airline easyJet said on Wednesday that losses deepened in the first half of its financial year as record high oil prices ramped up the cost of kerosene or jet fuel.
The carrier recorded a net loss of 43.3 million pounds in the six months to March 31, 2008, as the group was also hit by costs from the takeover of GB Airways.
That compared with a loss of 12.7 million pounds in the equivalent period of the group's previous fiscal year.
"Oil remains the biggest challenge and uncertainty," said chief executive Andy Harrison in an interim results statement.
"The price of jet fuel has risen 35 percent over the last three months and is now 80 percent higher than last year.
"Nobody knows how much of this increase is driven by short term financial speculation and how much is a longer term sustainable increase."
On Tuesday, New York oil had hit a historic high point of 122.73 dollars per barrel and London's Brent crude struck a lifetime peak of 120.99.
Record (LSE: REC.L - news) -breaking oil prices have almost doubled in the past year and have surged by more than 20 dollars since the start of 2008.
easyJet said on Wednesday that its fuel bill in the second half of 2008 would jump by at least 45 million pounds.
The bill would rise by about 2.5 million pounds for every ten-dollar increase in oil prices, it added.
The airline also chalked up a pre-tax loss of 57.5 million pounds in the first half.
The figure included 9.1 million pounds in costs linked to the purchase of GB Airways, and compared with a pre-tax loss of 17.1 million pounds previously.
On the positive side, revenues soared 24 percent to 892.2 million pounds over the same period, while passenger numbers rose 15 percent to 18.9 million people.
In a separate release, easyJet said that monthly passenger numbers jumped by 13.4 percent to 3.55 million in April 2008, compared with the same month last year.
Last October, easyJet agreed to buy GB Airways for 103.5 million pounds in cash from Bland Group, a transport and tourism company. The purchase was completed in January.
|
|
|
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
