The carrier on Tuesday posted an underlying pretax profit of 43.7 million pounds ($73.56 million) on revenue 12.9 percent higher at 2.66 billion pounds for the year to the end of September.

EasyJet said the reduction profit compared to the prior year was driven by a fuel cost increase of 86.1 million pounds and interest income, which was 30.5 million pounds lower.

The airline said passenger numbers rose 3.4 percent to 45.2 million and that its load factor improved by 1.4 percentage points to 85.5 percent.

"We see a tough winter ahead ... but at current fuel prices and exchange rates, we expect easyJet to make substantial profit improvement in 2010," Chief Executive Andy Harrison said in a statement.

Shares in easyJet, which have risen 16 percent in the last three months, closed at 392.20 pence on Monday, valuing the airline at around 1.6 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Rhys Jones; editing by Mark Potter)