EasyJet sees first-half loss cut by Easter demand

British carrier easyJet said it would nearly halve its first-half loss, helped by Easter falling earlier than a year ago and strong bookings from customers wanting to escape recent cold weather in Britain and Northern Europe.

The budget airline said today it now expects a pretax loss for the six-months to end-March, a traditionally loss-making period, of between £60 million and £65 million, narrowing its previous guidance of between £50 million to £75 million.

It made a pretax loss of £112 million for the same period a year ago.

The company said revenue per seat grew by about 8.5 per cent, better then the 6 to 8 per cent it previously expected, driven by strong bookings in the run up to Easter.

Capacity on its flights rose by about 3.3 per cent, slightly short of its 3.5 per cent forecast, it said, due to the bad weather causing a higher-than-expected number of cancellations.

Reuters