easyJet today announced a drop in its pre-tax losses to £17 million in the six months to March.
This loss compares to £40 million for the same period last year. The company's passenger numbers rose to 16.4 million in the six month period while margins were also increased and profits per customer rose.
The company saw unit passenger revenue increase by 0.8 per cent to £31.70 per seat, with total revenue increasing to £719 million in the six months to March. Ancillary profits rose by 18 per cent to £3.81 per seat due mainly to insurance and car hire.
The company reported a drop of 3.3 per cent in passenger loads during April, however this was due to flight expansion which meant that planes were not as full as they were at the same time last year. The company recently introduced 16 new routes - it now has 292 routes, serving 75 airports in 20 countries.
easyJet reported that the first half of the financial year had witnessed growth in all areas of the company's business and said that fears that increased airport taxes would damage profits would be off-set by decreased ticket costs and increased promotional activity.
The company said that it expected profits for the year to September to continue to improve and predicted pre-tax profit growth of up to 40 to 50 per cent for the full year.