British budget airline easyJet said today a near doubling in fuel costs and the timing of Easter had caused first-half pretax losses to widen but its full-year outlook had improved.
EasyJet recorded a pretax loss of £40 million (€58 million) for the six months to the end of March compared with a pretax loss of 22 million pounds previously.
Fuel costs leapt 49 per cent to £55 million (€80 million).
EasyJet, Europe's second-largest low-cost carrier, said it now expected pretax profit to grow by 10 to 15 per cent this year from 2005.
"We are encouraged by our first half performance, which is slightly ahead of our expectations at the time of our annual general meeting in February," easyJet chief executive Andy Harrison said in a statement. "Successful cost reduction and revenue improvements, especially in ancillaries have largely offset the considerable hike in fuel prices and the effect of Easter moving from the first half in 2005 to the second half in 2006."
A total 14.9 million passengers took off on easyJet flights during the six months, the firm said, a rise of 10.1 per cent from a year ago. The company also said its cost-cutting plans were going well, with costs per seat excluding fuel down 6.2 per cent or £1.84 per seat to £27.75.
Total revenue per seat rose 0.8 per cent despite the timing of the Easter holiday break, it said. Unlike last year, the Easter weekend fell in the second half of the company's financial year.
Ancillary revenues were up 31 per cent over the period to 76 pence per seat.
EasyJet added that its "stronger-than-expected first half performance and a good Easter provided the basis for an improved full year outlook".
Its shares closed at 313p on Tuesday, valuing the business at around £1.27 billion (€1.85 billion).