Easyjet full-year earnings beat forecast

Easyjet, Europe’s second-biggest discount airline, said full-year earnings beat its forecasts following a surge in demand for flights from London after the end of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Pretax profit for the fiscal year ended Sep 30 will be in €386m-€400m, Easyjet said yesterday. That’s at least 25% higher than a year earlier and compares with guidance given on July 25 for a figure no higher than €376m.

“EasyJet has had a strong summer performance which has enabled us to deliver another good year of returns,” chief executive Carolyn McCall said, adding that the Luton, England- based carrier benefited from “strong post-Olympic trading and a benign operating environment”.

McCall has added flights on key routes while introducing allocated seating, flexible tickets and sales via corporate agents to grab a bigger slice of the corporate market. Around 21% of the airline’s 57 million passengers are travelling for business, the executive said in an interview yesterday.