Earlier today, British low-cost carrier easyJet released its full-year financial results for the 12-month period that ended on September 30th, 2022. While the Luton-based budget airline made an overall loss in this period, the fourth quarter was a record-breaker for the company, and gives it reasons to be cheerful going forward.
Coming on strong despite full-year loss
The 12-month period in question was a mixed bag in terms of the hand that airlines were dealt. While 2022 has largely been a year of recovery, challenges such as the conflict in Ukraine and the rising cost of living have had the potential to be stumbling blocks. easyJet hasn't had it all its own way either, registering a pre-tax headline loss for the year as a whole of £178 million ($214.5 million).
This figure results from headline costs of £5.947 billion ($7.168 billion) exceeding its total revenues of £5.769 billion ($6.953 billion). While the latter of these figures does represent a 296% increase compared to 2021, easyJet's increased capacity has resulted in higher operational costs. Of course, this capacity is the symptom of catering to higher demand, which shows the carrier's recovery.
That being said, easyJet ended the year on a much more positive note, with its operational performance in Q4 being better than Q4 2019. A key factor in this was fewer on-the-day cancellations. The quarter also saw it break financial records.
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The airline's best-ever fourth quarter
The fourth quarter of easyJet's full-year results encompassed the months of July, August, and September, when it will have been busy with summer holiday traffic. After two uncertain years amid the coronavirus pandemic, British tourists were certainly ready to hit the skies again, with this reflected in easyJet's Q4 results.
Indeed, the carrier achieved a record EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring or rent costs) of £674 million ($811 million) in the fourth quarter. Its profit for the same period in 2021 was just £82 million ($99 million). easyJet credited factors such as a 'focused network allocation' as having played a role in this. Johan Lundgren, the airline's CEO, added:
"easyJet has achieved a record bounce back this summer with a performance which underlines that our transformation is delivering. The summer saw easyJet achieve its highest-ever earnings for a single quarter with headline EBITDAR of £674 million, ancillaries up by 59% on FY19, and easyJet holidays well on its way to its £100m target."
Load factor is also on the up
The fourth quarter also saw easyJet achieve an impressive load factor of 92%, with its total seat capacity for this period having been 26 million. The carrier made 81.5 million seats available for the year as a whole, representing a 189% increase compared to 2021's figure of 28.2 million. Full-year load factors rose by 13%, from 72.5% in 2021 to 85.5% in 2022. This looks set to increase going forward.
Indeed, easyJet also reflected on its prospects for the coming year in its latest financial results, and noted that Q1 would likely see load factor for the period grow 10% year-on-year. Easter load factors are also set to exceed last year's levels. Overall, the carrier looks well-placed to continue its recovery as it moves into 2023.