Jet2 owner Dart upbeat on prospects
DART Group, the owner of leisure airline Jet2, expects operating profit for the full year to exceed market expectations.
In a trading statement the group, said its reported operating profit for the six months ended September 30, 2014 will be around 10% ahead of the same period in the previous year.
However, it said increased losses are expected in the second half, a function of the continued expansion of its seasonal leisure travel operations.
“With winter 14/15 leisure travel bookings continuing to perform in line with expectations, notwithstanding the important post-Christmas booking period that is still to come, the board is optimistic that current market expectations for full year operating profit will be exceeded,” the group said.
Giving an update on trading for the first half of its financial year ending March 31, 2015, Dart said its leisure travel business improved in the later summer months compared to the “challenging” market conditions experienced earlier in the season.
Flight only passengers grew by 8% to 3.07m (2013: 2.84m), while its package holiday product, Jet2holidays, took 771,000 (2013: 635,000) customers on holiday, an increase of 21%.
Consequently, its leisure airline, Jet2.com, flew 4.6m passengers in the six months to 30 September 2014, an increase of 12% over the same period last year, though below the increased seat capacity of 13%.
Dart’s distribution and logistics business, Fowler Welch, continues to focus on growing its revenue pipeline and the successful development of existing and new business opportunities but that margins continue to be “very tight”, it added.
