JET2.COM owner Dart Group expects to soar past its profit targets after enjoying an “exceptional” summer.
The Leeds-based holding company, which also owns distribution and logistics business Fowler Welch, expects operating profit for the six months to September to be above £140m – 60% ahead of last year.
This is being driven by strong growth in its package holidays, with Jet2holidays approaching the 1m customer mark after a 21% increase this summer.
The airline also continues to perform well, increasing its average load factor – a measure of capacity – by 2.3 percentage points to 94.1%, with average ticket yields up 16.4%.
In a statement to the stock market, the company said: “With winter 15/16 leisure travel bookings for both package holiday and flight-only products continuing to perform in line with expectations and notwithstanding the important post-Christmas booking period that is still to come, it is now apparent that group performance for the full year ending March 31 2016 will materially exceed current market expectations.”
Dart Group has enjoyed a strong run on the stock market, with its share price rising from 290p at the start of the year to last night’s close of 464p, a 60% increase which sees the group now valued at £716m.
