Jet2.com owner Dart confident despite profit fall
JET2.COM owner Dart Group today announced a 23% drop in pre-tax profits reflecting a tougher trading environment for the group.
Pre-tax profits for the Leeds-based group dropped from £36.3m to £28.1m for the half year ended September 20.
Turnover for the period was maintained at £272.7m. Net cash flow from operations of £12.2m was generated in the period (2008, £20.3m).
Total capital expenditure in the first half amounted to £6.5m (2008, £9.5m), primarily relating to the overhaul of the group’s aircraft engines in addition to a small acquisition by Fowler Welch-Coolchain.
Interim dividend will be 0.36p per share compared to nothing for the same period last year.
Dart said that Jet2.com had continued to focus on its core leisure routes from its bases in Belfast, Blackpool, Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle.
The budget airline flew 2.2 million passengers compared to 2.3 million for the same period 2008 with the total number of routes served rising to 94 from 75.
Ancillary revenues are continually being developed with gross revenue per passenger increasing to £20.70 during the half year (2008, £15.17).
Dart said that the increase was principally driven by its proprietary reservation system. Pre-ordered meals and advanced seat assignment have been particularly successful on some of its longer routes.
After a very strong performance in the previous year its freight and passenger charter business experienced reduced revenues reflecting a weaker market for charter services. In total, charter revenues were down 18% in the first half.
For Winter 09/10, Jet2.com has slightly reduced its overall scheduled capacity, eflecting a prudent approach in the current economic environment.
Next summer it will be operating new scheduled services to seven sun destinations from East Midlands Airport (which are also available as package holidays with Jet2holidays.com).
Overall, it has planned a 2% increase in scheduled seat capacity for summer 2010 with a higher proportion of Eastern Mediterranean destinations. New destinations for next summer include Bergerac, Gran Canaria, Kos, Madeira, Reus and Tunisia with increased capacity to Egypt, Greece and Turkey.
It is expected that Jet2holidays.com will make an increasingly significant contribution to the airline’s passenger numbers in the coming year.
Meanwhile, Dart’s logistics company Fowler Welch-Coolchain has won significant new business and secured contracts with existing customers.
Its Washington distribution centre has seen increased Tesco Express deliveries, whilst our ambient consolidation centre at Stockport has increased its volumes into Asda stores, including the commencement of Asda George distribution.
Like-for-like sales have increased by 8% year on year although fuel surcharges levied have reduced as a result of lower oil prices.
In a statement it said: “On an underlying basis, we expect full year trading to be in line with market expectations.
“Jet2.com forward booking levels are encouraging and Fowler Welch-Coolchain continues to perform strongly. However, we expect the current challenging trading environment to remain for some time and we will continue to manage the business prudently while continuing to take advantage of market opportunities.”
