City briefs: Jet2 and Carclo
Bookings have yet to match capacity for this coming winter season for leisure travel operator Jet2, according to the Leeds-headquartered company’s executive chairman.
In a statement to be issued at Jet2’s AGM today, Philip Meeson says that following the UK Government’s decision to allow quarantine-free travel to amber list destinations for the fully vaccinated from 19 July, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays have been flying to 32 green and amber destinations.
This programme represents about 55% of the airline’s pre-Covid summer 2019 capacity.
Meeson said because of the continuing short-term uncertainty resulting from the UK Government’s three-weekly review of its traffic light system, customers have been booking significantly closer to departure during summer 2021.
He added: “Despite the limited booking visibility, pleasingly, we have generated positive financial contribution from the flying to date, supported by our quick to market, flexible operating model.
“The slower momentum for winter 21/22 bookings which we reported in our Preliminary Results in early July has remained.
“As a result, bookings have yet to match our on-sale seat capacity and therefore pricing for both our leisure travel products – end-to-end package holidays with Jet2holidays and flight-only seats with Jet2.com – will need to remain consistently enticing.
“The overall winter 21/22 capacity remains under continuous review.”
He said that for summer 2022, Jet2 plans to fly to all its popular leisure destinations, noting that bookings to date are “encouraging”.
“We remain optimistic that summer 2022 will be a considerable improvement on both summer 2020 and summer 2021,” he said.
“We believe opportunities for financially strong, resilient and trusted operators will only increase as travel restrictions are lifted.
“As at 30 August, our ‘Own Cash’ balance (excluding customer deposits) was £1.52bn (4 July 2021: £1.46bn), an increase of £0.46bn on 31 March 2021 (£1.06bn).
“We are confident that once normality returns, our customers will be determined to enjoy the wonderful experience of a Jet2 holiday and that Jet2.com and Jet2holidays will continue to have a thriving future.”
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Carclo, which manufactures fine tolerance injection moulded plastic parts, says it has made an encouraging start to the 2022 financial year maintaining the momentum built in the second half of the prior year.
In an update for the first four months of its financial year ending 31 March 2022, the Wakefield-based firm says it has been trading ahead of management’s expectations, with performance also ahead of the equivalent prior period.
The Carclo Technical Plastics (CTP) division has performed strongly despite operational headwinds.
Specifically, labour availability in the division’s US businesses has been challenging in the early part of FY22, although this is expected to improve in the coming months as Government support packages come to an end.
Carclo says availability and pricing of raw materials has also been difficult in recent months as general supply and logistics issues impact the business.
Some of the resultant input cost inflation has been offset by sales price increases. Inventories have also been held at a higher level to protect against supply disruption.
Carclo adds that its Aerospace division has experienced early signs of market recovery with order intake exceeding sales for the first four months of FY22 following a FY21 where sales exceeded order intake.
In addition to a general market improvement, the division has been successful in winning business with new customers in line with its long-term strategy.
Cash generation has also continued to be good in the first four months of FY22 and ahead of the prior year, with net debt as at 31 July 2021 of £28.4m and net debt excluding lease liabilities of £21.8m.
