Jet2.com owner resilient despite volcanic ash cloud profit loss
DISRUPTION caused by Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajoekull has dented Jet2.com owner Dart Group’s profits by £2.8m.
The group said today in a pre-close trading update that it had been forced to cancel more than 400 flights to date and had incurred additional costs associated with providing alternative transportation to repatriate its Jet2.com and Jet2holiday.com passengers.
It said that should disruption continue the subsequent profit impact would be around £350,000 per day.
However, it added that the board was comfortable that the group has sufficient financial resources to withstand “a considerable period of disruption”.
Notwithstanding the current impact of the volcanic disruption, Jet2.com scheduled booking volumes for summer 2010 are currently ahead of both market expectations and the prior year.
Since the announcement of its interim results in November last year, the group has continued to trade in line with expectations over the second half of that financial year.
Jet2.com has benefited from a continued cautious approach to its scheduled flying supplemented by its charter trading performance.
The group purchased a further Boeing 757-200 aircraft in January to support the group’s expansion into East Midlands.
Fowler Welch-Coolchain, Dart Group’s chilled and ambient distribution and logistics business, continues to perform in line with expectations.
The division is to purchase a 55,000 pallet capacity distribution centre and warehouse at Heywood, near Manchester to support its continued expansion in the North West.
This purchase will double the size of Fowler Welch-Coolchain’s national distribution centre footprint to over one million sq ft.
Dart Group said: “Overall, as a result of continued satisfactory trading performance in challenging market conditions, the board expects the group’s full year results for the financial year ended to be in line with market expectations. Cash flow generation remains strong.”
The group expects to announce its preliminary results for the year ended March 31, 2010 on June 24.
