The fortunes of the Brexit-beaten easyJet and Vodafone have diverged in 2017, with the budget airliner struggling under the weight of a growing headline loss.
Easyjet wrapped up the first half of the year with another headline loss, following several consecutive quarters of profit warnings and Brexit-related hardship.
For the six months to 31 March, it posted a £212m headline loss, up substantially from the £21m loss the year prior.
Post-Brexit, the low-cost carrier has suffered, issuing two profit warnings in 2016 and seeing close to 30% wiped off its share price value in the days after the Brexit vote.
Despite easyJet’s performance during Tuesday trading, the FTSE 100 remained resilient, reaching another record high and inching closer to the 7,500 mark.
Weaker sterling and the later timing of Easter affected the airliner’s bottom line over the period to the tune of £127m.
Although easyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall tried to soothe investors by reiterating that the first half loss was “in line with market expectations,” shares in the airliner touched down 5.13% lower at 1242.7p.
The Share Centre’s investment research analyst Ian Forrest admits that while the “increase in losses is disappointing, it is not unexpected and easyJet is clearly seeing continued demand for its routes.”
Revenue per seat decreased by 4.9% to £48.80 but the FTSE 100 airliner did attract as record number of passengers, as a lower fuel price sustained low pricing.
And McCall confirmed that “bookings for the summer are ahead of last year, showing that demand to fly remains strong.”
Another positive piece of news from the update, according to Forrest, was the company’s headway in securing a European Air Operator certificate to address post-Brexit concerns.
