In a trading statement for the six months ended 31 March 2022, easyJet reported that it had reduced its year on year losses, outperforming expectations. The airline’s total group revenue and headline costs for the first half are expected to be around £1,500 million and around £2,050 million respectively. easyJet noted that pricing remained competitive during the first half, although added that its ancillary products continued to deliver, with revenue per seat sold of £19.56 (£12.47 in H1'19).
easyJet’s balance sheet remains strong, with a net debt position of c.£0.6 billion as of end March 2021 (30 September 2021: £0.9 billion) including cash and cash equivalents and money market deposits of c.£3.5 billion.
During the first half of the year, easyJet confirmed it had entered into sale and leaseback (SLK) transactions for 10 A319s, generating total gross cash proceeds of $120 million and a loss of c.£20 million during the six months to 31 March.
During Q2 easyJet flew 67% of FY19 capacity in line with expectations; while its load factor for Q2 was 78%, due to the impact of Omicron on customers' confidence and ability to travel during the early part of the quarter. The airline noted that load factor has built back during the second quarter as travel restrictions eased across the network.
easyJet operated at 80% of FY19 capacity in March and reported a “strong and sustained recovery in trading” with summer bookings for the last six weeks tracking ahead of the same period in FY19 as customers book closer to departure.
easyJet has very little exposure in Eastern Europe, with no routes into Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.
"easyJet's performance in the second quarter has been driven by improved trading following the UK Government's decision to relax testing restrictions with an extra boost from self-help measures which saw us outperform market expectations,” said Johan Lundgren, easyJet Chief Executive. "Since travel restrictions were removed, easyJet has seen a strong recovery in trading which has been sustained, resulting in a positive outlook for Easter and beyond, with daily booking volumes for summer currently tracking ahead of those at the same time in FY19.
"We remain confident in our plans which will see us reaching near 2019 flying levels for this summer and emerge as one of the winners in the recovery."
easyJet expects to report a group headline loss before tax in the range of £535 million and £565 million for the six months ended 31 March 2022. easyJet expects Q3 capacity to be c.90% of Q3 2019 levels. Q4 FY22 capacity on sale remains at near Q4 2019 levels.
The airline achieved an average effective fuel price in H1 FY22 of c.US$599 per metric tonne. easyJet is currently c.64% hedged for fuel in H2 of FY22 at c.US$571 per metric tonne, c.42% hedged for H1 FY23 at c.US$654 and c.15% hedged for H2 FY23 at c.US$766. The spot price on 11 April 2022 was around US$1,100.