Fastjet has incurred an operating loss of $41.2 million, wider than the $11.2 million seen last year, which it blamed on one-off exceptional items of $23.9 million arising from the capital raise performed in December 2018.
The group also posted underlying net operating loss of around $0.2 million on revenue of around $9.5 million, compared to a loss of $7.8 million on revenue of $13.8 million in the corresponding quarter of 2018. This figure is considerably less than results posted a year earlier, which saw a $7.8m million loss on revenue of $13.8 million.
The company has said that the results are due to a seasonally weaker demand period and further impacted by two cyclones in Mozambique, Desmond, which took place in January and Idai which happened in March, as well as by fuel protests and currency volatility in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, provisional figures for the 12 months in 2018, saw revenue increase by 166% to $38.3 million, driven by an increase in passenger numbers.
"Despite the impact of cyclones in Mozambique at the start of the current year and continued fuel protests and currency volatility in Zimbabwe, Fastjet is making progress and expects to generate a marginal underlying operating profit for 2019, with further route expansion planned for Zimbabwe in the second half of the coming year, as well as a brand entry into South Africa in 2020," said chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout.