Wizz Air Holdings Plc (LON:WIZZ), the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, today provides a trading update for the year ended 31 March 2019.
Wizz Air confirms that trading in the fourth quarter of the financial year ended 31 March 2019 is in line with expectations and the Company expects to deliver a net profit for the year in the upper half of its guidance range of between €270m and €300m.
Demand across the Company’s markets remains robust as demonstrated by our March 2019 traffic statistics issued this morning with load factors up a healthy 2.6ppts to 94.1% year-on-year. The Company has also experienced an excellent operational performance in March with only one cancelled flight compared to 68 in March 2018 and on-time-performance also improved by 10ppts to 85%.
The new financial year has started well with Revenue per Available Seat per Kilometre (‘RASK’) forecast +4% year-on-year in the first quarter on 18% ASK growth. This revenue performance is driven by the strength in the Company’s ancillary revenues which is expected to continue into the summer and also the timing of Easter. Cost discipline remains at the heart of our business model and ex-fuel CASK in the first quarter will be broadly flat year-on-year.
The Company has successfully taken delivery of its first two game-changing Airbus A321 NEO aircraft taking its fleet to 112 aircraft as at 31 March 2019. The continued rollout of these larger and more fuel efficient aircraft which combined with the Company’s industry leading unit costs, a highly valued employee base and investment grade balance sheet makes Wizz Air a structural winner in the European airline industry.
The Company will issue its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2019 on 31 May 2019 at which point will provide full year guidance for F20 as well as an outlook for the all-important summer trading.
ABOUT WIZZ AIR
Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, operates a fleet of 112 Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 aircraft, and offers more than 650 routes from 25 bases, connecting 146 destinations across 44 countries. At Wizz Air, a team of more than 4,500 aviation professionals delivers superior service and very low ticket prices making Wizz Air the preferred choice of over 34 million passengers in the past 12 months. Wizz Air is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker WIZZ and is included in the FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share Indices. Wizz Air is registered under the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), the global benchmark in airline safety recognition. The company recently received the highest 7-star safety rating by airlineratings.com, the world’s only safety and product rating agency, and was recently named 2017 – European Airline of the Year by Aviation 100, a renowned annual publication that recognizes the year’s most outstanding performers in the aerospace industry.
