EasyJet Plc share price up, boosts full-year earnings projection

British budget airline EasyJet Plc raised its full-year earnings projection, boosted by lower-than-expected fuel costs and by extra passengers during a recent two-week pilot walkout at Air France-KLM.

According to EasyJets statement, the company expects a pretax profit estimated in the range from £575 million to £580 million in the fiscal year ended September 30th, compared to its previous forecast of between £545 and £570 million.

Robin Byde, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, commented for Reuters: “We think that easyJet will continue to take market share from the flag carriers in key markets such as Germany, France and Italy as these companies attempt to restructure their own short-haul operations.”

The budget airlines upward forecast revision is partly due to lower fuel expenses, which will add £2 million to its profit. Results were also boosted by around £15 million from a year earlier thanks to favorable currency movements.

The airline also benefited from an increased passenger flow as two-week pilot strikes at Air France forced travelers to seek alternative carriers. In September, the UK-based company carried 6.14 million people, up 7.5% from 5.71 million a year earlier. A gauge of how efficiently planes are filled – the so-called load factor – rose to 92.2% from 89.7%.

France, together with Germany and Italy, is one of the largest markets of EasyJet. The British airline has a base at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, Air Frances main hub, which helped it boost revenue by £5 million during the strike at the French national airline.

EasyJet Plc rose by 6.56% to trade at GBX1 461 per share at 13:01 GMT, marking a one year change of +14.55%. The company is valued at £5.44 billion based on Thursdays close. According to the Financial Times, the 22 analysts offering 12-month price targets for EasyJet Plc have a median target of GBX1 706, with a high estimate of GBX2 100 and a low estimate of GBX1 150. The median estimate represents a 24.4% increase from the previous close of GBX1 371.