Wizz Air returns to full-year profit amid 'sustained' demand

(Sharecast News) - Budget airline Wizz Air said on Thursday that it returned to profit in the year to the end of March amid "sustained" demand. The company swung to a profit of €365.9m from a loss of €535.1m a year earlier as revenue jumped 30.2% to €5bn.

Passenger numbers rose 21.4% during the year to a record 62 million. The load factor - which gauges how the full planes are - improved to 90.1% from 87.8%.

Chief executive József Váradi said: "Sustained healthy demand for air travel across our markets was a defining feature of F24, signalling that the surge witnessed post pandemic has evolved into a longer-term trend in consumer behaviour. Wizz Air has been strongly positioned for this trend as reflected in our performance for the year.

"We placed a sharp focus on increasing utilisation, improving load factors and lowering unit costs (fuel and ex-fuel), and continued to invest in our operations. Our efforts saw us carry a record number of passengers during the year, return to profitability and reduce financial leverage while maintaining our total cash position."

The airline said current trading indicators are positive, with selling load factors trending higher year-on-year in the first two fiscal quarters and unit revenue performing equally well.