The title loses 3.5% on profit taking (Updated with … – Bourse Les Echos

LONDON, Nov. 17 (Reuters) – easyJet said Tuesday that demand for flights in Europe was strong and ordered 36 more Airbus A320s after publishing an annual profit up 18%

. The CEO of British airline noted, however, that a series of shocks, including deadly bombings in Paris Friday and the crash of a Russian aircraft in the Sinai in late October, had a negative impact on the sector, while providing a rapid return to normal activity.

“We are still seeing a downturn, but also to a fairly rapid recovery in travel,” said Carolyn McCall to the press on the occasion of the publication financial results of the company.

At the global level, easyJet, Europe’s second low-cost carrier Ryanair behind, said customers had continued to buy air tickets, bookings advance being consistent with those of a year ago.

This winter, its rival Ryanair spoke of a price war in Europe in a fuel price drop context.

But easyJet instead provides only “slight decline” in revenue per seat at constant exchange rates for the six months to end-March and was confident in the future.

“Our long-term outlook is positive,” said Carolyn McCall in a statement. “We will have a 7% growth per year in passengers, while maintaining margins through rigorous cost control and profit from the increase in the size of aircraft in our fleet, which will create a positive dynamic . “

The title easyJet loses 3,53vers 10:45 GMT on the London Stock Exchange, a decline that analysts attribute to profit taking after a sharp rise. The stock has gained 13% in the last 12 months while the London FTSE-100 index lost about 6% over the period.

The British airline reported earnings before tax of 686 million pounds ($ 976.5 million) for its fiscal year to end of September, a figure consistent with its objective statement two months ago that was between 675 and 700 million pounds, thanks to a vacation request to record sea ​​and getaways in foreign cities.

The turnover rose 3.5% on the year to 4.69 billion pounds, up 6.5 % at constant exchange rates.

EasyJet has decided to exercise the rights to purchase 30 A320neo as part of an agreement signed with Airbus in 2013, to which is added a command current generation of six A320s. These aircraft will be delivered between 2018 and 2021 to allow the company to reach 27 million pounds of new cost savings, the company said. (Sarah Young, Juliette Rouillon for the French service, edited by Veronique Tison)