Wizz Air's interim profit flies high as traffic increases

Budget airline Wizz Air posted an increase in interim profit, driven higher by an increase in the number of passengers it carried in the period.

In the six months to 30 September, the carrier posted a 16% year-on-year increase in pre-tax profit to €190.9m (£123.8m), while revenue grew 15% to €836.4m and the number of passengers carried rose 20.8% to 10.7m.

The Central and Eastern Europe-focused airline added it will increase capacity by 18% in the full year, although it warned a downward trend in unit revenues will continue in the second six months of the year as lower fuel prices feed through to cheaper air fares.

Wizz Air said it expects underlying profit for the year to be between €190m and €200m, thanks to strong third quarter bookings and a positive first half performance.

"We have a strong balance sheet, proven management team, best-in-class fleet and leading market position in CEE. This winning formula leaves Wizz Air well placed to continue to deliver significant growth and returns for our shareholders," said group chief executive Jozsef Varadi, whose contract has been extended for another five years.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the FTSE 250 group said its load factor increased by 1.9 percentage points in October to 88.2%, while the number of passengers carried in October rose 23% year-on-year to 1.7m.

Wizz Air shares were down 5.21% to 1,830.40p at 0858 GMT on Wednesday.