Results round-up

Wizz Air shares flew higher on Wednesday after reporting a 52.2% jump in first quarter pre-tax profit to €52.3m.

The low-cost European airline achieved a 9.8% increase in revenue to €364.9m in the three months to 30 June as the number of passengers carried grew 17.9% to 5.8m.

The load factor, which measures the number of passengers carried against the number of seats available, rose 0.7 percentage points to 89.5%.

“While Wizz Air is not immune to the recent challenges in our industry we believe our ultra-low cost base, diversified point-to-point network and ability to adjust capacity quickly when needed enables us to better respond to these challenges than many other European airlines and also means we are well placed to exploit market opportunities as they arise,” said chief executive Jozsef Varadi.

During the period the company expanded its fleet to 70 aircraft with three A321 planes.

The group confirmed its full year guidance for underlying net profit of €245-€255m. Wizz Air said the forecast was “heavily dependent on summer trading and also the second half revenue performance, a period for which the company currently has limited visibility”.

National full-service commercial law firm Gateley posted its full-year results for the 12 months to 30 April on Tuesday - its maiden set of results as a public limited company following admission of the group to trading on AIM on 8 June 2015.

During the period, the firm’s revenue increased 10.2% to £67.1m, with adjusted EBITDA improving 13.3% to £12.8m.

Profit before tax increased 12.2% to £11m, and basic earnings per share went up 5.7% to 8.18p.

The company’s board proposed a total year dividend of 5.639p.

It held cash at period end of £9.8m, an increase from £2.7m at the start of the financial year, while net cash flow from operating activities was strong at 122% of profit after tax before one-off transitional charges, the board said.

“I am pleased to report that the group has performed well in its first year as a public company,” said Gateley CEO Michael Ward.