Final Results
Drive demand, conversion and yields across Europe
· Total revenue per seat increased by 1.2% on a reported basis, and by 1.9% on a constant currency basis to £63.31 in a higher capacity environment. The growth in revenue per seat was driven in part by a number of digital and revenue management initiatives and a continued focus on capital allocation. Second half revenue per seat on a constant currency basis grew by 1.9%.
· Seats flown grew by 5.1% to 71.5 million.
· Load factors increased by 1.3 percentage points to 90.6% and passenger numbers rose by 6.6% to 64.8 million.
Maintain cost advantage
· Cost per seat excluding fuel decreased by 1.2% on a reported basis but increased by 0.6% on a constant currency basis to £37.70 driven by increases in charges at regulated airports offset by the continued delivery of easyJet lean initiatives. Second half cost per seat on a constant currency basis increased by 0.7%.
· easyJet lean delivered sustainable savings of £32 million in the year of which £18 million were delivered in the second half.
· CFM selected to supply engines for future deliveries of current and new generation aircraft delivering one-off cost savings.
Build strong number one and two network positions
· New bases opened at Hamburg and Naples during the year and new bases announced for Amsterdam and Porto.
· easyJet started flying the former Flybe slots at London Gatwick on 30 March 2014.
· Options and purchase rights exercised over 35 A320 aircraft to take advantage of profitable growth opportunities.
Disciplined use of capital
· Return on capital employed grew by 3.1 percentage points to 20.5%.
· easyJet ended the financial year with £985 million of cash and money market deposits, a decrease of £252 million against the position at 30 September 2013 which reflects the continued cash generation of the business offset by the payment of a £133 million ordinary dividend and a special dividend of £175 million to shareholders in the year, pre-delivery payments for new aircraft and repayment of borrowings.
· The Board is recommending an increased ordinary dividend to shareholders of £180 million or 45.4 pence a share based on its enhanced ordinary dividend policy of paying out 40% of annual profit after tax.