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Wizz Air Holdings PLC said on Thursday that its annual loss before tax had narrowed and its revenue had more than doubled in a ‘year of significant growth’. For its financial year ended March 31, the Budapest-based budget airline’s pretax loss narrowed by 12% to €564.6 million from €641.5 million the previous year. Revenue more than doubled to €3.90 billion from €1.66 billion the prior year. Wizz Air said this was due to an 88% increase in the number of passengers it carried, rising to 51.1 million from 27.1 million the prior year. ‘Financial year 2023 was a year of significant growth for the business, with our key operational and financial performance metrics moving in the right direction as we transition into the post-COVID era,’ said Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi. ‘The effects of fuel price increases and structural capacity issues at airports remained features throughout the year, but we are mitigating these through decisive actions which helped to improve ex-fuel cost performance.’ The company’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation swung to a profit of €134.3 million from a loss of €23.3 million, which the company said was driven by improved financial and operational performances in the second-half of its financial year. Net financial expenses decreased to €176.2 million from €97.9 million, and underlying net loss similarly improved, standing at €535.1 million compared to €642.5 million the previous year. Total cash at March 31 stood at €1.53 billion, up from €1.38 billion on the same date last year. The company paid no dividend in its financial year, unchanged from the past two financial years. Looking forward, Wizz Air said it was optimistic for the current financial year. The company expects net profit to be in the range between €350 million and €450 million in the next financial year. ‘We are now well placed to continue to drive profitable growth through the rest of the decade and beyond,’ said CEO Varadi. ‘Today we are a more resilient business and expect this year to deliver a new set of record operational and strong financial reports.’ Wizz Air Holdings shares were up 2.9% at 2,859.00 pence in London on Thursday. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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