EASYJET is cruising towards record annual profits of £703million.
The budget airline welcomed 18.2million passengers in the first three months of 2025 — up 8 per cent on the same period a year ago.
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EasyJet also plans to reopen its Newcastle base, which was shut in 2020 during the pandemic.
It made losses of £394million for the six months to the end of March, after a hard winter and late Easter.
But that was a “slight improvement” of about £50million when the later timing of Easter was taken into account.
There was good news from the firm’s package holiday arm which made pre-tax profits of £44million in the six-month period, a 42 per cent increase year-on-year.
Total revenue during the period climbed 8 per cent to £3.53billion, comprising increases of 5 per cent from passenger sales, 7 per cent from ancillary and 29 per cent from its holidays arm.
Ancillary revenue, from extra charges for cabin baggage, priority boarding or food, came in at £978million by the end of the period, up from £911million a year ago.
Chief executive Kenton Jarvis said: “We remain focused on delivering another record summer this year, expecting to drive strong earnings growth as we progress towards our target of sustainably generating over £1billion of annual profit before tax.”
In further good news for the North East, easyJet said it would launch the new base at Newcastle International next spring, creating 130 jobs for pilots, crew and engineers.
Airport boss Nick Jones said the move was “a significant boost to the local economy by creating high-quality jobs and attracting more inbound visitors to the region”.
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DISCOUNTDOWN
DISCOUNT store Poundland should be sold by September, according to owners Pepco.
The firm hopes to flog the 818-branch chain for just £1 so it can focus on its more profitable European chains.
Poland-based Pepco, which bought the business in 2016, has struggled to make it profitable and revenues fell 6.5 per cent for the six months to March.
Boss Stephan Borchert called trading “challenging”.
Potential buyers are believed to include US firm Gordon Brothers, which used to own Laura Ashley.
MITCHELLS & BUTLERS, the owner of Toby Carvery, said pre-tax profit rose 24 per cent to £134million in the last six months thanks to its Harvester and All Bar One chains.
It warned costs are rising but they would be offset by rising sales.
BT INCOME CALL
TELECOMS giant BT has warned that earnings will be flat this year as it concentrates on cost-cutting and plans to refocus on its UK business.
It has already saved £900million and cut its workforce by 8 per cent as part of plans to axe up to 55,000 jobs by 2030.
Chief executive Allison Kirkby is leading a revamp of the business since taking over last year and is considering flogging or breaking up its international arm.
Underlying earnings rose 1 per cent to £8.21billion in the year to the end of March.
PROFITS WILT FOR BLOOMS
SHARES in Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury fell 17 per cent yesterday after it revealed weaker profits, despite selling more books in the last year.
Pre-tax profits slipped by 22 per cent to £32.5million for the year to the end of February.
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Boss Nigel Newton remained upbeat, saying the business is “monetising academic content through AI deals in our authors’ best interests”.
It benefited by expanding its consumer portfolio, which includes genres like fantasy, cosy crime and cookery, and it has a strong release list for the new financial year.
Revenues in its non-consumer division, which publishes academic publications, grew 12 per cent to £105million.
Bloomsbury snapped up US publisher Rowman & Littlefield last year.
Mr Newton said: “Trading for 2025/26 is expected to be in line with current consensus expectations.”
DESKING HOTS UP
PROPERTY giant British Land said staff are flocking back to the office in central London, with midweek occupancy rates returning to pre-pandemic levels.
It said rents in the capital had rocketed in the last year, helping it post a 4 per cent rise in profits to £279million.
Earlier this week, HSBC bosses told staff they could lose bonuses unless they were back behind their desks for at least three days a week.
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