Wizz Air profits and revenue soar to record success in 2015
Wizz Air has been flying high since it floated in February.
The figures
Eastern Europe's largest low-cost airline achieved record results in 2015, with profits up at €146m (£103m) for the 12 months to 31 March – a 67 per cent increase from €87m in 2014.
Revenue also went up by 21 per cent to €1,227, and the number of passengers carried increased by 18 per cent from 13.8m to 16.5m
The gains were made despite high costs elsewhere, such as the €2.8m spent on the IPO.
Why it's interesting
The Hungarian airline floated in February, and so far shareholders have responded very positively – share price as been on a steep upward path since then. Today's news also had a good impact on share price, which increased by 1.56 per cent to £1.47 in morning trading.
The company has invested heavily in increasing its fleet, with nine additions made to the Airbus A320s in 2015, while two new bases and 63 new routes were opened.
It expects to have another successful year in 2016 with continued expansion. Capacity is forecast to grow by around 17 per cent during the period, while profit is set to hit between €165m and €175m.
What Wizz Air said
Joseph Varadi, chief executive of the company, said:
The last 12 months have been an exciting period for Wizz Air. Having successfully listed on the London Stock Exchange, we have continued to grow our network and increase our passenger numbers throughout the period while maintaining an industry leading, ultra low cost base. Today we are pleased to announce a record set of results for the full year with a strong performance against all key operating and financial performance measures.
In short
Wizz Air is on a winning streak, and the low-cost airline expects this to continue for the next year at least.