British low-cost airline easyJet said annual earnings rose 21 per cent after rising passenger numbers helped offset high fuel costs and lower fares.
EasyJet said pretax profit for the year to end-September 2004 was £62.2 million sterling ($115.6 million), compared with £51.5 million a year ago.
The result compared with analysts' consensus forecasts of £60.3 million, according to Reuters Research, and the company's guidance for profits to exceed £60 million.
The airline said today it expected total revenue per passenger to be flat in the first quarter of the current year but warned of a tough winter and did not provide an outlook due to the uncertainty of future fares and oil prices.
"We continue to have limited visibility in regard to future fares, however we expect the remaining months of winter to be challenging and that competition will be intense," Chief Executive Ray Webster said in a statement.
It said total revenue per passenger fell 2 per cent to £44.82 in the year due to increased competition although a 20 per cent jump in passenger numbers and improved load factors pushed overall revenues higher.
The company announced in September it plans to peg back fleet expansion plans to 16 per cent in 2005, instead of 24 per cent previously planned and to cut costs.
Icelandair bought just over 10 percent of easyJet last month, fuelling talk of a possible takeover bid. The Iceland carrier has said the move was purely a long-term trade investment.