British low-cost airline easyJet reported a 13.8 per cent increase in May passenger numbers today, and said it would offset falling revenues per seat by cutting costs.
Average loadings fell 0.3 percentage points to 83.6 per cent of capacity. "Strong load factors, which were broadly in line with last year, were supported by targeted promotional activity and low lead-in fares," it said in a statement.
"For the second half we anticipate total revenue per seat to decline in the region of 5 per cent to 10 per cent versus last year," it added.
EasyJet said it would increase cost-cutting in the second half, aiming to cut costs by 5 per cent year-on-year, and left its guidance unchanged for the year to September.
"We expect to increase pretax profits by 40 per cent to 50 per cent compared with the previous year," it said.
Goldman Sachs raised its recommendation on easyJet to Neutral from Sell and removed the carrier from its pan-European sell list.
EasyJet shares rose 1.2 per cent to 527-1/2 pence by 0834 GMT, after losing 28 per cent of their value since the start of May, when carriers reported weak April traffic data.