LONDON, Feb 7 (AFP) - British low-cost airline easyJet announced Monday that it carried 2.08 million passengers in January -- an increase of 23.8 percent on the same month last year.
EasyJet said it was "performing positively" during the second quarter, but warned of "continued intense competition" in the sector.
The no-frills airline said the load factor -- passengers as a proportion of the number of seats available -- was 76.4 percent, down 0.8 percentage points on January 2004.
The total number of passengers increased by 22.8 percent in the twelve months to January to 26.1 million people.
In afternoon trade, shares in the no-frills airline dipped 1.7 percent to 228 pence, having earlier touched 238 pence -- its highest level since last June 2004 but still well below last year's high of 380 pence, reached before two profit warnings.
Figures for the first quarter (October to December 2004) were broadly in line with the company's forecasts, the airline said in a trading update.
Total revenue per passenger slipped 0.8 percent to 41.87 pounds (59.80 euros) during the last three months of 2004, while the load factor rose 0.6 points to 83.0 percent when compared to the same period in 2003.
The airline said a 2.0 percent drop in average fares to 39.04 pounds was offset by a focus on ancillary revenue -- through improvements to on-board services and its excess baggage policy -- which increased by 21 percent as a result.
First-quarter total revenue rose by 18.3 percent to 1.147 billion pounds, driven by a 26 percent increase in passenger numbers to 6.7 million.
US broker Merrill Lynch reiterated its 'neutral' stance on easyJet, adding that both British Airways and Ryanair have highlighted a firmer revenue backdrop during the December quarter.
Merrill said investors may be disappointed that easyJet's pricing was 2.0 percent down in the quarter -- given that the airline should have benefited from fuel surcharges imposed on passengers by the major carriers.
"To date the second quarter (of which January is the first month) is performing positively; however, as with any airline, visibility remains limited, and part of the positive performance will be due to the timing of Easter," said easyJet chief executive Ray Webster.
"We have had a sound first quarter with load factor and total revenue per passenger little changed from last year," he added.
He added a note of caution, however, saying that easyJet's business plan was based on "an outlook for continued instense competition" in the low-cost airline sector.
02/07/2005 16:30 GMT - AFP