Jet2 Holidays owner warns ‘much will depend’ on Brexit deal
The parent of Jet2 has warned “much will depend” on whether the government gets a Brexit deal for the holiday business’s prospects in the coming years.
Yorkshire-based Dart Group said it was unclear whether Jet2’s demand would remain “buoyant” without knowing how negotiations with the EU will pan out.
Nevertheless, it reported solid trading over the all-important summer period, which saw one of its main rivals, Thomas Cook, fall into liquidation.
Shares rose six per cent today.
Pre-tax profit grew three per cent to £349.8m in the six months ending 30 September. Revenue grew 16 per cent to £2.6bn.
The company sold 2.7m package holidays over the period, up from 2.3m the year before. Meanwhile it’s flight-only product saw an eight per cent growth in passengers to 4.75m.
However, operating profit margin fell two percentage points to 14 per cent. This was down to “cost headwinds” including “fuel, foreign exchange, carbon and other operating charges,” according to chair Philip Meeson.
“Looking further ahead, whether the currently encouraging consumer demand for our products remains buoyant in the medium term is unclear as we believe that much will depend on the UK government securing a pragmatic and balanced Brexit agreement with the EU,” he said.
Meeson added that he expected the company to turn a loss over the quieter winter period, “as is typical for the business”.