easyJet said today (September 22) it expects a pre-tax profit of between £240m-250m for the year ending September 30, 2011.
This exceeds a previous estimate of £200m-230m for the 12 months.
The low cost carrier said the increased surplus meant that it would also pay a higher dividend to its shareholders.
As well as paying a £40m ordinary dividend, the carrier said it also planned a one off payment of £150m to shareholders. Taken togetehr this amounts to a 44p dividend on each share.
Sir Stelios Haji-Oannou, the founder of the airline who has been in dispute with it over its buying policy, stands to receive about £72m for his family’s 37% holding.
A pre-close statement by the carrier said the airline’s performance over the year had been “robust across the network, with particular strength on city routes used by business and short break leisure travellers.”
This had led to an increase in total revenue per seat for the second half of the year of around 6% and of 3% for the whole 12 months.
For the future, the airline said a third of the seats available inthe first quarter of the next financial year were already booked, about the same level as last year.
With fuel costs still rising, easyJet estimated its fuel bill will rise in 2012 by about £220m.
It also expected higher costs through theintroduction next January of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) as well as increased costs at airports in the UK, Spain and Italy.
Carolyn McCall, easyJet’s ceo, said: “easyJet’s strong operational and record financial performance this year reflects the successful implementation of our strategy.
“Despite an increasingly difficult environment for airlines, the strength of easyJet’s performance means that it is able to return approximately £190m to shareholders demonstrating the resilience of the model, and that it is well-positioned to continue its success across Europe.”