easyJet obtained a pre-tax profit of £85 million (€99 million) in its third fiscal quarter, which represents a collapse of 70% compared to the £286 million (€334.8 million) recorded in the same period of the previous year. The company attributes this sharp decline to the rise in fuel costs and the weakening of demand following the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East in March.
In a statement, the group detailed that the cost of fuel increased by 13%, which translates to an additional £105 million (€123 million), mainly due to higher prices in the uncovered part.
Between April and June, the British airline detected intense last-minute booking activity in the month of departure itself, although this surge did not fully compensate for the previous weakness in ticket sales resulting from the conflict.
Regarding the rest of the financial figures, easyJet's revenues grew by 2% in the third quarter, reaching £2.983 billion (€3.492 billion). However, EBITDA decreased by 38%, to £304 million (€356 million).
The company operated 29 million seats, with a load factor of 88.9%, which is 0.3 percentage points lower. The volume of passengers remained practically stable, at 25.8 million.
In the holiday packages segment, easyJet Holidays generated a pre-tax profit of £84 million (€98 million), in line with the previous year. However, excluding exchange rate variations, the year-on-year increase reached 7%, highlighting the "strength" of the model.
On the corporate front, the group announced changes in the board of directors. David Morgan is retiring as Chief Operating Officer and will be replaced by Sophie Dekkers, who was previously the commercial director. After an external selection process, Daniel Skjeldam, with a background in Norwegian Air Shuttle, will take over as Chief Commercial Officer starting September 1.
Regarding the full fiscal year 2026, the company maintains an optimistic tone and expects capacity to increase by around 6% year-on-year, while the number of seats will grow by approximately 3% compared to the previous year.
The airline also noted that the profitability of tickets already sold for the fourth quarter remains stable. The occupancy factor is two percentage points below that of a year ago, an improvement compared to the three percentage point gap recorded in May.
Furthermore, it emphasizes that last-minute bookings continue to be "solid" and that reservations made further in advance of the departure month are beginning to show signs of recovery, although they "still need some price stimulus."
In relation to fuel, the group warns that the behavior of prices remains uncertain for the last fiscal quarter due to high volatility. easyJet currently has a coverage of 79% and 62% for the first half of the year 2027.
Bidding war for control of easyJet
In parallel to these results, easyJet is immersed in a struggle between two American private equity funds. Castlelake launched its first proposal in May, but the airline's board rejected four offers before preliminarily accepting a fifth proposal of £6.90 per share.
Subsequently, Apollo burst into the operation with a higher offer of £7.15 per share, which has gained the backing of easyJet itself.
For now, it is unknown whether Castlelake will present a new improvement to its proposal or if it will choose to withdraw before the deadline on August 3. In parallel, Apollo must communicate its final decision before August 7.