Aer Lingus today announced its results for the period from 1st July to 30th September 2012, with an operating profit of €90.9 million resulting in “an excellent overall performance” for the first nine months of 2012. Operating profit to date in 2012 is now €86.5 million, 29.7% ahead of the previous year.
Total passenger numbers in 3Q12 (including Aer Lingus Regional) increased by 2.0%, while the overall yield per passenger increased by 7.2%. Long-haul yields remained particularly strong, increasing by 11.5% on the previous year.
Passenger revenue for the third quarter was 5.5% ahead of 3Q11 driven by positive variances in yield and load factor. This positive revenue performance helped to offset the impact of higher fuel and airport charges.
Aer Lingus’s gross cash at 30th September 2012 was €990.8 million, €63.5 million up on 2011, after allowing for a total €16 million dividend payment to shareholders in 3Q12.
Chief Executive Christoph Mueller said: “The positive 3Q12 result reflects the on-going success of our strategy to manage capacity deployment across the network, concentrating on serving higher yielding, time sensitive demand and continuing to focus on cost reduction. I am particularly proud that our team has achieved this result against the backdrop of the third Ryanair offer for the Group.
“Passenger yields and load factors increased across both short- and long-haul services in Q3 and total passengers carried increased by 2.0%. We over-achieved our ‘Greenfield’ cost saving target with more than €100 million annual savings and were also pleased to pay our first dividend to shareholders during the period.
“Overall, this strong Q3 result follows on from a solid 2012 first-half performance. We remain focused on achieving continued cost savings and greater efficiency within the business against a challenging macro-economic backdrop, an increasingly competitive environment and continued inflation in fuel prices and airport charges.
“Forward bookings at the end of Q3 were stronger than in the same period last year. Due to increased demand, an additional aircraft is required to serve our long-haul network on the North Atlantic. Fortunately, we have an A330 returning to our fleet from the extended codeshare with United Airlines and we will redeploy this aircraft to serve our North Atlantic market.”
