Wizz Air Holdings Plc Reports Impressive Full Year Results for FY23

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Wizz Air Holdings Plc (LON:WIZZ), Europe’s fastest growing and highly sustainable airline, has announced its audited results for the full year ended 31 March 2023 (“F23”). This period showcased remarkable achievements, underscoring the company’s resilience and growth in the post-COVID era.

Key Financial Highlights:

Passengers carried surged to an impressive 51,071,836, marking a substantial growth of 88.3% compared to the previous year (27,128,160 passengers).
Revenue soared to €3,895.7 million, representing an extraordinary increase of 134.2% from €1,663.4 million in the prior year.
The Company achieved a significant milestone with positive EBITDA of €134.3 million, compared to a negative EBITDA of €23.3 million in the previous year.
EBITDA margin demonstrated substantial improvement, reaching 3.4% compared to -1.4% in the previous year, reflecting a remarkable 4.8% increase.
Operating loss for the period remained steady at €466.8 million, showing a negligible change of 0.3% from €465.3 million in the prior year.
Reported loss for the period decreased to €535.1 million, showcasing a notable reduction of 16.7% compared to €642.5 million in the previous year.
Revenue per Available Seat Kilometer (RASK) experienced remarkable growth, with an increase of 33.7%, rising from €2.98 to €3.98.
Ex-Fuel Cost per Available Seat Kilometer (CASK) decreased by 8.2%, reaching €2.58 compared to €2.81 in the previous year.
Total cash balance strengthened to €1,529.0 million, reflecting a substantial increase of 10.9% compared to €1,378.8 million in the prior year.
Load factor, a key measure of operational efficiency, surged to an impressive 87.8%, indicating a remarkable increase of 12.4% from 78.1% in the previous year.
The period-end fleet size expanded to 179 aircraft, showing significant growth of 17.0% compared to 153 aircraft in the previous year.
Period-end seat count also increased significantly to 58,190 thousand, demonstrating remarkable growth of 67.8% compared to 34,682 thousand in the prior year.

József Váradi, Wizz Air Group Chief Executive Officer, expressed his thoughts on the outstanding results, stating, “F23 was a year of remarkable growth for our business, as our operational and financial performance metrics moved in a positive direction. Despite challenges such as fuel price increases and structural capacity issues at airports, we took decisive actions to enhance our ex-fuel cost performance. Our strategy to drive profitable growth across core regions in Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the Middle East has resulted in record-breaking revenue of €3,896 million for F23, a 134% increase year-on-year and a 41% surge compared to pre-COVID levels in F20.”

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NEAR TERM AND FULL-YEAR OUTLOOK

· Capacity: +30% ASKs year-on-year in F24 (H1 and H2 at similar levels)

· Load factors: above 90% for F24;

· Cost: ex-fuel CASK in F24 lower vs prior year;

· Financial performance: Full year F24 net profit in the range of €350 – €450 million.

These exceptional results were made possible through strong load factors throughout the year, reaching an impressive 92.2% for the final month of F23. The Company’s focus on enhancing financial and operational performance in the second half of the year contributed to a positive EBITDA of €134 million for F23. Furthermore, Wizz Air ended F23 with a robust liquidity balance of €1,529 million, supported by improved operating cash flow and efficient utilization of debt facilities.

Wizz Air remains committed to delivering sustainable growth and exceptional customer service as it continues to thrive in the aviation industry.