Wizz Air barely makes a profit in the second quarter of 2024
Highlights of Wizz Air's Q2 2024 performance:
- At the end of June, Wizz Air had a total fleet of 218 aircraft, up nearly 20% in annual terms, while its capacity measured in available seat kilometres (ASK) dropped by 1.2%.
- 46 aircraft were grounded due to the Pratt & Whitney GTF (geared turbofan) engine inspections at the end of June 2024, and Wizz Air said OEM compensation received for the quarter was in line with expectations.
- The airline carried 15.35 million passengers in Q2, up merely 0.5% over the second quarter of 2023.
- Load factor came in at 91%, which marks a marginal 0.2% yr/yr decline.
- Wizz Air had total revenue of EUR 1.26 billion in April-June, up 1.8% yr/yr.
- EBITDA reached €274.6 million, which corresponds to a 16% yr/yr increase.
- Operating profit plummeted 44% to €44.6 million, undershooting analysts' expectations, as the LSEG consensus estimate was €144 million.
- The decline in the operating profit owed mainly to higher depreciation costs and €39m in one-off wet lease costs contracted to protect routes during the GTF engine -related groundings.
- Wizz Air just barely made a net profit of €1.2 million, which compares with €61 million in the base period.
- Net profit was impacted by unrealised foreign exchange headwind yoy.
- RASK (Revenue per Available Seat-Kilometre) edged up 3.1% yr/yr, while total CASK (Cost of Available Seat-Kilometre) rose even more by 7%, and ex-fuel CASK went up 8.2%.
- The no-frills carrier closed the second quarter with €1.84 billion cash, a nearly 16% annual growth, while its net debt grew by less than 1% to EUR 4.83 billion.
Management lowered its profit expectations for the full year after a weaker-than-expected quarter.
Capacity problems due to engine inspections are not helping the company, and the whole industry is struggling this summer as costs are falling and consumer demand is normalising, as the quarterly preliminary earnings reports of the past few days have shown.
Wizz Air now expects annual net income in the range of €350-450 million, against its previous forecast of €500-600 million.
We remain on track to return to annual capacity growth in F26, underpinned by the pipeline of Airbus deliveries,
commented CEO József Váradi.
Wizz Air opened the with a 16% drop on the London Stock Exchange after a disappointing flash report.
Cover photo: Wizz Air
