Quarterly results put companies under the spotlight and are busy times for their comms teams. Analysts, commentators and competitors will all be poring over the numbers.

I’m currently producing airline results briefings for a leading player in the aviation industry. Concise, informative and accurate, these reports give a snapshot of the key facts and figures, along with the media reaction. 

Here are some extracts from today’s briefing on easyJet’s Q1 results. If you’re interested in a service of this kind, please use the contact form on this website to get in touch.  

RESULTS BRIEFING: easyJet Q1 2018

Key points

• Total revenue up 14.4% to £1.14bn from £997m in Q1 2017
• Passenger numbers up 8% to 18.8m over the same period
• Passenger load factor up 2.1 percentage points to 92.1%
• Total revenue per seat up 8.4% to £55.99
• Shares ended yesterday 5.2% higher, making easyJet the best large-cap performer

News coverage

There’s strong interest in easyJet’s Q1 results, with coverage overwhelmingly upbeat. ‘EasyJet’s new chief kicks off reign with positive news’ is the BBC’s headline. The piece says new CEO Johan Lundgren has kicked off his time in charge of the company with a strong set of figures. ‘The airline looks to have benefited from a re-shaping of the industry last year, helping to support fares and keep flights full,’ the BBC explains.

‘EasyJet’s boosted by rivals’ demise as passenger splurge on-board’ says the Telegraph. According to reporter Bradley Gerrard, the failure of rival airlines such as Alitalia, Air Berlin and Monarch helped easyJet to fill its planes and overcome a spike in cancellations – from 512 in the last three months of 2016 to 1,051 in the same period last year. But customers also spent more money in-flight, with the Hugo Boss Orange New York watch becoming the most popular product for the first time.

The Independent reports: ‘EasyJet revenue spikes as passengers flock to airline’. Noting that easyJet benefited from Ryanair’s flight cancellations crisis last autumn, the paper ends its piece with a quote from CEO Johan Lundgren, who says: ‘My aim is to help easyJet to go from strength to strength. Our customer proposition will continue to drive both passenger growth and loyalty. We have great revenue growth, strong cost control, a robust operation and a strong balance sheet.’

TTG Media highlights the airline’s future plans, reporting: ‘EasyJet to extend long-haul partnership, add aircraft’. The travel industry specialist notes Lundgren’s revelation that Worldwide by easyJet, which offers connections to long-haul flights operated by Norwegian and others, will cover ‘around half’ of easyJet’s network this year. He said passenger numbers would jump from 80 million to 90 million following the acquisition of Air Berlin’s operation at Berlin Tegel, and easyJet’s fleet was set to reach 300 aircraft by the spring.

There’s also coverage of the announcement that easyJet’s chief commercial officer Peter Duffy has left the airline as part of a management overhaul. The trade press in particular picks this up – Marketing Week, for example, reports: ‘EasyJet’s top marketer Peter Duffy departs to make way for chief data officer’. It says Duffy, who was with the airline for almost seven years, had been seen as a possible contender for CEO. Lundgren, who got the job running easyJet, is now changing the structure to create a new position of chief data officer, reporting directly to himself.

Commentators

EasyJet’s Q1 results are the subject of much comment. Under the headline ‘EasyJet proves some airlines are more equal than others’, Matthew Vincent of the Financial Times notes analysts’ warnings that the competitive advantage easyJet has gained from others’ demise could disappear by the summer as capacity returns.

But the general consensus among commentators is that easyJet is not only doing very well – it also has an excellent outlook. Explaining ‘Why easyJet is unstoppable under new CEO’, Graeme Evans of Interactive Investor says yesterday’s results confirm that Johan Lundgren ‘is still very much in his honeymoon period as new boss’. He notes that UBS has a buy rating on the shares, and that other brokers have also turned more positive in recent weeks, with Morgan Stanley upping its price target to 1,725p from 1,490p.

Yahoo carries a piece by Paul Summers – ‘Here’s why shares in easyJet plc are flying today’. He says early indications suggest the company is off to a good start for Q2 trading, with around 60% of expected bookings already secured — slightly ahead of the figure for the same period in 2017. ‘The question is, are the shares still worth buying, especially after the 60% price rise already achieved over the last 12 months?’ Highlighting the company’s ‘thoroughly robust’ balance sheet, Summers concludes: ‘While no investment is without risk and airlines won’t necessarily have an easy ride over 2018, today’s update suggests easyJet’s stock is still worthy of consideration for those who believe current momentum will continue.’

Further reading

easyJet Q1 2018 Analyst & Investor Presentation, 23 January 2018

Bloomberg: Cheers to EasyJet Passengers Guzzling Fancy G&Ts, 23 January 2018

Mail Online: EasyJet shares soar to two-year high as rivals’ woes boost business, 23 January 2018

The Drum: Easyjet’s Peter Duffy leaves top marketing role as airline goes on hunt for data chief, 24 January 2018

Investomania: Does easyJet plc have investment appeal after releasing Q1 trading update? 23 January 2018