Wizz Air (LSE:WIZZ), the Central and Eastern Europe-focused airline, said in a post-close F26 trading update that it expects to report a breakeven to slightly positive net profit for the year ended 31 March.
The net income improvement versus previous guidance resulted from stronger underlying revenue and a well-hedged macroeconomic mix, and Wizz ended the financial year with a total cash position of €2.1bn.
The group flagged near-term uncertainty from the conflict in the Middle East for fuel costs and customer demand, and said it is approximately 70% hedged for summer fuel at around $720 per metric tonne while benefiting from a fuel burn advantage as A321neos make up 75% of the fleet and consume 18% less fuel versus legacy aircraft.
Current scheduled capacity for H1 F27 is approximately 51m seats, up 28% year-on-year, with forward bookings 44% sold, two percentage points higher than a year ago, and management said it has used promotional fares to support load factors amid geopolitical uncertainty.
"We have proactively pivoted the affected capacity to our core markets and are seeing strong demand trends through the peak summer period across our network," said Jozsef Varadi, chief executive.
Management added that Wizz's cash liquidity, hedge positions and fuel-efficient fleet underpin its ability to grow and to strengthen its leadership in the faster-growing CEE region.
