Dart Group 2018 final results
In a year of strong passenger growth for both Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, Group Revenue increased by 38% to £2,391.8m (2017: £1,729.3m). Jet2.com flew a total of 10.38m passenger sectors (2017: 7.10m), an increase of 46%, which included a 45% increase in demand for our Real Package Holidays™ as 2.50m (2017: 1.73m) customers enjoyed a Jet2holidays package holiday.
* Profit before taxation improved by 49% to £134.6m (2017: £90.1m). This result includes a £20.0m gain on foreign exchange revaluations (2017: £10.9m loss). Before accounting for these revaluation gains / (losses), profit before FX revaluations and taxation improved by 13% to £114.6m (2017: £101.0m).
* The increased profits reflect the continuing strong demand for our Leisure Travel products - holiday flights with our leading leisure airline Jet2.com and package holidays with our ATOL (*) protected tour operator Jet2holidays.
* In consideration of these results, the Board is recommending a final dividend of 6.0p (2017: 3.897p), bringing the proposed total dividend to 7.5p per share for the year ended 31 March 2018 (2017: 5.272p).
* Distribution & Logistics profit before tax decreased by £0.1m to £4.4m (2017: £4.5m) on improved revenues of £168.6m (2017: £163.5m), as additional operational support was provided to a key customer over the Christmas period.
* Demand for our leisure travel product has strengthened since the start of the new financial year and given current forward bookings we expect that Group profit before foreign exchange revaluations and taxation for the financial year ending 31 March 2019, will substantially exceed current market expectations.
* Looking further ahead, emerging cost pressures coupled with the overall uncertain UK economic outlook, particularly related to Brexit and how it may impact on consumer spending, means we remain unclear how demand will develop in the medium term.
* For the long term however, our strategy remains consistent - to grow both our flight-only and package holiday products. Real Package Holidays™ take considerable organisation and attention to detail and are not easily replicated by non-specialists. The Group dedicates significant resources to deliver an innovative and industry leading product and together with our scale, experience, competitiveness and customer focused approach, we believe we have a strong and resilient Leisure Travel business.
