Wizz shares descend after profit guidance cut

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Wizz Air plunged on Thursday after the low-cost airline said full-year profits would be at the bottom end of guidance due to a "difficult" environment. The company said net income will come in at €350-400m for the year ending 31 March 2024, compared with earlier guidance of €350-450m.

"This guidance reflects our expectations for H2 F24 in the context of the ongoing macro environment uncertainty and continuing difficult operating conditions, from an infrastructure and security perspective," the company said.

Wizz Air announced on 11 September that issues with the Pratt & Whitney (P&W) Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine, which powers all of its A320 NEO family aircraft, will reduce capacity by 10% in the second half. The problem is a result of a potential contamination of powdered metal used to manufacture certain components, which means that affected engines will need to be disassembled and inspected earlier than normal.

Wizz said it would have to ground 45 aircraft this financial year due to ongoing issues with GTF engines. Meanwhile, suspended Israel capacity due to ongoing violence in the region until the end of November will also have an impact - traffic to and from Israel accounted for 5-6% of total average seat kilometres (ASK) in the first half.

The stock was down 6.3% at 1,745p by 0853 GMT.

Nevertheless, the company delivered a strong first-half performance, with total revenues rising 39% to €3,05bn, as passenger numbers jumping 25% to 33m.

The load factor - a key measure among airlines of how full their planes are - improved to 92.6% from 86.9% the previous year.

EBITDA, meanwhile, surged 303% to €878m as the EBITDA margin jumped to 28.8% from 9.9% the year before.

"This summer we delivered significantly improved operational performance compared to last year. There were fewer flight cancellations, and overall fleet utilisation and productivity increased year on year. Our revenue and profit results reflect the higher volumes we now operate and the enormous amount of work and investment over the past three years," said chief executive József Váradi.