Wizz Air holds back on guidance despite double-digit profit growth
Wizz Air Holdings PLC on Thursday declined to provide guidance for the current financial year, citing uncertainty due to the Middle East conflict and closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
However, the company’s shares were 4.2% higher at 1,007.75 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
The Budapest-based budget airline reported pretax profit of €27.0 million for the 12 months ended March 31, up 37% from €19.7 million for the previous year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 16% to €1.32 billion from €1.13 billion.
Operating profit fell 17% to €139.7 million from €167.5 million, which Wizz Air said was mainly due to previously guided higher maintenance and depreciation costs, as older aircraft exited its fleet.
Total revenue increased 8.0% to €5.69 billion from €5.27 billion, while Wizz Air’s passenger count rose 10% to a ‘record’ 69.7 million from 63.4 million.
The airline said the war between the US, Israel and Iran negatively impacted earnings by an estimated €50 million, although it said fuel hedges implemented before the conflict ‘largely mitigated’ this.
Its load factor decreased to 90.7% to 91.2%, which it said was due largely to the aftermath of the war.
Wizz cited ‘significant one-off headwinds’ including the forced cancellation of Tel Aviv and other Middle East routes during the 2025 peak summer period, and the cancellation of Middle East and Cyprus routes in March.
Going forward, Wizz did not provide guidance for financial 2027, citing ‘the lack of visibility across our trading seasons, uncertainty related to the ongoing conflict in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz’.
However, it gave some shorter-term estimates, including a ‘flat’ load factor across the first half and on-year seat capacity growth of 25% in the first quarter, followed by percentage growth in the ‘high twenties’ for the second. It also said it expects a 15% rise in available seat kilometres in the first quarter, with a 20% increase in the second.
‘As we move into the next financial year, our priorities are clear,’ commented Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi. ‘We will continue to focus on our core markets, restore full fleet utilisation as engine availability improves, maintain discipline in capacity growth and cost control, and further enhance the reliability and quality of our operations.
‘In F27, we will continue to invest in our fleet, our people and our commercial capabilities to support the long-term growth of Wizz Air.’
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