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| Easyjet reports record profits for fifth straight year | Easyjet reports record profits for fifth straight year |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Easyjet has posted its fifth successive year of record profits, boosted by what the airline said were "favourable economic and consumer trends". | Easyjet has posted its fifth successive year of record profits, boosted by what the airline said were "favourable economic and consumer trends". |
| Annual profits at the carrier, which has just celebrated its 20th birthday, jumped 18% to £686m. | Annual profits at the carrier, which has just celebrated its 20th birthday, jumped 18% to £686m. |
| Revenues rose 3.5% to £4.68bn, with passenger numbers up 6% to 68.6 million in the year to end-September. | Revenues rose 3.5% to £4.68bn, with passenger numbers up 6% to 68.6 million in the year to end-September. |
| The figures do not include any possible impact on Easyjet services to Egypt after last months's Russian jet crash. | The figures do not include any possible impact on Easyjet services to Egypt after last months's Russian jet crash. |
| But the airline's chief executive Carolyn McCall said in a statement that the trading outlook for the group as a whole was strong. | |
| "Our outlook for the longer term is positive. We expect demand in our markets to be sustained and for Easyjet to continue to be a winner in its markets. | "Our outlook for the longer term is positive. We expect demand in our markets to be sustained and for Easyjet to continue to be a winner in its markets. |
| "We will see passenger growth of 7% a year, sustaining margins through rigorous cost control and the benefit of fleet up-gauging, resulting in positive profit momentum." | "We will see passenger growth of 7% a year, sustaining margins through rigorous cost control and the benefit of fleet up-gauging, resulting in positive profit momentum." |
| After the downing of a Russian aircraft last month, killing all 224 people on board, the UK government suspended services to Sharm el-Sheikh airport pending a security review. | |
| Ms McCall told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme that by the end of Tuesday all Easyjet passengers would have been brought back to the UK. | |
| She said that increased airport security following the Russian jet crash, and attacks in Paris on Friday, was inevitable. | |
| "It will take a little longer to get though airports, but I do not think that passengers will mind because it has to be safety-first," she said. | |
| Separately, Easyjet's load factor, a key industry measure of how many seats are filled per flight, rose 0.9% to 91.5%. |