BUDGET travel firm Jet2 has upped its 2023 profits forecast for the third time as it says Brits are eager to flee “our rainy island”.
Boss Steve Heapy said holidaymakers are flocking to hit sunspots in the Med and Canary Islands, as well as European leisure cities.
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Travellers are also snapping up the firm’s higher-margin package deals.
Last year Jet2 estimated profits for the current financial year would come between £370million and £385million.
It raised estimates again in April but after a bumper summer it increased them to £480million to £520million.
Yesterday, after a pleasing winter, it said profits for the year to the end of March would be between £510million and £520million.
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Winter bookings climbed 17 per cent, year on year.
Mr Heapy said despite “many demands on consumer discretionary incomes our customers cherish their time away from our rainy island”.
The Leeds-based company flies from 11 UK airports to 65 European destinations.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “Jet2 has an advantage in its strong reputation for customer service.
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“If you’re having to spend more money on your holiday you want to be even more confident you’re going to be looked after — on your way and when you get there.”
Woman spends the day in Tenerife after finding £20 return flights – and enjoys half-empty flight and 22C beaches
Profits cruising for Airbus
FRENCH planemaker Airbus yesterday said profits rose 4 per cent in 2023 to £4.96billion, and announced a special dividend.
It said orders are booming from airlines coping with a rebound in travel demand after the pandemic.
However, it also admitted that rising costs at its troubled Space business, which is facing fierce competition from US launchers and a new generation of low-cost satellites, would cost it £171million.
Airbus — which supplies 26 of Jet2’s planes — delivered 735 aircraft last year but expects to top that in 2024 with around 800.
Boss Guillaume Faury said the production rise came despite an environment “that remains complex and affected by supply chain challenges and geopolitical conflicts”.
The new deliveries will include some of its A320neo, a rival of the 737 Max of Boeing, which has been hit by major safety concerns.
Capital’s pads lag
HOMES in London took twice as long to sell on average last year as properties in Scotland, according to ZOOPLA.
In 2023 the UK average was 34 days from being put on the market to a sale being agreed, subject to contract.
But in Scotland it took just 20 days while London buyers had to wait 40 days on average for a sale to be agreed.
Buyers then had to wait three to six months before getting the keys to their new home.
Divi ditch by close bros quiz
SHARES in finance firm Close Brothers plummeted almost a quarter yesterday after the company ditched its dividend over a City watchdog probe.
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The slump left the shares at their lowest level for almost 30 years.
The Financial Conduct Authority is investigating if commission payments in car loans were too high.
Millions in compensation could be paid out to hundreds of thousands of people who took out loans before a law change in January 2021 banned “discretionary interest rate” commissions.
Close bosses warned that there was “significant uncertainty” about the outcome of the review.
Close, which has been part of the City since 1878, said it hoped to reinstate dividends in 2025 “once the FCA has concluded its process and any financial consequences for the group have been assessed”.
Woe at Gleeson
PROPERTY developer MJ Gleeson saw half-year profits fall more than 50 per cent in the six months to December.
Hit by a market slump, profits dropped to £7.2million from £16.1million in 2022.
The Sheffield-based firm said the property slowdown had forced it to discount some developments.
It sold 769 homes during the period, down from 894 the previous year.
Looking ahead, boss Graham Prothero said there were “encouraging signs of a recovery in reservation rates”.
Tax a lot
PEOPLE who receive tax credits, but no other qualifying benefits, will receive a one-off £299 cost-of-living payment from today.
Around 700,000 UK households will receive the payment automatically from HMRC between February 16 and 22.
Relx rocketing
BRITISH data business Relx reported a 9 per cent rise in profits to £2.3billion and yesterday unveiled a shareholder- pleasing £1billion share buyback programme.
It said revenues for the year climbed 8 per cent to £9.2billion, and predicted “artificial intelligence and other technologies” will drive profits for “many years to come”.
The company also runs the MCM Comic Con event through its exhibition arm.
It has generated the best performance of any FTSE 100 firm over the last 40 years.
