From todays Times
Flybe, the low-cost airline based in Exeter, has raised the possibilities of making further acquisitions and of arranging a flotation next year after the renewal of its fleet.
Jim French, the chairman and chief executive, said that the company was in an “excellent” position to take advantage of any acquisition opportunities arising from industry consolidation in Europe.
Flybe reported a rise of £20 million in full-year profits yesterday. Pretax profits from continuing operations and before exceptional items were £15.6 million, against a £4.4 million loss the previous year. The company made an overall loss of £19.9 million, which it said reflected substantial restructuring costs relating to the newly acquired BA Connect, formerly the loss-making regional unit of British Airways. Integration of BA Connect had been completed.
Mr French said that Flybe was now a “much stronger business”, with good cash reserves and a more balanced network. In five years the airline has grown from 1.9 million passengers and 41 routes to five million passengers and 125 routes. The addition of BA Connect is expected to bring the passenger total to seven million this year, with 400 flights every weekday.
Flybe is the largest scheduled airline operating at Manchester, Birming-ham, Southampton, Belfast City, Inverness, Norwich, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
Turnover is likely to be more than £500 million, compared with the £355 million reported for the year to March 31. However, Flybe said that it was on track to achieve £40 million of planned cost and revenue synergies, having completed changes such as closing the Manchester head office and abandoning loss-making routes.
Flybe also sold all the Embraer 145 aircraft inherited from BA Connect as it prepared for a new operational fleet consisting of 60 78-seat Bombardier Q400s and 16 118-seat Embraer 195s. It said that the new aircraft, worth $3 billion (£1.44 billion) and due for delivery by the end of 2009, would give it one of the world’s youngest and most environmentally sensitive fleets