AEGEAN announces its key financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2024.
Revenue reached €268,8 mil., 17% higher than Q1-23. Following its high performance in 2023, Aegean continued its growth path, further increasing capacity in the winter months. The group offered 10% more seats on its international network, which included 85 direct routes from the country’s two main airports. The group offered 3,8 billion . ASKs, 12% more than Q1-23, welcomed 2,9 million passengers, 11% more than Q1-23, out of which 1,7 million were from/to international destinations.
The load factor reached 82%. Aegean maintained its growth trajectory and, along with efficient cost management, improved EBITDA profit to €33,2 mil. from €19,3 mil. in Q1-23, as well as operating results, with EBIT losses narrowing to €7,2 mil. from €14,7 mil. in Q1-23.
The Group continues its fleet investment plan with 7 new aircraft delivered since March 2023, while also extending operating leases, reaching a fleet of 79 aircraft, thus impacting depreciation costs by 19% compared to Q1-23.
Despite the improvement in the operating result, net losses reached €21,0 million . from €14,4 million in Q1–23, mainly due to adverse USD movement since the start of the year, which has impacted the valuation of future lease liabilities.
During Q1-24, Aegean recorded robust cash flow generation of €188,6 million, due also to higher pre-bookings for the summer period. On March 31, 2024, cash, cash equivalents, and other financial investments reached €729 million., including the outflow of €85,4 million . for the buyback of warrants on January 2, 2024.
Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, Aegean’s CEO, commented: “Aegean’s effort to soften the seasonality impact is visible in its international network capacity investment as well as in the revenue and passengers’ growth. Once more in the seasonally weakest quarter, Aegean delivered higher EBITDA profitability, its resilience, its adaptability, and its competitive cost structure. We are prepared for another strong summer season, expanding routes and adding frequencies focusing on our growth out of Athens and Thessaloniki bases. We are working to broaden the options and services offered and constantly improve the travel experience.
We continue to see strong demand for the summer period. Nevertheless, it is still too early to estimate the overall outcome of the summer season, which typically shapes our results. At the same time, it is very encouraging that the effort to develop our MRO business as well as the Flight Simulator and Crew Training Center is maturing. Within 12 months, the building renovation and upgrade will be complete, and the first 4 simulators are already operational, covering both Aegean’s and third parties’ training needs. The group has also started to provide heavy maintenance services to third-party customers.”.
