AEGEAN announces its financial results for the second quarter and the first half of 2023, recording a strong performance. Consolidated revenue for the second quarter increased by 37% compared to the second quarter of 2022 to reach €449.1 million. Profit before tax was 67.3 million euros and profit after tax was 51.5 million euros, compared to profit after tax of 10.8 million euros in the second quarter. of 2022. The capacity offered, with the significant strengthening of the network in the second quarter, increased by 22%, leading to an even greater increase of 28% in passenger traffic, which reached 4.1 million passengers compared to 3.2 million passengers in the corresponding quarter. of 2022. The load factor improved to 82.6% compared to 79.2% in the second quarter of 2022. The expansion of AEGEAN’s activity with 16 new routes abroad, but also mainly the strengthening of frequencies to destinations in Italy, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Israel Egypt and Saudi Arabia, markets in which demand has clearly recovered, contributed to this particularly positive result.
The strong dynamic of demand in the second quarter, network growth and continued investments in new aircraft enabled the Group to transport 6.7 million passengers in the first half of 2023, or 42% more than in the first half. 2022, offering a total of 8.2 million seats, 28% more compared to the corresponding period last year.
At the half-yearly level, the increase in passenger traffic comes mainly from the international network, where the Group transported 4 million passengers, or 52% more than the corresponding period of 2022. The catalyst for achieving this result was the improvement in occupancy rate. which reached 82.2%, 7.6 percentage points higher than in the first half of 2022. With the positive effect of the second quarter, the consolidated turnover of the first half of 2023 exceeds the corresponding figures of 2022, reaching €678.1. The gradual modernization of the fleet and effective cost management despite strong inflationary pressures contributed to the achievement of 3.7 times higher EBITDA, i.e. a profit of 139.5 million euros compared to a profit of 37.7 million euros for the corresponding period last year. Profit before tax for the first half of 2023 amounts to 48.7 million euros compared to a loss before tax of 30.6 million euros for the first half of 2022, while profit after tax amounts to 37.1 million euros compared to a loss after tax of 27.7 million euros for the corresponding period of 2022. .
During the first semester, AEGEAN repaid the balance of the loans received during the pandemic (68.5 million euros). At the same time, it also repaid a leasing loan concluded in 2020 for the acquisition of an A321 neo aircraft as well as the purchase of a newly built A320 neo aircraft, using only cash (total of two operations 70 million dollars), bringing the number of free-weight aircraft to 11, up from just 4 in December 2019. Due to the resulting strong operating cash flows and high levels of pre-sales for
summer period and despite the investments and repayments of loans in the first half, cash and cash equivalents appear improved by almost 200 million euros as of 06.30.2023 compared to 12.31.2022. Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, Managing Director, said:
“The performances we achieved in the first half of 2023 confirmed the consistent implementation of our objectives, in an environment of strong demand, but also intense competition. We present extremely strong results from network expansion and capacity increases with the receipt of new aircraft, while in addition the effective management of operating costs, the continuous improvement of our services and of our product, further strengthen our competitiveness.
For the third and fourth quarters of the year, we will operate with 10% and 15% more kilometer positions respectively from 2022, supporting the diffusion of the transport project in more areas but also investing in the extension of the tourist season. Based on the strong first half performance and third quarter figures to date, revenue per flight is expected to be at the levels of the excellent third quarter 2022, while for the full year it is expected a significant improvement in overall turnover. level of profitability reaching new all-time highs”.
It should be noted that in 2023, AEGEAN received 9 new aircraft, reaching to date 28 JET aircraft of the A320 neo family. The new aircraft cover 50% of the total annual activity of the total JET fleet in hours, flights and kilometers, achieving significant cost savings as well as a reduced environmental footprint per passenger. AEGEAN operates a total of 76 aircraft in 2023 and will offer over a full year more than 18 million seats, including 11 million international seats, or 2 million more than in 2022. The network covers 46 countries in 165 destinations out of a total of 10 fundamentals.