WestJet (TSX: WJA) today announced its fourth quarter and year end results for 2018, with full year net earnings of $91.5 million, or $0.80 per fully diluted share. This compares with net earnings of $279.1 million, or $2.38per fully diluted share in the full year 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2018 the airline achieved net earnings of $29.2 million, or $0.26 per fully diluted share. This result compares with net earnings of $47.8 million, or $0.41 per fully diluted share reported in the fourth quarter of 2017.
“In 2018 we executed several significant milestones on our path to becoming a high-value global network airline,” said Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO. “As we enter 2019, we continue to build momentum and are well-positioned to deliver on our strategic initiatives and expand margins. I would like to thank every WestJetter for their hard work through an especially busy holiday season culminating in our WestJet mainline business achieving the highest completion rate in North America in December, as measured by FlightStats.”
Operating highlights (stated in Canadian dollars)
|
Q4 2018 |
Q4 2017 |
Change |
Full year 2018 |
Full year 2017 |
Change |
|
|
Net earnings (millions) |
$29.2 |
$47.8 |
(39.0%) |
$91.5 |
$279.1 |
(67.2%) |
|
Diluted earnings per share |
$0.26 |
$0.41 |
(36.6%) |
$0.80 |
$2.38 |
(66.4%) |
|
Total revenue (millions) |
$1,193.3 |
$1,119.1 |
6.6% |
$4,733.5 |
$4,506.7 |
5.0% |
|
Operating margin |
4.1% |
6.9% |
(2.8 pts) |
3.3% |
9.6% |
(6.3 pts) |
|
ASMs (available seat miles) (billions) |
8.109 |
7.659 |
5.9% |
32.939 |
30.998 |
6.3% |
|
RPMs (revenue passenger miles) (billions) |
6.615 |
6.329 |
4.5% |
27.587 |
25.904 |
6.5% |
|
Load factor |
81.6% |
82.6% |
(1.0 pts) |
83.8% |
83.6% |
0.2 pts |
|
Segment guests |
6,185,541 |
6,010,069 |
2.9% |
25,491,290 |
24,137,477 |
5.6% |
|
Yield (revenue per revenue passenger mile) (cents) |
18.04 |
17.68 |
(2.0%) |
17.16 |
17.40 |
(1.4%) |
|
RASM (revenue per available seat mile) (cents) |
14.72 |
14.61 |
0.7% |
14.37 |
14.54 |
(1.2%) |
|
CASM (cost per available seat mile) (cents) |
14.11 |
13.61 |
3.7% |
13.90 |
13.14 |
5.8% |
|
Fuel costs per litre (cents) |
83 |
69 |
20.3% |
81 |
64 |
26.6% |
|
CASM, excluding fuel and employee profit share (cents)* |
10.29 |
10.26 |
0.3% |
10.11 |
9.93 |
1.8% |
|
*Refer to reconciliations in the accompanying tables for further information regarding calculations. |
Note: All values in the above table are at a consolidated WestJet group level