WestJet has announced its first quarter (Q1) results for 2018 with net earnings of $37.2 million and it said while remaining profitable in a challenging quarter, this result compares with net earnings of $46.7 million in Q1 2017.
This was the Canadian’s low-cost carrier’s 52ndconsecutive quarter of profitability and it flew an all-time quarterly record of 6.1 million guests. Based on the trailing 12 months, the airline achieved a return on invested capital of 9.5 per cent, down from to 10.1 per cent in Q1 of 2017.
Westjet president and chief executive officer, Ed Sims said: “Even though winter 2018 brought many operational challenges, we successfully achieved record load factors and increased revenue by 6.9 per cent on a capacity increase of 4.3 per cent,.
“I want to thank every individual WestJetter for rising to the challenge through a very difficult operating quarter. Nonetheless, the quarter saw net earnings and margin decline as we continue to invest in the strategy laid out at Investor Day, in a higher fuel environment. We remain laser-focused on strategic execution to ensure we drive shareholder returns.”
