Transat claims to be approaching profitability while the resumption of travel does not seem to be showing signs of losing momentum.
Ticket sales are on a roll for this winter and the 2023 summer season, said Thursday the CEO of Transat, Annick Guérard, during a press conference held on the sidelines of the annual meeting of shareholders and the release of first quarter results.
Market research shows that inflation and rising interest rates haven’t dampened consumers’ wanderlust, she says. “People, especially Canadians — perhaps it’s because the health measures have been in place longer — really have very firm travel intentions for the whole of 2023.” Carried by this wind favorable, the air carrier should stop drawing on its cash reserves this year rather than in 2024. Capacity should remain at 90% of what it was before the pandemic, but the increase in ticket prices and other services should enable Transat to post a 25% increase in revenue per passenger-mile in 2023.
The price increase is “necessary” to take inflation into account, that is “all the inflationary pressure that we have on costs, notably fuel, but also supplies, employee salaries, etc. “, she says.
In the first quarter (which ended January 31), Transat announced a loss that was smaller than analysts’ projections. Net loss was $56.6 million, compared to $114.3 million in the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2022. Adjusted diluted net loss per share was $1.62, compared to $2.53 at the same time last year. Prior to the earnings release, analysts had expected a diluted adjusted loss per share of $2.02, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.
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