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Investing.com -- Shares of Wizz Air Holdings Plc (LON:WIZZ) jumped by over 9% on Thursday after the low-cost carrier reported higher profit, stronger cash reserves and continued cost discipline for the six months ended Sept. 30.
The airline’s operating profit rose 25.8% to €439.2 million from €349.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Net profit increased 2.6% to €323.5 million, while total revenue climbed 9% to €3.34 billion, driven by higher capacity and steady demand.
Passenger ticket revenue rose to €1.93 billion and ancillary revenue reached €1.42 billion, both up 9% from the prior year.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation increased to €981.3 million from €826.0 million, supported by reduced flight disruption charges and the absence of one-off wet lease costs. The EBITDA margin was 29.4%.
Wizz Air carried 36.5 million passengers during the first half of fiscal 2026, compared with 33.3 million in the same period of fiscal 2025, an increase of 9.6%.
Available seat kilometres grew 8.9%, while total unit revenue per available seat kilometre rose 0.1% to €4.98 cents.
Total cost per available seat kilometre decreased to €4.46 cents from €4.54 cents, reflecting improved cost control.
Fuel expenses fell 2.1% to €928.3 million, aided by a lower average jet fuel price. Staff costs rose 16.9% to €327.3 million as the company expanded capacity and adjusted salaries.
Maintenance and repair expenses increased 16.4% to €205.2 million. Departure punctuality improved by 11.1 percentage points to 69.3%, according to data cited in the company’s filing.
Total cash, including restricted and short-term deposits, increased 14.3% to €1.98 billion from €1.74 billion at the end of March 2025.
Net debt fell 2.5% to €4.83 billion. Wizz Air said it retains sufficient liquidity to meet upcoming obligations, including a €500 million bond maturing in January 2026.
Chief executive József Váradi said the results reflected both operational and commercial improvements.
“Our first half financial results reflect the increased capacity year-on-year deployed over the summer season. During the period both operational and commercial improvements were made,” he said in a statement.
The carrier finalised changes to its purchase agreement with Airbus, converting 36 A321XLR aircraft orders to A321neos and deferring 88 deliveries to the next decade.
Wizz Air, which operates across Europe and the Middle East ended the period with 256 aircraft, including 163 A321neos and six A320neos, with an average fleet age of 4.6 years.
As of Sept. 30, 35 aircraft remained grounded due to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine inspections, down from 45 earlier in the year.
Wizz Air said it expects between 30 and 35 aircraft to remain out of service through the end of fiscal 2026.
For the second half, the airline projected about 10% year-over-year growth in capacity and a low single-digit decrease in unit revenue. It expects fuel costs to decline in the mid to high single digits and full-year total costs to remain broadly flat.