Norwegian Air shares take off following surprise profit announcement
Norwegian Air Shuttle Asa
1,713.50p
15:20 19/04/24
Shares in low-cost carrier Norwegian Air took off after the Scandinavian carrier revealed that it had swung to a profit in its last trading year.
Norwegian Air, which has been said to be an acquisition target of many of its rivals, saw earnings and passenger numbers soar - turning a NKR 700m loss into a NKR 300m profit just twelve months later.
Passenger numbers grew 16% to 10m and unit costs dropped by 9%, or 19% after stripping out fuel.
Norwegian, which claimed it had received "several inquiries" from potential suitors, including Lufthansa and British Airways, told investors on Thursday that revenues had jumped by a third during the second quarter of the year to more than NKR 10bn.
Bjørn Kjos, Norwegian's chief executive, said, "Despite being at the peak of our growth phase, we have been able to present a profit and decreased unit costs during the second quarter. Going forward, the growth will slow down and we will reap what we have sown for the benefit of our customers, staff and shareholders."
Norwegian has successfully become less and less dependent on domestic and European sales, with US revenues taking flight and becoming the carrier's strongest market outside of Norway.
As of 1340 BST, Norwegian shares were 3.31% higher at NKR 246.80 each.