Wizz Air says growth helped by faltering rivals

Wizz Air said Wednesday it had benefitted from the troubles of other airlines to grow more quickly than expected, although concerns over future costs took the shine off record quarterly results. Wizz Air CE Jozsef Varadi said the collapse of Monarch last year had allowed the airline to expand operations at London Luton airport, while it had also moved capacity into Vienna after Air Berlin went into administration. “We are growing more than what we would have expected even six months ago,” he said. The Eastern-European focused carrier said it had nudged up its full-year capacity growth forecast to 24% from 23%. Wizz secured Monarch’s take-off and landing slots at Luton airport in November. Wizz said it carried 24% more passengers in the three months to Dec. 31, its fiscal Q3. Profit was a record E14m, up 3.6%. The airline maintained its outlook for full-year net profit in range of E265-280m. After a strong run that saw the stock double last year and hit a record high on Monday, Wizz shares fell 2.2% in early trade. Analysts at Goodbody said that while Q3 was strong, an unchanged outlook implied Q4 would be worse than expected, and added the airline could face headwinds from rising fuel costs. “The immediate focus on growth vs yields, and the comparative under-hedged fuel position means we leave our recommendation as Hold,” the Goodbody analysts said.<br/>