PLAY forecasts 800 thousand passengers this year and USD 150-160 million in turnover
- Booking flow is strong and load factor growing.
- PLAY has carried approx. 181 thousand passengers in Q2 and anticipates approx. 800 thousand passengers this year.
- The financial position of the company is strong. Cash and cash equivalents on June 30 amounted to USD 39.5 million with restricted cash. The equity ratio was 13.4% and the company has no external interest-bearing debt.
- Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were negative in Q2 2022 in the amount of USD 14.4 million, as expected as the company had yet to reach economies of scale.
- As of July 2022, PLAY has started operating the full hub-and-spoke network.
- PLAY reached its cost target ahead of time, being under 4 US cents unit cost (CASK excl. fuel).
- Unit cost continues to decrease with expanded operation, and PLAY anticipates positive operating results in the latter half of this year.
- Operating revenues are rapidly increasing and PLAY expects the turnover to be USD 150- 160 million this year.
- PLAY’s destinations are now 25.
PLAY expects to carry around 800 thousand passengers in 2022 and report revenue of approx. USD 150-160 million. Unit cost (CASK excl. fuel) continues to decrease with the expanded operation and PLAY expects operational profit later this year. PLAY reached its cost target ahead of time, being under 4 US cents CASK excl. fuel due to effective cost control and increased economy of scale with more aircraft. During Q2, the main focus was on preparing for the airline’s operational ramp-up before the summer schedule and the hub-and-spoke operation, and by the time Q3 started, PLAY’s full hub-and-spoke network was in place with six aircraft in operation. PLAY successfully started operating flights to fourteen new markets in Q2.
Strong booking flow and increased revenue
As expected, EBIT was negative in the amount of USD 14.4 million in Q2 2022, as the company had yet to reach economies of scale.
PLAY continues to hold a strong financial position, with cash and cash equivalents on June 30 amounting to USD 39.5 million with restricted cash. The equity ratio was 13,4% and the company has no external interest-bearing debt.
Revenue for Q2 2022 was USD 32.5 million compared to USD 9.6 million in Q1. The increasing revenue stems from increased activity, the expansion of PLAY’s network to a hub-and-spoke network and strong booking flow.
Loss in Q2 amounted to USD 14.3 million compared to 1.4 USD million for the same period last year, at a time when PLAY had just started operations.
PLAY carried approx. 181 thousand passengers in Q2 and the load factor was 74.8%, The passenger numbers increased between months and the load factor strengthened. This favorable trend has continued into Q3 and 110 thousand passengers flew with PLAY in July which is mainly due to PLAY‘s connecting flights across the Atlantic Ocean between major cities in Europe and the United States. The booking status for autumn and winter remains good.
“We can safely say that PLAY has now emerged from the tough obstacle course of the startup and expansion phase and smoother sailing is ahead. Over the past months we have created a solid foundation that we will use to keep developing PLAY as a successful company. The second quarter of 2022 was the last hurdle towards running our business model which came into full effect in July, at the beginning of the third quarter. After rapid expansion with many new destinations, the deployment of our VIA operations and receiving new aircraft, our operations are now stable. I am so proud of the people working at PLAY who have managed to start this company during a volatile time in a complicated business environment. We are now coming out of the development phase with a strong financial position and finally the external conditions are more favorable after strong headwinds. Oil prices are, for example, going down fast. We see brighter times ahead, our booking status is strong and we plan on showing a positive operating result later this year. People are clearly not deterred from traveling because of the coronavirus anymore. We see that in the increase of our long-term bookings and a drop in cancellation coverage. Our biggest objectives this coming winter are receiving four new aircraft, which will be added to our fleet next year, and hiring more crew members. 300 great people are already working at PLAY and that group will be even bigger next year when we will hire 200 more,” says Birgir Jonsson, PLAY‘s CEO
Further information:
Investor presentation webcast, August 23, 2022
CEO Birgir Jónsson and CFO Þóra Eggertsdóttir will present the company’s results on Tuesday, August 23, at 08:30 a.m. The presentation will be streamed via webcast followed by a live Q&A session at https://www.flyplay.com/investor-relationsLink opens in a new tabLink opens in a new tab.
