LONDON: British low cost airline EasyJet on Tuesday said its annual profit before tax slumped by almost one third due to a Brexit-driven tumble in the pound, terror attacks and strikes.
Pre-tax profit fell 28 percent to £495 million ($618 million, 574 million euros) in the year to September 30 compared with 2014-15 "mainly due to the decline in revenue and foreign exchange impact", EasyJet said in an earnings statement.
It added that currency fluctuations would cost it around £90 million during its current financial year.
"EasyJet achieved a resilient performance in 2016, in the face of significant challenges including a series of external events and foreign exchange headwinds," group chief executive Carolyn McCall said in the statement.
EasyJet has been hit over the past year also by industrial action and unrest in key markets Egypt and Turkey.
The latest financial result had been expected by markets after EasyJet posted a profit warning in October.
The pound has tumbled following Britain's shock June 23 vote in favour of leaving the European Union, striking 31-year dollar lows and 7.5-year troughs against the euro.
The collapsing value of the pound weighs on EasyJet's performance because it makes dollar-priced jet fuel more expensive, ramping up the cost of running aircraft.
It also hurts their revenues when euros earned from tickets sold abroad are converted back into sterling.
Sterling has won back some ground in November after London's High Court ruled that the government must seek parliamentary approval before triggering Brexit.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will formally trigger the two-year divorce process by the end of March 2017 but Brussels and London face gruelling negotiations on a future trade deal.
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