easyJet guides to FY profit growth of 7-14 percent

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - British low-cost airline easyJet guided to annual profit growth of between 7 percent and 14 percent, putting it on track at the mid-point to meet analyst forecasts for a 10 percent rise.

Easyjet (Other OTC: ESYJY - news) 's guidance, its first on its full-year outcome, comes after Europe's second-biggest budget carrier had in May flagged headwinds from competitive pricing pressure and the cost of an air traffic control strike in France.

The airline said on Wednesday that its revenue per seat performance in its fiscal third quarter was better than it had forecast in May, helped by higher demand for beach routes across Europe.

easyJet said that it expected full-year pretax profit for the 12 months to the end of September in the range of 620 million pounds ($967.70 million) and 660 million pounds, compared with a company-supplied consensus forecast of 638 million pounds from a poll of 24 analysts. ($1 = 0.6407 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton)