easyJet's share price pops 6% despite a 17% dive in profits (EZJ)

Carolyn McCall, the CEO easyJet, attends an 'Inspiring Women' speed networking event for 100 girls from state secondary schools in Lancaster House on October 17, 2013 in London, England. The event, hosted by Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, a lawyer and wife of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, launches a campaign for 15,000 women to go into secondary schools to speak to girls about career choices. (Photo by )

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• Headline profits down 17% as easyJet suffers £101 million currency hit.

• Revenue up 8% to £5 billion as it takes advantage of rivals' bankruptcies and operational problems.

• Shares rise as easyJet says it has had a good start to the new financial year.

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LONDON — EasyJet's profits slipped in the year to September 30, the budget airline announced on Tuesday.

Headline profits fell 17.3% to £408 million after easyJet took a £101 million hit from adverse currency movements. The pound collapsed to a 31-year low against the dollar and a 7-year low against the euro last June in the wake of the Brexit vote.

CEO Carolyn McCall, presenting her last set of easyJet results, said it had been "a difficult year for the aviation industry." Major airlines Air Berlin, Alitalia, and Monarch have all gone bust in the last year amid fierce competition and volatile costs.

EasyJet is taking over part of Air Berlin after its bankruptcy and warned it expects to take a £60 million hit from the integration next year.

Despite a fall in profits, easyJet reported an 8.1% rise in revenue to £5 billion. McCall said: "Friendly and efficient customer service and a continuous focus on sustainable cost control has put easyJet at a strategic advantage during a period when there have been bankruptcies and some airlines have struggled operationally." Ryanair was hit by a cancellation crisis in September.

"Revenue trends in the first quarter have been encouraging, primarily as a result of some capacity leaving the market," easyJet said.

EasyJet's currency woes were well flagged to the market and Tuesday's full-year results are slightly ahead of expectations. As a result, the airline's share price has jumped over 6% as of 8.45 a.m. GMT (3.45 a.m. ET).

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