Wizz Air sinks to 115 million euro loss in third quarter

LONDON (Reuters) – Hungarian airline Wizz Air sunk to a 114.5 million euro quarterly loss on Thursday, after a second wave of COVID-19 spread across Europe limiting travel and said capacity would be depressed until March.

Wizz said its revenue fell 76.5% to 149.9 million euros ($181 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, its third quarter, on passenger numbers that were down 77% compared to last year.

Hungary-based Wizz Air, which in recent years has expanded from eastern into western Europe, has a stronger balance sheet than many competitors, putting it in a better position to withstand the crisis

Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi said Wizz had a cash balance of 1.2 billion euros at the end of the quarter, and it had raised 500 million euros by issuing a bond earlier this month.

“Wizz Air is even better positioned to deal with the uncertainties associated with Covid-19 and now with vaccinations being rolled out across our key markets we believe 2021 will be a transition year out of the Covid-19 crisis,” he said.

The company said, however, that capacity levels in view of COVID-19 restrictions would continue to be depressed during January, February and part of March, and the uncertainty meant it could not provide guidance for the current finiancial year.

The airline vies with Europe’s biggest carrier Ryanair for the title of lowest-cost player.

($1 = 0.8275 euros)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle and Sarah Young; editing by James Davey and Costas Pitas)