Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is no stranger to the rollercoaster ride of the business world – which is just as well as profits have crumbled at his easyBus firm.
After revealing a stellar year in 2013, where profits jumped from £1.15million to £2.1million, the latest accounts for the year ending September 2014 reveal that profits fell to just £578,000.
The company directors attributed the fall to the reduction in turnover from £8.5million to £7.1million, due to ‘the early termination on a capacity sharing agreement with another operator’ after its partner Arriva lost the contract to operate at Luton airport.
However the service was reinstated following a High Court battle.
EasyBus operates a fleet of 73 orange buses, which run between central London and three of the capital’s major airports, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.
Haji-Ioannou founded easyBus in 2003, but it did not make a profit until 2010.
There was no dividend in 2014, unlike in 2013 when a £2.2million payment went to Haji-Ioannou’s easyGroup, which is a holding company. It also licenses out the ‘easy’ brand.
This is Money
