Fastjet CEO sees foundation for 'prudent growth'

Low-cost African airline Fastjet, which last month raised $10m in an emergency placing after warning it could go bust, on Friday said it had started daily flights on Zimbabwe's sought-after Harare-Bulawayo route.

Chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout told the company's annual meeting the airline planned to increase its network and capacity in Mozambique and Tanzania "in the next few months".

Fastjet in June warned investors in June that fundraising issues could lead it to halt trading. The placing was completed only days later.

Bezuidenhout said Fastjet had continued to make progress in 2018, and build on the success of its stabilisation plan and the previous year's financial results - which saw a substantially reduced operating loss as a result of total costs being reduced by 48% as load factor grew 17pp.

Fastjet felt the performance would provide the group with a foundation for "prudent growth".

Fastjet said the markets continued to "offer potential for growth", and the company had "significantly increased frequencies" between Maputo and Beira since launching in Mozambique in November 2017.

"We remain focused on further reducing losses and on delivering our objective of being cashflow positive during the second half of 2018. Fastjet remains committed to becoming a successful pan-African airline accessible to everyone," Bezuidenhout said.

Fastjet shares were down 1.49% to 8.25p.