easyJet halves net losses despite tough conditions

British no-frills carrier easyJet said Wednesday that it has almost halved net losses in the first half of its financial year, despite challenging trading conditions. Losses after taxation stood at £47 million ($72 million, 55 million euros) in the six months to the end of March, easyJet said in a results statement. That compared with a loss of £90 million in the same part of its previous fiscal year. Total revenues meanwhile grew to £1.6 billion, up from £1.5 billion last time around. "easyJet delivered a strong first half performance, demonstrating the company's structural advantage in the European short-haul market against both legacy and low cost competition, and a continuing resilience against a challenging European macro-economic environment," said chief executive Carolyn McCall. She added that "easyJet expects to deliver improved returns and profitability for the year ending 30 September 2013." Earlier this year, in March, the London-listed group was promoted to the prestigious FTSE 100 index of top companies.