London  - Leading British budget airline Easyjet Tuesday reported a sharp drop in pre-tax profits for the last financial year to 43.7 million pounds (73.6 million dollars), the airline said.

Profits up to the end of the September - including the key summer period - were 65 per cent lower than during the same period in the previous year.

Nonetheless, turnover increased by 13 per cent in the reporting period to 2.67 billion pounds.

Easyjet spokesman Andy Harrison said the company had done "exceptionally well" during the last 12 months when most other European airlines had failed to make any profit at all.

He described the results as "extremely resilient" and said the results were distorted by Easyjet's fuel hedging policy, predicting that the drop in aviation fuel costs would only impact on next year's figures.

However, he predicted a "tough winter" ahead.

The results showed that Easyjet's offer of great value, the best prices and convenient airports was appreciated by the consumer in a recession.

Analysts said the results were better than expected and compared well with other airlines. (dpa)