Airline Easyjet reported a half-yearly loss of £24m, compared with profits of £7m for the same time last year.

Sales edged up by 0.3% to £1.77bn and passenger numbers grew from 28.9 million to 31 million.

Attacks in Egypt, Paris and Brussels affected bookings but profits were more strongly affected by a fall in the value of the pound.

The company said it was "confident" that passenger numbers, sales and profits will grow this year.
'Soften'

Chief executive Carolyn McCall told the BBC that Easyjet had had a very strong first half of the year despite "very challenging events".

She said the reason for the loss was because the pound had lost value against the euro since last year: "Technically the reason for the loss is foreign exchange - the softening of the pound against the euro," she added.

The company said the change in values meant Easyjet lost around £30m compared with a year ago.

Ms McCall said: "So if you actually take it at constant currency [assuming the euro and the pound stayed at the same value as they were the year before] we will have made a profit of £5m which is nearly the same as last year."