(July 23): Takeover target easyJet on Thursday said third-quarter profit slumped 70%, bruised by volatile fuel prices and a travel-wary consumer due to chaos caused by the Iran war, but indicated somewhat clearer skies heading into peak summer.

The budget airline reported an £85 million (US$113.8 million or RM465 million) profit for the three months to June 30, a far cry from the £286 million it logged last year.

Results of easyJet, and rival Ryanair earlier this week, highlight the impact of the Middle East conflict on global travel and how dour sentiment in the industry is as the five-month old war drags on.

The British airline said, however, that consumer confidence was increasing into the peak summer period and there was strong demand from travellers booking tickets closer to the date of travel.

"As consumer confidence increases, we are seeing the load factor gap close for peak summer and an extension of the booking curve," CEO Kenton Jarvis said in a statement.

EasyJet has backed U.S. investment firm Apollo's £5.7 billion takeover offer over Castlelake's repeated approaches.

Its shares sank nearly 12% on Wednesday after Reuters reported that the European Union was preparing to review airline ownership rules to prevent foreign investors from gaining effective control of carriers, potentially complicating the airline's takeover.

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