British budget airline easyJet reported on Tuesday a fall of 64.5 per cent in full-year profit, blaming soaring jet fuel costs for the same.

The low-cost carrier said that pre-tax profit plunged 64.5 per cent from last year to 43.7 million pounds in the 12-month period ended September 30.

easyJet said fuel costs jumped by 86.1 million pounds, while interest income dipped 30.5 million pounds.

However, passenger numbers gained 3.4 per cent to settle at 45.2 million. Load factor was reported at 85.5 per cent, up by 1.4 percentage points.

easyJet also predicted a tough winter ahead, however the carrier hopes that it would be able to report a considerable profit improvement in 2010. In the early trading, shares in easyJet gained 0.4 per cent to 392.4p-a-share.