€15m profit for Ryanair
30/01/2012 - 07:50
Ryanair’s profit hopes continued to climb today after December’s benign weather helped the airline deliver a 13% rise in quarterly revenues.
With fewer planes in operation over the winter, longer routes and increasing ticket prices across the industry, Ryanair said its average fare was up by 17%, a figure which includes the impact of passenger luggage fees.
The Dublin-based operator reported better-than-expected profits of €15m for the three months to December 31 and said the figure for the year to March 31 should now hit €480m.
That is better than the €440m predicted in November, which itself represented a €40m upgrade on its previous estimate.
The quarterly improvement, which compares with widespread snow closures at airports during the previous December, came despite an 18% rise in fuel costs, which Ryanair said it offset by “aggressively” controlling costs.
However, it is braced for its fuel bill in the next financial year to increase by a further €350m, which it warns will pose a “significant cost challenge”.
It has paid for 90% of its fuel in the first half of the year at around $99 a barrel and at $100 for 70% of the second half.
The airline carried 17 million passengers in the quarter to December 31, a fall of 2%, but revenues were up 13% to €746m. The profits figure of €15m, compared with a loss of €10m a year earlier.
The company has pulled 80 of its aircraft to reduce winter losses amid the soaring fuel prices and cut traffic by 2% over the quarter.
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