Sunday, November 24, 2024

Ryanair reports 34pc rise in annual profits

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Total revenue across the year rose to €113.44bn, up 25pc.

Ryanair reported that this rise in revenue, as well as its cost base, helped to offset a “significantly” higher fuel bill.

Operating costs were up 24pc to €11.38bn, with the airline’s fuel bill jumping 32pc to €5.14bn across the year.

The airline also pointed to higher staff costs and Boeing delivery delays, which contributed to this rise in costs.

The carrier said that its passenger numbers in the period grew 9pc to 184 million. Passenger traffic reflected a load factor of 94pc.

The average fare rose 21pc to €49.80 following a record first half and strong Easter traffic in late March this year. This was offset by softer than expected fares and load factors in the third quarter of the airline’s financial year

Revenue per passenger increased 15pc compared to the prior financial year, while ancillary revenue rose 3pc to €4.3bn, which is around €23.40 per passenger.

Ryanair declared a €400m maiden ordinary dividend last year, which was divided into an interim dividend of €200m which was paid in February and a final dividend of €200m to be paid in September.

The airline’s board has also approved a €700m share buyback which will launch later this week.

Ryanair added that it expects to grow traffic in its current financial year by 8pc. This increase is subject to Boeing deliveries returning to contracted levels.

Demand for summer is strong as bookings are ahead of last year, Ryanair reported. The airline also added that it expects peak fares to be flat to modestly ahead of last year.

“Ryanair had a fleet of 146x B737 Gamechangers at year-end and we hope to increase this to 158 by the end of July, which is 23 short of our contracted Boeing deliveries,” group chief executive Michael O’Leary said.

“We continue to work closely with Boeing CEO (Dave Calhoun), CFO (Brian West) and the new Seattle management team to improve quality and accelerate B737 aircraft deliveries,” he said, adding that a risk that deliveries could slip further remains.

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