26th Jul 2021 08:25
(Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings on Monday reported a big jump in passenger traffic, amid easing travel restrictions, but said that at best it expects to achieve a breakeven in its current financial year.
The Irish budget airline said traffic rebounded to 8.1 million in the three months to June 30, its financial first quarter, from 500,000 a year before, as capacity recovered in May and June. As a result, revenue nearly tripled in the quarter to EUR370.5 million from EUR125.2 million a year earlier.
Scheduled revenue grew by 91% year-on-year to EUR192 million, while ancillary revenue - generated from goods or services not including tickets - performed well, generating EUR22 per passenger, as more guests choose priority boarding and reserved seating.
Ryanair said it saw operating costs more than doubling to EUR675 million in the first quarter from EUR312.8 million, driven primarily by variable costs such as fuel, airport & handling and route charges.
The company's pretax loss widened to EUR324.5 million from EUR210.0 million year-on-year.
Going forward, Ryanair said its current financial year is expected to be challenging, with Covid-19 travel restrictions prolonging uncertainty. Following the July 1 rollout of EU Digital Covid Certificate and the relaxation of the UK's quarantine rules for those who are fully-vaccinated, the company said it has seen second-quarter bookings recover strongly, albeit at low fares.
Ryanair said it believes that its full-year traffic outlook has improved to a range of 90 million to 100 million from the previously guided 80 million to 120 million passenger range.
"We are seeing a strong rebound of pent-up travel demand into August and September, and we expect this to continue into the second half of FY22, with pre-Covid-19 growth planned to resume strongly in summer 2022," Ryanair said.
Despite this, Ryanair said it expects that the likely outcome for the year to the end of March 2022 is "somewhere between a small loss and breakeven".
Ryanair shares were up 2.5% early Monday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.5% at 6,995.44
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Hang Seng: down 3.5% at 26,355.93
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.0% at 27,833.29
DJIA: closed up 238.20 points, 0.7%, at 35,061.55
S&P 500: closed up 1.0% at 4,411.79
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 1.0% at 14,836.99
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EUR: up at USD1.1780 (USD1.1763)
GBP: flat at USD1.3751 (USD1.3754)
USD: down at JPY110.27 (JPY110.53)
GOLD: up at USD1,807.30 per ounce (USD1,800.34)
OIL (Brent): down at USD73.38 a barrel (USD73.64)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
1000 CEST Germany Ifo business climate index
0930 BST UK Bank of England asset purchase facility quarterly report
1000 EDT US new residential sales
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Senior UK government ministers are set to discuss extending the rollout of daily testing sites for coronavirus to ease the concerns of industry and frontline services by allowing further exemptions from isolation for critical workers. The Covid operations sub-committee of Cabinet will meet on Monday to discuss whether to widen the number of jobs eligible for the testing regime, or whether to boost the numbers for existing sectors in order to tackle the so-called 'pingdemic'. Their decisions will depend on the demand registered with Whitehall departments and the ministers' determination of what roles are currently critical, with refuse collectors expected to receive assistance, while the hospitality industry is not. The vast number of people isolating after being 'pinged' as Covid contacts by the NHS app has been fuelled by the high numbers of coronavirus infections that has swept the nation as the Delta variant thrived and restrictions were eased.
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Indoor dining in pubs and restaurants will reopen across Ireland on Monday, marking a significant step for the hospitality sector. The guidelines for reopening were signed off by the Dublin government on Sunday. Indoor dining is open for the fully vaccinated and those who have had Covid-19 in the last six months. A maximum of six people over the age of 13 are allowed at each table. The limit does not include children aged 12 or younger. The total combined capacity at a table cannot exceed 15. Bars and restaurants have been preparing to reopen over the weekend after draft guidelines were published late on Friday night. For many pubs it will be the first time they have opened since March 2020.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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RBC CUTS B&M TO 'SECTOR PERFORM' (OUTPERFORM) - PRICE TARGET 575 PENCE
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BERENBERG RAISES BEAZLEY TO 'BUY' (HOLD) - PRICE TARGET 460 (410) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Cranswick said revenue in the 13 weeks to June 26 climbed 9.6%, as the Yorkshire-based meat producer has seen a "gradual but sustained recovery" in the food-to-go market. The company added: "Far East export sales were well ahead of the same quarter last year, reflecting strong market prices. The UK pig price increased by 12% during the period; the average price across the quarter to June 2021 was 9% below that in the equivalent period a year earlier. "The outlook for the current financial year remains in line with the board's expectations." Cranswick said its investment programme also progressed, with a GBP20 million cooked bacon facility in Hull beginning commercial output during the quarter. It earmarked plans to spend a further GBP5 million "over the coming months" at the food plant.
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NewRiver REIT said it has agreed the sale of Hawthorn Leisure REIT, NewRiver's entire community pub business, to Admiral Taverns for GBP222.3 million. London-based NewRiver REIT is a real estate investment trust, focused primarily on retail and leisure property. Hawthorn, either directly or indirectly, holds all of NewRiver's community pub business, comprising 674 leased & tenanted and operator-managed community pubs. Admiral Taverns is a community pub operator, with about 1,000 pubs across England, Wales and Scotland. Dublin-based beer and cider maker C&C Group has a minority investment in Admiral. The pubs are 'wet-led', meaning focus on drinks sales rather than serving food.
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Bridgepoint plans to sell fast food chain Burger King UK owner , Sky News reported. The private equity group, which listed in London last week, is holding preliminary talks with investment banks to auction the Burger King business, alerting rival private equity firms and potential trade buyers to the potential sale. Sky said an initial public offering of the UK operation also was an option, citing a source.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Boeing is set to attempt its second uncrewed flight to the International Space Station as part of a test to show it can get to and from the orbiting lab safely. The CST-100 Starliner capsule will carry supplies and test equipment to the space station but the main aim of the mission will be to demonstrate that the spacecraft can launch, dock, re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and perform a desert landing safely. Nasa and Boeing are targeting July 30 for the lift-off, which will take place at the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral in Florida. If the mission is successful, it will pave the way for Starliner to become a "taxi service" for Nasa, ferrying astronauts to and from the space station. In 2019, Starliner failed to rendezvous with the space station during its first uncrewed test flight after being plagued by software issues.
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Monday's Shareholder Meetings
Deepverge PLC - AGM
Gresham House Strategic PLC - AGM
i3 Energy PLC - GM re placing and PrimaryBid offer
Oakley Capital Investments Ltd - AGM
tinyBuild Inc - AGM
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By Tom Waite; [email protected]
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