2nd Nov 2015 06:50
LONDON (Alliance News) - Irish budget carrier Ryanair Holdings PLC on Monday said it expects its full-year net profit to be at the top end of its expectations, as it raised its passenger traffic target following increases in revenue, post-tax profit and customer numbers in the first half.
Ryanair said after-tax profit for the half year to the end of September was EUR1.09 billion, up from EUR795.00 billion a year earlier. The profit excludes a one-off gain made from the sale of its stake in Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus Group PLC to International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, the owner of British Airways.
Revenue for Ryanair rose to EUR4.04 billion, up from EUR3.54 billion, as total customer traffic in the half rose to 58.1 million customers from 51.3 million a year earlier. In addition to the rise in customer numbers, the company's load factor improved to 93.0%, up 4 percentage points from the year before.
The group also said it has taken advantage of the low fuel prices in the market at present to extend its fuel hedges to 95% cover for the 2017 financial year at an average rate of USD62.00 per barrel. Ryanair said the hedging extension will save EUR430.0 million in fuel costs in the year to September 2017.
Thanks to the strong performance in the half, Ryanair raised its financial year 2016 traffic target to 105.0 million customers, up from 104.0 million previously, based on expectations for higher load factors in the second half and a forecast for traffic to grow 17% in the third quarter and by 22% in the fourth quarter.
In line with the upgrade, and as a fall in unit costs and higher ancillary revenue offset an anticipated decline in fourth quarter average fares, Ryanair said it now expects its net profit for the full year to the end of March 2016 to be at the upper end of its guidance of EUR1.18 billion to EUR1.23 billion. It did caution, however, that this will depend on on the strength of bookings in the fourth quarter.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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