31st Jan 2022 09:44
(Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings PLC on Monday said the rebound in flying was knocked back in the last three months of 2021 by the outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, as it cautioned shareholders to expect further disruptions from the virus pandemic.
The Dublin-based budget carrier reported a net loss of EUR96 million in the three months that ended December 31, its financial third quarter. This was narrowed from the third quarter of financial 2021, for which Ryanair reported a loss of EUR321 million. However, it was double the net loss of EUR48 million for the entire first half of the year.
Revenue was EUR1.47 billion, multiplied year-on-year from EUR340 million. However, this was 18% down from the previous quarter ending September 30, which brought in revenue of EUR1.78 billion.
Ryanair said the emergence of the Omicron variant in December had "badly damaged" bookings and yields in December and January, which is typically a higher-yielding period with Christmas and New Year bookings. Traffic in December dropped to 9.5 million, 14% below the company's expected target of 11 million, and reduced the month's load factor to 81%.
The quarter had started off well in October, with strong bookings for the mid-term break, and the relaxation of the UK government's traffic light system of travel restrictions. October traffic was 11.2 million, with an 84% load factor. November followed with 10.2 million guests, at a 86% load factor, at lower fares.
The quarter overall saw the airline carry 31.1 million passengers, which was up from 8.1 million the previous year, when even more travel restrictions were in place.
Ryanair said that heading into its final quarter, capacity has been cut by 33% and January's traffic target has been lowered to between 6 million and 7 million passengers from 10 million.
"The outlook for pricing and yields for the remainder of FY22 is hugely uncertain," the company said. Bookings have improved since travel restrictions were eased, but are still "very late and close-in". This will mean the final quarter has needed "significant price stimulation at lower prices" to recover load factors from the drop over the festive period.
Ryanair maintained its guidance for a financial 2022 net loss in a larger-than-normal range of EUR250 million to EUR450 million. This would good progress from a loss of EUR1.11 billion in the previous year. However, it is still far from pre-pandemic profit of EUR648.7 million two years ago. The airline still expects total traffic of just under 100 million passengers for the year.
"This outturn is hugely sensitive to any further positive or negative Covid news flow and so we would caution all shareholders to expect further Covid disruptions before we here in Europe and the rest of the world can finally declare that the Covid crisis is behind us," Ryanair warned.
The airline's share price was down 0.4% to 16.54 pence each in Dublin on Monday morning.
By Elizabeth Winter; [email protected]
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