1st Nov 2021 06:31
(Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings PLC on Monday posted a first half revenue hike and a narrowed loss, as the carrier benefited from a rebound in passenger numbers.
The Dublin-based budget airline painted a cautious picture for the remainder of its financial year, however, deciding against annual guidance as it approaches a potentially difficult winter period.
In the six months to September 30, revenue rose 83% year-on-year to EUR2.15 billion from EUR1.18 billion. Ryanair's pretax loss narrowed to EUR99.9 million, from EUR432.3 million a year earlier. Two-years ago, the airline booked an interim pretax profit of EUR1.26 billion.
During the period, it carried 39.1 million customers, more than doubled yearly from 17.1 million. The load factor improved to 79% from 72% a year prior.
"Following a very badly disrupted Q1, which saw most Easter flights cancelled and a slower-than-expected easing of EU government travel restrictions in May and June, traffic rebounded in Q2 with the successful rollout of the EU Digital Covid Certificates in July," the company said.
Most flight bookings are "close-in", however, meaning they were made closer to departure time. Ryanair also charged that in the UK, consumer confidence was hit by the "confusing and inconsistent traffic light system", which has since been phased out.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Thursday last week announced all remaining countries in England's red travel list will be removed with effect on Monday. This means arrivals will no longer need to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of GBP2,285.
Ryanair added on Monday: "In recent weeks, we have seen a surge in bookings for the October mid-term and Christmas breaks, and we expect this peak buoyancy to continue into Easter and summer 2022."
However, Ryanair said its outlook for "pricing and yields" will be "challenging" in winter.
"With the booking curve remaining very close-in, traffic recovery will require continuing price stimulation. This, coupled with rising costs for the small unhedged balance of our fuel needs, means that visibility for the remainder of FY22 is very limited," the carrier explained.
Ryanair decided against offering "meaningful" annual guidance. It does, however, expect a net loss of between EUR100 million and EUR200 million. Its net loss in the first half narrowed to EUR47.6 million from EUR410.5 million a year earlier.
Ryanair added: "This outturn will be crucially dependent on the continued rollout of vaccines and no adverse Covid19 developments."
For financial 2021, it made a net loss of EUR1.02 billion.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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