Advertisement
UK markets closed
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    56,144.30
    +1,212.21 (+2.21%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • NASDAQ Composite

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • UK FTSE All Share

    4,338.05
    +12.12 (+0.28%)
     

Ryanair Revenues Rise 10% Despite Fall In Fares

Ryanair is celebrating its 30th brithday with "strong growth in traffic and profits" as customers react positively to the no-frills airline's softer approach.

Low cost airline Ryanair posted positive financial results this morning alongside plans to expand its European footprint.

Pre (Shanghai: 600048.SS - news) -tax profits jumped 24% in the three months to June 30 as customer numbers grew by 16% to 28 million.

The airline's boss Michael O'Leary said: "We are pleased to report strong growth in traffic and profits in Q1. Our mix of low fares, best on time performance (91% in Q1) and enhanced customer experience under our "Always Getting Better" programme continues to attract millions of new customers.

ADVERTISEMENT

The "Always Getting Better" plan has seen customers benefit from both discounts on their checked luggage together with the introduction of a free second carry-on bag policy.

Although this seems to have benefited customer satisfaction ratings it has prompted revenues per passenger to slip 4.1% to €59.04.

Alongside the financial results Ryanair also announced that it plans to open its sixth German base in September.

The base at Berlin Schonefeld will cement its footprint in Germany where it has a 5% share of the market with ambitions to increase this further over the next five years.

Although the company said it expects its full year profits to be at the top end of the €940m to €970m net profit range, it caveated this saying it has "almost zero visibility" over what will happen in the second half of the year.

Ryanair's campaign to "Keep Greece Flying", under which it dropped prices on some Greek domestic routes to just €4.99 one-way while also cutting fares on international routes to and from Greece by 30% has been well received according to the airline as it piggy-backed on other media coverage concerning the turmoil in Greece.

Ryanair has ramped up its Greek operations over the last year, with 12 Athens routes, including a direct route from Brussels, where politicians have been trying to hammer out deals over the country's future in the eurozone.

Earlier this month Ryanair accepted a bid for its 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus (Other OTC: AELGF - news) to British Airways owner IAG for €1.3bn (£940m).

IAG offered Ryanair a cash payment of €2.50 per Aer Lingus share, plus a cash dividend of €0.05 per share.

But any profit made by Ryanair from the deal is unlikely to be much above the price paid when they first acquired shares in 2006, as the Aer Lingus share price has risen only 2.1% since it first floated in September 2006.

Ryanair’s share price over the same period has risen 195.8%.