Ryanair back in profit for full year; 14 pct traffic growth yields 2 pct hike in revenue

Ryanair back in profit for full year

DUBLIN — Budget airline Ryanair said Tuesday that it earned a full-year profit of euro305.3 million ($375.7 million), reversing a loss a year earlier when it took a massive write-off from its failed attempt to take over rival carrier Aer Lingus.

Europe’s biggest budget airline said Tuesday that passenger numbers rose 14 percent to 58.6 million in the year ending March 31. Revenue, however, was up just 2 percent to euro3 billion.

A year ago, Ryanair posted a loss of euro169.2 million as it wrote off euro222.5 million on its 30 percent stake in Aer Lingus, the former national airline which was privatized in 2006. Ryanair took a further impairment charge of euro13.5 million on its stake in Aer Lingus reflecting a further drop in that airline’s share price.

The company announced a one-off dividend of euro0.34 per share.

Ryanair shares were up 5.3 percent to euro3.46 in early trading on the London Stock Exchange.

The company turned an operating profit excluding exceptional items of euro402 million, compared to euro144.2 million a year earlier.

Fuel costs fell from euro1.26 billion to euro894 million.

In the current year, Ryanair said it expected traffic to grow by 11 percent and profits to rise by 10-15 percent despite fuel costs increasing by euro300 million.