After Germany’s Lufthansa, it’s Ryanair’s turn to return to profit. The low-cost Irish company confirmed its return to better fortune by presenting results for the first quarter of 2022-2023, which runs from April to June, which contrasts with the loss of 273 million euros suffered a year earlier. The carrier, which operates the Ryanair, Laude, Malta Air and Buzz brands, made a net profit of 170 million euros, beyond consensus expectations, which anticipated 157 million. Its turnover has been multiplied by nearly 7, to 2.38 billion. These results are welcomed on the stock market by a gain of 2.6%, to 13.23 euros.
Ancillary income puts butter in the spinach
This good performance is based primarily on the explosion in passenger traffic. Suppressed for too long, the desire to travel has vanished with progress in vaccination and the reopening of borders. Ryanair benefited from this: the group transported 45.5 million passengers over the quarter, more than five times more than a year ago, even if the dynamic of reservations weakened a little at Easter due to the war. in Ukraine. In addition to this recovery, there is good control of unit costs and an increase in so-called “ancillary” revenues, these services for which the company charges a high price, such as having more legroom or reserving a seat in the front. , for example. On average, ancillary revenue represented 22.5 euros per passenger, or 3.5 euros more than before the crisis. They made it possible to compensate for the drop in ticket prices, which sold on average 4% less than in the 2019-2020 financial year. On the balance sheet side, the acceleration in the pace of reservations resulted in a reduction in net debt, now reduced to 0.4 billion euros, against 1.45 billion at the end of March 2022. And the improvement will continue , despite a high level of investment, Ryanair pointed out.
Create more than 6,000 jobs
For the rest, the geopolitical and health context calls for caution. If the high rate of vaccination against Covid in Europe is a source of hope, “ we cannot ignore the risk of new variants next fall, says management, keeping in mind the surprise appearance of Omicron at the end of 2021. On the other hand, she says to herself ” protected against skyrocketing fuel costs thanks to coverage of 80% of its kerosene purchases for the current financial year. The other key topic of the moment is recruitment. ” Our growth plans by 2026 will create over 6,000 well-paying jobs for highly skilled aviation professionals across Europe “says the carrier, whose reputation as an employer is second to none. Over the next three years, we plan to expand our state-of-the-art training centers, investing more than 100 million euros in two other highly specialized training centers (one in the Iberian Peninsula and one in Central European countries and eastern). »
PC