Ryanair cuts annual loss and eyes return to ‘reasonable profitability’


RYANAIR

Ryanair reduces its annual loss and plans to return to reasonable profitability | Photo credits: Anton Gvozdikov / Shutterstock.com

DUBLIN, May 16 (Reuters) – Airline Ryanair on Monday reported a loss of 355 million euros for the 12 months to the end of March and said it could not give a forecast except that it expects a return to “reasonable profitability” this year.

The Irish company, which flies more than any other European carrier according to air traffic regulator Eurocontrol, said it plans to increase traffic to 165 million passengers this year from 97 million a year ago. a year and a record 149 million before the coronavirus pandemic.

However, its chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said it was “impractical, if not impossible” to provide an accurate earnings forecast range at this time, due to the risks associated with the war in Ukraine and to COVID-19.

“This recovery remains fragile,” Michael O’Leary said in a statement.

He added that while bookings have improved in recent weeks, prices in the first quarter still need a boost. Ryanair is showing some optimism that peak summer fares will be slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels due to accumulated demand.

The loss before exceptional items amounted to 355 million euros for the year, a figure lower than the loss of 370 million euros forecast by analysts and the loss of one billion euros for the previous year.

The airline posts a profit of one billion euros in the financial year ending March 2020. (Reporting Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin; French version Valentine Baldassari, editing by Kate Entringer)





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