Ryanair’s record results

Monday, 04 Nov, 2002 0

Ryanair announced record profits for the half-year to 30 September, which already exceed profits for the entire previous year.

The no-frills carrier reported after-tax profits of 150.9 million euro, an increase of 71 percent from the same period last year. Passenger traffic increased 37 percent for the six months.

Ryanair chief executive, Michael O’Leary didn’t miss the opportunity to have a dig at his traditional schedule airline competitors. He said: “At a time when most of our high fare competitors in Europe were reducing capacity and increasing fares, Ryanair was stepping up its growth, and doing so profitably.

“Our profits for the half year already exceed the total profits for the entire previous year.”

Although fares declined by an average of two percent over the six months, operating costs fell by 11 percent per passenger, increasing margins to 32 percent for the six month period.

Mr O’Leary said that central to reducing costs was the purchase of additional Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which increased overall capacity by 45 percent, while maintaining 25-minute turnarounds.

Mr O’Leary added that he did not expect a similar increase in profits for the next half-year because the carrier had already given away 870,000 free seats for quarter three. Despite this, he raised profit expectations for the year from 200 million euro to 230 million euro.

Ryanair also announced that it will publish monthly customer service statistics, similar to those proposed by the European Commission. The statistics for September 2002 show an increase in on-time flights from 65 percent to 81 percent when compared to September 2001.

Complaints were down in September to 0.53 per 1,000 passengers, but baggage complaints were up to 1.21 per 1,000 passengers. This was probably due to the baggage handling problems that Ryanair experienced at Stansted when it changed its handling company over the summer.

The carrier is expected to announce another new base for Summer 2003 after Christmas, which it says is unlikely to include Dublin, where Mr O’Leary says facilities are over-priced. Ryanair has appealed to the Irish Government to construct a second terminal at Dublin Airport by 2004.