Ryanair raises profit guidance after Christmas travel boom

Airline shares surged in Europe after Ryanair said it expects to post a bigger-than-expected full-year profit following a spike in lucrative last-minute bookings over the Christmas and New Year holiday. Europe’s biggest discount airline now anticipates earnings for the 12 months through March of between E950m and E1.05b, and most likely in the middle of that range, according to a statement on Friday. It had previously forecast E800m to E900m. The spate of late bookings helped lift yields, a measure of fares, according to Ryanair, which reports Q3 results on Feb 3. Sales for January through April are also 1% up on this time last year and that should result in slightly better pricing in the fourth quarter, with the full-year passenger tally reaching 154m or 1m more than previously forecast. <br/>