Ryanair posts record Christmas quarter, sees ‘very robust’ summer demand

Ryanair on Monday posted its largest after-tax profit for the October-December quarter and said bookings for Easter and summer flights in recent weeks were “very robust”, boosted by demand from Asian travelers and a strong US dollar. “Bookings are showing no signs of recession at this point in time,” CFO Neil Sorahan said. “We had record bookings in week two and week three of January, very robust demand into Easter and the summer without fare stimulation,” he said. Last week, rivals Wizz Air and EasyJet also reported strong summer bookings. Ryanair, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, said it had earned E211m in the three months ended Dec. 31, Q3 of its financial year. The after-tax profit numbers compared with a forecast of E200m in a company poll of analysts and its previous record of E106m in the final three months of 2017. Sorahan would not reiterate a forecast made earlier in the month by CE Michael O’Leary that fares were likely to post annual high-single-digit percentage growth in the coming summer, saying only that he was “encouraged by bookings at this point.” Ryanair reiterated its Jan. 4 forecast of an after-tax profit of between E1.325b and E1.425b for the year through March 31. That was an upgrade of an earlier forecast of E1b-1.2b. “There is always a danger that the market is disappointed if it gets what it expects,” Goodbody stockbrokers said in a note. Demand weakness in the United Kingdom reported earlier in January has disappeared and may have been due to transport strikes in the country, O’Leary said in a video presentation. “With Asian tourists now returning and a strong US dollar encouraging Americans to explore Europe, we’re seeing robust demand,” O’Leary said.<br/>