Ryanair results to follow passenger record?

Irish no-frills airline Ryanair was hoping to be able to report a flying start to its financial year today after passenger numbers soared to a monthly all-time high in July.

The Dublin-based budget carrier was due to report results for the first quarter after saying yesterday that it carried more than two million passengers in one month for the first time.

Ryanair will be hoping to outperform last year’s first quarter figures, when it announced profits significantly ahead of expectations, rising 68% to €39m, with total revenues up 29% to €194.3m .

Stockbroker Morgan Stanley has cut its price target for the shares after estimating lower average earnings growth for the company, of 16%-20%, during the next five years.

But it remained optimistic, saying the airline operates in a “successful niche with a low cost base that allows above-average profits”.

Yesterday, Ryanair said it carried 2,038,896 people in July, while thousands of British Airways passengers were stranded because of the Heathrow strike.

The group said it was the first time a European low-cost carrier had broken through the two million mark.

Head of Communications Paul Fitzsimmons said: “Two million passengers in a month is a new record for Ryanair, and for a low fares airline outside the US.

“The latest passenger statistics, released today, show a traffic increase of 40% compared to July 2002. This strong growth confirms Ryanair is on track to carry 24 million passengers in a full year.”