Strong summer helps Ryanair to six-month profits of €2.54bn 

Ryanair expects to fly 207m passengers in the financial year ending in March

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary. Ryanair's reported after-tax profit on Monday just ahead of analyst forecasts for the six months ended September. Picture: Brian Lawless

Ryanair's reported after-tax profit on Monday of €2.54bn for the six months ended September and nudged up its passenger traffic forecast due to earlier than expected Boeing deliveries and strong first-half demand.

The Irish airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, said it cautiously expects to recover all of last year's 7% average fare decline in its financial year to March 31, and that should lead to "reasonable" net profit growth for the full year.

Average fares grew by 13% year-on-year during the first half.

Ryanair expects to fly 207m passengers to end-March, up from a previous forecast of 206m after it received 23 new MAX 8 aircraft from Boeing. Improved deliveries enabled it to add capacity for the current quarter.

Ryanair reported a net profit of €2.54bn for the first half, which is when it typically makes most of its profit due to the northern hemisphere's busy summer holiday season. That was up 42% from €1.8bn in the same period last year and ahead of a Ryanair poll of analysts that had expected €2.5bn.

The budget carrier said it is confident of receiving the six remaining MAX 8 aircraft from an order that had suffered long delays by February.

"The team at Boeing have transformed the place in the last 12 months," Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said.

"For the first time in many years we will have a full fleet complement by the time we switch to the summer schedule...and I think that will enable strong 4% traffic growth to about 215m."

Ryanair's next order is for 150 of the new MAX 10 and with Boeing expecting to receive regulatory approval for the aircraft by mid-2026, according to Mr O'Leary. The carrier will begin to accelerate pilot recruitment in advance of the first deliveries due in early 2027.

Chief financial officer Neil Sorahan said demand was weaker into November and required "a bit" of price stimulation but that demand was up marginally during the recent school mid-term holiday with forward bookings "slightly" ahead of the prior year, including for Christmas.

"While Q3 forward bookings are slightly ahead of (PY) prior year, particularly across the October mid-term and Christmas peaks, we would caution that we face more challenging PY fare comps in H2 making fare growth more challenging," Mr O'Leary added.

After previously hedging around 85% of its fuel needs for the year to end-March at $76 per barrel, Ryanair said it took advantage of recent price dips to extend hedging for its 2027 fiscal year to cover 80% of its needs at just under $67 a barrel.

Reuters