Ryanair registers 6% increase in full-year profit

Jun 01, 2017: Ryanair reported a 6 percent increase in full-year net profit to €1.316 billion. The combination of a 13 percent cut in average fares, coupled with Year 3 of the “Always Getting Better” (AGB) programme delivered 13 percent traffic growth to 120 million customers, and an industry leading 94 percent load factor and unit costs fell by 11 percent.

Michael O’Leary, CEO Ryanair, said, “We have reported a 6 percent increase in PAT to €1.316 billion, despite difficult trading conditions in FY17 caused by a series of security events at European cities, a switch of charter capacity from North Africa, Turkey and Egypt to mainland Europe, and a sharp decline in Sterling following the June 2016, Brexit vote. We reacted to these challenges by improving our customer experience, and stimulating growth with lower fares.”

During FY17 Ryanair took delivery of 52 new B737’s, launched 206 new routes and opened 10 new bases at the primary airports in Bucharest, Corfu, Frankfurt Main, Hamburg, Ibiza, Nuremburg, Prague, Sofia, Timisoara and Vilnius.

According to the airline, there will be an increase in the fleet to 427 aircraft and the customers will also increase to 130 million’s by March 2018. Ryanair has recently announced the launch of Ryanair Sun, a charter airline which will have a Polish AOC and management team. The airline will operate in summer 2018 with a fleet of 5 aircraft.

“As legacy competitors in Italy, Germany, Romania, and Poland undergo deep restructuring, the scale of our airport growth negotiations is accelerating. We continue to juggle more opportunities for 2018 and 2019 than our existing fleet growth can accommodate.

Accordingly, we are engaged in a fleet review with Boeing and are taking up opportunities to accelerate fleet growth in 2018 and 2019 by extending 10 of our planned lease returns in these years and adding selectively to our current order where Boeing may have some delivery opportunities over the next 24 months. As competitor airlines undergo deep restructuring, we are aware of the need to have additional short-haul aircraft to respond quickly as these unique growth opportunities arise,” Leary added.