Ryanair has announced a profit of €197 million for the three months to June 2014, an increase of 152 per cent over last year.
Following the strong financial results, Ryanair has raised its full-year profit forecast, for the year ending March 2015, to a range of between €620 million to €650 million. This is up from the estimated range of €580 million to €620 million.
Average fare rose 9 per cent, while total revenues were up 11 per cent to €1.496 billion.
Ryanair warned the results are “distorted” due to the timing of a “very strong” Easter in Q1 with no holiday period in the prior year comparable.
The Irish carrier said ancillary revenues rose 4 per cent as airport and baggage fee reductions were offset by the rising uptake of allocated seating.
The airline also said it plans to launch new routes to “key cities” to make them “more attractive to business customers”.
“We are overrun with growth offers from primary European airports whose incumbent flag and regional carriers continue to cut capacity and traffic,” Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said.
“These new airports along with our existing 69 bases offer Ryanair significant growth opportunities as the first of our 180 new Boeing order delivers this September.
He added: “These new aircraft, with the benefit of the much weaker US$, will drive significant cost efficiencies over the next 5 years.”
Chief financial officer Howard Millar said "We've made a lot of service improvements over the last six or seven months and we're seeing the benefits".
Ryanair.com