Ryanair has reported a 59% hike in annual net profits to €239.4m for the year to the end of March, beating analysts' expectations.
Passenger traffic for the year grew by 42% to 15.7 million as average load factors increased from 81% to 84%. The airline said this was mainly due to a 6% reduction in average fares. It predicted it would carry about 24 million passengers this year.
But the airline warned that yields such as revenue per seat would be eroded by about 10% this year, in part due to the appreciation of the euro against the dollar and sterling. However, it added that the negative revenue effect of weaker sterling would be partially compensated by lower sterling costs.
Ryanair said the Buzz subsidiary it purchased earlier this year from KLM for €20.1m was now profitable after making losses of up to £1m a week under its former Dutch owner.
Ryanair's Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said the airline has for the 15th year in a row delivered increased profits. 'The market has suffered from high fuel prices, the war in Iraq, the impact of SARS and the continuing effect of the economic downturn in many European countries,' he said.
'Despite these difficult conditions, Ryanair's continued profitability stems from the fact that we have the lowest costs and lowest air fares,' he added.
He said Ryanair's business plan remains to grow traffic by 25% a year and maintain a profit after tax margin of about 20%.
Repeating criticisms of the Government, O'Leary said it was still waiting for it to 'stop talking about competition and start doing something about it'. He said that Ireland was continuing to miss out on air traffic and tourism growth, and urged the development of competing terminals and the splitting up of the Aer Rianta monopoly.
'Looking forward, we remain confident of another successful year for Ryanair, during which we will deliver substantial traffic growth,' O'Leary said.
'Even though we will drive down fares and yields, we expect to maintain our normal profit margins of just over 20% and record our 16th consecutive year with a material increase in profits,' he concluded.
Ryanair shares closed down 13 cent to €5.68 in Dublin, having earlier been as much as 10% lower.
