RYANAIR'S H1 PROFITS SOAR ON FALLING FUEL COSTS - Ryanair has issued its first half results this morning and as well as giving a breakdown of how it fared for the six months to the end of September, the airline criticises the Government over its €10 tourism tax, Dublin Airport over the soon to be opened Terminal 2 and its airplane supplier, Boeing, over its reluctance to cut the cost of new planes. It says while there will be losses in the coming quarters, it will emerge fighting fit out of recession in Europe. Ryanair also says that if invited by the Government to look at partnering Aer Lingus, it would do so
Ryanair's Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley says that the airline's enthusiasm towards Aer Lingus is waning as the airline's fortunes weaken. He says that Ryanair is very unlikely to make another offer for Aer Lingus but if something comes up, and the Government wants Ryanair to bail out its rival, it will certainly have a look at the struggling airline. He thinks it is really only a matter of time before that happens.
Mr Cawley says that Ryanair's after tax profit growth is due almost entirely to the cheaper cost of fuel. The airline paid a very high price for oil in the comparative six month period last year and this year saw a massive reduction in costs. He says the bulk of this was passed on to consumers through cheaper fares, with average fares down 17%. Passenger traffic was grown on the back of that, with numbers up 15% to 36 million passengers - a record for the airline, according to Mr Cawley.
However, despite warning that there will be substantial losses in the next two quarters, Mr Cawley says that Ryanair is not changing its guidance for full year profits at the lower end of between €200m and €300m. He says that the airline has again reduced its non-fuel costs by 5%. Unlike fuel, these are continuing cost reductions that are going to stay with the company for a long time, he adds.
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MORNING BRIEFS - On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.4740 and 89.78 pence sterling.
