- Meaningful guidance impossible, says CEO
- Budget flyer hoping for ‘reasonable profitability’ this year
- Shares fall more than 3% as markets remain a bag of nerves
For two years underlockdown, we weren’t allowed to holiday abroad, and now we can, we can’t afford to. Such is the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, piling the pressure on consumers while war in Ukraine wages, interest rates rise and Covid still lurks.
Low-cost airline Ryanair (RYA:IR) gave investors a flavour of this minefield on Monday (16 May), chief executive Michael O’Leary saying it was ‘impractical (if not impossible) to provide a sensible or accurate profit guidance range at this time,’ beyond hoping to return to ‘reasonable profitability’ this year.
The Dublin-based carrier reported a narrowed net loss of €355 million in the financial year to 31 March 2022, significantly lower than the €1.02 billion in 2021, as revenue surged €1.64 billion to €4.8 billion.
11% RISE IN PASSENGER NUMBERS
Ryanair did forecast passenger traffic of 165 million for the March 2023 year, compared with a pre-pandemic level of 149 million. The airline carried more than 97 million passengers last year compared with 27.5 million during the previous 12 months period when the pandemic struck.
In short, Ryanair feels unable to give investors a meaningful steer for most things, but what it does feel more confident about is by-and-large positive. Not that you’d think so given the now Dublin-listed stock’s more than 3% slide on Monday to €13.20, giving the airline a market value of approximately €15 billion.
