Budget airline Ryanair on Monday reported a better than expected annual post-tax loss of 815m as passenger numbers plunged due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but added there were signs the recovery had begun.
The company said it flew 27.5m passengers in the 12 months to March 31, down from 149m. Ryanair said the current fiscal year “continues to be challenging, with uncertainty around when and where Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions will be eased”.
While the loss was a record for the company, analysts had forecast a figure of around 835m. Ryanair pulled full-year guidance, but said it “cautiously believed” the likely outcome was “currently close to breakeven” if the EU vaccine rollout remains on track.
It expects first quarter traffic “to be heavily curtailed” to between 5m – 6m guests and full year passenger numbers at the lower end of its 80-120m guidance.
Ryanair said it was impossible to give a formal profit outlook for the year, but added that it “cautiously believed that the likely outcome for full-year 2022 is currently close to breakeven” if the EU vaccine rollout remains on track.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary said recent increases in weekly bookings suggested the “recovery has already begun”.
He added that bookings had climbed to around 1.5m a week now from around 500,000 in early April.
“If, as is presently predicted, most European populations are vaccinated by September, then we believe that we can look forward to a strong recovery” in the second half of the year, from October to March, O’Leary said.
