Ryanair Stock Drops On Weak Q1 Profit; Sees Traffic Growth Ahead

(RTTNews) - Shares of Ryanair Holdings Plc were losing around 7 percent in Ireland, after the Irish low-cost airline reported Monday lower profit in its first quarter of fiscal 2027 with higher operating expenses, despite slightly higher revenues.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2027, the company said traffic remains on track to grow 4 percent to 216 million passengers, with a fleet of 647 aircraft. The gexpected growth is 6% for the first half and 2% for the second half.

Further, the company projects sustainable, profitable growth to over 300 million passengers per annum by fiscal 2034.

In Ireland, Ryanair shares were losing around 7.13 percent, trading at 24.11 euros.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, said, "The final FY27 PAT remains highly sensitive to adverse external developments, incl. conflict escalation in the Middle East and Ukraine, the price of unhedged jet-fuel, macro-economic shocks and continuing European ATC strikes & mismanagement."

The company added that European short-haul capacity is projected to remain constrained until at least 2030.

Regarding the first quarter, the company noted that price of its 20 percent unhedged jet-fuel spiked and fares fell 6 percent, primarily due to the impact of the Middle East conflict that led to consumer hesitancy, concerns about EU jet-fuel shortages, economic uncertainty and later bookings, as well as the shift in first part of Easter holiday.

In the first quarter, profit declined 34 percent to 537.7 million euros from 819.9 million euros last year. Earnings per share were 0.5121 euro, down from 0.7659 euro last year.

Operating profit fell 37 percent year-over-year to 575.4 million euros, as operating expenses grew 11 percent from last year to 3.81 billion euros.

Total operating revenues increased 1 percent to 4.38 billion euros from 4.34 billion euros last year. Scheduled revenue dipped 1 percent as traffic grew 6 percent but at 6 percent lower fares. Ancillary revenues increased 5 percent.

Passenger traffic grew to 61.3 million from 57.9 million last year. Load Factor remained flat at 94 percent.

Revenue per pax fell 5 percent.

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