By Conor Humphries
DUBLIN (Reuters) -Budget airline Ryanair said on Monday forward bookings were strong and falls in average fares were moderating following a poor summer that saw profits and ticket prices plunge.
The Irish airline, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, reported an 18% fall in after-tax profit for the six months to the end of September, its key summer season, with average fares down 10%.
But fares in the current quarter would be only “modestly lower” than the same period last year, Group Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said.
“Forward bookings are strong, demand is strong, and the (ticket) price declines appear to be continuing to moderate,” O’Leary said in a pre-recorded presentation.
Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan told Reuters that fare declines in the quarter ending in December would likely be below 5%.
Constrained market capacity and lower interest rates will hopefully lead to a more supportive environment for ticket prices next year, he added.
After-tax profit for the half year was 1.79 billion euros ($1.95 billion), broadly in line with the 1.8 billion euro profit forecast in a company poll of analysts.
Ryanair shares ended Friday at 18.02 euros, down 5.5% year to date. The share price dropped as low as 13.41 euros in July after the company reported profits almost halved in the three months to the end of June, but recovered on more positive commentary about late summer fares.
BOEING DELAYS
Ryanair said it would trim its passenger growth target for its next financial year, which ends on March 31, 2026, to 210 million passengers from 215 million to reflect delivery delays from Boeing.
That is based on the assumption that Boeing delivers 15 of 30 737 MAX aircraft that were due to arrive by next summer, but “there is a high risk around that number” due to the Boeing strike, CFO Sorahan said.
Boeing shares gained 3.5% on Friday on bets that the planemaker’s U.S. West Coast factory workers will approve a new wage offer and end a seven-week strike that has halted jet production and hammered the company’s finances.
(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Jamie Freed and Mark Potter)
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