The mood is likely to be sombre at Ryanair after it announced its first fall in annual profit for the last five years.
Profit after tax was down 8% on the year before, recorded at €523 million.
Passenger numbers for the year were up by 3% with 81.7 million opting to fly Ryanair. The increase, however, did not increase the company’s profits.
The budget carrier has cut its fares to encourage more customers to fly with it. Average fares fell by 4% but revenue per passenger remained flat on the previous year.
What has grown significantly is income from so-called ancillary sources. These are the extra costs, such as food, beverages, scratch cards and the like. This revenue now comprises one-quarter of all Ryanair’s total revenues.
The carrier said the fall in profit was due to increased fuel costs and a weak sterling rate.
The airline has been striving to reposition itself with a better image, and said it had made strong progress with improvements such as allocated seating and permitting a wee small second carry-on bag.
It remains optimistic that it can reach its goal of increasing passenger numbers to 84.6 million in the next financial year. It also forecast a 2% increase in average fares across that year.
