Shares in Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE:RYA) flew over 4% higher as the budget airline reported first-quarter results ahead of expectations, driven by a stronger-than-anticipated recovery in fares.
Profit after tax came in at €819.9 million, ahead of the €716 million average analyst forecast, as total revenue rose 20% year-on-year to €4.34 billion, surpassing the €4.16 billion consensus.
Passenger numbers increased 4% to 57.9 million, with a load factor of 94%. Scheduled revenue was €2.94 billion, up 26%, supported by a 21% increase in average fares to €51.
CEO Michael O’Leary said fares "substantially benefited from having a full Easter holiday in April, weak prior-year comps and marginally stronger than expected close-in pricing".
He hailed a "solid" level of ancillary revenue, growing 7% to €1.4 billion from items such as priority boarding, reserved seating, checked baggage, in-flight sales and products like insurance and car hire.
Operating costs were up 5% to €3.4 billion.
The Dublin-based group ended the quarter with €2.1 billion in net cash after repurchasing €58 million worth of shares.
Much delayed delivery of 181 Boeing 737-Max-8 aircraft is expected by quarter-end, with a further 29 expected before summer 2026. Certification for the 737-Max-10 is expected late in 2025.
O'Leary gave no earnings guidance for the second quarter or the full year, but reaffirmed its expectation to grow passenger numbers "just 3%" this year to 206 million, due to those Boeing delays.
Unit cost inflation is predicted to remain modest and he said that fare increases in the second quarter would be lower than the 21% seen in the first quarter, with almost all of the 7% fare decline experienced a year ago fully recovered.
The outcome of the first half will be "heavily dependent" on the strength of late August and September bookings, O'Leary said.
"As is normal at this time of year, we have zero H2 visibility," he said, so it remains "too early" to provide meaningful profit guidance, not to mention "tariff wars, macro-economic shocks, conflict escalation in the Middle East and Ukraine and European ATC strikes, mismanagement & short staffing".
"We do, however, cautiously expect to recover almost all of last years 7% full-year fare decline, which should lead to reasonable net profit growth in FY26."
The shares rose €1.13 in early trading on Monday to €24.23.