Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE:RYA) reported sharply narrowing losses for the first half as passenger numbers rebounded following the lifting COVID-19 travel restrictions and after it cut ticket prices.
The outlook for the full year remains challenging, the Irish airline said, as it also announced that it may de-list its shares from the London Stock Exchange.
Net losses shrank to €48mln in the six months to 30 September from €411mln in the same period last year, while revenue soared by 83% to €2.15bn as traffic jumped 128% to 39.1mln, with a 79% load factor.
Ryanair said it had reduced its average fares by 30% to €33 in the first half to stimulate bookings.
The airline said passenger numbers rose to 11.3mln in October from 10.6mln in September and 4.1mln in October 2020. The load factor was 84%.
Ryanair's Michael O'Leary, said the airline had seen a surge in bookings in recent weeks for the October mid-term and Christmas breaks and expects this peak buoyancy to continue into Easter and summer 2022.
Looking ahead, Ryanair said the outlook for pricing and yields for the coming winter will be challenging and that it will have to continue to offer discounted tickets in order to stimulate bookings.
It forecast a full-year loss of €100mln-€200mln and passenger numbers of 100mln.
“This outturn will be crucially dependent on the continued rollout of vaccines and no adverse Covid-19 developments,” it cautioned.
Ryanair said trading in its shares on the LSE has reduced “materially” during 2021 and it is now considering the merits of retaining its London listing.
“The migration away from the LSE is consistent with a general trend for trading in shares of EU corporates post-Brexit and is, potentially, more acute for Ryanair as a result of the long-standing prohibition on non-EU citizens purchasing Ryanair's ordinary shares being extended to UK nationals following Brexit,” it said.
The airline said its fuel requirements are 80% hedged for the fourth quarter.
Cash stood at €4.24bn at the end of September, up from €3.15bn at end-March. Net debt fell to €1.50bn from €2.28bn.
Ryanair took delivery of its first B737-8200 "Gamechanger" aircraft in June and expects to have over 65 in its fleet by next summer.
Shares were 0.66% higher at €16.85.