Ryanair H1 profit falls 18% on weaker fares, says price weakness moderating

Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan told Reuters that fare declines in the current quarter ending in December would likely be below 5 per cent

Europe's largest low-cost airline, Ryanair on Monday trimmed its passenger growth target for next year due to Boeing delivery delays, but said weakness in fares was moderating following a poor summer. 

The Irish company cut its passenger target for the year to March 2026 to 210 million passengers from 215 million, confirming plans reported by Reuters earlier this month. 

Ryanair shares were down 3.1% to 17.47 euros at 0820 GMT. 

The airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, reported 1.79 billion euros ($1.95 billion) in after-tax profit for the six months to the end of September, an 18% fall from last year as average fares fell 10%. That was broadly in line with a company poll of analysts. 

But fares in the current third quarter are set to be only "modestly lower" than the same period last year, Group CEO Michael O'Leary said. 

"Forward bookings are strong, demand is strong, and the (ticket) price declines appear to be continuing to moderate," he said in a pre-recorded presentation. 

Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan told Reuters the average fare fall for the third quarter would likely be less than 5%.

Ticket price weakness has been partly due to the impact of high interest rates on consumers and also to the decision by a number of online travel agents to stop selling Ryanair flights in early December following legal and regulatory pressure, Sorahan said. 

The issue with travel agents was "pretty much behind us now" due to new agreements with a majority of them, he added.

Constrained market capacity and lower interest rates will hopefully lead to a more supportive environment for ticket prices next year, Sorahan said. 

BOEING DELAYS 

The cut to passenger forecasts for next year is based on the assumption that Boeing delivers 15 of 29 737 MAX aircraft that were due to arrive by next summer, but "there is a high risk around that number" due to the Boeing strike, Sorahan said.

O'Leary described the delays as "a pain in the backside". 

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. 

"While FY25 consensus may drift a little higher, after the recent increase in the share price we suspect the market will initially focus on the lower passenger numbers for FY26 and the implications for net income forecasts," Goodbody analyst Dudley Shanley said in a note, referring to the current and next financial years.