Ryanair reported a net profit of 841.5 million euros ($968.61 million) for the second quarter of its fiscal year on Monday, which was slightly below analysts’ expectations.
Analysts were expecting a net income of 855 million euros, according to data firm Refinitiv. The airline has struggled with weaker fares, higher oil prices and several strikes by crew and air traffic control members.
Here are the key highlights:
- Net profit: 841.5 million euros, versus 309.2 million euros in the first quarter.
- Total operating expenses: 1.825 billion euros, versus 1.708 billion in the first quarter.
Speaking to CNBC Monday, Ryanair’s CEO painted a gloomy picture for the rest of the year.
“The winter looks grim. We have a combination of rising oil prices; although Ryanair is very well hedged while competitors aren’t; fares are falling, there’s excess capacity in Europe … We see a winter characterized by declining air fares,” Michael O’Leary, CEO or Ryanair told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Monday.
He predicted that amid such an environment, many airlines would struggle to operate. “You will see more failures this winter as we enter what is probably a four-five year downturn in the industry.”
One of the big issues for Ryanair this year has been strikes and flight cancellations. “There’s been a lot of misinformation about this. Firstly most of the strikes and the cancellations this year and across Europe have been air traffic control, mainly French and German air traffic control and the U.K. were understaffed. We in the entire year so far have had eight strikes,” O’Leary told CNBC.
“We have made very significant progress, we have done deals now in Ireland, in the U.K., Italy, we signed with Portuguese pilots last week … But there’s been very little disruption within Ryanair this year as rising from … our own people,” he said.
