Ryanair Holdings plc said this week it expects to report a stronger than expected Q3 profit after tax (PAT) of close to €200m. Q3 in the Ryanair financial year runs from 1st October to 31st December. Strong pent-up travel demand over the holiday season for the first time in 3 years, with no adverse impact from Covid or the war in Ukraine, stimulated stronger than expected peak Christmas/New Year traffic and fares according to the airline.
FY23 traffic guidance of 168m remains unchanged. Ryanair expects Q4 to be loss-making due to the absence of Easter from March, and a recent softening in UK outbound and Irish – provincial UK traffic and pricing.
As a result of these recent developments, Ryanair has raised its FY23 PAT guidance (pre-exceptionals) from a current range of €1.00bn – €1.20bn to a new range of €1.325bn – €1.425bn. This guidance remains heavily dependent upon avoiding adverse events in Q4, such as Covid or the war in Ukraine. Actual results for Q3 will be released by the Group on Monday 30th January.
