London (AFP)
The Irish company Ryanair recorded a record loss of around one billion euros in its postponed fiscal year 2020 due in particular to a collapse in air traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic, but is optimistic about the recovery.
The turnover of the Irish carrier meanwhile fell 81% to 1.64 billion euros over one year, according to a statement.
Excluding exceptional items, the net loss amounted to 815 million euros for the fiscal year ended March 31, compared to a profit of over one billion euros for the previous fiscal year.
With 200 million euros of losses linked to bad hedging positions on kerosene, the loss rose to 1 billion euros.
The "low cost" group was hedged against an excessive rise in prices while last year they collapsed because of the pandemic which has wiped out air traffic.
“The year 2020/2021 has been the most difficult in Ryanair's 35 years of existence. The Covid-19 saw traffic crumble almost overnight, falling from 149 million passengers to just 27.5 million , number of European governments (...) having imposed bans or restrictions on flights and national confinements ", comments the company.
"We are encouraged by the recent availability of several vaccines against Covid-19 and hope that their deployment will facilitate the resumption of intra-European air traffic and tourism this summer. Yes, as is currently planned , most Europeans will be vaccinated by September, we think that we can hope for a strong recovery (...) in the second half of the year ", continues Ryanair.
The share took 0.53% at 17.00 euros around 07:15 GMT.
"Hard landing for Ryanair with record annual loss, but carrier says bookings are taking off," commented Susannah Streeter, analyst for broker Hargreaves Lansdown.
- Soaring prices in 2022?
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The group, which cut some 3,000 jobs or 15% of its workforce to reduce its fixed costs at the start of the pandemic, recalls that several European companies have succumbed to the economic shock, like Flybe, Level or Germanwings.
He expects "intra-European air transport capacity to remain significantly lower" in the years to come, which may create opportunities for him.
European countries "are starting to lift restrictions on British travelers. Portugal this morning. We are optimistic that Italy and Greece will be added to the green list by the end of May and Spain soon after." Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary commented on the BBC on Monday.
The UK has a three-color system in place for international travel which is re-authorized from Monday: green is the one with the least restrictions and applies to countries deemed to have good health status .
Mr O'Leary also warned on the BBC that if fares remain low this summer, they could soar next year, "particularly on long weekends on public holidays or school vacations", with regard to 25% fewer seats compared to before the pandemic.
The group currently expects the number of passengers carried over the year to be "at the bottom of our forecast range of 80 to 120 million" and estimates that the scenario "likely for the whole year 2021/2022 is to approach financial balance ".
He claims to have a balance sheet "among the strongest in the sector" with 3.15 billion euros in liquidity as of March 31.
Ryanair recalls that in the wake of Brexit, it restricted the voting rights of British shareholders who are now not members of the European Union "in order to protect their EU flight license".
Shareholders from the EU now own one third of the economic rights and all of the voting rights.
© 2021 AFP