- Ryanair Holdings plc reports £178.03 million of loss in the fiscal first half.
- CEO Michael O’Leary forecasts a broader loss in the second half.
- The low-cost airline had £4.07 billion of cash on hand as of September-end.
Ryanair Holdings plc (LON: RYA) said on Monday that passenger numbers were about 80% down in the fiscal first half. Consequently, the company reported a loss in the six months that concluded on 30th September. It was the first time for Ryanair in decades to see a loss in the summer period in which it usually generates the most of its profit every year.
Shares of the company slid more than 1% on market open but jumped close to 4% in the next hour. At £11 per share, Ryanair is about 50% up since its year to date low of £7.36 per share in March, when the COVID-19 restrictions were at their peak.
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Ryanair had started the year at a per-share price of £13.49. Confused about choosing a reliable stockbroker to trade online? Here’s a list of the top few to make selection easier for you.
CEO O’Leary forecasts a broader loss in fiscal H2
The company attributed the decline to the Coronavirus pandemic and warned that it might be pushed into slashing its capacity further in the upcoming months as the second wave of the novel flu-like virus starts to wreak havoc in Europe. Ryanair issued shares to raise £357 million in September.
The airline posted £178.03 million of loss in the fiscal first half as compared to £1.04 billion of profit in the same period last year. Analysts, on the other hand, had estimated an even broader £220.50 million of loss for Ryanair in H1.
CEO Michael O’Leary also said on Monday that loss in the second half of the current financial year was likely to be broader than the first half. Ryanair reaffirmed its estimate for passenger numbers at 38 million for the full financial year, versus 149 million last year.
Ryanair has £4.07 billion of cash on hand
As of the end of September, the Irish air carrier had £4.07 billion of cash on hand, and £6.33 billion worth of aircraft. Supplier reimbursement worth £225.92 million from Boeing also bolstered its balance sheet in the recent quarter.
In the past thirty years, Ryanair has posted a full-year loss only once in 2009. The airline had still made a profit that year in the summer. Peer, EasyJet, also said on Monday that it was looking at financing options to combat the economic blow from the COVID-19 crisis.
At the time of writing, the European low-cost airline is valued at £12.15 billion.
