Last checked at 
(Recasts after statement from Ryanair)
MADRID, June 12 (Reuters) - Ryanair is likely to
book losses in the first and second quarters of its current
financial year due to the travel restrictions imposed as a
result of the coronavirus pandemic, the company confirmed on
Friday.
"The group expects to record a loss of over 200 million
euros ($226 million) in Q1, with a smaller loss expected in Q2,"
Ryanair said in an emailed statement.
Spain's Expansion newspaper had earlier reported that
Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said that losses could
run to as much as 300 million euros in the financial year to
March 2021. Ryanair said that O'Leary had been misquoted in the
article.
"Ryanair has not provided new guidance since May 18," the
company said, adding that it could not provide forecasts for the
financial year as a whole.
The airline had said in May that it expects to post a loss
of a little more than 200 million euros in the three months to
the end of June. Making a profit forecast for the year to March
2021 was impossible, O'Leary said at that time.
The July-September period, the second quarter for Ryanair,
is its busiest period as it covers the peak summer holiday
season.
Ryanair reported a profit after tax of 1 billion euros for
the year to the end of March 2020.
Ryanair has joined forces with British Airways and
easyJet to launch legal action against the British
government's quarantine policy to try to overturn what they see
as overly strict rules that will hamper their efforts to get
passengers flying again.
($1 = 0.8846 euros)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro
Editing by Louise Heavens and Keith Weir)
