(Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings fell to a loss of more than EUR1 billion in its most recently ended financial year but said Monday it expects an improvement as coronavirus restrictions ease and it introduces a more efficient airplane.
The Irish budget airline said it swung to a loss for the year to the end of March of EUR1.11 billion from EUR648.7 million profit recorded the year before.
Annual revenue fell 81% year-on-year to EUR1.64 billion from EUR8.49 billion, in line with the fall in traffic to just 27.5 million from 148.6 million the year prior. Load factor declined to 71% from 95% year-on-year.
Looking ahead, the company expects first-quarter traffic to be between 5 million and 6 million guests. It also believes that annual traffic is likely to be towards the lower end of its previously guided range of 80 million to 120 million passengers, which would represent a jump of up to four times year-on-year.
"With a very close-in booking curve, visibility for the remainder of FY22 is close to zero although bookings have jumped significantly from a very low base since week 1 of April," Ryanair said.
The airline said it thinks financial 2022 will be close to breakeven, assuming vaccine rollouts allow the lifting of intra-European travel restrictions in time for the July to September peak period.
Looking further ahead, Ryanair will benefit from introduction of the Boeing 737 "gamechanger" aircraft, which it said will improve revenue, with 4% more seats available, while reducing fuel costs.
Ryanair shares were up 2.0% early Monday in London.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 7,062.03
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Hang Seng: up 0.7% at 28,214.40
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.9% at 27,824.83
DJIA: closed up 360.68 points, or 1.1%, at 34,382.13
S&P 500: closed up 61.35 points, or 1.5%, at 4,173.85
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 304.99 points, or 2.3%, at 13,429.98
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EUR: flat at USD1.2140 (USD1.2138)
GBP: down at USD1.4001 (USD1.4088)
USD: down at JPY109.20 (JPY109.40)
GOLD: up at USD1,853.05 per ounce (USD1,837.50)
OIL (Brent): up at USD68.53 a barrel (USD68.30)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
0830 EDT US Empire State manufacturing survey
1000 EDT US NAHB housing market index
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for a "heavy dose of caution" as indoor socialising and physical contact resumed against the backdrop of concerns over the Indian coronavirus variant. Johnson said "now everyone must play their part" as England pushed ahead with the third stage of the road map out of lockdown on Monday. Pubs and restaurants will be able to welcome customers back indoors, visits to the homes of friends and family can resume and the foreign holiday ban has ended. Hugs and other physical contact between households are also permitted for the first time since restrictions began more than a year ago. But the measures were eased as top scientists called for caution and warned of a "perilous moment", with the Indian variant feared to be as much as 50% more transmissible than the Kent strain.
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UK house prices notched another record high in May, property portal Rightmove said on Monday, as the sector continues its post-lockdown surge. UK house prices rose 1.8% monthly to an average of GBP333,564, a record high. Annually, prices are 6.7% higher. Rightmove noted that during housing market upturns in the UK, it is often London that leads the way. That is not the case this time, however, as house price growth in London since last year is just 0.2%. To compare, both the North West of England and Yorkshire & the Humber have seen growth of 11%.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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DZ BANK RAISES FAIR VALUE FOR BT GROUP TO 210 (185) PENCE - 'BUY'
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LIBERUM CUTS HOWDEN JOINERY GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 810 (800) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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National Grid said it has filed a three-year rate plan proposal for its Downstate New York businesses. The power line operator, the Department of Public Service Staff and other settling parties have filed a joint proposal for a multi-year rate settlement for National Grid's Downstate New York natural gas distribution businesses, the Brooklyn Union Gas Co and KeySpan Gas East. The proposed settlement is for a three-year rate plan with new rates back-dated to April 2020. A final decision from the New York Public Service Commission is expected later this summer.
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Sanofi's and GlaxoSmithKline's adjuvanted recombinant Covid-19 vaccine candidate achieved strong rates of neutralizing antibody responses, the companies reported. The interim results showed 95% to 100% seroconversion following a second injection in patients from 18 to 95 years old and across all doses, with acceptable tolerability and with no safety concerns. Overall, the vaccine candidate elicited strong neutralizing antibody levels that were comparable to those generated by natural infection. The results came from a phase 2 study in all adult age groups with 722 volunteers. A global pivotal phase 3 study is expected to start in the coming weeks, the pharmaceutical companies said.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Vistry Group said it has made a positive start to 2021, with strong demand across all areas of the business and an average weekly private sales rate of 0.75, up 70% at the same time in 2020. For the full year, Vistry said housebuilding is on track to deliver a significant step-up in completions to 6,500 units, up from 4,652 in 2020 and ahead of previous guidance. Vistry said its Partnerships unit expects to deliver significant growth in higher-margin mixed-tenure completions in 2021 and is on track to meet its 2022 targets of GBP1 billion revenue and an adjusted operating margin of 10%. Looking ahead, Vistry said that, due to strong trading in the first half and increased expectations for 2021 house completions, it now expects adjusted pretax profit for 2021 to be GBP325 million, whilst maintaining its expectations for 2022. Vistry had previously guided to adjusted pretax profit of at least GBP310 million.
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Diploma said it saw a strong first-half performance and expects its full-year performance ahead of expectations. For the six months to March 31, revenue at the London-based seals and cables maker was up 29% to GBP365.2 million from GBP283.6 million the year before, and pretax profit increased 2% to GBP42.5 million from GBP41.6 million, "due to higher amortisation of acquisition intangibles". Diploma declared an interim dividend of 12.5 pence per share, having skipped its interim payout last year, which it said reflects its "growth outlook and future prospects". Looking ahead, Diploma said: "As a result of the strong trading performance in the first half and positive momentum into the second half, we now expect full-year results significantly ahead of our previous expectations."
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easyJet has hired recruitment firm Lygon Group to find a successor to Non-Executive Chair John Barton, Sky News reported on Sunday. Barton has led the board of the low-cost airline since 2013. easyJet has begun approaching potential candidates for chair in recent weeks, Sky said citing "City sources".
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET, AIM AND OTHER
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Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings has agreed to an all-cash takeover offer from the UK arm of Waltham, Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer. The offer of 382 pence per share is a 44% premium to Friday's closing price of 265.00p. It values the share capital of Immunodiagnostic Systems at GBP110 million and implies an enterprise value of GBP88 million, the two companies said. PerkinElmer has 57.9% support for its offer from IDS shareholders. The stock was up 45% early Monday at 369.75p.
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Tungsten West, the owner of a historic tungsten mine in Devon, west England is preparing for a initial public offering on AIM with a GBP100 million valuation, the Sunday Times reported. The Hemerdon mine on the edge of Dartmoor holds one of the biggest tungsten deposits outside of China, the newspaper noted. Tungsten West is hoping to raise up to GBP20 million in equity and a further GBP40 million in debt, according to the Times, adding it is backed by former JP Morgan banker Ian Hannam and Moneysupermarket.com Group co-founder Simon Nixon. The company's chief executive, Max Denning, bought Hemerdon out of receivership in 2019, after previous owner Wolf Minerals ran out of cash, the Times said.
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Debenhams shut its doors for the final time in its 243-year history. The historic department store chain closed its remaining 28 stores across the UK for good on Saturday after the company collapsed amid the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. It closed 21 of its sites across the UK for the final time on Thursday last week. The retailer had suffered slumping sales in recent years as shoppers moved away from traditional department store models. However, the enforced closure of sites during the pandemic was the final straw, resulting in the company falling into administration within weeks of the virus fully hitting the UK.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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HSBC Holdings has been picked as coordinator for Saudia Arabia's potential first initial public offering of a tech startup, Bloomberg reported. The bank's Saudi unit was hired by Jahez International Co for Information Technology, a food delivery firm founded in 2016. HSBC will be sole financial adviser and global coordinator for the potential IPO on the Saudi stock exchange's secondary market, Bloomberg reported, citing the company. A valuation was not disclosed, although the company raised USD36.5 million in a funding round last year, Bloomberg said. Jahez said it has 2 million customers in Saudi Arabia and processed 20 million orders last year.
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Monday's Shareholder Meetings
Bahamas Petroleum Co PLC - EGM re share placing, name change
GCP Asset Backed Income Fund Ltd - AGM
Horizonte Minerals PLC - AGM
Vistry Group PLC - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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