(Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings on Monday narrowed its annual loss forecast range with traffic recovering in its recently ended financial year, but remaining well below pre-pandemic levels.
For the year ended March 31, the budget airline expects to report a pre-exceptional net loss of between EUR350 million and EUR400 million, compared to the previously guided range of EUR250 million to EUR450 million.
While the range has been trimmed, Ryanair's loss guidance at the mid-point has widened. Still, this would still be an improvement on the net loss of EUR815 million it reported for the previous financial year. For the pre-pandemic 2020 financial year, Ryanair registered a profit of EUR1.00 billion.
Ryanair also said full-year traffic recovered strongly to over 97 million from 27.5 million in financial 2021, but remained below pre-Covid traffic of 149 million.
This came as the carrier on Monday reported traffic of 11.2 million for March 2022, surging from just 500,000 a year before. It noted that March traffic was negatively impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which caused 2,000 flights to and from Ukraine to be cancelled due to airspace closures.
In total, Ryanair operated over 67,800 flights last month with a load factor of 87%.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 7,555.67
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Hang Seng: up 1.9% at 22,454.95
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.3% at 27,736.47
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.3% at 7,513.70
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DJIA: closed up 139.92 points, or 0.4%, at 34,818.27
S&P 500: closed up 15.45 points, or 0.3%, at 4,545.86
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 40.98 points, or 0.3%, at 14,261.50
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EUR: firm at USD1.1041 (USD1.1035)
GBP: up at USD1.3129 (USD1.3108)
USD: down at JPY122.62 (JPY122.82)
Gold: up at USD1,929.20 per ounce (USD1,928.25)
Oil (Brent): firm at USD105.45 a barrel (USD105.32)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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China Tomb Sweeping Day holiday continues. Financial markets closed in Shanghai but open in Hong Kong.
08:00 CEST Germany foreign trade
10:00 BST UK BoE Governor Andrew Bailey speaks at Stop Scams Conference
10:00 EDT US manufacturers' shipments, inventories & orders
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russian troops "murderers, torturers, rapists, looters" on Monday after dozens of bodies were found near Kyiv, triggering global outrage and vows of tough new sanctions on Moscow. Local authorities said they had been forced to dig communal graves to bury the dead accumulating in the streets, including some found with their hands bound behind their backs, in scenes that sent shockwaves through international capitals more than a month into Russia's invasion. Despite Russian denials of responsibility, condemnation was swift, with Western leaders, NATO and the UN all voicing horror at reports of civilian murders in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, and elsewhere.
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Moscow has called for a special UN Security Council meeting Monday to address claims that Russian forces committed atrocities against Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, a town outside Kyiv. "In the light of heinous provocation of Ukrainian radicals in #Bucha Russia requested a meeting of UN #SecurityCouncil on Monday April 4," Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday on Twitter. Ukraine and Western leaders have erupted in outrage over the discovery of mass graves and hundreds of dead people in Bucha, a small town northwest of Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directly blamed Moscow for the "killings" of civilians. Russia denied the accusations and said Kyiv staged footage of the corpses.
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Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam announced Monday that she will step down in June, ending a divisive term that saw democracy protests squashed and strict pandemic curbs plunge the business hub into international isolation. Ending months of speculation, Lam confirmed she would not seek a second term when a committee made up of the city's political elite chooses a new leader next month. "I will complete my five-year term as chief executive on June 30, and officially conclude my 42-year career in government," Lam told reporters. Lam said China's leaders "understood and respected" her choice not to seek another term and that she wanted to spend more time with her family. The 64-year-old had dodged questions for months over whether she would run again and during Monday's announcement she revealed that had informed Beijing of her plans to quit more than a year ago.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Deutsche Bank research raises Kingfisher to 'buy' (hold) - price target 335 (355) pence
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Barclays raises Just Group to 'overweight' (equal weight) - price target 125 (106) pence
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Barclays cuts Aviva to 'equal weight' (overweight) - price target 480 (468) pence
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Aviva said it has appointed Charlotte Jones as its new chief financial officer with effect from September 5. Jones previously held the position of CFO at former FTSE 100-listed RSA Insurance Group and interim chief executive officer of the RSA UK & International business. Amanda Blanc, group CEO, said: "This is a really excellent appointment for Aviva. Charlotte is a highly experienced CFO with an impressive track record across the insurance and asset management industries. She is an exceptional addition to Aviva and will play a central role as we accelerate our performance and grow."
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Central and eastern Europe-focused airline Wizz Air Holdings said it continued to grow its network and improve its customer offering in March. Wizz Air carried 2.5 million passengers in March, up significantly from just 480,203 the same time last year. The March load factor was 86.2% year-on-year, up from 62.5%.
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COMPANIES - SMALL CAP
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Fulham Shore said following the removal of all Covid restrictions in February 2022, customers have continued to return to its Franco Manca and Real Greek restaurants in increasing numbers. Further, it said during the second half of the financial year both the Franco Manca and Real Greek businesses delivered strong underlying performances. Fulham Shore said strong trading momentum and expansion drove a significant increase in revenue, comparable with the levels seen pre Covid-19. As a result, it expects revenue, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and adjusted headline Ebitda for the financial year ended March 27 will be ahead of last year's figures and comfortably ahead of market expectations. Fulham Shore believes that market expectations for the year are currently revenue of GBP73.4 million, Ebitda of GBP16.5 million and adjusted headline Ebitda of GBP9.5 million. Looking ahead, the firm said rising costs present a challenge to the industry, but it is well-placed to recover this through price hikes.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Tesla increased its vehicle sales in the first three months of the year by more than two-thirds. Tesla said on Saturday that it delivered 310,048 vehicles in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of about 68% from last year's 184,800 vehicles, despite supply chain problems and factory shutdowns. It delivered 295,324 units of its Model 3 and Model Y, along with 14,724 units of its Model S and Model X, the company said. The Austin, Texas-based electric car maker produced 305,407 vehicles in the first quarter compared to 180,338 vehicles in the previous year. Tesla said it will post its financial results for the first quarter of 2022 after market close on April 20.
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Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor announced a drop of almost 30% in car sales to the US. Nissan reported total US sales for the first-quarter of 2022 of 201,081 units, a decrease of 30% from the prior year. Total car sales for the quarter declined by 25% to 78,243 units, while total truck sales dropped 32% to 122,838 units from a year earlier, the company said on Saturday.
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German wind turbine maker Nordex has been hit by a hack attack. Nordex said on Saturday that it has been impacted by the cybersecurity incident since Thursday last week. The company said the intrusion was noticed in an early stage. It decided to shut down IT systems across multiple locations and business units, as a precautionary measure.
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Monday's shareholder meetings
Poolbeg Pharma PLC - AGM
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By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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