A leap in lucrative last-minute Christmas bookings for Ryanair saw better-than-expected trading, leading to it upping its profits guidance.
The low-cost carrier, led by Michael O’Leary, added that forward bookings from January to April are running around 1% ahead of a year earlier, which should result in “slightly better” than predicted fares in the final quarter.
Passenger numbers for the year to March will be around 154 million, one million higher than previously guided.
Ryanair expects full-year profits after tax to be between €950 million (£807 million) and €1.1 billion. It previously estimated €800 million-€900 million.
The shares jumped more than 7% to €16.3.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com said: "Ryanair has defied fears about the airline market suffering from weaker demand and too much supply."
But, the firm’s update wasn’t entirely upbeat. It warned its Austrian subsidiary Laudamotion continues to underperform, hurt by intense price competition. Lauda’s net loss for the year will widen from under €80 million to approximately €90 million.
