Ryanair shares climbed this morning after the low-cost airline raised full-year profit expectations and promised an ever better performance next year.
The Irish company said tumbling fuel costs meant it was likely to report an annual profit of between €50m (£44m) and €80m (£71m), against previous guidance that it would just break even.
The low-cost operator also said it expected to return to "substantial profitability" in the 2009/10 year.
Ryanair announced a loss of €101.5m (£90.3m) for the third quarter of its financial year, thanks to a 71% jump in fuel costs, which rocketed over the summer.
The oil price has since collapsed amid growing global economic turmoil.
Ryanair shares were up 5% at 3.005 euros in early trade in Dublin.
Here in London, leading shares began a new month in disappointing style, falling for a third consecutive session.
As traders struggled into a snowbound City, the FTSE 100 dropped more than 2%, with all but two of the blue-chip index's members in negative territory.
At around 9.15am, the FTSE 100 stood at 4066.77 points, down 82.87 on Friday night's close.
The index has now lost almost 230 points over the last three days as it heads back down towards the 4000 point mark.
Financial stocks were the day's biggest fallers, led by Barclays, down 8% to 97.2p, while HSBC slid 6% to 512p.
Icap, the interdealer brokerage, slipped 6% to 221.75p, while the hedge fund group Man dropped 5% to 195.4p.
