Ryanair warns of Brexit threat as its profit soars
Ireland’s troubled airline announces a €750m share buyback in the wake of its brawl with pilots and booking fiasco
London — Ireland’s troubled Ryanair says its quarterly net profit rose 12% despite a cancellations crisis, but warns Britain is underestimating the risk of "serious disruption" to flights following Brexit. Profit after tax increased to €106m in the group’s third quarter, or three months to December, from a year earlier, the Dublin-based carrier said. Passenger numbers grew 6% to 30.4-million people. In another boost, the group forecast passenger traffic would climb 8% to 130-million for the full year which ends in March 2018. That was upgraded from previous guidance of 129-million. Ryanair also announced a €750m share buyback which will begin in February. "We are pleased to report this increase in profits during a very challenging third quarter," said CEO Michael O’Leary. Investors seemed unmoved, with Ryanair shares down 3% in morning trading in Dublin. The outspoken boss once again acknowledged Ryanair’s "pilot rostering failure in September". Ryanair suffered a troubled end to 20...
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