Ryanair shares tumble 11% as budget airline reports 46% fall in quarterly profit, sees lower fares

Ryanair shares fell on Monday after the company said its quarterly profit after tax had fallen 46% and fares will be lower than expected in the summer months.

At 8:35 a.m. London time, Ryanair shares were down by 11.4%.

The budget airline said that profit after tax in the three months to the end of June — Ryanair’s first quarter — came in at 360 million euros ($392 million). That’s compared to 663 million euros over the same period a year ago, the company said.

Ryanair cited weaker-than-anticipated fares and the Easter season falling into the previous quarter as reasons for the drop in profit.

It also comes despite a 10% increase in passenger traffic to 55.5 million during the quarter, Ryanair said Monday.

In a statement, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary said fares were also now expected to be lower than expected over the next three months.

“While Q2 demand is strong, pricing remains softer than we expected, and we now expect Q2 fares to be materially lower than last summer (previously expected to be flat to modestly up),” he said.

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