Ryanair Holdings PLC said Monday that it swung to a net profit for the first half of fiscal 2023 as traffic recovered strongly in the period, but that recovery for the rest of the year remained fragile.
The Irish low-cost carrier s RYA, +1.15% aid the recovery could still be hurt by new Covid-19 variants or by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
For the period ended Sept. 30, net profit was 1.37 billion euros ($ 1.36 billion) compared with a net loss of EUR48 million for the first half of fiscal 2022, the airline said.
Revenue for the period soared to EUR6.62 billion from EUR2.15 billion, while operating costs were EUR4.98 billion compared with EUR2.20 billion.
Traffic in the period rose to 95.1 million customers from 39.1 million, with a load factor–a measure of how full a plane is–at 94%, up from 79% in the year ago.
Ryanair said forward bookings–both traffic and fares–remained strong over October mid-terms and into the Christmas period.
The airline raised its traffic guidance for the year to 168 million passengers from 166.5 million, and said it expects pre-exceptional profit after tax for fiscal 2023 to be in the EUR1 billion to EUR1.20 billion range
“This cautious guidance will remain hugely dependent on not suffering adverse events this winter,” the company said.
Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com