Ryanair shares soar to record high as it raises profit forecast

Ryanair has raised its full year profit forecast up to €810-€830 million on Thursday, as the airline reported a "a stronger than expected performance" in the first month of its winter season.

Traffic jumped by 22 per cent jump in November, as the airline’s load factor rose by 7 per centage points from 81 per cent in 2013 to 88 per cent in 2014, despite a 13 per cent increase in seat capacity and the opening of a large number of new city pair routes designed to appeal to business traffic.

As a result, Ryanair has now revised its full year traffic guidance up from 89 million to just over 90 million customers, and raised its full year profit after-tax forecast from its previous range of €750m to €770m, to a new range of €810m to €830m.

However, the airline noted that its full year profit will still be heavily reliant on close in bookings and yields in the fourth quarter, over which it presently has “very little visibility”.

Meanwhile Aer Lingus saw a decrease in passenger numbers in November. The carrier said this reflected a planned reduction in its short haul capacity. The airline said it carried a total of 702,000 passengers on its main and regional operations last month, down by 3.6 per cent on the same time last year.