One billion and 15 million euros in net loss, the highest in the company’s 35 years of existence. It is the result of Ryanair’s balance sheet in the year ended March 31, 2021, twelve months hit in full by Covid-19, which brought down world air traffic. In the previous year, the main European low cost company had a net profit of 649 million. The managing director, Michael O’Leary, flaunts optimism: “The resumption of traffic has already begun and, thanks to the progress of vaccination campaigns, it will be appreciable in the summer”.
Revenues and passengers -81 percent
Revenues decreased by 81%, from 8.49 to 1.64 billion euros and passengers transported fell from 149 million to 27.5 million (-81%). Operating costs fell by 66% to 2.48 billion. «2020-2021 was the most difficult of Ryanair’s 35 years of existence. Covid-19 caused traffic to collapse, almost overnight, due to flight bans, travel restrictions and lockdowns imposed by European governments with little warning or coordination, ”says the Irish group.
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The chain of failures
Ryanair says that, excluding extraordinary items, the loss is 815 million, compared with a profit of one billion in the previous year. The carrier recalls that the crisis has caused “the collapse” of companies such as Flybe, Norwegian, Germanwings and Level.
Attack on state aid
The company launches an attack on state aid provided in Europe to a number of national companies. The crisis “triggered a tsunami of aid from EU governments to their insolvent flag carriers, including Alitalia, Air France-KLM, Lot, Lufthansa, Sas, Tap and others, which will create distortions of competition in the EU” says Ryanair.
Recovery is expected in the second half of the year
The company is “encouraged” by vaccination campaigns and “hopes” that they will facilitate travel and tourism in the summer. For this reason, we can think of «a strong recovery in air travel, jobs and tourism in the second half of the current year». According to Ryanair “the recovery has already begun”. The company says its balance sheet remains one of the strongest, with $ 3.15 billion in cash as of March 31st. Shortly after 5pm, the stock lost 2.67% to € 16.40, after hitting a peak of € 17.32 in the session.