RYANAIR is set to record its first quarterly loss since it became a public company seven years ago.
A rapid drop in fares and passenger numbers is expected to push the company to a €10m loss in the three months to the end of March, the fourth quarter of the financial year. Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, yesterday admitted the quarter “could be loss-making”.
The company had forecast that yields in the fourth quarter would fall by 10-15%, but last week revised that forecast drastically downwards, saying it now expected a drop of 25-30%.
But Ray Webster, the chief executive of EasyJet, said his company was not suffering the pricing pressures reported by Ryanair. “We don’t see any problems at all,” he said.
In November, EasyJet forecast that it expected its yields for the first half of 2004 would be up on same period in 2003.
“I think what happened is that Michael (O’Leary) just put his foot on the gas too much last year. He needs to find another base like Stansted that can provide a lot of passengers,” he said.
O’Leary rejected the criticisms. He also rebuffed suggestions that the company needed to reform its corporate governance. “Those are the kind of questions you ask companies that are about to go bankrupt, not one that is making more than €200m a year in profit and has €1.1 billion in cash on its balance sheet.”
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