=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2002/06/10/f= inancial0823EDT0015.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, June 10, 2002 (AP) No-frills airline Ryanair reports record profits, plans to keep expanding i= n Europe SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer (06-10) 05:23 PDT LONDON (AP) -- Ryanair, the aggressively expanding Irish no-frills airline, said Monday its earnings rose 44 percent in it latest fiscal year and said it expects to keep growing by driving ticket prices lower. The airline reported net profits of 150.4 million euros ($141.6 million), up from 104.5 million euros in fiscal 2001. The results were better than analysts' expectations, and by midday in Dublin the airline's shares had surged 6.5 percent to 6.60 euros ($6.20). Revenues rose to 624.1 million euros ($586.7 million) from 487.4 million euros a year ago. "As these robust results demonstrate, Ryanair is and will continue to be the fastest growing, and most profitable, and lowest cost, low-fares airline in Europe," said Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary. While most airlines struggled to keep passengers following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Ryanair kept expanding and touting headline-grabbing promotions that infuriated its more expensive European rivals. Monday's results reported that Ryanair carried 11.1 million passengers in the past 12 months, up from 8.1 million in fiscal 2001. The rise was attributed partly to the fact Ryanair launched more than a dozen new routes, including 10 from a new hub near Frankfurt, Germany. Founded in Ireland in 1985, Ryanair today operates 76 routes in 13 European countries. Its chief base is Stansted Airport northwest of London. Ryanair is also building a beachhead in continental Europe by using previously sleepy provincial airports -- Hahn airport 60 miles outside Frankfurt and Belgium's Charlerois, 40 miles south of Brussels -- that charge the airline lower fees than airports closer to the cities. The airline is planning to launch two more German bases. Ryanair has faced lawsuits from state-owned competitors, who accuse the Irish intruder of making misleading claims in its advertisements. Most recently, Lufthansa took Ryanair to court in a bid to prevent it describing Hahn as a Frankfurt airport. O'Leary responded by taking out full-page ads offering free flights, a frequent Ryanair tactic that competitors also criticize as misleading, because customers still must pay substantial taxes and insurance costs for the "free" tickets. But it's certainly helped to stimulate demand. The airline said 81 perce= nt of seats on its planes were occupied in fiscal 2002, up 4 percent. "Our successful expansion from our Brussels and Frankfurt bases as well = as our continued strong growth at established bases in London, Glasgow (Scotland) and Shannon (Ireland) has resulted in our traffic growth significantly exceeding our target," O'Leary said in a statement. "We envisage this strong growth continuing for the next two years, when = we expect traffic to grow at a rate of 30 percent to 35 percent per annum before steadying back at 25 percent per annum thereafter." O'Leary said he wasn't worried about the imminent merger of his two biggest no-frills rivals, easyJet and Go. EasyJet announced last month it was buying Go, a British Airways spinoff. The deal would make it bigger than Ryanair. "Ryanair's cost base is substantially lower than easyJet or Go or any other airline in Europe," O'Leary said. Ryanair's chief financial officer, Michael Cawley, said Ryanair had cut its average ticket price by 8 percent in 2002, and planned another 4 percent to 5 percent drop in 2003. On the Net: Ryanair, www.ryanair.com =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 AP