The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /--------- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight ------------\ GARDEN STATE: NOW PLAYING IN NY & LA - SELECT CITIES AUG 6 GARDEN STATE stars Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard and Ian Holm. NEWSWEEK's David Ansen says "Writer-Director Zach Braff has a genuine filmmaker's eye and is loaded with talent." Watch the teaser trailer that has all of America buzzing and talk back with Zach Braff on the Garden State Blog at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/gardenstate/index_nyt.html \----------------------------------------------------------/ Ryanair Reports Slight Recovery in Quarter August 4, 2004 By BRIAN LAVERY DUBLIN, Aug. 3 - Ryanair, the discount Irish airline, announced on Tuesday that its after-tax profit rose 30 percent in the first quarter, to 52.6 million euros ($63.4 million) including exceptional items, as the number of passengers rose 28 percent from a year earlier, to 6.6 million. The earnings beat analysts' expectations and marked a slight recovery from three months ago, when the company reported its first quarterly loss. But investors worried that rising oil prices and falling yields - the average revenue per passenger, which dropped 6 percent - meant that Ryanair, Europe's largest low-fare carrier, might struggle to regain its momentum, and its shares slid 2 percent, to 4.33 euros ($5.21), in Dublin. Ryanair acknowledged that tough conditions would continue, but suggested that it would fare better in the difficult environment than its competitors. Michael O'Leary, the chief executive, said that yields were likely to fall 5 percent to 10 percent in the current quarter, followed by an additional 10 percent to 20 percent toward the end of the year. "Chronically loss-making competitors will continue to dump prices," he said, "resulting in even more airline casualties this winter." Investors have admired Ryanair for its ability to hedge fuel costs, but its contracts run only through September. Mr. O'Leary said that the company would resume hedging if oil prices, now above $44 a barrel, fell back to $30. If prices remain at their current levels for the rest of the year, fuel will cost the airline an additional 20 million euros ($24 million). Ryanair promised to cut costs elsewhere rather than raise ticket prices, which are often as low as $1.20 one-way before airport taxes. The proposed changes are typical of Ryanair's overall strategy, and are not necessarily an immediate response to fuel costs or competition, said John Mattimoe, an analyst at Merrion Stockbrokers in Dublin, who rates the stock a "hold." "They took a decision to forgo short-term profit maximization in order to increase the pain on competitors as much as possible," he said, but "these are cost savings that they may have gotten anyway." Ryanair's main cost-cutting measures include plans to finish replacing its Boeing 737-200's by the end of next year with fuel-efficient 737-800's, which carry 60 more passengers a flight, and to pursue a case against the British Airports Authority over fuel taxes, which could save the airline 3 million euros a year, a spokesman, Paul Fitzsimmons, said. Ryanair has already installed nonreclining seats on its planes because they require less maintenance, and has raised the weight limit for carry-on baggage to cut back on check-in desks and baggage handlers. Ancillary revenues like car rentals, hotel bookings, credit cards and personal loans jumped 40 percent in the quarter, and could double again in the next year or two, giving Ryanair a significant cushion to deal with higher fuel costs, Mr. Fitzsimmons said in a telephone interview. With cash reserves of 1.3 billion euros, "we're in a much better position to absorb changes like that than anyone else," he said. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/04/business/worldbusiness/04ryan.html?ex=1092642051&ei=1&en=dbc08c083067a9b3 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1&ExternalMediaCode=W24AF HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company