Ryanair shares plummet 7 per cent

Friday, 4 July 2003 6:30 AM

Shares in Ryanair, Europe's number two budget airline, plummeted 7 per cent yesterday after the market heard reports of an increase in the number of empty seats on the no frills operator's planes in June.

The news fuelled reports that Ryanair was expanding too fast and was sacrificing profit margins to improve passenger numbers.

The Dublin-based carrier's load factor stood at 79 per cent last month, down on the 88 per cent gained last year. Load factor was 83 per cent in the 12 months to June 30th.

It explained the apparent fall off in bums on seats due to the use of larger planes.

In reply to its critics, Ryanair pointed out that passenger numbers were up year-on-year by 47 per cent to 1.83 million, aided in part by Ryanair's acquisition of former rival Buzz.

Ryanair posted a 59 per cent leap in post-tax profits in June, at £172 million.

Shares ended the day on Thursday at 400p.

Investors gave wary notice to plans, approved by European legislators, to force all carriers to pay compensation for delayed and cancelled flights.

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