WARNING

No-frills airline Ryanair pledged to continue cutting fares as it posted higher fullyear profits and reiterated its warnings over the fallout from Britain’s decision to quit the EU.

Chief executive Michael O’leary said the Irish carrier faced “difficult” trading as the group posted profits of €1.31 billion (£1.14bn) for the year to 31 March.

It trimmed fares by 13 per cent on average over the year amid competition in the industry and expects to reduce them by a further 5 per cent to 7 per cent due to the weak pound and as it passes on lower fuel costs.

The group said the year was marred by terrorist attacks across Europe, confirming flight bookings fell in the aftermath of the explosion at the Manchester Arena last week.

Bookings have started to recover as Ryanair has launched seat sales in response to the fall in demand.

Despite the challenging backdrop, it is “cautiously” forecasting profits to rise to between €1.4bn and €1.45bn

0 During the year, the airline reported a rise in passengers to 120 million

KENNY JACOBS, RYANAIR for the current financial year. O’leary said: “Investors should be wary of the risk of negative Brexit developments, or any repeat of last year’s security events at European cities, which could damage consumer confidence, closein bookings, and this full year 2018 guidance.”

He added the group would “continue to pivot our growth away from the UK” amid uncertainty caused by Brexit.

Ryanair reported a 13 per cent rise in passenger numbers, to 120 million for the full year, but admitted it was impacted by delays due to air traffic control strikes and weather disruption at the end of last year. Its punctuality dipped to 88 per cent from 90 per cent the previous year.

The airline, which flies 1,800 daily flights across 33 countries, is targeting 130 million passengers over the year ahead.

Loizos Heracleous, a professor or strategy at Warwick Business School, who has researched the airline industry, said: “Ryanair’s continued

“If there isn’t a new bilateral in place then you may have very restricted or no flying between Europe and the UK for a period”