(MENAFN- AFP) Irish no-frills airline Ryanair posted Monday a slight increase in first-quarter net profits, but warned that Brexit could impact its annual earnings.
Earnings before taxation rose four percent to 256 million euros ($281 million) in the three months to the end of June, Ryanair said in a results statement.
Turnover meanwhile grew two percent to 1.68 billion euros in the reporting period.
Ryanair noted its performance was hit by "ongoing market volatility arising from terrorist events, and repeated air traffic control strikes", as well as the weakness of the pound after the Brexit vote.
"The recent UK vote to leave the European Union was both a surprise and a disappointment," added the Irish airline, which had campaigned for Britain to remain in the bloc in the June 23 referendum.
"We expect this result will lead to a considerable period of political and economic uncertainty in both the UK and the EU.
"This uncertainty will be damaging to economic growth and consumer confidence."
Ryanair had already signalled its intention in late June to put the brakes on new UK connections for the coming months due to Brexit uncertainty.
"We will pivot our growth away from UK airports and focus more on growing at our EU airports over the next two years," added the carrier on Monday.
"This winter we will cut capacity and frequency on many London Stansted routes -- although no routes will close."
The Dublin-based carrier repeated its guidance for a 12-percent increase in full-year profits to between 1.375 billion euros and 1.425 billion euros.
However, it cautioned that "post Brexit there are significant risks to the downside during the remainder of the year".
Ryanair's current financial year runs until the end of March 2017.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.