Ryanair's half yearly profits up 7 pct

Ryanair, Europe's leading low-cost airline, said on Monday it has garnered a 7 percent increase in half yearly after-tax profits as a result of continuing passenger traffic growth.

In a statement, the airline said its profits after tax for the six months to the end of September was 1.17 billion euros, an increase of 80 million euros year on year.

Last month, Ryanair reduced its full-year net profit guidance by 5 percent from a previous range of 1.375 billion euros and 1.425 billion euros to a new range of 1.3 billion euros and 1.35 billion euros due to sterling weakness and the impact of intense competition on fares.

While opening 73 new routes and six bases, the airline said it delivered 12 percent traffic growth to 65 million customers over the period.

Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary said the profit increase was "a creditable performance in difficult market conditions due to repeated air traffic control strikes, terror events, and the adverse economic impact of the Brexit vote in June which saw sterling weaken materially over the peak summer period."

The airline is expected to carry over 119 million customers in 2017, O'Leary said.

"This stronger growth requires us to raise our long term traffic forecast by over 10 percent from 180 million to over 200 million customers per annum by March 2024," he said.

Despite the uncertainty of Brexit, Ryanair believes it can deliver profitable growth across Europe by controlling costs, lowering airfares and maximizing load factors. (1 euro = 1.11 U.S. dollars) Endit