Ryanair shares take off after profit guidance hike

Ryanair shares opened 9.5 percent higher on Thursday, after the low-cost airline raised its profit guidance.

The company hikes its full-year profit guidance to between 810 million and 830 million euros from 750 million to 770 million after its passenger numbers jumped 22 percent in November.

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The Irish airline, which just last month raised its profit forecast by almost 20 percent, attributed the stronger-than-expected performance to improvements in its customer services, a stronger forward booking strategy and substantial fare and unit cost advantage over all other European airlines.

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Its load factor, a measures of how effectively it filled seats during the month, also rose by seven percentage points.

Ryanair added that its final full-year profit would still be heavily reliant on bookings and yields in its January-March fourth quarter over which it said it "presently has very little visibility".