Bankinter : The airline reports solid 1H fiscal results and announces dividend payment. Key figures versus market consensus (Bloomberg): Revenues €4,926M (+23%) vs €4,874M estimated; EPS (adjusted) €1,515M (+26%) vs €1,493M estimated; EPS (adjusted) €1.324 vs €1.337. Passengers reached €105.4M (+11%) and Occupancy Rate 95%. Prices are +24% higher than last year. Highlights: (i) Announces that it will pay a dividend this year of €400M (€0.35/share), which represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. In the coming years, it expects to pay out 25% of the previous year’s NAB, provided market conditions allow it and it has sufficient liquidity. (ii) It estimates that NAB will be in the range of €1,850m/€2,050m and passengers for the full year of €183.5m, which exceeds the maximum achieved to date: €1,450m in 2018. However, it refers to the uncertainty of the context, due to the wars in Ukraine and Israel, the rise in oil prices and the delay in the delivery of Boeing aircraft.
Assessment: Solid results that will be positively received by the market during today’s session. It beats expectations and also announces the payment of a dividend, when until now it did not offer any dividend yield. For the time being, it has a healthy balance sheet: net cash of €840m vs €560m at the end of March. We reiterate our Buy recommendation. Ryanair benefits from the consolidation of the sector. It also benefits from its low cost and proximity model and the absence of business travel. Finally, it has a healthy balance sheet, including positive net cash.
