Shares in Ryanair soared yesterday on the back of a 44 per cent rise in after-tax profits to €150.4 million for the year ended March 31st, 2002.

The company's share price was up more than 6 per cent at €6.60 at lunchtime yesterday and eventually closed at €6.65 as results beat analysts' expectations.

The strong profit growth comes against the background of a difficult year for the airline sector following the events of September 11th and the earlier outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain and the Republic.

Strong traffic figures, plus a "vigorous performance" under the heading of ancillary revenues, which were up 34 per cent, contributed to revenue growth of 28 per cent to €624.1 million, the company said.

Profit before tax at Ryanair, which now operates 76 routes across 13 countries, was €172.4 million, compared with €123.4 million for the previous year.

Passenger traffic for the year grew by 38 per cent to 11.1 million, while load factors rose to 81 per cent, up 4 per cent.

Operating margins rose by three percentage points from 23 per cent to 26 per cent, while net margins rose from 21 per cent to 24 per cent, despite air fares falling by 8 per cent.

The company said it aimed to achieve organic growth of around 30 to 35 per cent over the next two years before steadying back to 25 per cent a year after that.

Commercial director Mr Michael Cawley said new demand was being generated by its lower pricing. "We're stimulating the market and that's why it is growing so much," he said, adding that its revised projections for the next two years were based on new opportunities in the market after September 11th.

"Market opportunities have been thrown up much sooner," he said. "Sabena's departure has come at an opportune time for us."

Ryanair said the company's growth was also being underpinned by the increasing gap between its airfares and those of its competitors, and the continuing tendency of its competitors to use what it described as high-cost, inefficient airports.

"Efficient secondary airports are becoming more important as the main airports become congested," said Mr Cawley, who said the airline was now turning around aircraft at its Frankfurt-Hahn hub in around 15 minutes.

He said he was happy that the Pier D facility at Dublin Airport was included in the programme for Government for completion next spring, adding that if it was a low-cost hub, the airline would honour its agreement to bring in one million passengers through new routes to Dublin, which he said would boost tourism in the Republic. But he said he expected opposition to a low-cost terminal from Aer Rianta.

"Aer Rianta will put every obstacle in the way but we think that will decline," he said.

Only 43 per cent of Ryanair's passengers are now originating from Britain, with 14 per cent coming from the Republic and the remainder from continental Europe.

"Our growth is risk averse. The idea that we are dependent on one market is becoming less and less," he said.

Ancillary services, such as inflight sales, car hire and hotel bookings, now provide around 15 per cent of the airline's revenue, and this is expected to grow by between 50 and 60 per cent in the coming year, according to Mr Cawley.

"We expect some ancillary services to grow by twice as much as passenger numbers," he said, adding that the airline was open to offering other ancillary services.

"The key thing is that we can charge for it. We're not going to do it unless we can make money from it," he said.

Ryanair, which placed a firm order for 100 Boeing 737-800 aircraft and an option for a further 50 last January, would speed up the delivery of 10 aircraft before January next year to meet growing demand, said Mr Cawley.

Adding 10 new aircraft to its fleet would create an extra 300 jobs at the airline, he said.

Costs had been cut at the airline through the renegotiation of airport deals and contracts after September 11th, increased internet usage, agreeing a five-year staff pay and options deal, and hedging fuel contracts to the second quarter of 2003, according to Mr Cawley.

Further delivery of new aircraft, greater connectivity between existing airports and raising the passenger/staff ratio would continue to drive down costs, he said.

On the shareholder front, Mr Cawley confirmed that the airline had 51 per cent EU ownership, and said that, where shareholders sold stock, the buyer must be from the EU.