Summer boost for holidaymakers as Ryanair says its tickets will be cheaper than expected

HOLIDAYMAKERS are in for a summer flights boost after Ryanair said its tickets will be cheaper than expected.

The budget airline’s boss Michael O’Leary blamed “a recessionary feel around Europe” for holding back how much it was able to hike prices so far this year.

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It is already discounting some summer midweek tickets to £17 and said it would continue to do so to ensure planes are full.

The firm had warned earlier this year that fares could be rise by 10 per cent because of constraints on capacity due to delays in Boeing supplying new aircraft.

But the Irish carrier has now changed tack and said that “recent pricing is softer than we expected”.

Peak summer fares will now be “flat to modestly ahead of last summer”.

Danni Hewson, market analyst at AJ Bell, said the pricing plan shift talk was unsurprising.

She said: “Even if people are beginning to feel a little better off as inflation falls, they are remaining cautious, which could have an impact on the number of bums on seats once the summer surge is over.

“Ryanair needs to keep planes as full as possible to maintain margins, so keener pricing could be a requirement in those leaner winter months.”

Despite Boeing delivery delays, the airline says it is planning its biggest summer flight schedule yet with 200 new routes.

Results show its average fares rose 21 per cent to £42 in the year to the end of March. But it still carried 183.7million passengers, nine per cent more than 2023.

Total revenues rose 25 per cent to £9.2billion, while profits after tax rose by more than a third to £1.6billion.

Ryanair has added former Home Secretary Amber Rudd to its board of directors.

£2BN deal is key

SHARES in Key Word Studios rocketed by 60 per cent yesterday after the video games company confirmed it was in £2.2billion takeover talks.

The firm, which has worked on Call of Duty, Zelda, Fortnite, Assassin’s Creed and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, is in advanced discussions with Swedish private equity firm EQT.

It has rejected four EQT offers but is now minded to recommend one at £25.50p-a-share. Keyword was listed on London’s Aim market with a £50million valuation in 2013.

Gold is raising the bar

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GOLD prices rallied to record highs yesterday after the Iranian president’s fatal helicopter crash stoked fears of heightened Middle East tensions.

They rose by one per cent to $2,454.20 per ounce, after already increasing by a fifth so far this year.

The precious metal has long been seen as a safe haven asset for investors, who often pile in during times of uncertainty.

Gold prices also typically rise when interest rates are expected to fall, because investors tend to switch back into it from higher interest- paying assets.

Traders are increasingly speculating that both the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve will soon announce a drop in rates.

China’s bulk-buying of gold to cushion its economy from a property crash has also been driving up the gold price.

£22.5m to sink rival bath firm

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VICTORIAN PLUMBING has had enough of name mix-ups and is buying out its arch-rival Victoria Plum in a deal worth £22.5million.

The takeover ends 23 years of sparring between the two similarly named bathroom retailers, including a trademark dispute eight years ago.

Insiders said Victorian Plumbing was spending millions on Google adverts to ensure it outranked its rival in online search results and the takeover was a means of ending customer confusion.

Victoria Plum went through a restructuring in 2021 which irked listed Victorian Plumbing.

At the time, Victorian boss Mark Radcliffe said he wanted to remind customers and suppliers they were “totally different companies with no link whatsoever”.

Mr Radcliffe set up Victorian Plumbing from his parents’ garage in Manchester in 2000. One year later Victoria Plum launched in Hull.

We won’t cash out

PEOPLE still withdraw £209million in cash from ATMs every day, says a Link survey.

The figure shows that readies are still used widely — although the amount is £100million less than in 2019.

Many have returned to cash to help them budget during the cost-of-living crisis.

But around one in six say they never carry it — triple the number in 2019. Nearly half — 48 per cent — expect a cashless society in their lifetime.

More than a fifth of all UK-listed firms have warned their profits will be lower than City expectations in the past 12 months, according to an EY-Parthenon report.

And 41 per cent of FTSE retailers have issued profit warnings in the past year.

Lower rate hint

THE deputy governor at the Bank of England has signalled that an interest rate cut may be just weeks away.

Ben Broadbent said yesterday that evidence of easing inflation suggests “it’s possible the bank rate could be cut some time over the summer”.

Figures out tomorrow are expected to show the rate of consumer price increases has fallen to around two per cent, the Bank’s target.

Markets are expecting the Bank to lower rates from the current 5.25 per cent in June or August.

EMPLOYERS are willing to pay staff 14 per cent more for roles requiring AI skills, according to a study by PWC. Its analysis of half-a-billion job ads found that vacancies for jobs requiring AI skills are growing 3.6 times faster than other jobs.