Ryanair: options extra - FT.com The average ticket price last year on a Ryanair flight was about the same as the cost of 20 cappuccinos. More precisely, it worked out at €48, up 6 per cent year on year - or perhaps a little more on an underlying basis since that includes bag charges, and fliers are finally wising up to the weighty additional costs that luggage entails. Passenger numbers grew 5 per cent, which the low-cost carrier thinks will moderate to 3 per cent in 2013-14. It also forecasts net profits of €570m-€600m for the current year. At the top end, that implies a 5 per cent increase from 2012-13"s €570m. Yet, in contrast to these seemingly modest growth numbers, Ryanair shares have risen 80 per cent over the past 12 months, way above the one-third increase in the Euro Stoxx index. That leaves an obvious question for investors: how much upside remains? In terms of the immediate future, Ryanair has been cautious so often that the market tends to look well beyond management's own forecasts. After all, a year ago, Ryanair talked of 2012-13 net profits of €400m-€440m, and the actual out-turn was 30 per cent higher. Moreover, on the sales front, even management expects that ancillary revenues - now almost a quarter of the total and including reserved seating fees - will grow 9 per cent in 2013-14. Ryanair also plans to ground fewer aircraft this winter (60 versus 80). Cost controls, meanwhile, remain exemplary, with a per-passenger figure (excluding fuel) of €29, or half that at rival easyJet. Fuel, too, is moderating. Longer-term, the general capacity discipline on intra-Europe flights at present, coupled with airline consolidation, throws up expansion opportunities which Ryanair has a solid record of seizing. So net profits of €630m-€635m in 2013-14, say, would imply a 15 times earnings multiple. That is pricier than the airline's seats, but not excessive.