Ryanair again raises full-year guidance after strong second half Ryanair has again raised its profit guidance for the year after reporting a strong first half driven by improvements to its strategy and customer service. Net profit for its full-year 2014-15 would come in at between €750m to €770m (£602m), up from €620m-€650m, the low-cost airline said on Monday in its half-year results. IN Airlines Shares in Ryanair jumped 6.5 per cent to €8.10 in early Dublin trading. Michael O'Leary, chief executive, said: "We are pleased to report this significant increase in H1 profits. While partially due to the presence of Easter in Q1 and a weak prior year comparable, we have also enjoyed a strong summer thanks to our strategy of raising forward bookings and improving our customer experience, which has delivered higher load factors and yields. The results are in contrast to recent results from Germany's Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, where strikes and cost-cutting have hit profitability as they try to adapt to the challenge posed by low-cost carriers. Fuller aircraft helped drive Ryanair's profitability, with load factors up 4 percentage points to 89 per cent, while passenger numbers were up 4 per cent to 51.3m in the first half. The airline also took advantage of the fall in oil prices to extend its fuel hedging to 90 per cent for 2015-16 at about €93 a barrel, cutting its fuel costs by 2 per cent over the next year. Revenue was up 9 per cent to €3.54bn, while operating profit was up 31 per cent to €933.4m. Profit before tax was up 32 per cent to €907.5m and earnings per share were up 36 per cent to 57.44 cents. After two profit warnings and its first earnings decline for five years in 2013-14, Ryanair has been rapidly pushing through a number of changes to its business. It staged an about-turn on its heavily criticised approach to customer service and aped the lead of competitor easyJet with a better website and marketing alongside offers to families and businesses. Often criticised for flying to smaller airports, Ryanair has also been targeting expansion at more primary airports. Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline with a fleet of more than 300 aircraft, signalled further expansion when it placed an $11bn order in September for 100 Boeing 737 Max aircraft. That would take passenger numbers to an annual 150m by 2024, with a fleet of 520 aircraft, up from a little more than 300 at present. The company will return cash to shareholders in February via a €520m special dividend.