RECENT oil price hikes prevented Irish no-frills airline Ryanair from hitting profit forecasts when it published its second-quarter results yesterday.

One of Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s biggest operators, the Dublin-quoted company saw its share price dip 4% as it reported net profits of 313m euros for the three months to the end of September.

City forecasters had expected a net profit of 349m euros.

Nevertheless, the net profit figure was still 25% higher than the previous year, due to a 12% rise in average fares, a 10% rise in passenger numbers and a 22% increase in revenues from ancillary services such as baggage fees, priority boarding and onboard drinks.

"There was slight disappointment on the cost side, everything else looked strong.

"So people were slightly underwhelmed with the Q2 performance," said Edward Keeling, an analyst with Dolmen Stockbrokers.

"Momentum and performance of the company continue to be strong, They are reasonably bullish into the winter," said Stephen Furlong, analyst at Davy Stockbrokers.