From RYR Annual report 2011
Item 11
Ryanair is exposed to market risks relating to fluctuations in commodity prices, interest rates and currency exchange rates. The objective of financial risk management at Ryanair is to minimize the negative impact of commodity price, interest rate and foreign exchange rate fluctuations on the Company’s earnings, cash flows and equity.
To manage these risks, Ryanair uses various derivative financial instruments, including cross currency interest rate swaps, foreign currency forward contracts and commodity forwards. These derivative financial instruments are generally held to maturity and are not actively traded. The Company enters into these arrangements with the goal of hedging its operational and balance sheet risk. However, Ryanair’s exposure to commodity price, interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations cannot be neutralized completely.
In executing its risk management strategy, Ryanair currently enters into forward contracts for the purchase of some of the jet fuel (jet kerosene) that it expects to use. It also uses foreign currency forward contracts intended to reduce its exposure to risks related to foreign currencies, principally the U.S. dollar.
Furthermore, it enters into interest rate contracts with the objective of fixing certain borrowing costs and hedging principal repayments, particularly those associated with the purchase of new Boeing 737-800s. Ryanair is also exposed to the risk that the counterparties to its derivative financial instruments may not be creditworthy.
Were a counterparty to default on its obligations under any of the instruments described below, Ryanair’s economic expectations when entering into these arrangements might not be achieved and its financial condition could be adversely affected. Transactions involving derivative financial instruments are also relatively illiquid as compared with those involving other kinds of financial instruments. It is Ryanair’s policy not to enter into transactions involving financial derivatives for speculative purposes.
The following paragraphs describe Ryanair’s fuel hedging, foreign currency and interest rate swap arrangements and analyze the sensitivity of the market value, earnings and cash flows of the financial instruments to hypothetical changes in commodity prices, interest rates and exchange rates as if these changes had occurred at March 31, 2011. The range of changes selected for this sensitivity analysis reflects Ryanair’s view of the changes that are reasonably possible over a one-year period.