Ryanair has cut its profit forecast for the year after a number of online travel agents stopped selling its flights last month.
It forced the company to cut its prices to put to fill seats, with third quarter profits just £12.8m after tax, down from £211m is took in the same quarter the year previous, and well below analysts predictions of £41.79m.
After-tax profit for the year-end March were expected to be between £1.58b and £1.75b, but they're now thought to be coming in between £1.58b and £1.66b.
Even the lower end of the expectations would top Ryanair's previous record annual after-tax profit of £1.24b in 2018.
A statement from Ryanair reads: "While traffic and fares were ahead of prior year, close-in Christmas/New Year loads and yields were softer than previously expected as Ryanair lowered prices in response to the sudden (but welcome) removal of flights from OTA (online travel agent) pirate websites in early Dec."
Last month, the Irish firm accused Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak, amongst others, of acting like "pirates" after taking Ryanair flights off their websites.
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