Investors and staff at Ryanair will be pleased with Davy Stockbroker's latest assessment of the airline's prospects. After its impressive first quarter results, the brokers believe there is still plenty of potential upside for shareholders with group profits likely to be ahead of earlier estimates.

Ryanair has been one of the star performers in 1998, with the share price appreciating by 68 per cent in the year to date, outperforming the Irish market and the share price of its airline peers. It touched its high of 615p in mid July but has since eased back in line with the weaker trend in the market.

The first quarter results show, however, that Ryanair is sustaining its record of profitable growth. Davy states that if, as it believes, current market weakness is reversed in the coming months, the Ryanair share price can return to its previous high.