Ryanair has raised its profit guidance for the full year to the end of next March by a massive 25% - up to €1.225bn.

The airline said it had planned to give this guidance at its AGM in two weeks time, but higher than expected summer traffic; an unexpected modest rise in average fares; and lower than expected unhedged fuel prices, has led it to advise the market earlier than planned.

Shares in Ryanair soared by 9 percent to €14.18 in early trading.

As usual the company adds a note of caution, suggesting that the full year outturn will depend on the last two quarters – only 30% of third quarter traffic is currently booked and there is no visibility yet for its final quarter.

Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary commented on the revised numbers - he warned that the company's exceptional performance has been helped by a number of one-off factors - including currency fluctuations, bad weather in Northern Europe, and flat capacity across the EU's aviation industry:

"Being the airline industry we do not expect these favourable conditions will persist, and we would urge shareholders and analysts to avoid irrational exuberance while we continue to execute our very ambitious growth plans during what we expect to be very attritional and sustained fare wars across Europe this winter."

The Irish airline had originally forecast profits of between €940 and €970m.

Ryanair has also confirmed it has recovered all the near $5m in funds that were fraudulently transferred to a Chinese bank in April, and that steps have been put in place to ensure this won’t happen again.