Low cost airline Ryanair posted a 26 percent profit increase to €401m in the year to March compared to €319m the previous year. Revenue rose 21 percent to €3.63bn from €2.98bn year-on-year due to a 12 percent jump in airfares, the company said on Monday.  “We were pleased to deliver a 26 percent increase in profits and eight percent traffic growth, despite higher oil prices, the global recession, and volcanic ash disruptions in Q1 last year,” CEO Michael O’Leary said. The no frills airline also reported an eight percent increase in passenger traffic with a total of 72.1 million passengers. However, O’Leary warned that traffic growth is expected to slow to four percent in 2012 from last year’s eight percent. He said: “Since we have limited visibility on bookings, we remain concerned at the impact of the recession, austerity measures, and falling consumer confidence on fares.” “Despite these concerns we cautiously expect that our average fares will rise by up to 12 percent this year due to a better mix of new routes and bases, slower traffic growth, and higher competitor fuel surcharges,” O’Leary added.

Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant hit by the tsunami in March, announced on Friday an all time high $15bn net loss due to the disaster which destroyed four of its reactors. The news was followed by the resignation of Tepco’s president Masataka Shimuzu, and the head of the nuclear division, Sakae Muto, who were both criticised for their handling of the nuclear disaster. “We feel sorry for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami. At the same time we want to sincerely apologise for our nuclear reactors in Fukushima causing so much anxiety, worry and trouble to society,” Shimuzu said at a conference. Shimizu will be replaced by the company’s managing director Toshio Nishizawa.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned as head of the IMF according to a statement issued late on Wednesday by the global finance body. Strauss-Kahn, who faces charges of sexual assault and attempted rape in New York, said in his resignation letter: “I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me.” He added: “I will devote all my strength, all the time, and all my energy to proving my innocence.” John Lipsky has been appointed by the board of directors as the interim head of the IMF and will replace Strauss-Kahn at the G8 summit in Deauville on May 26.

Texas-based technology company Dell reported late on Tuesday that its Q1 profits had almost tripled due to stronger than expected big business sales. Net income according to the company jumped to $945m from $341m a year earlier and revenue rose 1 percent to $15bn. The technology stalwart saw operating income reaching $1.2bn, while enterprise solutions and services revenue was up 5 percent to $4.4bn led by a server revenue increase of 11 percent. “We’re off to a solid start in our fiscal year 2012. Our substantial profit increase demonstrates that our strategy is working and our execution is improving,” said chairman and CEO Michael Dell. The company now expects mid-single digit revenue growth in Q2, slightly above its normal, and sequential seasonal growth of 2 to 3 percent. Dell’s updated outlook for fiscal 2012 includes revenue growth of 5 to 9 percent and an increase in non-GAAP operating income growth of around 12 to18 percent. CFO Brian Gladden noted: “We have built an $18bn enterprise solutions and services business with exciting growth potential and our execution in the core client business continues to be very good.

BP’s attempt to gain a grip in Russia’s Arctic oilfields through a £10bn share swap deal with state controlled company Rosneft has collapsed after BP failed to address a dispute and reach an agreement with its partner TNK before the midnight Monday deadline. The Russian half of the Russian-British TNK-BP joint venture had threatened in April to file a law suit for up to $10m against its parent company BP, saying BP breached its shareholder agreement for going straight to state oil company OAO Rosneft rather than through TNK-BP. Rosneft and BP signed a share swap deal in January which agreed the joint development of the Russian Arctic shelf and entitled Rosneft to five percent in BP in exchange for nine percent of its own shares. The deal however was blocked by AAR, the company representing the interests of four billionaires in TNK-BP, because it felt the contract with Rosneft had broken their own agreement. TNK-BP claimed losses due to BP’s actions, saying it had lost an opportunity to explore within the Russsian Arctic and would therefore be seeking damages.