LONDON—Ryanair Holdings PLC, Europe's largest budget airline, on Tuesday said full-year net income jumped 66% and that it should rise further this year when it expects to carry more than 100 million passengers for the first time.

Net income rose to €867 million ($949 million) in the year to the end of March from €523 million a year earlier, while sales increased 12% to €5.7 billion, Ryanair said. The Dublin-based carrier had forecast net profit of €840 million to €850 million.

Unit costs fell 5% last year but with the fuel effect stripped out costs were unchanged, the airline said.

Long known for its minimalist service and confrontational approach to passengers, Ryanair has spent the past two years improving its image as it began targeting higher-paying passengers through business friendly routes and new pay-for amenities. The changes have driven an improvement in financial performance and lifted its share price.

Ryanair should sell about 90% of seats to help it reach the milestone 100 million passengers figure for the year for the first time, said Neil Sorahan, the airline's chief financial officer

Forward bookings for the current year are around 4% stronger than in the year-earlier period, the airline said. Ryanair will again lease six aircraft at its peak this year to satisfy strong demand as it waits to grow its owned fleet of Boeing 737 jetliners, Mr. Sorahan said. That is expected to end next year when plane deliveries from the manufacturer start rising.

Ryanair, which has a reputation for starting the year with a conservative outlook, said net profit this year should be €940 million to €970 million. An average of analysts surveyed by FactSet estimated the discount airline will deliver a net profit of €977 million.

Yields should fall by around 2% in the ongoing financial year, it said.

Fuel costs per passenger should fall around 5%, Mr. Sorahan said.

Mr. Sorahan said the budget carrier still sees strong opportunities throughout Europe. "Germany is a bit of a standout at the moment," he said, with Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air Berlin PLC cutting flights, he said. Ryanair has a relatively low market share in Germany, though it has "aspirations to grow that significantly," he said.

Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com

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