Nepal, Jan. 26 -- Irish no-frills airline Ryanair on Monday announced a sharp drop in net profit for its third quarter, weighed down by a hefty fine from Italy's competition authority.

Profit after tax stood at 30 million euros ($36 million) in the three months to the end of December compared with 149 million euros one year earlier, the Dublin-based carrier said in a statement.

The decline was largely driven by a provision for a more than 255-million-euro fine imposed by the Italian regulator, which said Ryanair abused its dominant position to block travel agencies' access to its services.

Ryanair confirmed Monday it has appealed the fine, calling it "baseless".

Group revenue jumped nine percent to 3.21 billion euros.

Ryanair chief ...