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Ryanair posts quarterly profits but pulls out from LSE due to Brexit

Date: November 02, 2021 Sunil Jha Sunil Jha
Ryanair posts quarterly profits but pulls out from LSE due to Brexit 
Ryanair, the Ireland-based low-fare airline, has reportedly announced plans to withdraw its share listing from LSE (London Stock Exchange) in the coming six months due to Brexit, despite the fact that the airline generated a quarterly profit for the first time since 2019.



The Irish airline stated that it needed to dissuade UK investors by removing voting rights from non-EU shareholders due to international ownership and control laws, making the firm fully EU-controlled.



Michael O'Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, stated that about 45% of the stock is held in the United States. The company must ensure that the balance is held by EU citizens, which sadly implies excluding UK shareholders. O'Leary further added that unfortunately, it is an unavoidable outcome of Brexit and almost all shares will be transferred in Dublin and Brussels.



The company announced an after-tax loss of €48 million (£41 million) for the six months through September, broadly in line with predictions, leading to a second-quarter (Q2) profit of €225 million following a €273 million loss during the first three months of the fiscal year 2021-22.



Notwithstanding its first positive earnings since the start of Covid-19, Ryanair forecasted an annual loss of up to €200 million per year due to the extensive discounts needed on airfares to fill flights over the winter.



It ran more flights this summer than its European competitors, while traffic increased to 11.3 million passengers in October, significantly more than in the summer. Throughout the six months leading up to the end of September, Ryanair carried 39.1 million passengers, fewer than half of what it did in the same period last year.



O'Leary further acclaimed that during October half-term, planes were packed to the brim with people, owing to Covid passes that made intra-EU travel easier. He increased Ryanair's five-year growth objective to 225 million passengers per year by 2026, up from 200 million previously predicted.



Ryanair has increased its customer target for the fiscal year ending March 2022 to just over 100 million. Before the epidemic, it carried 149 million passengers in a single year. The airline aims to get back to pre-Covid profits by March 2023.



Source credit: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/01/ryanair-profit-cut-winter-ticket-prices-loss-covid

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Sunil Jha

Sunil Jha has been a part of the content industry for close to two years. Having previously worked as a voice over artist and sportswriter, he now focuses on writing articles for newsorigins.com, across a slew of topics, ranging from technology to trade and finance. With a business-oriented educational background, Sunil brings forth the expertise of deep-dive research and a strategic approach in his write ups.