Ryanair confirms LSE exit after collapse in trading volumes

Ryanair has confirmed its intention to exit the London Stock Exchange after a collapse in trading of the airline’s shares on the bourse.

The budget carrier has given notice to the Financial Conduct Authority of its intention to cancel its London listing after the board determined that ‘the volume of trading of the shares… does not justify the costs related to such listing and admission to trading’.

Ryanair will therefore ‘consolidate trading liquidity to one regulated market for the benefit of all shareholders’, maintaining its primary listing on the regulated market of Euronext Dublin.

The cancellation of Ryanair’s London Listing is expected to become effective from 8am GMT on 20 December, making 17 December their last day of trading on the exchange.

Ryanair told shareholders it was considering the exit last month, noting that ‘the migration away from the LSE is consistent with a general trend for trading in shares of EU corporates post Brexit’.

It follows a significant turnaround for the fortunes of Ryanair, which was badly affected by Covid-19 and the subsequent collapse in passenger volumes.

Passenger numbers more than doubled in the six months to the end of September, compared to the same time last year, as losses narrowed sharply from £347million to £40.6million.

It allowed chief executive Michael O’Leary to pocket a £20million windfall after cashing in Ryanair shares, which rose in response to improved performance.

O’Leary exercised options over 2.5 million shares in early November and sold them the same day.

The budget airline boss had previously admitted that at the start of the pandemic he feared the airline would run out of cash.

Ryanair shares opened 1 per cent lower on Friday morning to €16.13, parring performance back to 5.1 per cent year-to-date.