Ryanair to Buy Back EUR800 Million in Shares After Boeing Delays, Traffic Growth Boost Cash Flow — Update

By Pierre Bertrand

Ryanair said it would buy back up to 800 million euros ($873.8 million) worth of shares after strong traffic growth and delays in aircraft deliveries from Boeing boosted cash flow.

The Irish low-cost airline said it faced a window between mid-2025 and mid-2027 without new aircraft deliveries, prompting a temporary cut in aircraft capital expenditures which should feed into cash flow, giving Ryanair more leeway to increase shareholder returns.

Meanwhile, the group said strong traffic growth had also boosted cash flow despite warning last month of weaker-than-anticipated consumer spending and lower second-quarter fares than last year.

The latest buyback came on top of a separate EUR700 million program that Ryanair expects to wrap up by the end of August, taking total buybacks to about EUR1.5 billion in the fiscal year to the end of March. The new buyback should take between six to nine months to complete.

In addition, Ryanair said it would ask shareholders in September to approve an increase in the amount of shares it can buy back in a year to up to 15% of issued share capital from 10% currently.

Ryanair shares closed 5.8% higher at 1241 pence.

Write to Pierre Bertrand at pierre.bertrand@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 08, 2024 12:40 ET (16:40 GMT)

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