Budget airlines leader Ryanair (RYA) has confirmed that it will ditch its London stock market listing, saying the ‘volume of trading of the London Stock Exchange did not justify the costs.’
The Irish flyer had flagged that it was mulling its LSE listing in its first half results on 1 November. In that statement Ryanair said that LSE trading as a percentage of the stock’s overall trading volume had ‘reduced materially during 2021.’
Ryanair, which has a premium listing in London, had considered maintaining a less expensive standard listing but has ultimately decided on the most simple solution. The last day of trading in London will be 17 December 2021, the airline said.
Ryanair’s primary listing will thereafter be on the Dublin arm of Euronext, the pan-European stock market, with ADRs (American Depositary Receipts) listed on Nasdaq. Ryanair added that consolidating trading liquidity to one regulated market would benefit all shareholders.
IMPACT ON UK INVESTORS
‘The migration away from the LSE is consistent with a general trend for trading in shares of EU corporates post-Brexit and is, potentially, more acute for Ryanair as a result of the long-standing prohibition on non-EU citizens purchasing Ryanair's ordinary shares being extended to UK nationals following Brexit,’ the company said.
Ryanair had powers to force UK nationals to sell their Ryanair shares from the start of this year but resisted the move. UK investors can still buy Ryanair stock via the US-listed ADRs, available on most decent investment platforms under the ticker RYAAY.
Ryanair shares fell more than 2% after the LSE departure was announced, extending a steep sell-off since early November from €18.11, a four-year high.
The stock was trading at €15.90 at 10am on Friday, 19 November 2021.
