Ryanair is pressing ahead with plans to delist from the London Stock Exchange because of foreign ownership and control rules that apply after Brexit.
The low-cost airline, which indicated earlier this month that it intended to become solely listed in Dublin, said its last day of trading on the London Stock Exchange would be 17 December.
“As indicated at our interim results, and following subsequent shareholder engagement, Ryanair has decided to request the cancellation of London listing,” the company said in a statement.
“The volume of trading of the shares on the London Stock Exchange does not justify the costs related to such listing and admission to trading, and so as to consolidate trading liquidity to one regulated market for the benefit of all shareholders.”
Ryanair said it had notified the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and would be officially delisted at 8am on 20 December. Earlier this year, Ryanair said that the move away from a listing in London was “consistent with a general trend for trading shares of European Union corporates post Brexit”.
The airline said it was also a “potentially more acute” issue for it because EU rules mandate that airlines are majority-owned by EU nationals. Ryanair has its primary listing in Dublin, Ireland, and has previously made some UK investors sell shares this year to remain in compliance with the rules.
“Following the cancellation of the London listing, the company will continue to have a primary listing on the regulated market of Euronext Dublin, which offers shareholders the highest standard of protection, including compliance with the UK corporate governance code,” Ryanair said.
Its chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said earlier this month that the move was “sadly an inevitable consequence of Brexit”. While the EU and UK reached agreements that ensured flying could continue uninterrupted, the UK was unable to secure amendments to the foreign ownership rules.
UK and other non-EU-owned carriers cannot operate flights between other European countries, and while Ryanair is EU-based, 45% of its shares are held in the US – meaning it had to deter any further investors.
EasyJet relocated much of its operation to a Vienna-based EasyJet Europe before Brexit to remain compliant.
