Ryanair to distribute €398m from Aer Lingus sale to shareholders

But these were thwarted by competition authorities, who also told Ryanair to sell its stake down to below 5 per cent. Earlier this year it agreed to sell the holding to IAG as part of the British Airways owner’s £1billion takeover of Aer Lingus.

Chief finance officer, Neil Sorahan, said on Thursday that the airline will distribute the money via a B-share scheme, under which investors will receive 29.4 cent a-share, a total of €398 million.

Irish airline Ryanair is to distribute the €398m (£292m) worth of proceeds from its sale of Aer Lingus to shareholders.

“We will have given back 1.3 billion euros to shareholders since January… profits are starting to rise and if an expectation gets out there that Ryanair is good for 1.3 billion a year in dividends, that is the wrong message to send”, Sorahan said. It hopes to complete the programme, which will require it to call an extraordinary general meeting, before December.

Shareholders at the Ryanair AGM today also heard that the airline has raised its full year traffic forecast to 104 million from 103 million.

“During our 30th year, Ryanair will grow traffic by over 13m to 104m customers”.

During the meeting, Ryanair briefed shareholders on the success of its “Always Getting Better” or AGB customer experience program. “Ryanair’s combination of low fares and AGB service continues to deliver for our customers, our people and our shareholders”.