Ryanair shares jumped 7% after the company announced its first-ever dividend after profits hit nearly €2.2 billion following increases in fares and soaring passenger numbers.
Europe’s largest discount airline said it plans to hand over about a quarter of its annual profits to shareholders after benefitting from a record summer of passenger traffic.
The airline forecast a full-year profit after tax of between €1.85 billion to €2.05 billion for its financial year ending in March, which would be a record.
It said it will pay a dividend of €400 million and plans to give around a quarter of its annual profit to shareholders in its financial first-half results, along with a pledge to consider special dividends and share buybacks in the future.
Ryanair carried 105.4 million passengers between April and September, another record for the summer season.