Ryanair buys back and cancels 11 million of its own shares
Ryanair has forked out €34m to buy back 11 million of its own shares on the market, bringing its total purchase of its own stock over the past three years to nearly €400m.
The airline revealed the stock purchase, which was made on Thursday morning.
The shares bought represent almost 0.5pc of the group's outstanding stock and were acquired at average prices of €3.07 and $3.11 a share.
Eamonn Hughes, an analyst with Goodbody Stockbrokers , said the share purchase demonstrated Ryanair 's comfort with both the state of the airline's balance sheet and its earnings.
Mr Hughes added that Ryanair's shares had been trading at the bottom end of a €3 to €3.80 range that he believed was currently appropriate for the stock.
As such, the buyback was opportunistic, but he added that it still came out of "left field".
Another analyst added that the buyback was a more tax-efficient way, than a special dividend, of making a return for shareholders.
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