Ryanair To Distribute EUR 398 Mln Aer Lingus Proceeds To Shareholders

(RTTNews) - Irish airline Ryanair (RYA.L, RYAAY) will distribute the 398 million euros proceeds from the sale of its 29.8 percent stake in Aer Lingus Group Plc. (AERL.L) to its shareholders via a 'B' Share program to be concluded before December. The buyback needs the approval of an emergency general meeting.

It was in July that Ryanair decided to accept International Consolidated Airlines Group's (ICAGY.PK, IAG.L) offer for Aer Lingus.

This will bring the total funds returned by Ryanair to shareholders this year to 800 million euros, Ryanair, which held its annual general meeting in Dublin today, said. This is in excess of 3.3 billion euros since 2008.

During the meeting, Ryanair briefed shareholders on the success of its "Always Getting Better" or AGB customer experience program. The program enabled Ryanair to raise its full year traffic forecast to 104 million customers, and its profit guidance by 25 percent to 1.2 billion euros.

It was earlier this month that Ryanair lifted its profit guidance, citing stronger than expected peak summer traffic and prices, as its Always Getting Better customer experience program won new customers at slightly higher than estimated air fares.

Ryanair Chairman David Bonderman said today, "It is clear that consumers all over Europe are delighted by, and switching to our "AGB" customer experience programme, our industry leading punctuality and our unbeatable low fares. Ryanair's combination of low fares and AGB service continues to deliver for our customers, our people and our shareholders."

RYA.L fell 1.5 percent in morning trade to 13.58 pence.