(Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings on Friday confirmed it will leave the London Stock Exchange due to declining trading volumes following Brexit.
The budget carrier, which earlier in November said it was "considering the merits" of its London Main Market listing, has given the UK's financial watchdog the 20 working days notice needed.
The volume of trading of Ryanair shares does not justify listing costs, said the Irish company, which is based in Swords, near Dublin Airport.
The cancellation will be effective from December 20, with the final day of dealing of its shares in London on December 17.
Ryanair explained: "As indicated at our interim results, and following subsequent shareholder engagement, Ryanair has decided to request the cancellation of London listing as 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 has a primary listing in the Euronext Dublin market and also has American depositary shares listed on the Nasdaq exchange in New York.
In December of last year, Ryanair confirmed that UK shareholders will have little or no say in the running of the airline. Ryanair at the time said it "must take steps" to ensure that it will remain majority EU owned and controlled following the end of the Brexit transition period.
Then in September of this year, it warned that non-EU nationals would be forced to sell roughly one million shares. The company said it had appointed a broker to conduct the sale.
EU-based airlines must be majority owned and controlled by nationals of the bloc.
Earlier in November, when it announced it was mulling the decision to leave the LSE, Ryanair said: "The migration away from the LSE is consistent with a general trend for trading in shares of EU corporates post-Brexit and is, potentially, more acute for Ryanair as a result of the long-standing prohibition on non-EU citizens purchasing Ryanair's ordinary shares being extended to UK nationals following Brexit."
Ryanair shares were down 0.4% in London early Friday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 7,284.18
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Hang Seng: down 1.1% at 25,037.37
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.5% at 29,745.87
DJIA: closed down 60.10 points, or 0.2%, at 35,870.95
S&P 500: closed up 15.87 points, or 0.3%, at 4,704.54
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 72.14 points, or 0.5%, at 15,993.71
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EUR: flat at USD1.1356 (USD1.1351)
GBP: up at USD1.3505 (USD1.3475)
USD: firm at JPY114.34 (JPY114.28)
Gold: down at USD1,857.52 per ounce (USD1,861.03)
Oil (Brent): up at USD82.01 a barrel (USD80.30)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
EU ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks at Frankfurt European Banking Congress
US Fed San Francisco President Mary Daly and Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida speak at Asia Economic Policy Conference
1000 CET EU euro area balance of payments
1200 GMT UK BoE Chief Economist Huw Pill participates in Bristol Festival of Economics
1045 EST US Fed Governor Christopher Waller speaks at Center for Financial Stability event
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UK retail sales for October were stronger than expected, which should give the sector some reasons to be cheerful heading into the key festive trading period. Retail sales rose 0.8% month-on-month in October, accelerating from a flat reading for September and beating expectations, according to FXStreet, for a 0.5% rise. Annually, the decline was 1.3%, worse than the 0.6% recorded for September but better than consensus forecasts for a 2% decline. Sales volumes were 5.8% higher than pre-pandemic levels. "October's return to form – boosted in part by Halloween sales – suggests that inflation and the squeeze on household budgets have yet to curtail spending," commented Aled Patchett, head of retail and consumer goods at Lloyds Bank. "Indeed, a high proportion of consumers are doing their Christmas shopping early this year given supply chain uncertainty and the potential for product shortages closer to the big day."
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The number of people in UK city centres has returned to pre-pandemic levels at weekends, but not during the week, suggesting some workers have not gone back to offices, new research has suggested. Centre for Cities said the so-called footfall in the centre of cities it studied reached three-quarters of pre-pandemic levels at the start of the month and weekend footfall has returned to normal. Overall footfall was highest in Blackpool, Southend, Barnsley and Burnley, according to the study of 63 cities. The think tank said footfall in 11 of the cities has now returned to normal, mostly in the North and Midlands, with London and other big cities continuing to lag behind. In central London, footfall is just half of pre-pandemic levels while in Glasgow city centre it was 64% and in Manchester city centre it was 73%, said the report.
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German producer prices in October jumped 18% year-on-year, picking up pace from 14% in September. This was the highest annual increase since November 1951, which saw a 21% rise. The producer price increase rose by 3.8% on a month-on-month basis.
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The leader of the minority Republicans in the US House frustrated Democratic efforts to pass President Joe Biden's historic package of social welfare reforms with an hours-long, disjointed tirade that drew mockery and angry boos from the opposite benches. Kevin McCarthy was supposed to talk for one minute ahead of a Thursday evening vote in the lower chamber of Congress to advance the USD1.8 trillion Build Back Better Act as he took the floor just after 8.30 pm local time in Washington. But he was still going strong at 1.30 am after a rant tackling everything from Biden's spending to the Afghanistan withdrawal and the artwork hanging in his office. Unlike the Senate, the House doesn't have a "filibuster" that allows the minority to scupper legislation by talking for hours, and the vote was merely postponed until 8:00 am. The legislation is still likely to advance from the House, where Democrats have a majority of three, with only one of their lawmakers indicating he would be defecting to vote no. It would then go to the Senate – where it is likely to get an even bumpier ride, with the Democrats' deficit hawks jittery about historic spending as gas and food prices spiral – before it gets a final rubber stamp back in the House, likely in January.
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Biden and the leaders of Canada and Mexico played up their close ties Thursday in the first North American regional summit since 2016, but tensions on trade and immigration lurked in the background. This was the first so-called 'Three Amigos' summit since Biden predecessor Donald Trump's 2017 arrival in the White House. Following the game plan he has used with European and Asian allies, Biden is keen to restore normalcy to the three-way partnership among the nations that form the USMCA free-trade bloc. "We can meet all the challenges if we just take the time to speak with one another, by working together," Biden said, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted the three countries' "extremely strong ties". After the meeting, the leaders committed to hold a follow-on summit next year in Mexico.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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CREDIT SUISSE CUTS JOHNSON MATTHEY TO 'NEUTRAL' (OUTPERFORM) PRICE TARGET 2,500 (3,600) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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DIY retailer Kingfisher said it expects full-year profit to be towards the top end of guidance following a strong third quarter. Total sales in the three months to October 31 were GBP3.25 billion, down 6.3% on a year ago. The like-for-like decline was 2.4% on an annual basis, but on a two year one - so in comparison with pre-virus levels - growth was 15%. Kingfisher reported "resilient" demand against very strong prior year comparatives. It has also made a good start to the final quarter of the year, the B&Q owner added. "We have entered our final quarter with positive momentum and now expect sales and profits to be towards the higher end of our previously guided ranges. Overall, with strong execution and supportive new long-term trends for our industry, we remain confident of continued outperformance of our markets," said Chief Executive Thierry Garnier. Kingfisher's full-year adjusted pretax profit guidance range is GBP910 million to GBP950 million.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Great Portland Estates reported EPRA net tangible assets per share of 796 pence as at September 30, up from 779p at the end of March. The property investor said activity levels have recovered from the lows of 2020 in both the central London occupational and investment markets, particularly in the West End. In its occupational markets, the three months to September 30 saw the strongest quarterly take up since the start of the pandemic, but remained below the long-run average. "In the occupational market, given a strong leasing and rental performance of the portfolio in the first half of the year, we have upgraded our rental value growth range for the financial year to 31 March 2022 to between 2% and 5%, predominantly driven by the positive performance of our office portfolio," the company said. Great Portland held its interim dividend at 4.7 pence per share.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Shares in Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba plunged 10% in Hong Kong on Friday, a day after it announced quarterly profit sank and lowered its revenue outlook due to slowing economic growth and Beijing's tech crackdown. Alibaba on Thursday said profit came in at CNY5.37 billion, about USD833 million, for the July-September quarter, falling from CNY28.77 billion earned over the same stretch last year. Revenue slightly missed forecasts by analysts polled by Bloomberg News. The Hangzhou-based company's revenue – generated mainly by its core e-commerce operations – reached CNY200.7 billion, up 29%. It forecast revenue growth of 20% to 23% for the full 2022 year, short of the at least 27% that had been expected by analysts. Alibaba also said certain factors could further impact eventual results including "changes in laws, regulations and [the] regulatory environment" such as those related to privacy and data.
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Friday's Shareholder Meetings
Diurnal Group PLC - AGM
eEnergy Group PLC - AGM
KCR Residential REIT PLC - AGM
Kier Group PLC - AGM
Marble Point Loan Financing Ltd - AGM
Petra Diamonds Ltd - AGM
Starcom PLC - GM re name change, share consolidation
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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