(Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings PLC on Friday confirmed it will leave the London Stock Exchange due to declining trading volumes post-Brexit.
The 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, the Dublin-based company said.
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."
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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