Ryanair to delist shares from the London Stock Exchange

yanair has confirmed plans to delist its shares from the London Stock Exchange in response to EU rules on ownership post-Brexit.

The Irish budget airline said it planned to apply to authorities to cancel its listing on the main market in London “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.”

Ryanair first flagged it was considering delisting at the start of the month. The company said trading on the LSE has “reduced materially” as a percentage of its overall shares activity during 2021.

European Union rules mandate that airlines are majority owned by EU nationals. Ryanair has a primary listing in Dublin and has already made some UK investors sell shares this year to ensure it complies with the rules post-Brexit.

Ryanair said it had engaged with shareholders about delisting plans since the statement at the start of the month. Europe’s largest budget carrier will continue to have its main listing in Dublin and Ryanair said the changes will “consolidate trading liquidity to one regulated market for the benefit of all shareholders.”

Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, said: “For a business with a razor sharp focus on costs it seems the expense of maintaining a UK listing just doesn’t stack up any more given a decline in trading volumes and so Ryanair is planning a pre-Christmas getaway.

“If Shell’s decision to pivot to London was chalked up as a Brexit win, this is likely to be characterised as a Brexit loss in some quarters, coming after restrictions were introduced on UK investors buying its shares at the start of the year.”

Delisting will take affect in London from 20 December.

The move is a blow for the London Stock Exchange. Ryanair is among the largest airlines on the main market, with a value of £18.4 billion.