Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary to strike deal to remain at airline to the end of 2028

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary apologised to reporters for their exclusion from the meeting but said that a bar on Irish Independent journalist John Mulligan would remain in place.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said he is in early talks over a new contract that will see him staying at the airline to the end of 2028.

Speaking to reporters after a shareholder meeting from which they were barred, Mr O'Leary said he had been approached and had agreed to stay on as CEO, and that the terms with the board would be struck over the next few months. 

"Challenging" targets of an existing shares option incentive package wouldn't be lowered, despite the fallout from the Covid pandemic, he said.

The shares incentive was part of a new contract to keep Mr O’Leary at the airline but sparked controversy when voted on in 2019 because investors do not normally like companies awarding their chief executives large share-based incentives.

The award gave Mr O’Leary 10 million share options at a strike price of €11.12 which he could exercise if Ryanair’s after-tax annual profit exceeded €2bn up to 2024 and/or the airline shares topped €21 between April 2021 and March 2024, for a period of 28 days. 

Citing the shares and profitability targets, Mr O'Leary said the airline wouldn't achieve the goals this year because of "the two Black Swan events" of Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ryanair shares rose 2% to €12.47 in the latest session and are down 18% since the start of the year.       

He told reporters that he had told investors at the meeting that forward bookings were "strong", that the airline was on track to reach its passenger number targets this year, but that the recovery remained "fragile".              

"I mean, the biggest concern we have at the moment is that if there are negative news flows to do with Covid, or to do with Ukraine, this recovery could still be derailed in the third or fourth quarter," Mr O'Leary said. 

"We think we are on track for a strong recovery in traffic and profitability in the first half of the year which only ends at the end of September," he said. Ryanair's financial year runs through to the end of March. 

He told reporters that all resolutions, including the remuneration report, were approved by shareholders, with the lowest vote in percentage terms cast for the re-appointment of two former executives. There was no criticism of management or bonuses from shareholders raised at the meeting, Mr O'Leary said. 

The Pirc advisory firm that advises large stakeholders in companies had raised questions ahead of the meeting about the independence of several of non-executives on the Ryanair board and about bonuses paid by the airline.       

He told reporters that shareholders at the meeting had asked about the airline's fuel hedging policy, its growth plans, and about the airline's expansion in the Italian market and about the weekend disruption to Aer Lingus flights.                          

The CEO apologised to reporters for their exclusion from the meeting but said that a bar on Irish Independent journalist John Mulligan would remain in place. The National Union of Journalists has said it was unacceptable for the airline to exclude journalists attending shareholder meetings. 

— Additional reporting Reuters