Ryanair 2010 Annual Report Download - page 55

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Ryanair Holdings May or May Not Pay Dividends. Since its incorporation as the holding company for
Ryanair in 1996, Ryanair Holdings has not declared or paid dividends on its Ordinary Shares. However, the
directors of Company declared on June 1, 2010 that Ryanair Holdings intends to pay a special dividend of 1500
million, to be paid in October 2010, subject to shareholder approval at its annual general meeting on September
22, 2010. The Company also indicated in the same announcement that it may pay a further dividend of up to
1500 million before the end of fiscal year 2013, subject to, amongst other things, its continued profitability and
the absence of further aircraft purchases or any other significant capital expenditures. The Company may
ultimately determine not to pay any such dividend, or may fail to obtain shareholder approval. The Company
may pay other dividends from time to time, or it may not pay any dividends at all, as has been its practice to
date. No assurances can be given that the Company will, or will not, pay dividends. See “Item 8. Financial
Information—Other Financial Information—Dividend Policy.” As a holding company, Ryanair Holdings does
not have any material assets other than the shares of Ryanair.
Item 4. Information on the Company
INTRODUCTION
Ryanair Holdings was incorporated in 1996 as a holding company for Ryanair Limited. The latter
operates a low-fares, scheduled-passenger airline serving short-haul, point-to-point routes between Ireland, the
U.K., Continental Europe, and Morocco. Incorporated in 1984, Ryanair Limited began to introduce a low-fares
operating model under a new management team in the early 1990s. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial
Review and ProspectsHistory.” At June 30, 2010, with its operating fleet of 250 Boeing 737-800 “next
generation” aircraft, Ryanair Limited offered approximately 1,300 scheduled short-haul flights per day serving
155 airports throughout Europe and Morocco. See “Route System, Scheduling and FaresRoute System and
Scheduling” for more details of Ryanair’s route network. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and
ProspectsSeasonal Fluctuations” for information about the seasonality of Ryanair’s business.
Ryanair recorded a profit on ordinary activities after taxation of 1305.3 million in the 2010 fiscal year,
as compared to a loss on ordinary activities after taxation of 1169.2 million in the 2009 fiscal year. This
variation was primarily attributable to a 28.9% decrease in fuel costs from 11,257.1 million to 1893.9 million,
and a 2.0% increase in revenues from 12,942.0 million to 12,988.1 million. Ryanair generated an average
booked passenger load factor of approximately 82.2% and average scheduled passenger revenues of 10.067 per
ASM in the 2010 fiscal year. The Company has focused on maintaining low operating costs (10.047 per ASM in
the 2010 fiscal year).
The market’s acceptance of Ryanair’s low-fares service is reflected in the “Ryanair Effect” – Ryanair’s
history of stimulating significant annual passenger traffic growth on the new routes on which it has commenced
service since 1991. For example, on the basis of the “U.K. Airports Annual Statement of Movements,
Passengers and Cargo” published by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority and statistics released by the
International Civil Aviation Organization (the “ICAO”), the number of scheduled airline passengers traveling
between Dublin and London increased from 1.7 million passengers in 1991 to 3.96 million passengers in the
2009 calendar year. Most international routes Ryanair has begun serving since 1991 have recorded significant
traffic growth in the period following Ryanair’s commencement of service, with Ryanair capturing the largest
portion of such growth on each such route. A variety of factors contributed to this increase in air passenger
traffic, including the relative strength of the Irish, U.K., and European economies in past years. However,
management believes that the most significant factors driving such growth across all its European routes have
been Ryanair’s low-fares policy and its superiority to its competitors in terms of flight punctuality, levels of lost
baggage, and rates of flight cancellations.
The address of Ryanair Holdings’ registered office is: c/o Ryanair Limited, Corporate Head Office,
Dublin Airport, County Dublin, Ireland. The Company’s contact person regarding this Annual Report is:
Howard Millar, Chief Financial Officer (same address as above). The telephone number is [phone]
and the facsimile number is [phone]. Under its current Articles, Ryanair Holdings has an unlimited
corporate duration.