Ryanair 2011 Annual Report Download - page 55

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affect the market prices of many airline company stocks. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect
the market price of the Ordinary Shares and ADRs.
Ryanair Holdings May or May Not Pay Dividends. Since its incorporation as the holding company for
Ryanair in 1996, Ryanair Holdings has only once declared or paid dividends on its Ordinary Shares. The
directors of the Company declared on June 1, 2010 that Ryanair Holdings intended to pay a special dividend of
1500 million, and following shareholder approval at its annual general meeting on September 22, 2010 this
special dividend was paid on October 1, 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 (where required). The Company may pay other dividends from time to time, or it may not
pay any dividends at all, as has been its general 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, 2011, with its operating fleet of 272 Boeing 737-800 “next
generation” aircraft, Ryanair Limited offered approximately 1,550 scheduled short-haul flights per day serving
approximately 160 airports largely throughout Europe. 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 1374.6 million in the 2011 fiscal year,
as compared to a profit on ordinary activities after taxation of 1305.3 million in the 2010 fiscal year. This
increase was primarily attributable to an increase in revenues of approximately 22% from 12,988.1 million to
13,629.5 million, partially offset by an increase in fuel costs of approximately 37% from 1893.9 million to
11,227.0 million. Ryanair generated an average booked passenger load factor of approximately 82.6% and
average scheduled passenger revenues of 10.068 per ASM in the 2011 fiscal year. The Company has focused on
maintaining low operating costs (10.049 per ASM in the 2011 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 3.5 million passengers in the 2010
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, Deputy Chief Executive and 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.