Ryanair shareholder calls for chairman’s ouster
DUBLIN: Britain’s Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), which represents funds that own a combined 1 per cent of Ryanair, on Sunday said it planned to file resolutions at the company’s next annual general meeting to replace Chairman David Bonderman.
The group, which opposed Bonderman’s re-election at last month’s AGM, said it would lobby fellow shareholders to join it to secure the 3 per cent of shares required to file a shareholder resolution at the next meeting, due in September 2019.
The group also plans to file a resolution demanding that succession plans for Chief Executive Michael O’leary be set out.
“On the day of Ryanair’s first-half results (October 22) Mr O’leary said Mr Bonderman intends to remain in place for one or two more years and that the company would set out succession plans for Mr O’leary in the next two or three years,” the LAPFF said in a statement.
“Shareholders have made it clear they expect action quicker than this.” The group said it believed recent staffing and industrial relations issues at Ryanair might have been handled better with a more independent board.
It said its concerns had been heightened by a profit warning on October 1, when Ryanair cut its forecast for full-year profit by 12 per cent citing damage to bookings from strikes.
The LAPFF was one of several shareholders to voice concerns at Ryanair’s AGM in September, when Bonderman, was re-elected with 70.5 per cent of votes, a significant fall from the 89 per cent he received the previous year.
“Ryanair shareholders recently passed all AGM resolutions by a large majority, including the nomination of directors and chairman,” a Ryanair spokesman said when asked on the LAPFF’S plan.