Stelios earns £18.6m extra after threats to EasyJet
EASYJET staved off a legal row with founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou as it hiked its dividend despite making a loss.
The budget airline surprised investors by raising its dividend to 50pc of profits, when previously it had been 40pc.
The change could net the 49year-old tycoon an extra £18.6m windfall. In total he stands to make an estimated £93.1m.
The rise in the dividend comes just months after billionaire Haji-Ioannou, 49, whose family still holds a 34pc stake in EasyJet, accused the airline of having a ‘scatter-gun approach’ to dividends and threatened legal action.
EasyJet has paid out £988m to all shareholders in dividends over the past five years.
Yesterday it announced that it had recorded a loss of £24m in the six months to March 31, compared to a profit of £7m in the same period last year.
Chief executive Carolyn McCall brushed off suggestions it had given into the ramped up pressure from Haji-Ioannou, and pointed out he had been vocal on the subject for six years.
The 54-year-old said: ‘His calls would not have had an impact on the decision because it is something that we have known about for many years. We take all our shareholders’ views into account, then at the end of it we will do what we believe is the right thing for the airline.
‘We are confident that over the year we will again grow passenger numbers, revenue and profit.’
The airline’s financial performance was dented by terrorism in Sharm el-Sheikh, Paris and Brussels, with revenues almost flat at £1.8bn. It said had it not been for the effect of the falling pound it could have made a profit.
McCall said: ‘EasyJet has delivered a robust financial performance during the half-year despite the well-publicised events.’
A spokesman for Haji-Ioannou said: ‘This regularises the company’s dividend payments over the past few years. This will be good news for shareholders both big and small who rely on company payouts to plan their financial futures.’
Yesterday the shares rose 2.7pc, or 40p, to 1510p.