Ryanair gives O’leary more time to land €100m bonus
MICHAEL O’LEARY has been granted an extra four years to secure a €100m (£86.4m) bonus after Ryanair agreed another extension to its long-serving bosses’ contract.
Europe’s biggest budget airline originally announced the blockbuster pay deal in 2019, only for the coronavirus crisis to upend global travel the following year, leading to heavy losses across the industry.
Mr O’leary has now agreed to extend his contract to July 2028, giving him longer to hit targets for the incentive which was branded “wholly inappropriate” and “ludicrous” by one City institution when it was first announced.
To qualify for the payout he must lift Ryanair’s annual earnings to €2.2bn – €200m more than previously – or its stock price to €21. The carrier’s shares closed at €12.87 on Thursday.
Ryanair posted a profit of €1.4bn (£1.2bn) for the six months to September as travel rebounded from the pandemic.
However, its share price has fallen 29pc since February, even after it posted record half-year profits of €1.4bn, higher than the €1.2bn posted in 2019.
It shows the challenge airlines have faced since Covid restrictions decimated the sector. The cost of living crisis is expected to cause further pain, with consumers forced to cut back on luxuries such as air travel.
Meanwhile, the aviation sector’s emissions remain under the microscope.
If Mr O’leary’s latest extension plays out he will have spent 34 years in the top job at the company.
The maverick businessman – who criticised the “flight-shaming” movement promoted by Greta Thunberg and other climate campaigners last month – has led Ryanair as chief executive since 1994.
He helped transform the airline with a model committed to offering the lowest air fares in Europe, often at the expense of customer comfort and convenience.
If Mr O’leary hits the earnings goal but not the share price target the bonus could be smaller; if he misses both, there will be no payout beyond his annual salary.