Ryanair floats prospect of resuming dividend with Covid in past

Ryanair Holdings Plc dangled the prospect of paying a dividend should the Irish low-cost airline extend its strong performance over the next year. “If we have another strong year and we have significant net cash balances, then we’ll return those to shareholders,” CEO Michael O’Leary said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “I think it’s coming, not yet, I mean we’re paying down debt at the moment.” For now, debt repayment and capital outlays remain the priorities for Ryanair’s cash flows, O’Leary said. He prefers dividends to share buybacks, the CEO said in a separate interview. Ryanair has been among the airlines quickest to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, reporting on Monday that it had reached a net-cash balance after working down debt taken to help it survive the Covid-19 crisis. The carrier, which ferries more passengers through Europe than any other, is poised to gain from surging fares during the busy summer holiday season. Aircraft deliveries from Boeing and Airbus will likely remain constrained over the next 4 to 5 years due to supply-chain kinks, limiting airline industry capacity and putting a floor under fares, O’Leary said. Ryanair ordered up to 300 of Boeing’s largest 737 Max 10 single-aisle jets this month to press its expansion.<br/>