Ryanair shares hit an all time high of €17.97 on Friday as investors anticipated that the Irish airline would report a strong performance when it publishes 2017 financial results on next week.
Analysts at stockbrokers Goodbody speculated that Ryanair could announce plans to return up to €800 million to investors by buying back shares when it publishes its 2016-2017 results on Tuesday.
The airline’s stock surged on the Dublin market, closing 1.73 per cent up at €17.93. Dealers said its price hit an all-time high of €17.97 during Friday’s trade.
Ryanair purchased €550 million worth of equities and American depositary receipts – which are traded on the New York market – from shareholders between November and the end of February. It has returned €4.8 billion to investors since 2008.
In October, the company said it expected that net profit for the year would fall between €1.3 billion and €1.35 billion. Ryanair did not comment on Friday.