Cases
Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY)
Securities Class Action
Overview
Overview
- Date:
- 12/7/2018
- Company Name:
- Ryanair Holdings plc
- Stock Symbol:
- RYAAY
- Class Period:
- FROM 5/30/2017 TO 9/28/2018
- Status:
- Closed/Complete
NEW YORK, December 12, 2018 - The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding Ryanair’s business and operations as a result of its aggressive anti-employee practices and opposition to employee collectivization efforts. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants misrepresented and/or failed to disclose, among other things, that Ryanair’s labor relations had deteriorated in 2017 and 2018. As a result, the Company was experiencing increased employee turnover and was threatened with massive strikes and other disruptions across its operations, and its historical operating model and profit growth were not sustainable.
On September 14, 2017, it was reported that Ryanair had lost a key ruling in the European Court of Justice that cast doubt on the legality of the Company’s use of Irish employment contracts to evade local labor laws throughout Europe. The next day, Ryanair announced that it would need to cancel up to 50 flights a day for the next six weeks due to pilot “schedul[ing]” issues. Reports began to circulate that the disruption was not due to scheduling issues, as the Company had claimed, but rather to widespread defections by disgruntled employees. Then, according to the complaint, in December 2017, Ryanair reversed its earlier position and conceded its need to recognize unions, but continued to downplay the extent of the labor unrest and conceal the expected impact to the Company’s operations and financial results. However, in the summer of 2018, discontent among Ryanair’s workers continued to spill out into the open, belying defendants’ public claims regarding improved labor relations and forcing workers into threatening collective action. The resulting flight cancellations damaged the Company’s brand and forced it to pay millions in compensation costs or to re-route fliers.
On July 23, 2018, Ryanair disclosed a 20% decrease in quarterly profits, due in part to a 34% increase in staff costs. Then, on October 1, 2018, the Company revealed that it could not meet its annual profit guidance due to the lost fares and ballooning costs related to the strikes and flight cancellations. By market close on October 1, 2018, the price of Ryanair ADSs had fallen to $80.93 per ADS, 36% below the Class Period high of more than $126 per ADS.
On September 14, 2017, it was reported that Ryanair had lost a key ruling in the European Court of Justice that cast doubt on the legality of the Company’s use of Irish employment contracts to evade local labor laws throughout Europe. The next day, Ryanair announced that it would need to cancel up to 50 flights a day for the next six weeks due to pilot “schedul[ing]” issues. Reports began to circulate that the disruption was not due to scheduling issues, as the Company had claimed, but rather to widespread defections by disgruntled employees. Then, according to the complaint, in December 2017, Ryanair reversed its earlier position and conceded its need to recognize unions, but continued to downplay the extent of the labor unrest and conceal the expected impact to the Company’s operations and financial results. However, in the summer of 2018, discontent among Ryanair’s workers continued to spill out into the open, belying defendants’ public claims regarding improved labor relations and forcing workers into threatening collective action. The resulting flight cancellations damaged the Company’s brand and forced it to pay millions in compensation costs or to re-route fliers.
On July 23, 2018, Ryanair disclosed a 20% decrease in quarterly profits, due in part to a 34% increase in staff costs. Then, on October 1, 2018, the Company revealed that it could not meet its annual profit guidance due to the lost fares and ballooning costs related to the strikes and flight cancellations. By market close on October 1, 2018, the price of Ryanair ADSs had fallen to $80.93 per ADS, 36% below the Class Period high of more than $126 per ADS.