Ryanair may buy back its shares in event of hard Brexit

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair may look to buy back shares in the event of a no-deal Brexit to use it as an opportunity for its British shareholders to dispose of stock due to restrictions on their voting rights, Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said on Monday.

Ryanair reiterated on Monday that in the event of a hard Brexit, it will place restrictions on the voting rights and share sales of non-EU shareholders for a period of time to ensure it remains an European Union-owned and controlled airline, even if Britain exits the EU without a deal.

"In the event of a hard Brexit, we may have a small majority of non-EU shareholders and I think we will be timing another share buyback at the same time as we would be imposing restrictions on all non-EU shareholders and facilitate some of those being able to dispose of their non-EU shares," O'Leary told an analyst call.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin, editing by Louise Heavens)