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IAG to pay special dividend

The airline group will return an extra €700m in special dividends to shareholders, or 35¢ per share
March 1, 2019

International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) is set to return more money to shareholders. The owner of airlines like British Airways and Iberia announced alongside its full-year results that it would pay €700m (£601m) in special dividends, or 35¢ per share. During the reported period, IAG completed a €500m share buyback, after buying back the same amount during the previous year. Unfortunately, fewer British investors will be in line for this cash windfall, as IAG announced that it will limit non-EU shareholders to 47.5 per cent to comply with EU rules on share ownership in the aviation industry. As a result, MSCI has kicked IAG out of its global equity indices, and FTSE Russell is considering doing the same when it rebalances in March.

IC TIP: Hold at 607.6p

Over the year IAG increased its capacity by 6.1 per cent to around 325bn available seat kilometres, though passenger revenue per available seat kilometre was up just 0.1 per cent to 6.63¢. Airlines have had to contend with higher fuel prices. Meanwhile, fuel costs increased 8 per cent, though non-fuel costs fell 2.2 per cent.

Analysts at Liberum expect adjusted pre-tax profits of €2.99bn during 2019 giving EPS of 121¢, compared to €3.01bn and 119¢ in 2018.

INTERNATIONAL CONSOLIDATED AIRLINES (IAG) 
ORD PRICE:607.6pMARKET VALUE:£ 12.1bn
TOUCH:607.4-607.6p12-MONTH HIGH:727pLOW: 547p
DIVIDEND YIELD:2.3%PE RATIO:5
NET ASSET VALUE:339¢*NET DEBT:124%
Year to 31 DecTurnover (€bn)Pre-tax profit (€bn)Earnings per share (¢)Dividend per share (¢)
201420.20.8348.2nil
201522.91.8073.520.0
201622.62.3693.023.5
2017**22.92.4895.227.0
2018***24.43.4914316.5
% change+7+41+50-39
Ex-div:04 Jul   
Payment:08 Jul   
*Includes intangible assets of €3.2bn or 161¢ per share £1=€1.16 **Restated for new accounting standards IFRS 15 ***Does not include special dividend of 35¢