Liberum downgrades Ryanair to 'hold'

Liberum downgraded its stance on shares of budget airline Ryanair to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ on Monday, as it said the stock was "best in class" but risks are balanced.

"Ryanair retains a strong balance sheet with ample liquidity, a market-leading position and favourable positioning in the segments of air travel likely to recover first and fastest (short haul and leisure travel)," the broker said.

"Despite the long-term attractions, faced with huge uncertainty over government policies and a tough winter, more caution is appropriate."

Liberum, which kept its price target at €12.50, said that while lockdown and travel bans were bad, the current uncertainty is worse. It said government policies on travel bans and quarantines are "hugely inconsistent" across Europe and increasingly volatile and unpredictable in the UK in particular, which is a key market for Ryanair.

"The recovery in demand since the resumption of flight operations has been relatively modest, but this seems likely to be choked off by the lack of predictability of government policies.

"Faced with the potential risk of being quarantined on arrival or return, many prospective passengers may simply choose not to travel at all."

Liberum said it still sees Ryanair as the long-term winner in the European airline industry and as "the best positioned in almost every respect at present".