EasyJet’s founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, and his siblings have cut their stake in the low cost airline by a further 1.27pc, marking the third time they have sold shares in the carrier in just over a year. The airline said on Tuesday that the family’s combined holding had been reduced to 35.68pc, or 141,608,049 ordinary shares, down from 36.95pc or 146,511,798 shares.

The shares were likely offloaded on Thursday, or late on Wednesday last week. EasyJet’s share price, which hit a record closing price of £18.27 on April 4, ended on Wednesday night at £16.53 before climbing to £16.83 by the end of trading on Thursday. The shares have been caught up in the recent sell off of momentum stocks, which performed strongly last year. If the shares were sold at Wednesday’s closing price of £16.53, the family would collectively have made more than £81m from the sale. Sir Stelios and his siblings, Polys and Clelia, sold 600,000 shares between them in January last year in protest at the airline’s decision to buy 135 new Airbus planes and threatened further disposals if easyJet’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, pressed ahead with the purchase.

The siblings voted against the aircraft order at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in July last year but the resolution was passed. The vote revealed that Sir Stelios and his family had offloaded further shares prior to the EGM. A spokesman for Sir Stelios’s easyGroup declined to comment.

Daily Telegraph

 

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