easyJet PLC
13 September 2002
UPDATE ON THE HANDOVER OF THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF EASYJET PLC
STELIOS TO STEP DOWN WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ANNUAL RESULTS ON 26 NOVEMBER
Stelios Haji-Ioannou founder and chairman of easyJet plc said:
'On the 18th of April 2002 I announced my intention to step down from the board
of easyJet plc at the next Annual General Meeting, expected to be in early 2003.
On the same day, the company announced the appointment of Sir Colin Chandler as
deputy chairman and chairman elect. At that time a longer-than-average hand-over
period (12 months) was envisaged in order to complete the then confidential
negotiations to acquire Go Fly ltd and an option to acquire DBA.
Today, some five months later, I am pleased to report that the acquisition of Go
Fly ltd is complete and the integration process led by Ray Webster, the
company's chief executive, is well under way. The punctuality of the flying
programme is back to normal levels (70% within 15 minutes and 92% within one
hour for the week ending 8th September) following the recent well-publicised
problems with the crew rosters. The traffic statistics are impressive with 1.7
million passengers carried for the combined airline in the month of August at a
load factor of 87%. Everything I hear leads me to be confident that full-year
results to September 2002 will be in line with market expectations.
In order to achieve a better delineation of accountability for the following
financial year and, rather selfishly, in order to free up my time for my newer
ventures, I have decided to formally step down and leave the Board on 26th of
November 2002, the day the company expects to announce its full-year results for
financial year 2002. In order to facilitate the smoothest transition, I have
asked Sir Colin to chair my last three board meetings starting today, Friday
13th September (the others are 11 October and 25 November), which I will still
attend. My decision has the full support of the easyJet plc Board.
As I have said many times in the past, my intention is to remain a significant
shareholder in easyJet plc for a very long time, however reserving the right
from time to time to sell some of my shares to finance my new ventures. Today I
personally hold almost 22% of the share capital of easyJet plc and my brother
and sister together hold another 24.4%. During the capital raising for the
acquisition of Go Fly ltd, I did not liquidate any of my shares (contrary to
some press reports), selling only enough nil paid rights to take up the
remainder of my rights. I have no present intention to sell any easyJet shares
in the near future.
As a result of concentrating my efforts on my newer businesses over the last
year, I am pleased to announce that easyInternetCafe has turned the corner and I
am looking forward to helping it grow into a substantial business in the next
2-3 years. easyCar is on track for an IPO at the end of 2004 and I am also
working on a new start up, called easyCinema.
Once again, I would like to thank all my colleagues at easyJet for all their
hard work over the last seven years that has turned the company into what it is
today. I am confident I am leaving easyJet in good hands!'
Ray Webster, chief executive, said:
'I have worked with Stelios from the very early days at easyJet when we were no
more than a handful of people based in Luton. His ambition and drive have made
easyJet the success that it is today and I know I speak for all easyJet staff
when I thank him for his seven years as Chairman of easyJet and wish him all the
very best in his future ventures.
'On a separate note, I would like to reassure investors that the process to
fully integrate easyJet and Go Fly is proceeding according to our timetable and
I will give a full update with the 2002 full-year results in November.'
ENDS
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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