American hedge fund giant Citadel is betting that Ryanair’s share price will fall.
The company – run by Wall Street financier Ken Griffin – has taken a short position in Ryanair worth 0.73pc of the company, according to Central Bank filings.
Shorting allows an investor to make money when a share price falls.
It involves borrowing shares in a company, and then selling them and pocketing the proceeds in the hope that the shares can be bought back later at a lower price.
It is a risky investment strategy as the potential losses are theoretically unlimited.
Ryanair shares were hit earlier this week after its rival Easyjet said it was seeing weaker demand because of Brexit uncertainty and the state of the European economy. The airline reported a loss after tax of €20m in its third quarter results, saying overcapacity in the European market was putting downward pressure on fares.