Ryanair non-executive director Mr James Osborne has made a profit of exactly £1 million after selling 200,000 shares into the market. The shares were sold in three lots: 100,000 at 510p each, 50,000 at 500p each and a further 50,000 at 496p each.

The share sales took place on June 19th, 22nd and 23rd and, following the sale, Mr Osborne retains 426,282 shares worth just over £2.1 million at the current price in the market.

A former managing partner of Dublin law firm A&L Goodbody, Mr Osborne received his Ryanair shares prior to last year's flotation as part of a consultancy agreement he entered into in February 1997. Under the terms of this agreement, Mr Osborne received £24,000 a year plus travel and other expenses in return for providing the airline with advice on corporate finance activities and strategic options for a three-year period from August 1996.

But as well as his consultancy fee and his expenses, Mr Osborne was also to buy 625,000 Ryanair shares ahead of the flotation for a total of £25,000, or 4p each. This compares with the prices around 500p at which the 200,000 shares were sold last week and the 195p at which Ryanair was floated in May 1997.

The sale of the shares to Mr Osborne ahead of the flotation was part of the arrangement between the airline and Irish Air Partners, the investment vehicle of Ryanair chairman, Mr David Bonderman, which paid £1 million and provided loans of £24 million in return for 19.9 per cent of the company in August 1996. Under the terms of the Irish Air agreement, Mr Osborne could only sell the shares if the loan from Irish Air had been repaid by Ryanair.