It was confirmed yesterday that Ryanair will pay a €500m (£341m) one-off dividend in October. The dividend is still subject to the approval of shareholders.

This is the first dividend Ryanair will be offering since its inception in 1997. The Company is also going slow on its rapid expansion plans.

Due to the sharp reduction in capital expenditure, Ryanair is expected to pay another €500m to shareholders by 2013. Experts stress that a nominal yield of 10pc is still a substantial payout. But a slowdown in growth will mean that investors will remain cautious about the future growth prospects of Ryanair.

The annual results pointed that 11% growth in the Company's ancillary sales (which includes baggage charges and on-board sales) was outstripped by a 14% increase in passenger traffic.

But some analysts point that there is increasing evidence that Ryanair may have reached a saturation point.

Ryanair anticipated ancillary revenues to increase by 20% and they grew by 22% in the year ended March 31, 2010. The airlines also stressed that various measures were aimed at driving down costs and not only raising its revenues.

Ryanair expects profits this year to grow between 10 to 15% and it is also forecasting an 11% growth in traffic this year.

Analysts point out that Ryanair is a good long term bet and investors who want to stay in the market for a long term can stay invested.