RYANAIR shares will be floated on the Irish market at a price of 195p, the company is expected to announce this afternoon. The shares will be floated on the NASDAQ market in New York at 514.73 - each US share is equal to five Irish shares.

The share offer is understood to have been heavily oversubscribed investors wanted to buy over 10 times the 54.2 million shares on offer. Because of the high level of unsatisfied demand, the shares arc expected to rise sharply in early trading.

The company offered the shares to investors in Dublin, New York and Europe. Investors bid for over 540 million shares.

Because of the high level of demand Ryanair and its advisers have priced the shares at the top of the target range of 165p to 195p set in the preflotation path finder document. Fund managers in Dublin had expect a price in the 180p to 190p range, though one investor who has put in a bid for shares expected the price to be set at 195p the top of the target range.

The share price is due to be announced at 2.30 p.m. today in Dublin and simultaneously in New York (9.30 a.m. local time). When the technical listing details are completed the shares will be included in the ISEQ Index in Dublin and on the NASDAQ market in New York.

Ryanair shares are expected to start trading in Dublin next week. But investors will be able to trade on the "grey" NASDAQ market in New York in advance of the completion of full listing.

Demand for the shares is understood to have been strong in Europe and in the US. Ryanair chief executive Mr Michael O'Leary and finance director Mr Michael Cawley, with advisers, undertook roadshows throughout Europe and the US to encourage potential investors to bid for the shares. As soon as the order books closed on Tuesday the level of interest was assessed by Ryanair's underwriters Morgan Stanley and the Investment Bank of Ireland. The strong demand reflects buoyant conditions on international equity markets where there is a hearty appetite for new offers. That demand so heavily exceeded supply also reflects the small number of Ryanair shares offered to the market and the spread of markets in which they were offered. The Dublin market was offered 13.6 million shares - a quarter of the total offer. Because Ryanair will make up about 1.5 per cent of the Dublin index, strong demand was anticipated from fund managers who would want to achieve a market weighting in the shares.