THE founder of easyJet, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, yesterday raised about £19 million from the sale of shares in the airline to help to fund his string of business ventures, some of which have been making heavy losses.

Last month he raised £16 million by selling easyJet shares, partially to help to fund his battle with Hollywood studios, which are refusing to supply up-to-date blockbuster movies to his cinema venture.

Mr Haji-Ioannou dismissed suggestions that he was forced to sell part of his easyJet stake to prop up his struggling ventures. “It is no secret that some businesses are losing money,” he said. “I think there is an unrealistic expectation about how quickly start-ups can be turned into successful companies.”

The entrepreneur sold eight million shares, or 2.03 per cent. He now holds about 18 per cent of easyJet, which he founded in 1995 and turned into one of Europe’s most successful airlines.

Mr Haji-Ioannou now runs easyGroup, which controls a string of companies but which is thought to have lost around £120 million in four years.

His biggest loss-maker is the internet café business, thought to have cost about £90 million. The vehicle rental business, easyCar, has made losses of about £20 million.

Last month he blamed the “catastrophic failure” of managers for losses at parts of his business. Yesterday he acknowledged that his gung-ho approach to business would be toned down.

EasyCinema, the first of which opened in Milton Keynes, has also been a problem because Mr Haji-Ioannou cannot get the most up-to-date movies. He is threatening action against film distributors, although the cinema earnings figures were good, he said, despite the cinema being forced to show films weeks after they go on general release.

The key to the way Mr Haji-Ioannou runs his businesses is tight control on supply and demand, and use of the internet for booking. When demand is higher, so are the prices, and vice versa. Using the internet keeps costs to a minimum.

It worked at easyJet and Mr Haji-Ioannou believes the method can be replicated throughout other businesses.

At his cinema, customers can get tickets for 20p if they book well in advance. But this is at the core of his dispute with the studios. Distributors get a cut of the cinema takings, and a cut of 20p is not that much.

Before this his easyInternetcafé ran into trouble from the big record companies. The cafés were popular with young people wanting to “burn” music on to CDs, but the High Court ruled that easyInternetcafé had infringed copyrights.

Undaunted by the setbacks, Mr Haji-Ioannou is pressing on with other ambitious ventures. EasyBus, providing cheap minibus travel, and easyDorm, a low-cost hotels chain, are in the pipeline.

EasyPizza, a delivery chain offering cheaper food the earlier you order, was seen as his wackiest idea to date when unveiled earlier this year.

But that was before his easyCruise idea, which would offer no-frills cruising on ships where travellers pay less if they clean their own cabins.