EasyJet scores victory in battle of budget airlines
EASYJET has triumphed in the latest round of the battle of the budget airlines.
It has poached a chief operating officer, Peter Bellew, from the same role at Ryanair – a veritable coup for the Luton-based carrier.
The 54- year- old is highly regarded in airline circles for helping Ryanair recover from its disastrous 2017-18 winter, when a timetabling bungle meant the firm had to cancel around 2,000 flights.
Bellew worked for Ryanair for nine years, then left for Malaysia Airlines where he was chief executive, before returning to the Irish carrier in December 2017 when it was in its tight spot.
Alongside its recruitment victory, EasyJet’s revenue rose by 11pc to £1.8bn between April and June, while passenger numbers increased by 8pc.
What was Ryanair’s loss was EasyJet’s gain – at least in terms of share price. Ryanair shares tumbled 3.9pc, or 0.41 cents, to €10.10, while EasyJet closed up 4pc, or 41.5p, to 1076p.
After the mind-boggling success of Greggs’ vegan sausage roll and its almost baker’s dozen of profit upgrades, it might at first seem surprising that Peel Hunt has downgraded the stock rating from ‘hold’ to ‘reduce’.
Peel Hunt analysts said its halfyear results ‘will be magnificent’ on July 30 and the bakery chain will probably raise profit forecasts once again. But they are of the view that the market is already well aware this is coming.
They have urged investors to take profits here because the shares are ‘priced for perfection’ and might soon start to tumble.
The bittersweet praise sent Greggs shares down 1.1pc, or 28p, to 2448p. The FTSE 100 shed 0.56pc, or 42.37 points, to 7493.09. Mexico-focused precious metals miner Fresnillo was by far the biggest faller, sliding 9.1pc, or 81.6p, to 813.4p, after brokers at Macquarie kept an ‘underperform’ rating on its stock. They said they are unconvinced by a turnaround push at the firm, which lowered its gold and silver production guidance on Wednesday.
Broadcaster ITV got a boost of 1.5pc, or 1.6p, to 109.4p, after brokers at Liberum said it could be a takeover target for US streaming behemoth Netflix. Liberum analysts kept a buy rating on the stock, at a target price of 145p.
The FTSE 250 fell 0.4pc, or 79.07 points, to 19535.13 points.
Pub groups did well. Harvester and All Bar One-owner Mitchells
& Butlers rose 1.5pc, or 4.5p, to 302.5p, while Marston’s climbed 1.3pc, or 1.6p, to 121.6p, and
Greene King finished up 1.2pc, or 7.6p, to 652p. Wetherspoons rose 4.2pc, or 62p, to 1527p. Shares in mattress company Eve
Sleep have lost some of their bounce in another blow for troubled fund manager Neil Woodford. Revenue at the AIM-listed firm slipped by 8pc in the first half of the year to £12.9m. Shares fell 14.2pc, or 1.25p, to 7.55p, wiping more than £1m off Woodford’s 31.2pc stake.
Woodford, whose struggling Equity Income fund is still suspended after running out of ready cash to repay departing savers last month, was an early investor in Eve before its stock market listing in 2017.
Reach, the publisher behind the Mirror, Express and Star newspapers is in takeover talks with the owner of The i and a string of regional titles. Shares fell 1.5pc, or 1.2p, at 79.8p, after it said it is looking at assets held by JPI Media but cautioned there is no guarantee a deal will be struck.
JPI put itself up for sale earlier this year after falling into administration in 2018.
Over on the junior market, shares in 7digital jumped 47.2pc, or 0.09p, to 0.27p after chief executive John Aalbers and finance boss Julia Hubbard stepped down with immediate effect.