Pilots’ strike sees BA lose 300k passengers

THE first pilots’ strike in British Airways’ 100-year history knocked more than the airline’s reputation.

Some 300,000 fewer passengers flew with BA last month, taking the total down from 4.2m in September last year to 3.9m this time around.

Pilots went on strike over pay on September 9 and 10, as well as lining up a third day on September 27 that was later cancelled.

The strikes have cost more than £120m and BA’s parent company,

IAG, has already warned full-year profits will be hit by the action.

But despite September’s 8pc fall, passenger numbers so far this year are up 1.2pc to 36.2m.

And IAG’s total passenger figures – incorporating airlines such as Iberia and Vueling – were up 0.6pc in September and 4.9pc so far this year, to 90.4m.

The overall rise sent IAG’s shares to the top of the Footsie leader board as they closed up 3.1pc, or 13.9p, at 468.6p.

Sirius Minerals lifted 4.6pc, or 0.17p, to 3.82p after chief executive Chris Fraser said the troubled Yorkshire fertiliser miner has cut

300 jobs and believes the company will have a good idea of alternative financing options by the end of this month.

Eddie Stobart’s major shareholder DBAY Advisors was given more time to decide if it wants to make an offer to take over the trucking group.

It has until October 16 to decide if it wants to make a move on Eddie Stobart, whose shares have been suspended since August after an accounting error was found.

Power station group Drax ended down 0.7pc, or 2p, at 283.8p despite a block on building four gas-fired turbines being overruled by the Government.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.6pc, or 42.5 points, to 7197.88, while the

FTSE 250 fell 0.3pc, or 60.13 points, to 19,420.24.

Meanwhile, broker notes moved some of the Footsie’s biggest stocks. Cruise ship operator Carnival dropped 1.2pc, or 37p, to 3130p after HSBC cut it from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’, while Sainsbury’s rose 0.3pc, or 0.7p, to 210.8p after Shore Capital Markets bumped it up from ‘sell’ to ‘hold’ and praised boss Mike Coupe’s ‘candour and honesty in setting out realistic expectations for the group’ in the wake of its failed merger with Asda.

Investors were unmoved after student accommodation provider

Unite Group sold two high- end properties in Coventry to Singapore group Mapletree Investments for £96m. The Callice Court and Millennium View buildings can house 1,127 students between them. Unite shares closed down 0.1pc, or 1p, at 1082p.

Budget carrier Easyjet jumped 3pc, or 34.5p, to 1172.5p in anticipation of a trading update it will release today.

It is one of the travel companies earmarked to benefit from the collapse of Thomas Cook. But analysts will also want to see how much the firm has managed to cut costs that are unrelated to fuel.

Mining and commodities trading group Glencore slid 0.7pc, or 1.65p, to 225p, despite signing a five-year deal to supply cobalt to a Chinese battery materials group, Gem Co. FTSE 250- listed miner Petra

Diamonds had more success on the stock market yesterday. News that it has scheduled viewing times in November for prospective buyers to inspect a 20.08 carat blue diamond it recovered from its Cullinan mine last month sent shares surging 8.4pc, or 0.53p, to 6.83p by the close.

Over on AIM, meanwhile, podcast maker Audioboom fell 6.9pc, or 12.5p, to 167.5p, even though it posted a 127pc rise in revenue for the first nine months of the year, at £12.6m. Fishing tackle purveyor Angling

Direct, on the other hand, rose 2.6pc, or 1.5p, to 60p as revenue soared 21pc to £26.5m in the six months to July 31.