British Airways expected to post 3Q2009-10 loss; Aeroflot reports declining passenger traffic
European carriers' stocks were mixed on Friday (29-Jan-2010), despite gains in the European markets on data the US economy grew at a 5.7% pace in 4Q2009, a better than expected result, and the fastest climb in over six years. Also boosting the markets, banking shares recovered slightly, on better news out of Greece.
In major markets, the UK FTSE (+0.8%), France's CAC (+0.8%) and Germany's DAX (+0.6%) made modest gains.
However, European stocks fell overall for a third consecutive week, marking Jan-2010 as the largest monthly drop since Feb-2009, following disappointing FY2009 earnings reports and concerns countries worldwide will start to withdraw stimulus measures.
British Airways expected to post 3Q2009-10 loss
Analysts expect British Airways (+1.1%) to report a loss of GBP151 million for the three months ended 31-Dec-2010, according to a Times Online poll. BA is now expected to report a GBP602 million loss for the 12 months ending 31-Mar-2010, over GBP200 million more than its GBP401 million loss in the year prior, with the carrier also expected to report losses in FY2010-11. The carrier is scheduled to release its full 3QFY2010 results on 08-Feb-2010.
In other British Airways news, the carrier, along with American Airlines and Iberia, reportedly entered negotiations with the European Commission regarding concessions over landing slots at London Heathrow International Airport to ensure approval of their anti-trust immunity application for a trans-Atlantic pricing, coordination and revenue sharing agreement.
Aeroflot reports declining passenger traffic
Aeroflot meanwhile made the largest gain on Friday, despite reporting a 5.6% year-on-year fall in passenger numbers for Dec-2009. Load factor meanwhile fell 1.4 ppts, to 69.5%.
airberlin (-3.5%) and Dart Group (-2.0%) shares fell back on Friday.
Europe selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 29-Jan-2010
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance