FedEx' earnings forecast smaller than expected; Air Canada up, WestJet down

FedEx earnings forecast smaller than expected

FedEx (-3.8%) was the biggest fall of the day after a lower-than-expected earnings forecast for 2QFY2011. The carrier upgraded its forecast for the quarter from USD1.15 to USD1.35 per diluted share, and FY2011 from USD4.60 to USD5.20 per diluted share to USD4.80 to USd5.25 per diluted share. The company expects capital expenditure in FY2011 to increase to USD3.5 billion due to anticipated aircraft purchases to support its international expansion plans.

FedEx reported a 105% year-on-year improvement in net profit for the three months ended 31-Aug-2010 to USD380 million. Operating profits were also up, rising 99.0% to USD628 million.

See related CAPA Profile: Financial Results

Air Canada up, WestJet down

Air Canada (+0.4%) gained and WestJet (-1.5%) fell for the day, after Statistic Canada released operational statistics for the country's two major airlines for Jul-2010. Data was as follows:

• Air Canada total passengers: 2.3 million, +9.5%;
  • Domestic: 1.1 million, +2.3%;
  • International: 1.2 million, +17.3%;
• RPKs: 8.1 billion, +11.8%;
  • Domestic: 2.3 billion, +2.9%;
  • International: 5.8 billion, +15.7%;
• Load factor: 86.3%, n/a;
  • Domestic: 82.3%, n/a;
  • International: 87.9%, n/a;
• WestJet total passengers: 1.4 million, +13.4%;
  • Domestic: 1.1 million, +5.2%;
  • International: 217,000, +83.0%;
• RPKs: 2.3 billion, +18.2%;
  • Domestic: 1.7 billion, +5.2%;
  • International: 530 million, +85.3%;
• Load factor: 80.6%, n/a;
  • Domestic: 78.8%, n/a;
  • International: 87.1%, n/a.

See related CAPA Profile: Traffic and Capacity

Elsewhere, United Airways and Continental Airlines were the biggest gainers, ahead of its shareholder vote on their proposed merger on Friday (17-Sep-2010). US Airways also made strong gains. Latin American carriers, LAN Airlines (-2.4%), TAM (-2.3%) and GOL (-1.9%) were all down.

North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 16-Sep-2010

Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance