GOL and TAM leap on strong results; Air Canada-B falls again following 2Q2009 operating loss
North and South American carriers performed well in the stock market on Friday 07-Aug-09, following a rise in the Dow (+1.2%) and oil prices (+0.2%) to USD71.04 a barrel. American stocks were supported by Jul-2009 employment figures showing (only) 247,000 Americans lost their jobs over the month, compared with 467,000 in Jun-2009.
GOL (+11.8) was the greatest gainer of the day, after reporting 7.7% ppts year-on-year increase in load factor.
TAM (+7.8%) shares were up, despite the Bovespa remaining stagnant, while WestJet (6.1%) also rose despite a 65.7% year-on-year decrease in net earnings for 2Q2009 and a 3.3 ppts drop in load factor for Jul-2009. The carrier now plans to cut capacity and CAD400 million (USD370.4 million) in costs. US Airways (+4.9%) rose again on Friday, after falling 6.1% the day prior.
LAN shares remained steady however, after reporting a 2.8 ppts fall in load factor to 76%, with traffic (RPMs) rising 6.7% on a 10.6% increase in capacity.
Meanwhile, Air Canada-B stocks (-1.6%) fell, despite a 27% year-on-year rise in net income to CAD155 million (USD143.2 million). However, the carrier reported an operating loss of CAD113 million (USD104.4 million), compared to an operating profit of CAD7 million (USD6.5 million) in 2Q2008.
North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 07-Aug-09
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance
Delta announces plans to cut management positions
Delta Air Lines (+1.7%) on 07-Aug-09 announced plans to cut an unspecified amount of management positions, due to falling operational revenue. According to the carrier, the USD3 billion fall in 1H2009 revenue is equivalent to USD40,000 per staff member.