Lufthansa and Air France-KLM lift on analyst comments
Lufthansa (+3.5%) made a strong gain on Monday (18-Oct-2010) after Citigroup stated underlying 3Q2010 results for European carriers may quadruple, while net income may increase fivefold. WestLB also raised its price target for the carrier's shares from EUR14.60 to EUR16.80, keeping it at an "add" rating.
Lufthansa will report its 3Q2010 results on 28-Oct-2010.
Also during trading, the carrier announced plans to increase capacity by 9.1% under its upcoming winter 2010/2011 schedule, operating more than 12,200 flights per week, an increase of 3.5%.
The carrier will deploy its new A380 and larger regional aircraft during the season, with fleet renewal with larger aircraft and higher productivity leading to the increase in seat capacity. The carrier will operate to 197 destinations in 85 countries, compared with 191 destinations in 78 countries under the previous winter schedule.
Elsewhere, Air France-KLM (+3.9%) rose to its highest point since Apr-2010, after Citigroup raised its rating of the airline's shares from "hold" to "buy". El Al (+5.5%) also climbed.
Dart Group (-4.6%) and Aegean Airlines (-2.9%) fell for the day.
Europe selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 18-Oct-2010
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Yahoo! Finance & Reuters