Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 climbs 28 points to 8183
- Ladbrokes owner Entain (LON:ENT) appoints new CEO
- Ryanair (LON:0RYA) profits plunge and pricing warning hits sector
Ryanair warning
More on that Ryanair trading statement, where the budget airline said average airfares were down 15% in its first quarter and boss Michael O'Leary said expects fares in the current key summer quarter to be "materially lower than last summer", having previously expected them to be flat or modestly up.
The Dublin-headquartered carrier reported a 10% increase in customers, but a 1% fall in revenue and an 11% rise in costs, leading to profit after tax falling 46% to €663 million. Net profit of €360 million was significantly short of the consensus analyst forecast of €538 million.
Fares were lower in the three months to the end of June due partly to the absence of the first half of Easter which fell into March this year, and "more price stimulation than we had previously expected", said O'Leary.
Analysts at Stifel said: "We expect significant cuts in consensus estimates".
FTSE 100 jumps at the open
The FTSE 100 has jumped 47 points to 8202 at the open, undoing pretty much all the losses from the IT-hit end to last week.
Giving a big boost to the index is a 13% surge for Rentokil Initial PLC (LON:RTO), up on weekend takeover reports.
Entain PLC (LSE:ENT), the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is up 3.6% as investors seem to like the look of its new American CEO.
Acting as a drag, airlines EasyJet PLC and BA owner IAG (LON:ICAG) are down 6.3% and 2.3% after Ryanair warned that airfares this summer will be "materially lower" than last year and reported a plunge in quarterly profits.
New CEO for Entain
Ladbrokes owner Entain PLC (LON:ENT) has appointed former DraftKings executive Gavin Isaacs as its new chief executive, taking the helm at the start of September.
He will take over from interim CEO Stella David, who at that point will revert to being a non-executive director but will take over as chair, with Barry Gibson retiring, as announced earlier this year.
As well as US giant Draftkings, Isaacs has held roles at lottery business Scientific Games Corporation and Australian gambling machine maker Aristocrat Technologies, among others, and was inducted into the American Gaming Association's Hall of Fame in 2022.
Isaacs will take over the business at a critical juncture for Entain, as it struggles to recover a share price that has been hammered since turning down takeover offers in 2021, including a £15 billion bid from DraftKings. Entain's market cap is currently £4.4 billion.
Ocado upsells new robots to US grocer Kroger
Ocado Group PLC (LON:OCDO) has boosted its contract with US grocery chain Kroger (NYSE:KR), with a new robotic arm to be implemented in its semi-automated warehouses.
The FTSE 250-listed group said Kroger has ordered a "wide range of new automated technologies" that "will bring new levels of efficiency and labour productivity".
One of those is On-Grid Robotic Pick technology, which Ocado is already rolling out in UK warehouses and is able to pick up and carry most items, presumably reducing the need for human workers.
Vodafone sells another chunk of Vantage towers
Vodafone Group PLC (LON:VOD) has drummed up €1.3 billion from further selling down its stake in Frankfurt-listed mobile towers venture Vantage Towers, which it said it will use to trim its massive debt pile.
The telecoms group said it sold another 10% stake in Oak Holdings, the partnership that co-controls Vantage, which means it now has a 50-50 joint ownership structure with the consortium of infrastructure investors owning the other half, as set out when the Vantage was spun out.
Vodafone sold the shares for €32 apiece, the same price as the initial transaction in November 2022.