Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 edges higher, up 6 points at 7,447
- ITV (LON:ITV) is no longer "actively looking" at All3Media deal
- Burberry sales grow in China, fall in Americas
Strikes to hit Gatwick Airport in peak travel season
Nearly 1,000 workers at London’s Gatwick airport are to go on strike for eight days at the peak of the summer travel season over a pay dispute, the Unite union has said.
“Given the scale of the industrial action, disruption, delays and cancellations are inevitable across the airport,” it said on Friday.
Airlines affected include British Airways (LON:ICAG), easyJet (LON:EZJ), Ryanair (LON:0RYA), Tui, WestJet and Wizz, Unite said.
Gatwick ground-handling strike called for two peak weekends: 28 July-1 August and 4-8 August.Unite union says walkouts “will inevitably cause severe delays, disruption and cancellations”.
But Gatwick says it will "ensure that flights operate as scheduled"https://t.co/0uO6lNBe6L
— Simon Calder (@SimonCalder) July 14, 2023
The union said the 950 workers in question were on variable pay levels, though most earn less than £12 an hour.
The first strike will take place from Friday July 28 to Tuesday August 1. A further round is planned from Friday August 4 until Tuesday August 8.
Deutsche cuts Vodafone target but shares could still double
Vodafone Group PLC (LON:VOD)’s share price target has been slashed by Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) as the telco wallows at new lows.
Analyst Robert Grindle has cut his share price target by 19% to 155p from 185p which means even at this lower level the shares could still double.
Shares are sitting 1.4% higher on Friday but are 15% lower year-to-date and have shed 43% in the past 12 months.
“Vodafone continues to suffer from a series of unfortunate events with newer ones arriving before older ones see their impact fully wane,” Grindle said.
He said there were pockets of supportive news but the firm has made “missteps.”
He pointed out despite achieving price rises, a top-notch multiple on the Vantage Towers deal and the Three merger, shares have hit new lows.
Grindle said a sector de-rating – pure telcos were down 8% in the second quarter - and paying a final dividend of €4.5 cents “doesn't help the optics.”
Meanwhile, the FTSE 10 is holding its early modest gains, up 8 points at 7,449.
Spirax-Sarco tops FTSE 100 risers as UBS upgrades
Spirax-Sarco is the top performing FTSE 100 stock with shares up 2.6% to 10,400p, boosted by an upgrade by UBS.
The Swiss bank reckons the current share price offers an "attractive entry point."
Near-term risk/reward looks better balanced and UBS thinks market has priced-in the weaker outlook for its pumps busines, Watson/Marlowe for this year.
"We see a history of 2-3x IP growth outperformance stepping up to 4x, supported by decarbonisation opportunities, from 2024", UBS said.
UBS said consensus forecasts are coming down but the shares have stopped reacting to downgrades, "suggesting that the market is now pricing in prolonged destocking/lack of recovery in Watson-Marlow this year."
UBS has upgraded to buy from neutral with a 12,400p share price target, up from 11,560p.