Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 down 15 points at 7,666.
- Aviva (LON:AV) enters Lloyd's market.
- Attention turns to Wednesday's Spring Budget.
Ocado, Rightmove lead fallers
Ocado (LON:OCDO) and Rightmove headed up the FTSE 100’s big fallers on Monday morning, extending losses seen late last week on the back of mixed updates.
Online grocery delivery firm Ocado was down 3.3%, after having reported a £340 million loss late in the week.
Rightmove PLC (LON:RMV) slipped 2.7% meanwhile, as pressure remained on the property website following its own warning of a fall in traffic on the back of weakness in the housing sector.
Mondi (LON:MNDI) also declined by over 2% come mid-morning, while miners Fresnillo (LON:FRES) and Endeavour led the index’s risers with gains of over 2% each respectively.
The FTSE 100 itself sat little changed as Monday brought little in the way of corporate news. At 7,666, the index had fallen 15 points.
Rail fare hike sparks backlash
Rail fares were increased by 4.9% over the weekend following the Department for Transports announcement last December, prompting a wave of backlash and criticism.
Railfuture chair Chris Page commented: “Why are rail passengers being punished year after year with inflation-busting fare rises?
“No matter that there's a cost-of-living crisis, no matter that we're facing a climate emergency, the government seems more determined than ever to price us off the railway and onto the roads.”
Average season ticket prices for lines into London, taken from 40 separate routes, have risen by £248 to £5,300 as a result of the hike.
Prices of some peak return tickets on long-distance routes and flexible tickets around the likes of cities have also jumped on the back of the move, which takes the UK’s ticket prices further ahead of the rest of Europe, as per Sky News.
“This fare rise will be tough for passengers to stomach given the shocking state of rail services up and down the country,” Labour's shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said, meanwhile.
Ryanair, Wizz Air see stronger February
Ryanair (LON:0RYA) and Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) have both announced stronger passenger figures for February, partially thanks to the month’s extra day.
Some 11.1 million people travelled with Ryanair over the month, up 5% on last February, with load factors remaining the same at 92%, the airline reported on Monday.
Wizz Air unveiled a 16% increase in passengers to just shy of 4.4 million meanwhile, but saw a 3.3% fall in load factors to 90%.
According to Liberum, the reallocation of jets due to the Israel-Hamas conflict and fewer groundings than expected from inspections of Pratt & Whitney engines bumped capacity up for Wizz.
For Ryanair, passenger numbers could have increased by closer to 1% when accounting for the month’s 29th day, analysts said.
Wizz shares fell 1% to 2,212p on the news, while Ryanair sat flat at €19.92.