Low-cost airline easyJet and the retailer Pets at Home have revealed contrasting fortunes in their latest results.
Profits at easyJet rose 34% as travel remains a “firm priority” with consumers, whereas Pets at Home scaled back guidance amid subdued retail demand.
Meanwhile, former FTSE 100 stock Just Eat Takeaway dealt a blow to the City by announcing plans to scrap its London listing.
FTSE 100 Live Wednesday
- EasyJet profits rise 34%
- Just Eat to quit London listing
- Pets at Home lowers guidance
Market update: BT and easyJet higher in FTSE 100, Pets at Home down 10%
10:32 , Graeme EvansA bright outlook boosted by strong demand for its package holidays today helped easyJet shares keep up their momentum in a robust FTSE 100 index.
The Luton-based carrier rose 2% or 9.45p to its highest level since the spring at 549.8p, having earlier recorded a 34% rise in annual profits to £610 million.
The performance, which keeps the company on track for its £1 billion target, included a 56% rise in profits at the holidays division to £190 million.
Finance boss Kenton Jarvis, who is due to become chief executive in the new year, said travel remains a “firm priority” with consumers.
He plans to grow the holidays business by another 25% in the new financial year, while the airline is set to focus on expanding longer leisure routes like North Africa and the Canaries.
Peel Hunt, which has a price target of 850p, said expects to increase its 2025 forecasts by 3%-5% following the results. The company increased the dividend to 12.1p a share from 4.5p the year before, amounting to an outlay of £92 million.
The progress of easyJet was accompanied by another decent session for British Airways owner IAG as its shares lifted 3p to a fresh high for the year at 255.9p.
The wider FTSE 100 index edged up 15.03 points to 8273.64, with BT Group now up 12% in the past month after shares added another 3.5p to 159.7p in this morning’s session.
The widely-held stock was near to the 100p threshold at the end of April.
On the fallers board, Barclays and NatWest lost just under 1% and BAE Systems weakened 8p to 1290p. Sage retreated from this week’s record level with a fall of 15p to 1295.5p.
The FTSE 250 index rose 67.96 points to 20,636,61, led by Auction Technology Group after a stronger second half performance helped annual results beat expectations.
The shares jumped 14% or 62.5p to leave the company behind The Saleroom and BidSpotter brands back where it started the year at 503p.
Other risers included Games Workshop, which boosted its chances of joining the FTSE 100 in its next month’s reshuffle by adding another 230p to 13,660p.
On the fallers board, Pets at Home slid 10% or 28.2p to its lowest level in four years at 248.8p after downgrading full-year profit guidance.
It said pet retail market growth has been subdued for longer than anticipated, leading to flat like-for-like sales figures in today’s half-year results.
Chief executive Lyssa McGowan said: “We are confident this will be temporary, and growth will return to historical norms with the longer-term attractive outlook for the UK pet care market unchanged.”
Johnson Matthey also weakened 5% or 75p to 1418p after the clean-air focused specialty chemicals company reported a 13% drop in half-year earnings to below City expectations.
It reiterated full-year guidance as the company looks to benefit from cost savings under an ongoing transformation programme.
Aston Martin Lagonda fell 5.5p to 102.4p after last night’s £211 million fundraising saw it sell shares at a discounted price of 100p.
Games Workshop on track for blue-chip status
09:36 , Graeme EvansThe chances of Games Workshop joining the FTSE 100 index have been given a fresh boost after its shares today lifted another 2% or 310p to 13,740p.
The next quarterly reshuffle of London’s top flight is calculated using data at the end of trading next Tuesday.
Other FTSE 100 contenders include Alliance Witan and St James’s Place, with B&M European Value Retail, Frasers Group and Vistry in danger of dropping out.
Nottingham-based Games Workshop is now valued at £4.4 billion after the Warhammer hobby firm upgraded guidance in an update last week.
Holidays outlook boosts easyJet shares
09:14 , Graeme EvansThe FTSE 100-listed shares of easyJet are up 2% or 12.6p to 553p after results met expectations and it gave a positive outlook for the new financial year.
In particular, the company plans to grow its package holidays division by another 25% in 2025 from a base of 2.6 million customers.
Analysts at Jefferies have a price target of 680p, describing the strong growth in holidays as supportive to the investment case,
The bank added: “We see a re-rating opportunity as easyJet benefits from a growing package holiday business, fleet renewal and self help opportunities through optimising winter trading and ancillary revenues.
“The strong balance sheet and net cash position leaves room for upside to dividends in the next two years.”
Banking stocks struggle in flat FTSE 100, Auction Technology up 8%
08:41 , Graeme EvansLow-cost airline easyJet leads the FTSE 100 index after its strong set of annual results boosted shares by 2% or 10.6p to 551p.
British Airways owner IAG also improved 2.7p to 255.6p in a session when London’s top flight declined 5.31 points to 8253.30.
Financial stocks dominated the fallers board as Barclays retreated 3.1p to 257.85p and NatWest fell 4.5p to 387p.
The FTSE 250 index rose 8.82 points to 20,577.47, with Auction Technology Group up 8% or 36.5p to 477p following the release of annual results.
Pets at Home fell 8% in the wake of its downgraded profit guidance, while Johnson Matthey weakened 94p to 1399p on the back of half-year figures.
Aston Martin Lagonda fell 4.6p to 103.3p after last night’s £211 million fundraising saw it sell shares at a discounted price of 100p.
Pets at Home warns over subdued retail market, sees £18m rise in labour costs
08:25Pets at Home shares have fallen 8% after the retail and veterinary services business scaled back profit forecasts for the year.
It said that pet retail market growth had been subdued for longer than it anticipated as consumers have remained cautious in recent months.
Chief executive Lyssa McGowan said: “We are confident this will be temporary, and growth will return to historical norms with the longer-term attractive outlook for the UK pet care market unchanged.”
The guidance came alongside interim results, which showed underlying profits growth of 14.1% to £54.5 million.
This was supported by strong trading in its veterinary business, offset by flat retail like-for-like sales in the six months to 10 October.
The group now expects full-year underlying profits to grow modestly from last year.
It said changes to the National Living Wage and employers National Insurance contributions represented a £18 million cost increase for the business in the 2026 financial year.
The company said: “We will continue to proactively mitigate these cost increases where possible, including through our ongoing productivity programmes and investments in automation.”
The FTSE 250-listed shares fell 23p to 254p, a decline of 18% over this year.
Mitchells & Butlers hails profit recovery, sees £100m cost headwinds
07:58 , Graeme EvansPubs chain Mitchells & Butlers, whose brands include Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One, is back in profit with an annual surplus of £199 million.
The figure for the year to 28 September compares with 2023’s £13 million loss..
Like-for-like sales rose 5.3% and have started the new financial period strongly after a 4% improvement in the first seven weeks.
Chief executive Phil Urban said: “Like-for-like sales continued to outperform the market, which, coupled with easing inflationary costs and focus on efficiencies, has resulted in very strong profit recovery.”
The company said cost headwinds are expected to total £100 million in the current financial year, an increase of just over 5% on its current base.
Against a benign backdrop of general inflation, it said that by far the most significant increase is in labour costs due to increases in the statutory National Living Wage and employer national insurance contributions.
Aston Martin raises £211 million in share and debt placings
07:43 , Graeme EvansAston Martin Lagonda has raised £111 million after placing new shares at a price of 100p each, representing a discount of 7.3% to last night’s closing price.
It also secured £100 million through a debt issuance.
The company said the proceeds will give it “increased financial resilience and strength” in order to maximise the potential of its updated core portfolio.
The fundraising was announced last night alongside lower earnings guidance for 2024 of between £270 million and £280 million.
The second downgrade since September followed the delayed delivery of a small number of ultra-exclusive Valiant models.
Just Eat Takeaway quits London stock market
07:23 , Graeme EvansJust Eat Takeaway today revealed its intention to delist from the London Stock Exchange.
It said the move will “reduce the administrative burden, complexity and costs associated with the disclosure and regulatory requirements of maintaining the LSE listing”.
The online food delivery business also referred to the low liquidity and trading volumes of its London-listed shares. In 2022, it switched from a premium listing to a standard one.
The former FTSE 100 company, which has the main listing of its shares on Euronext Amsterdam, will cease London trading on 24 December.
Just Eat’s planned departure will add to concern over the loss of leading names on the London stock market.
Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment recently moved its primary listing to New York, while Frankfurt-traded holidays company TUI quit London in June.
Companies including Darktrace and Hargreaves Lansdown have also delisted as a result of takeovers.
Easyjet annual profits surge, reiterates £1bn target
07:14 , Graeme EvansLow-cost airline easyJet today recorded a profit haul of £610 million for the year to 30 September, an increase of £155 million on a year earlier.
The performance, which keeps the company on track to deliver its £1 billion target, included a 56% rise for the holidays division to £190 million.
Finance director Kenton Jarvis, who is due to become chief executive in the new year, said travel remains a firm priority with consumers.
He added: “The airline will continue to grow, particularly on popular longer leisure routes like North Africa and the Canaries and we plan to take 25% more customers away on package holidays, as easyJet holidays continues to thrive.”
The company has increased the dividend for shareholders to 12.1p from 4.5p the year before, amounting to £92 million.
FTSE 100 seen slightly higher, US markets set new records
07:00 , Graeme EvansLeading US benchmarks last night set fresh records, with the S&P 500 closing up 0.6% to 6021.63 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.3% higher.
The gains came in a session when minutes of the Federal Reserve’s November meeting showed confidence that inflation is on track for the bank’s 2% target.
The FTSE 100 index fell 0.4% by last night’s close, with London’s top flight forecast to open this morning 12 points higher at 8271.
