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“The FTSE100 opened on the front foot following another record breaking session on Wall Street overnight and a strong performance in Asia this morning, as sentiment remains upbeat despite ongoing political and economic concerns,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Low-cost airline easyJet was the biggest blue-chip faller in early trading despite forecasting that full-year profits would be ahead of previous guidance. The airline had a strong final quarter with passenger numbers and plane load factors at record levels. The airline expects headline pre-tax profits of between £405m and £410m despite foreign exchange rate movements which are set to have an adverse impact of around £100m on its results. easyJet is targeting capacity growth of around 6% for the new financial year but while revenue momentum continues to improve it faces continued pressure on yields. easyJet’s shares were down by more than 2.2%.
“Tenpin bowling group Hollywood Bowl was an early riser following a bullish year-end update. The group, which has focused on expanding its number of centres, investing in refurbishments and the rebranding of its Bowlplex sites into Hollywood Bowl centres, saw revenue growth of 10% in the second half. The group is in a strong financial position and the board is now considering returning capital to shareholders. Hollywood Bowl’s shares were up by over 1.5%.
“Lonmin was a double-digit riser after it got consent from its lending banks to acquire the interests of Anglo American Platinum and Northam Platinum in the Pandora joint venture. The completion of the Pandora transaction unlocks significant synergies and allows Lonmin to extend mining at its Saffy shaft without having to spend R2.6bn of capital expenditure, of which R1.6bn would have been required over the next four years. Lonmin’s shares were up by more than 10.3% in early trading.”
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