International Consolidated Airlines (British Airways) and Greene King

“The FTSE 100 is on track for one of its worst weeks this year. Assuming no change from the 7,316 trading level seen early on Friday, the blue chip index will have fallen nearly 1.6% across the week, taking it to a five-month low.

“The banking sector remains one of the worst offenders with investors clearly worried about the state of the UK economy. Key fallers on Friday included Royal Bank of Scotland whose shares are now down by 11% this year, more than twice the decline in the FTSE 100 (4.8%),” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.

International Consolidated Airlines (British Airways)

“In a highly competitive airline industry, British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines can ill afford to alienate its customers.

“News of a data breach at BA involving personal and, crucially, financial information is therefore a concern not just for those directly affected but also for investors in the parent group.

“The fact that credit card information has been accessed by the hackers arguably makes this an order of magnitude more serious than the high-profile data breach at Dixons Carphone in 2017 which, though it involved a larger number of customers, did not capture bank details.

“Today’s news is a reminder of just what a hot issue cyber security remains and the importance of companies having the right protections in place to mitigate the risk posed by attacks.”

Greene King

“The stock market is meant to be an efficient voting machine with investors making assumptions on future trading by the level at which they are prepared to buy and sell shares.

“The consensus view on Greene King had clearly been wrong given the shares have experienced a very large jump following its latest trading update.

“On first take, nothing in its statement should really have been a surprise. Sales have been boosted by the hot summer weather and England doing well in the World Cup. These were obvious catalysts which should have already been priced in by the market.

“But in the case of Greene King, the market has clearly been worried about other issues, hence why its share price had been in a falling trend throughout the summer (up until today).

“Many analysts have been bearish on the stock and reduced earnings expectations earlier this year, expressing concerns about trading health and whether it would generate enough free cash flow to pay for the much-prized dividend.

“The latest trading update makes reference to a strong recent performance being partially driven by the benefits of investment to improve value, service and quality. This is perhaps what’s motivating investors to now snap up the shares.

“Greene King has finally managed to grab the market’s attention after a long period in the doldrums. Its real test is to prove that positive trading momentum can be sustained, otherwise we’ll be back to the old days of a limp share price and investors preferring to park their money in premium-end operators such as Fuller’s and Young’s.”

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.