FTSE 250: 19,268.22, -0.13% at 1548.
Shares in energy industry engineering and consulting business Wood Group slumped on Tuesday as it held full-year guidance and said trading in the first 10 months of the year was in line with expectations, although revenue and profits would be lower than 2021.
The company said it expects revenue to be between $5.2bn-$5.5bn and adjusted core earnings to be broadly around the middle of its guidance range of $370m-$400m, both down on 2021.
Both had been impacted by recent exchange rate movements, which hit revenue by $200m and earnings by $10m.
Budget airline easyJet narrowed full-year losses and said it was ramping up preparations for next summer as travellers looked for value for money during the cost-of-living crisis.
The company on Tuesday posted an annual pre-tax loss of £208m compared with a £1bn loss during the Covid pandemic which shut down air travel. However, earnings during the summer quarter surged to £674m as holiday demand recovered. Revenue almost quadrupled to £5.7bn.
EasyJet said Easter ticket yields were expected to be higher year on year and it was planning to fly 9% more seats for the spring and summer period and added that it had already started recruiting for next summer to help avoid the disruption seen in 2022.
It recently launched a cabin crew recruitment campaign focused on the over-45s to boost its workforce. The company was hit by an extra £78m in disruption and compensation costs caused by the travel chaos over the summer as flights were delayed and cancelled due to staff shortages across its operations and at airports.
“EasyJet does well in tough times. Legacy carriers will struggle in this high-cost environment. Consumers will protect their holidays but look for value and across its primary airport network, easyJet will be the beneficiary as customers vote with their wallets,” said chief executive Johan Lundgren.
“Over the next year, we are targeting customer growth and are well placed to drive returns and margins while maintaining a rigorous focus on cost. With one of the strongest balance sheets in European aviation, we are ready to take opportunities as they present themselves.”
China exposed funds also received a boost on reports that the country would speed up vaccinations for over 80s in response to growing unrest and protests across the country over severe Covid curbs as part of the Communist state’s zero tolerance approach.
FTSE 250 – Risers
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,130.00p 4.03%
Energean (ENOG) 1,428.00p 3.10%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 84.40p 3.05%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 216.00p 2.86%
Investec (INVP) 521.20p 2.64%
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 145.20p 2.54%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 2,550.00p 2.41%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,140.00p 2.33%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 576.00p 2.31%
Schroder Asia Pacific Fund (SDP) 507.00p 2.22%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 135.00p -15.31%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 84.05p -10.06%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,666.00p -8.21%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 126.20p -4.25%
IMI (IMI) 1,370.00p -3.79%
Genus (GNS) 2,954.00p -3.72%
easyJet (EZJ) 379.30p -3.49%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 381.40p -3.39%
Pennon Group (PNN) 935.00p -3.21%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 76.80p -3.15%
