easyJet Share News (EZJ)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening in the green on Monday, tracking Asian equity markets higher, after manufacturing activity in China expanded unexpectedly in March.In UK company news, budget airline easyJet said "unanswered questions surrounding Brexit" are weakening customer demand, Micro Focus said it will return cash to shareholders, and Rio Tinto said iron ore production in 2019 will be at the lower end of previous guidance due to a typhoon.IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index will open 33.21 points higher at 7,312.40. The blue-chip index closed up 44.86 points, or 0.6% at 7,279.19 on Friday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 2.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 1.7%.China's manufacturing activity returned to growth in March after four months of contraction, the Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index showed.The headline seasonally adjusted PMI rose to 50.8 points in March from 49.9 in February, marking the first improvement in the health of China's manufacturing sector since November. It was also the highest reading seen since July.A figure above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.easyJet said it expects to deliver a first half performance in line with the trading statement it issued in January.For the half year to the end of March, easyJet expects revenue to be up 7.3% to GBP2.34 billion and seating capacity up 15% to 46.2 million as it said it continues to strengthen its position in key markets. The airline said revenue per seat is expected to have declined 7.4%, in line with previous guidance of a mid to high single digit decline for the half. Underlying revenue per seat is expected to be positive, offset by the impact of applying accounting rule IFRS 15 and the move of Easter into the second half of the financial year this time, among other annual comparison affects."Whilst easyJet will deliver first half results in line with expectations, macroeconomic uncertainty and many unanswered questions surrounding Brexit are together driving weaker customer demand in the market, such that we are seeing increasing softness in ticket yields in the UK and across Europe. Given this uncertainty our outlook for second half is now more cautious," said Chief Executive Johan Lundgren. Enterprise software firm Micro Focus International said it will return USD1.8 billion to shareholders following the disposal of its SUSE business to EQT Partners. The Newbury-based firm will return around USD4.33 to USD4.39 per share and said this is in addition to the USD510 million of share buy-backs undertaken since August 2018.Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto said Cyclone Veronica will cause 2019 iron ore shipments to come in at the lower end of guidance.The cyclone has caused some damage at the Cape Lambert A port facility in Western Australia, near the Pilbara region where Rio Tinto mines iron ore.Rio Tinto has had to declare force majeure on a number of contracts as a result. A force majeure is when a company is forced to tell a partner it cannot meet contractual obligations due to forces outside of its control, such as a natural disaster.Iron pellet producer Ferrexpo confirmed its investigation looking into donations made by the company to the Blooming Land Charity continues and reported progress has been made in receiving explanations regarding the differences contained in the bank statements. The group's Independent Review Committee received third-party evidence to explain some of the possible discrepancies in the application of funds by Blooming Land. Ferrexpo said the review could have an unfavourable outcome and has pushed back the release of its annual results to April 25 from April 3.Fashion retailer Joules Group said Chief Executive Colin Porter will retire before the end of financial 2020 and a search is underway to find his successor. Porter has been CEO since 2010.The pound was quoted at USD1.3060 early Monday, up from USD1.3024 at the London equities close Friday. UK members of Parliament are set to take back control of the Brexit agenda in a fresh attempt to find an alternative to Prime Minister Theresa May's deal.The Commons will stage a second round of "indicative" votes on Monday on a series of rival proposals tabled by backbenchers to see if any can command a majority.The move comes as May struggles to contain the rising tensions with her Cabinet as the clock counts down to the latest EU deadline on April 12.Despite seeing her deal again defeated on Friday, the prime minister is determined to bring it back to the Commons for a fourth time - possibly as early as Tuesday - in a final roll of the dice to get it over the line.May spent the weekend trying to build support among MPs who could be won over, with aides saying she was "100% focused" on getting the result she needed.Some in Parliament believe that if MPs begin to coalesce around a "softer" Brexit in Monday's votes, it may finally convince Brexiteer hold-outs that the PM's deal now represents the "hardest" break with the EU available.The economic events calendar on Monday has manufacturing PMI readings from Italy at 0845 BST, France at 0850 BST, Germany at 0855 BST, eurozone at 0900 BST and UK at 0930 BST. There is also eurozone inflation figures at 0900 BST.