easyJet Share News (EZJ)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are set to open on a softer note on Friday following a broadly downbeat session in Asia overnight as stocks struggle to brush aside US-China trade fears.In early company news, easyJet reported a widened interim loss and warned on its revenue per seat outturn for the second half, Sage said it saw good organic recurring revenue growth in the first half, and Hikma reported a solid start to the year.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 31.01 points lower at 7,322.50 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 56.56 points, or 0.8%, at 7,353.51 on Thursday.The lower open in London comes despite a solid US session overnight.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended in positive territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 0.8%, the S&P 500 up 0.9% and Nasdaq Composite closing 1.0% higher."Wall Street closed higher for a third straight session overnight as solid economic data and robust earnings from the likes of Cisco and Walmart boosted sentiment," said Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group. "Investors put US China trade dispute anxieties behind them and continued to jump back into equities."However, stocks in Asia overnight "struggled to put a tough week behind them", said Lawler, leading to a softer open for Europe.US President Donald Trump earlier in the week declared a national emergency aimed at protecting US communication networks. The executive order declares a national economic emergency that empowers the US government to ban the technology and services of "foreign adversaries" deemed to pose "unacceptable risks" to national security.While no specific countries or companies were named, it follows months of US pressure on Huawei and comes after the US last week increased tariffs to 25% on USD200 billion worth of Chinese products.In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 1.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 1.1%.In early UK company news, low-cost airline easyJet said it delivered an interim result in line with expectations despite "tougher" trading conditions. Revenue for the half to March 31 grew 7.3% to GBP2.34 billion, though the company's pretax loss widened to GBP272 million from just GBP68 million a year ago. This was as fuel costs rose to GBP602 million from GBP461 million, while crew costs were up to GBP405 million from GBP338 million. Depreciation costs amounted to GBP228 million, versus just GBP95 million a year ago. Revenue per seat fell 6.3%, while headline costs per set fell 3.9%. Looking ahead, the company said revenue per seat at constant currency in the second half is now expected to be slightly down. "This is not helped by the ongoing negative impact of Brexit-related market uncertainty as well as a wider macroeconomic slowdown in Europe," noted easyJet. At the same time, however, headline costs per seat excluding fuel at constant currency are expected to decline. As a result, the company said its profit expectations for the current financial year remain unchanged.Capacity growth in the first half was 15%, set to slow to 7% in the second half of the year. Accounting software firm Sage reported good growth in recurring revenue in its first half, backing its overall annual outlook. Revenue for the half-year to March 31 rose 6.4% to GBP957 million, while pretax profit was up to GBP198 million from GBP171 million. Organic recurring revenue rose 10% to GBP779 million, with total organic revenue up 6.2%.Following this strong start to the year, Sage said it expects organic recurring revenue growth to be at the top end, or even slightly exceed, its guided range of between 8% to 9%. However, SSRS and processing revenue is expected at the lower end or below guidance. On balance, Sage said its expectations for annual revenue remain unchanged. "We are encouraged by the strong start to FY19. Sage's vision is to become a great SaaS company and by focusing on customers, colleagues and innovation we are starting to see evidence of successful strategic execution," said Chief Executive Steve Hare.Sage lifted its interim dividend by 2.5% to 5.79p.Generic drugmaker Hikma Pharmaceuticals said 2019 got off to a good start as it backed its annual outlook. The injectables business is performing well, said Hikma, with strong demand in the US offsetting increased competition. The Generics business also had a buoyant start to the year, while the Branded unit Metro Bank said it raised GBP375 million through a "significantly oversubscribed" placing. The challenger bank placed 75.0 million shares at a price of 500p each, representing a 5.2% discount to its closing price on Thursday. Metro Bank on Thursday said it was aiming to raise GBP350 million."Although we've faced challenges in the past few months, we remain fully focused on providing the outstanding service and convenience that our customers expect of us. This growth capital will enable us to continue to expand the business and implement our strategic initiatives," said Found & Chair Vernon Hill.Hill himself subscribed for 1.0 shares in the placing. Cairn Energy said the first four months of 2019 have seen oil production within guidance. Output thus far in the year has been in line with forecasts of 19,000 to 22,000 barrels of oil per day, with the firm "particularly pleased" with the performance of the Catcher field offshore Scotland, said to be operating ahead of expectations. Cairn said it is fully funded for its planned activities in the year, including spudding the second well at the Lynghaug prospect and its Mexican drilling programme.Restaurant Group said trading is in line with expectations with a strong showing from recently acquired Asian chain Wagamama. Like-for-like sales in the 19 weeks to May 12 were up 2.8%, with total sales up 57%, reflecting the Wagamama buy and new pubs and concessions sites opened in 2018. In the period, Restaurant Group said it saw "strong performances" from Wagamama, which "continued to significantly outperform in its core UK market", and its pub business. The pound continued to trade sub-USD1.28 overnight, quoted at USD1.2785 early Friday, broadly unchanged from USD1.2788 at the London equities close on Thursday.UK Prime Minister Theresa May is fighting to keep her Brexit deal alive to prolong her premiership as her grip on power weakens.She will set out the timetable for her departure in early June after a crucial Commons vote on the agreement she thrashed out with the EU, with defeat likely to hasten her exit from Number 10.May's chances of receiving Labour support for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill appear to be fading, with Jeremy Corbyn's party frustrated at the lack of progress in cross-party talks and the prospect of a new prime minister tearing up any compromise.The prime minister will meet the chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee Graham Brady at the start of June to agree to the details of the leadership contest to succeed her.London Capital Group's Lawler said the possibility of a hard Brexit-leaning prime minister is becoming "more likely" and thus the pound is trading softer as hopes of a soft Brexit fade."The overriding fear for currency traders is that this means that a hard no deal Brexit is back on the table as an option," said Lawler.The economic events calendar on Friday has eurozone inflation readings at 1000 BST.