easyJet Share News (EZJ)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------easyJet, up 3.2%. The budget airline said it saw high-single-digit revenue growth in the first half of its current financial year but loss widened, in line with forecasts, due to an increase in fuel costs. In the six months to March 31, easyJet's pretax loss widened significantly to GBP272 million compared to a GBP68 million loss reported for the same period a year earlier. Fuel cost per seat jumped 14% in the period to GBP13.02 from GBP11.42 the year before, driven by a rise in oil prices. easyJet's total fuel costs increased 31% in the first half to GBP602 million from GBP461 million the year prior. As a result, the airline's headline cost per seat increased 3.9% to GBP56.66 from GBP54.53. Nevertheless, the company's revenue increased 7.3% to GBP2.34 billion from GBP2.18 billion the year before. Total revenue per seat, however, was down by 6.3% to GBP50.71 from GBP54.10. The airline hiked its interim payout 43% to 58.6 pence from 40.9p the year before.----------Rio Tinto, up 0.9%. Liberum double upgraded the Anglo-Australian miner to Buy from Sell. ----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Just Eat, down 7.2%. Shares in the online takeaway platform fell on the news that e-commerce giant Amazon is leading a USD575 million funding round for rival takeaway platform Deliveroo. Deliveroo confirmed it is raising USD575 million, with Amazon participating alongside existing investors T Rowe Price, Fidelity Management & Research Co, and Greenoaks. The new fund raise increases the total funds raised by Deliveroo to USD1.5 billion. Deliveroo said it will use the funds to grow its engineering team based in its London headquarters, expand its delivery, and develop "new innovations" in the food sector, such as its delivery-only kitchens. Deliveroo didn't disclose what size stake Amazon would hold following its investment. "Given its financial firepower it is little wonder that Amazon effectively parking its tanks on Just Eat's lawn is spooking investors. "Pressure on Just Eat's share price could leave the company vulnerable to being swallowed up by a larger peer," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould. ----------Informa, down 2.5%. JPMorgan cut the events and publishing company to Neutral from Overweight. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Metro Bank, up 19% at 636.00p. The challenger bank said it has raised GBP375 million in a much needed equity raise after UK regulators found an accounting error in its loan book at the start of the year. The lender said the GBP375 million raised exceeded its initial target of GBP350 million. Metro Bank will issue a total of 75.0 million new shares - which were underwritten by RBC Capital Markets, Jefferies International, and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. The placing price of 500 pence represents a 5.2% discount to Metro Bank's five day average closing price on Thursday. Justifying the need for the capital raise, on Thursday, the lender explained it had been hit by a mix of macroeconomic difficulties such as regulatory changes and the low-interest rate environment as well as "company-specific factors". The capital raise followed a well-documented accounting error in January which left Metro Bank without the capital it needed to grow.----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Domino's Pizza, down 2.5%. UBS downgraded the pizza delivery company to Sell from Neutral. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Future, up 15%. The publishing company reported a "record breaking" first half, which saw revenue double. In the six months to March 31, Future's pretax profit almost tripled year-on-year to GBP8.9 million from GBP3.3 million the year before. The company's revenue in the period more than doubled to GBP108.7 million versus GBP53.6 million in the corresponding period a year prior. Future said it saw "significant" growth in online audience across the company, with its overall online audience more than tripling, reaching 192 million, due to recent acquisitions. Future said organic audience growth was 25% in the period. Future did not propose an interim dividend.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Maistro, down 70%. The online business procurement marketplace said it intends to cancel its admission to trading on London's AIM market due to cost and "very poor" share liquidity. The company will hold a general meeting where it will propose the cancellation of its shares followed by re-registration as a private limited company. The company noted the "considerable financial cost" associated with maintaining its shares in AIM, which it said is "disproportionate to the benefits". Cancellation is expected to cut recurring administrative costs by more than GBP80,000 per annum. Moreover, a recent review by the company found liquidity in Maistro shares is "very poor, with relatively small trades having a large impact on the price of ordinary shares". The year-to-date average daily volume is just 647,677 shares. Maistro will publish a circular on Monday next week which will set out more details for the cancellation and contain a notice for the general meeting, which will take place on June 13. Shares are expected to continue to be admitted to AIM until cancellation, which is likely to be effective on June 28.----------Thomas Cook, down 27%. Citigroup cut the travel operator to Sell from Neutral. Thomas Cook on Thursday reported a widened interim loss due to significant goodwill impairment charges and warned against tough trading ahead.----------