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(Alliance News) - Wizz Air swung to an annual loss as lockdown restrictions curtailed operations, and the budget carrier called on Wednesday for a permanent lifting of travel curbs.
Meanwhile, larger peer Ryanair reported some of its first good news on passenger traffic since the pandemic began, with an increase in passenger traffic in May.
For the financial year ended March 31, Wizz Air swung to a pretax loss of EUR566.5 million from a profit of EUR294.1 million the year before on revenue of EUR739.0 million, down 73% from EUR2.76 billion. Ancillary revenue fell by 67% to EUR412.6 million, representing 56% of total revenue.
The Budapest-based budget airline said that in financial 2021 passengers carried fell 75% to 10.2 million from 40.0 million the year prior. It had a 64.0% load factor, down from 93.6% in financial 2020. More recently, in May, Wizz Air carried 832,538 passengers with a 66.1% load factor.
Looking ahead, Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi said he expects the carrier to fly around 30% of capacity in the first quarter of financial 2022.
Further, Varadi said that unless there is an "accelerated and permanent lifting of restrictions", he expects a reported net loss during 2022. For 2023, Varadi sees a strong trading environment and plans to operate at full capacity as the pandemic subsides.
Varadi said: "We are cautiously optimistic about the recovery of the business, which has started later than what we would have liked as Covid-19 restrictions have remained in place longer than anticipated. Therefore, [financial 2022] will continue to be a transition year. Whereas the recovery pattern continues to be difficult to forecast, the trends are encouraging and we are ready as ever.
"We have prepared the company to be an even more formidable player and to take advantage of the next phase of market opportunities that await post pandemic. The investments we have made in our fleet and in our network over the past 12 months will soon yield results."
Wizz Air shares were up 1.4% early Wednesday in London, while Ryanair shares were up 0.4%.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.5% at 7,114.88
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Hang Seng: down 0.6% at 29,285.28
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.5% at 28,946.14
DJIA: closed up 45.86 points, or 0.1%, at 34,575.31
S&P 500: closed 2.07 points down at 4,202.034
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 0.1% at 13,736.48
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EUR: down at USD1.2205 (USD1.2248)
GBP: down at USD1.4147 (USD1.4178)
USD: up at JPY109.77 (JPY109.40)
Gold: down at USD1,896.15 per ounce (USD1,899.75)
Oil (Brent): down at USD70.50 a barrel (USD71.11)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
1100 CEST EU producer price index
0930 BST UK money and credit
1100 BST Ireland unemployment
0700 EDT US MBA weekly mortgage applications survey
1630 EDT US API weekly statistical bulletin
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Ireland will take a significant step towards a return to normality with the easing of some Covid-19 restrictions. Hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses and self-catering accommodation will be permitted to welcome guests as the beginning of a phased reopening of the country over the summer. On June 7, outdoor services in bars and restaurants will reopen along with cinemas and theatres. On the same date, up to 200 people can attend outdoor events in venues with a minimum capacity of 5000, and up to 100 can attend other outdoor events. From July 5, indoor hospitality will reopen while indoor events will recommence, with a maximum of 100 attendees in larger venues and 50 in all others.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES TATE & LYLE TO 'BUY' (HOLD) - PRICE TARGET 855 (730) PENCE
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JEFFERIES CUTS GREENCORE TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 140 (195) PENCE
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PEEL HUNT RAISES GREENCORE TO 'HOLD' ('REDUCE')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Airtel Africa said it sold a tower portfolio to a joint venture company owned by a subsidiary of SBA Communications Corp for USD175 million. Airtel Africa said the tower portfolio in Airtel Tanzania comprises 1,400 towers which form part of the its wireless telecommunications infrastructure network. Under the terms, Airtel Tanzania will continue to develop, maintain and operate its equipment on the towers under a separate lease arrangement with SBA. The transaction is the latest strategic divestment of the tower portfolio as the company focusses on an asset-light business model and on its core subscriber-facing operations, Airtel said. "Around USD60 million from the proceeds will be used to invest in network and sales infrastructure in Tanzania and for distribution to the government of Tanzania, as per the settlement described in the Airtel Africa IPO prospectus document published in June 2019. The balance of the proceeds will be used to reduce debt at group level," the company added.
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Ryanair said it flew 1.8 million passengers in May, up from 1.0 million in April and from just 70,000 a year ago. It said it operated 12,000 flights during May with a 79% load factor. On a rolling annual basis, Ryanair flew 30.2 million passengers, down 75% from 121.1 million a year before.
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Bloomsbury Publishing said it delivered record results and hailed the popularity of reading as a "ray of sunshine" during a "very dark year" brought about by the pandemic. For the financial year ended February 28, pretax profit was up 31% to GBP17.3 million from GBP13.2 million the year before on revenue of GBP185.1 million, up 14% from GBP162.8 million. Bloomsbury declared a total dividend of 8.86 pence per share, an 8% increase on the 8.17p the year before. It also proposed a special dividend of 9.78p. CEO Nigel Newton sad: "Considering the ongoing momentum and strength of our business, Bloomsbury expects revenue to be ahead and profit to be comfortably ahead of market expectations" in the new financial year. The publisher put those financial 2022 expectations at profit before tax and highlighted items of GBP17.4 million, which compares to GBP19.2 million in financial 2021, on revenue of GBP177.5 million.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria completed the USD11.50 billion sale of US arm, BBVA USA Bancshares Inc, to PNC Financial Services Group Inc, a New York-listed financial services firm. The Bilbao, Spain-headquartered bank said the sale improves its CET1 ratio by about 294 basis points and added EUR570 million in profit between agreeing the sale in late 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. The bank ended the quarter with a CET1 ratio of 12.20% compared to 11.88% a year prior. BBVA US Bancshares has over 600 branches and more than USD100 billion in assets.
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Wednesday's Shareholder Meetings
Arrow Global Group PLC - AGM
Everyman Media Group PLC - AGM
Futura Medical PLC - GM re fundraise
Gaming Realms PLC - AGM
Gem Diamonds Ltd - AGM
GYG PLC - AGM
Jersey Oil & Gas PLC - AGM
Manx Financial Group PLC - AGM
Pennant International Group PLC - AGM
Surface Transforms PLC - AGM
Tern PLC - GM re authority to issue shares
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
