Tag: jump

Norwegian Air’s Shares Jump as Turnaround Takes Off

February 6, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air’s turnaround gathered pace last month as the budget carrier removed unprofitable routes from its network and boosted the income from remaining flights, sending its shares up almost 6% in early trade.

The airline’s yield – income per passenger carried and kilometre flown – rose 15% to 0.40 Norwegian crown ($0.0435), its monthly traffic report showed on Thursday, beating a 0.37 crown forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.

The company cut its capacity by a bigger-than-expected 29% in January from a year earlier. Analysts had expected a 22.2% decline in capacity for the month.

Norwegian’s shares traded 4.3% higher at 39.66 crowns by 0839 GMT, but are still down 46% in the last 12 months.

“I am pleased that we continue to deliver on the strategy of moving from growth to profitability,” Chief Executive Jacob Schram, in office since the start of the year, said in a statement.

Norwegian has shaken up the transatlantic travel market with low fares, but breakneck expansion and the grounding of its Boeing MAX fleet also brought mounting losses, forcing the company repeatedly to raise cash from owners.

Seeking to turn itself around and avoid joining the ranks of collapsed airlines, the company announced in October it would cut its capacity by 10% in 2020 from 2019.

Another measure, revenue per available seat kilometre, or RASK, grew by 22% year-on-year to 0.32 crowns, beating the 0.30 crowns predicted by analysts, and Norwegian also raised its fuel hedges to guard against a spike in prices.

The increase in RASK pointed to better operating margins at the carrier, said Danske Bank analyst Martin Stenshall, who holds a buy recommendation on the stock.

Norwegian on average filled 80.9% of seats in January, up from a load factor of 76.1% a year ago and beating an average forecast of 80.6%.

Routes between Ireland and the United States and Canada were cut from Norwegian’s schedule last September, and in December the company announced the sale of its domestic business in Argentina.

The cutbacks may also alleviate the pressure on rivals such as Scandinavian Airlines, which now faces less head-to-head competition on routes between Europe and the United States.

($1 = 9.1879 Norwegian crowns)

(Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Barbara Lewis)

Norwegian Air Sweden Boeing 737-800 plane SE-RRJ approaches Riga International Airport in Riga

Brazil’s Gol Shares Jump on American Codeshare Agreement

February 4, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

SAO PAULO, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Shares in Brazil’s Gol rose as much as 5.5% on Tuesday after the budget airline said it had signed a codeshare agreement with American Airlines.

“When this is approved by Brazilian and U.S. authorities, Gol’s new codeshare will allow its customers to connect to more than 30 destinations in the USA,” Gol said in a statement, adding that American will now offer more U.S.-South American flights than anyone else.

The flights will operate from Gol’s hubs in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Fortaleza, and will be added to current regular flights to Miami and Orlando.

Investors cheered the news, pushing Gol’s shares up as much as 5.5% to 36.25 reais, making it one of the biggest gainers on the Ibovespa. At midday in Sao Paulo trading, Gol shares were up 4.6% and the benchmark index was up 1.5%.

“The partnership will increase the quantity and quality of its flights, offering the more daily flights between South America and the United States than any other partner,” analysts at Guide Investimento said in a client note on Tuesday.

The agreement will make it easier for customers to purchase flights for both airlines using a single reservation. It will also integrate check-in, boarding and baggage checking throughout the trip, and include the air miles program.

(Reporting by Paula Laier Writing by Jamie McGeever Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Lockheed Martin Raises 2019 Profit Forecast, Shares Jump

April 23, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: Lockheed Martin is seen at Euronaval, the world naval defence exhibition in Le Bourget near Paris, France, October 23, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

(Reuters) – Lockheed Martin Corp reported a better-than-expected 47 percent jump in quarterly profit on Tuesday and raised its annual profit forecast, helped by strong demand for its missiles and fighter jets, sending its shares up more than 5 percent in pre-market trading.

U.S. weapons makers have been expected to benefit from stronger global demand for fighter jets and munitions and higher U.S. defence budgets in fiscal 2020 as they announce first quarter earnings this week.

Lockheed’s Missiles and Fire Control business, which makes missile defences like the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), was one of its best-performing units.

On April 1, the unit was awarded a THAAD interceptor missile contract worth $2.4 billion, some of which are slated to be delivered to Saudi Arabia, which could boost earnings for the current quarter.

Overall, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company said its earnings rose to $1.70 billion, or $5.99 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.16 billion, or $4.02 per share, a year earlier. That was partly helped by a $75 million dollar boost from additional tax deductions on foreign military sales.

Excluding that one-time gain, Lockheed reported $5.73 per share profit, well ahead of the $4.34 per share that Wall Street had expected, on average, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Lockheed’s overall net sales for the quarter rose 23 percent to $14.34 billion. The company’s sales backlog grew to $133.5 billion, up 3 billion over the quarter.

Operating margins at the aeronautics division, Lockheed’s biggest, fell to 10.5 percent in the first quarter from 10.8 percent a year earlier, but sales were up 27 percent to $5.5 billion on demand for the F-35 jet and some classified contracts.

The United States is considering expanding sales of Lockheed-made F-35 fighter jets to five new nations including Romania, Greece and Poland as European allies bulk up their defences in the face of a strengthening Russia, a Pentagon official told Congress in early April.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington D.C. and Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Bill Rigby)

United Airlines First-Quarter Profit Rises

April 17, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: A United Express Embraer ERJ-175LR airplane is pictured at Vancouver’s international airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, February 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ben Nelms

(Reuters) – United Airlines on Tuesday reported a better-than-expected jump in first-quarter profit as it sold more tickets and cut costs, standing by its 2019 profit target even as its Boeing Co 737 MAX jets remain grounded.

Chicago-based United has removed its 14 MAX aircraft, which were suspended worldwide in March following two fatal crashes, from its flying schedule through early July, eating into U.S. airlines’ peak summer travel season.

Still, the airline’s parent United Continental Holdings Inc reiterated its estimate for adjusted earnings of $10 to $12 per share in 2019, and said its strategy for scheduling more flights out of its hubs was continuing to win customers.

Adjusted earnings per share rose to $1.15 in the first quarter, ending March 31, from 49 cents a year earlier, overcoming a U.S. government shutdown and severe winter weather earlier this year that curtailed flights.

Wall Street analysts on average had forecast 95 cents per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Its shares rose 2.8 percent in after-hours trading.

United has largely avoided cancelling MAX flights by servicing those routes with larger aircraft, but President Scott Kirby warned last week that the strategy could not last indefinitely.

The airline, which has been adding seats at a faster pace than rivals, trimmed its 2019 capacity growth target to between 4 percent and 5 percent from 4 percent to 6 percent previously, but did not say whether the decision reflected the effect of the grounded MAX.

Total operating revenue rose 7.1 percent to $8.73 billion in the quarter, while closely watched revenue per available seat mile rose 1.1 percent.

In the second quarter, United said it expects unit revenue to rise between 0.5 percent and 2.5 percent while unit costs, which fell 1.8 percent in the first quarter, were expected to be flat to 1 percent higher.

The No. 3 U.S. carrier is the first of three U.S. 737 MAX operators to report first-quarter results. Southwest Airlines Co and American Airlines Group Inc, which have removed their MAX jets from schedules into August, report on April 25 and April 26 respectively.

A Federal Aviation Administration review board said on Tuesday that it found a Boeing software update for the MAX to be “operationally suitable,” suggesting the lengthy regulatory process to get the planes back in the air was underway.

Rival Delta Air Lines Inc, which does not operate the 737 MAX, lifted its 2019 revenue forecast last week after reporting better-than-expected quarterly profit.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Additional reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Rigby)

Norwegian Air’s Shares Jump as Turnaround Takes Off

Brazil’s Gol Shares Jump on American Codeshare Agreement

Lockheed Martin Raises 2019 Profit Forecast, Shares Jump

United Airlines First-Quarter Profit Rises

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