Wizz Air reports fall in capacity and passengers, Intertek posts first-half growth
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 27 points lower on Friday, having closed down 1.01% on Thursday at 8,283.36.
Stocks to watch
Budget carrier Wizz Air reported a fall in operated capacity and passenger numbers in July due to the impact of the Pratt & Whitney turbofan engine-related groundings of some of its Airbus 321neo fleet of aircraft. Capacity fell 0.3% year on year to 6.334 million seats, while passenger numbers were down 1.4% to 5.9 million. The load factor was 93.8% vs 94.9% last year.
Intertek Group reported strong first-half results on Friday, with double-digit growth in operating profit, earnings per share and free cash flow. Revenue grew 6.6% at constant currency, supported by broad-based growth across various sectors, and recent acquisitions contributed positively. The company also achieved significant cost savings, improved margins, reduced net debt, and declared a 43% increase in its interim dividend.
Newspaper round-up
Morrisons is testing out raising the temperature of its freezers by 3C in the first move by a UK supermarket to depart from a long-held industry standard, in order to save energy and money. The Bradford-based chain said it would increase the temperature on appliances in 10 of its stores to -15C from -18C, the industry standard set almost 100 years ago and left unchanged. – Guardian
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office has charged Glencore’s billionaire former head of oil trading with conspiring to make corrupt payments to benefit the commodities company’s oil operations in West Africa. Alex Beard, who ran Glencore’s oil division from 2007 until his retirement in 2019, will face charges alongside former Glencore executives Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga and Martin Wakefield after a long-running investigation into allegations of bribery at the company. – Guardian
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is among a string of luxury carmakers to be hit by major disruption after flooding in Switzerland paralysed a top aluminium producer. The company is scrambling to find alternative suppliers after Novelis, an Indian-owned manufacturer that runs a mill in the alpine city of Sierre, was forced to shut down operations at the end of June. Porsche, BMW and Mercedes have also been affected. – Telegraph
The future of Harland & Wolff is hanging in the balance after the historic Belfast shipyard was handed a $25 million emergency bailout. The company, best known for building the Titanic, also announced that it would scrap plans for a long-awaited restart of ferry services between Cornwall and the Scilly Isles, without a single sailing. – The Times
Intel, the US chipmaker, is planning to cut 15,000 jobs as it attempts to turn around its manufacturing operations, which have fallen behind in artificial intelligence developments. The company’s shares fell 20 per cent to $29.05 in after-hours trading in New York on Thursday after it announced a drastic cost reduction plan and forecast lower than expected revenue for the current quarter. Intel also said it would suspend its dividend. – The Times
US close
Wall Street stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday as recessionary fears resurfaced.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.21% at 40,347.97, while the S&P 500 lost 1.37% to 5,446.68 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.30% weaker at 17,194.15.
The Dow closed 494.82 points lower on Thursday, more than reversing gains recorded in the previous session as hawkish comments from the head of the Federal Reserve ignited stocks with hopes rising for an interest-rate cut at the central bank's next meeting in September.
The Fed's two-day policy meeting concluded on Wednesday with no change in policy, as was widely anticipated but Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank would be prepared to loosen monetary policy at its next meeting if price pressures continue to ease.
On the macro front, Challenger Gray & Christmas revealed that US employers shed 25,855 jobs in July, a 46.9% month-on-month drop to the lowest level in a year as the tech sector cut the most jobs, slashing 6,009 roles, while the services sector cut another 2,932.