Wizz Air passenger numbers soar, Aviva names new CFO

Stocks to watch

Low-cost airline Wizz Air said on Monday that it had carried 2.47m passengers in March, a 416% increase year-on-year.

Wizz Air, which also reported a load factor of 86.2% for the month, highlighted that it had continued to grow its network and improve its customer offering in March, expanding existing operations in Romania and announcing new routes originating from Italy, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates to destinations ranging from Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Montenegro, Israel to Sri Lanka.

Insurer Aviva said it had appointed Charlotte Jones as chief financial officer, with effect from 5 September.

Prior to agreeing to join Aviva, Jones was CFO of RSA Insurance and interim chief executive officer of RSA's UK & International business.

Newspaper round-up

Britain's strategic heavy industries have warned they risk being left high and dry by a lack of support in the government's upcoming energy strategy, warning that failure to follow European countries' measures to reduce gas and electricity costs will put UK businesses at risk. The government is expected to outline long-awaited proposals this week for a once-in-a-generation drive to invest in nuclear power and possibly more onshore wind and solar power, as well as approving continued North Sea oil and gas exploration. - Guardian

EasyJet cancelled more than 200 flights over the weekend with disruption expected to last into this week, leaving some passengers stranded amid travel chaos at some of Britain's biggest airports. The airline blamed the problems on high levels of sickness among employees caused by Covid, with at least 222 trips axed since Friday. It said it had made efforts to offset staff shortages by rostering additional standby crew on the weekend but was forced to make "additional cancellations for [Sunday] and [Monday]". - Guardian

Dairy farmers have held crisis talks in Brussels over soaring costs and supply chain disruption, as the industry warns the price of a pint will jump by 50%. Rocketing costs from feed, fertiliser and fuel have stoked fears in the industry of a surge in milk prices not seen in decades. The cost of four pints of milk will jump from around £1.15 to between £1.60 and £1.70, an increase of up to 50%, according to Kite Consulting, the UK's leading adviser to dairy farmers. - Telegraph

A £5.0bn auction of Britain's biggest petrol forecourt operator is in jeopardy amid fears the Government will intervene over concerns that private equity owners would jack up prices at the pumps. Suitors for Motor Fuel Group are worried that ministers will order a competition inquiry into the sale of the business to protect households as they navigate the cost of living crisis, according to City sources. - Telegraph

City firms are sponsoring overseas recruits to come to work for them in the UK at the fastest rate since before Britain left the European Union, according to Home Office figures. About 200 foreign-based workers a week are being hired by British banks, fund managers, insurers and other City firms as the search for talent intensifies and as visa rules are relaxed. - The Times

The mood among consumers about their finances has fallen to its lowest level since the first Covid-19 lockdown, according to a new survey. Concerns about rising prices and the cost of living have pulled consumer sentiment down to -20 on an index tracked by PwC, the accountancy firm. This is a fall from +8 during the same period last year and is only just higher than the -26 reported at the start of the pandemic. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks ended the session in the green on the first day of Q2 trading as investors thumbed over March's all-important nonfarm payrolls report.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.40% at 34,818.27, while the S&P 500 was 0.34% firmer at 4,545.86 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.29% stronger at 14,261.50.