Europe stocks fall at open; EasyJet shares down 3% after earnings
It's ten minutes after the opening bell, and European markets are trading in negative territory.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index is 0.5% lower, with almost every sector in the red.
Looking at regional bourses, the German DAX and French CAC 40 are both down by around 0.5%, while London's FTSE 100 has shed 0.4%.
EasyJet reported a loss for the first six months of the year, but said current bookings indicate it will meet expectations for full-year profit.
The airline said it made a pre-tax loss of £394 million ($529 million) for the first half of the year, compared with a £350 million loss for the same period in 2024.
The company's shares were down 3% at 08:10 a.m. London time, shortly after the market open.
CEO Kenton Jarvis described the first half normally a quieter period for airlines as an "interesting time."
"In the first half, we have two quarters. The first quarter is the October through to December, and in that quarter, we actually performed very well," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Thursday.
"Now in the second quarter, where we did make a slightly larger loss, that's the period where airlines ramp up ... In this quarter, we made important capacity investments and flew further, which helped drive productivity, and that helped reduce our unit costs during the half. But the routes themselves will need a little time to mature, and therefore needed some revenue stimulation."
Jarvis also cited capacity strains affecting all airlines — as both Airbus
and Boeing
fail to meet their original aircraft delivery schedules — but stressed that "demand is there."
EasyJet said that current bookings mean it was confident it will meet forecasts and report a profit for this financial year.
"Demand looks good for the summer. As you said, our book position for both our third quarter, which ends in June, and our fourth quarter, which ends in September, are ahead of where they were this time last year," Jarvis said.
"We're also seeing very positive bookings in our holidays division, where we're expecting something like 25% passenger growth year-on-year. So demand is looking good for the summer at the moment, and supply is relatively constrained."(Cay)
Source: CNBC
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