London View
In the Spotlight: ECB Meeting, Ryanair, TUI, Easyjet, Amazon
ECB Meeting - ECB President Mario Draghi is due to hold a press conference later today after the European Central Bank announces its decision on the Euro zone’s interest rates. The markets will be
watching events in Frankfurt closely, not so much for the interest rate decision itself – Bloomberg reports that its survey of economists shows that none believe that there will be any change to
the rate – but rather to see whether Mario Draghi will reveal any further details regarding Q.E measures to prevent another recession.
What’s Up
Ryanair - Ryanair appears to have started its festive season early after the low-cost airline’s share price up by 8.7% this morning after the company raised its full year guidance for the fourth
time this year – and for the second time in just two months. At the beginning of the financial year Ryanair put its profit forecast at between €580 million - €620 million. Now that figure has been
left far behind, with the airline now forecasting around a $200 million increase on that figure, with the latest guidance suggesting profits will be between €810-€830 million. Ryanair’s share price
has also climbed over the past year right along with its earnings guidance; a year ago shares were trading at 5.85, while today they’re trading at around 9.51, a 62% rise.
Easyjet, TUI – Ryanair isn’t the only travel-related firm enjoying a rise on share price this morning, though; both TUI Travel and Easyjet have seen gains after
reporting positive news of their own. Easyjet saw passenger growth during November surge by around 3% - its share price is currently up by 2.14% - while TUI is up by more than 3.5% this morning
after announcing a boost to its underlying operating profits.
What’s Down
Amazon – Amazon’s share price dropped by more than 3% yesterday in the wake of the firm reporting a $500 million loss for the latest quarter alone; Amazon stock
is down by around 7.5% since trading opened on Monday. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also publicly admitted this week that he has made mistakes resulting in the loss of billions of dollars for the company
– however, he put his remarks in contaxt by saying that companies that don’t experiment on a constant basis ‘eventually get into a desperate position’ and that ‘a few big successes compensate for
dozens... of things that didn’t work’. He also pointed to Amazon experiments that have turned into success stories, such as its Kindle devices and Prime service. Recent Amazon ventures have been
met with some scepticism, however, including an ‘airdrop’ prime delivery service incorporating the use of drones and Amazon’s ‘fire phone’. Amazon is currently almost level in pre-market
trading.