Thursday preview: easyJet reports first quarter results

22nd Jan 2014 15:49

easyJet's first quarter is expected to have been disrupted by the power outage the Gatwick North Terminal over Christmas and winter storms, Numis said ahead of the airline's results on Thursday.However, the broker believes that overall the disruption is unlikely to have had a material negative impact relative to the prior year.It said: "Our confidence in the future for EasyJet is based on: the quality of its route network (the right slot times at slot-restricted airports); the opportunity to continue to take share from legacy carries; prospects of increased share of business traffic as the hard work that EasyJet has done with GDS providers (Amadeus etc) and travel management companies starts to bear fruit; likely future benefit from yield managing allocation seating; and, a management team that remains focused on improving returns for shareholders."The broker recommended an 'add' rating and target price of 1,900p.easyJet's shares have risen 35% since the company's preliminary results on November 1st 2013. At the time of the results the carrier painted a bright outlook for its future and propsed a return to shareholders of £175m via a special dividend of 44.1p per shares.Forward bookings for the first half of 2014 were said to be in line with the previous year. EasyJet also anticipated cost per seat, excluding fuel, to rise by 2% in the first half. Revenue was tipped to grow by 2%.On the economic front, US data including existing home sales and initial jobless claims will be released, picking up after a quiet start to the week for the world's biggest economy.No less important than the above data, earlier in the day survey compiler Markit will release its preliminary estimates for its manufacturing sector purchasing managers' indices for China and the Eurozone. Thursday January 23rdFINALSAG Barr, Chemring GroupTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSBarr (A.G.), Pearson IMSsBrooks Macdonald, easyJet, First Group, London Stock Exchange, Paypoint, Pearson, Petra Diamonds Ltd. (DI), Smiths News, St.Jams Place AGMsKeystone Investment Trust, Smiths News, Troy Income & Growth TrustUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCBI Distributives trades survey (11:00)Speech Paul Fisher (09:00)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS"Flash" HSBC manufacturing PMI (CH) (09:45)"Flash" manufacturing PMI (EZ) (08:58)Balance of Payments (EU) (09:00)Bloomberg Consumer Confidence (US) (14:45)Business Climate Indicator (EU) (10:00)Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Current account (EU) (09:00)Existing home sales (US) (15:00)FHFA House price index (US) (1500)Initial weekly jobless claims (US) (13:30)Leading indicators (US) (15:00)Business confidence (BE) (14:00)RD