Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 higher ahead of BoE interest rate call
- Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) falls but trading remains in line
- ITV (LON:ITV) slips as predicts further fall in advertising revenue
Heathrow cautions passenger numbers may be "levelling off"
Heathrow Airport has warned that the growth in passenger numbers since the end of coronavirus restrictions may be "levelling off".
The airport said in a statement: "There are early indications that passenger growth may be levelling off, with recovery now stable at 93-95% of 2019 levels across each of the first four months of this year."
Demand for air travel surged after the UK's travel rules were scrapped but it has flatlined compared with pre-virus levels in recent months.
Some 6.4mln passengers travelled through Heathrow in April, which was 94% of the total for the same month in 2019.
Heathrow said it "continued to deliver excellent passenger getaways" over Easter and the coronation, with "well over 90%" of people passing through security in under 10 minutes.
Shares in IAG, the owner of British Airways (LON:ICAG), held firm, up 1%.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 has continued to slip back after a bright start, now up 11 points.
Trading in line at John Wood, bid deadline looms
John Wood Group PLC held guidance for 2023 despite what it called “an uncertain outlook.”
The FTSE 250-listed firm said against a backdrop of a weak first quarter in 2022, group revenue in this year’s first quarter increased to around $1,450mln, reflecting good momentum across all business units and higher pass-through revenue. Group adjusted EBITDA was in line with expectations.
The firm is awaiting news from Apollo Global about whether the US private equity giant intends to make a firm offer ahead of the May 17th deadline.
Last month it proposed a takeover price of 240p per share valuing Wood at £1.66bn.
The company said its order book at March 31 was around $5.7bn, slightly lower than at December 2022 reflecting the phasing of large multi-year awards in Operations.
Shares fell 0.2% to 221p in London while the FTSE 100 remained in good spirits, up 25 points.
Yellen warns default could cause an "economic and financial catastrophe"
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said failure to avoid a US government debt default would undermine Washington's ability to provide international leadership and defend US national security.
Speaking in Japan at a meeting of G7 finance officials, Yellen has long warned a default could cause an "economic and financial catastrophe".
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said failure to avoid a looming federal government default would undermine Washington’s ability to provide international leadership and defend US national security https://t.co/j3pVwWrChF via @economics— Andreas Landwehr (@andreaslandwehr) May 11, 2023
She added that a default "would spark a global downturn" and "would also risk undermining US global economic leadership and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests".
President Joe Biden and Republican congressmen made little progress in a meeting earlier this week in Washington that kicked off negotiations on the topic.
Republican aides and White House staff planned to begin budget discussions in its wake, with another meeting set for Friday between Biden and congressional leaders.
Asked by reporters if there were a long-term fix to the recurring debt-ceiling issue, Ms Yellen suggested it would be better for the US legislature to permanently do away with setting a cap on government borrowing that is independent of its own budget decisions.