Ryanair PLC (LON:RYA) saw its average fares fall by more than expected in the last three months of 2016 amid a glut of capacity in Europe's short-haul aviation market, but the low-cost airline said it remains on track to post a modest increase in annual profits.
The Irish firm, Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers, said average fares fell 17% in the three months to December 31 and could fall by up to 15% in the three months to March 31. That is worse than its earlier forecast of a fall of between 13% and 15% over the six-month period.
Europe's short-haul carriers have struggled in recent months with overcapacity and worries over the implications of Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
Brexit negative …
More than half of business leaders in Britain believe the vote to leave the EU has had a negative impact on their companies but most firms are confident they can survive the change, according to a survey released today.
Britain's economy has performed more strongly than expected since the Brexit vote last June, but an Ipsos Mori survey of more than 100 of the country's top 500 firms found that 58%felt the vote to leave had taken a toll.
According to the survey, more than two thirds of those questioned said they had already taken action to respond to the vote, including putting contingency plans in place and analysing the impact the different relationships Britain could have with the EU following its renegotiation.
Car sales strong ….
New car registrations were up 3% in January according to UK car industry data, spurred on by the first annual increase in demand from private consumers since March despite fears Brexit would hit sales.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said a total of 174,564 new cars were registered last month in the UK, , boosted by a 5% increase in sales to individual consumers.
Nasty gal …
Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com PLC (LON:BOO) has moved a step closer to sealing the £16mln acquisition of assets from US-based counterpart Nasty Gal, which filed for bankruptcy last November.
The company announced in December 2016 that it had entered into an asset purchase agreement to purchase certain intellectual property assets and customer databases from Nasty Gal.
The transaction has been governed by a US bankruptcy court-approved bidding process. As part of this process, Boohoo has now been notified by Nasty Gal's counsel that no acceptable qualifying bids have been received for the assets and therefore no auction will take place.
Nasty man ….
Coca-Cola, Airbnb and Budweiser all appeared to take a swipe at US president Donald Trump in adverts aired during Sunday’s NFL Super Bowl.
The adverts, which championed diversity, inclusion, acceptance and immigration, caused outrage among Trump supporters, who vowed to boycott some of the companies responsible.
Airbnb took an apparent anti-Trump stance with its #weaccept campaign, and the hashtag was trending on Twitter by Lady Gaga's half-time show.