search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
BUSINESS NEWS


Legoland lull puts brick in the wall of Merlin’s profits


Atractions operator Merlin Entertainments reported a decline in profits for the six months to June, blaming a “disappointing” performance at its Legoland parks. Merlin said bad weather in May


and June had contributed to a 21% fall in underlying pre-tax profit from £43 million in the first half of last year to £34 million this, despite visitor numbers increasing from 29.9 million to 30.8 million and revenue rising from £706 million to £763 million. Underlying earnings were up


1.4% year on year to £191 million. Merlin agreed to a £4.8 billion


takeover by Kirkbi, the Danish owner of Lego, in June. Chief executive Nick Varney


said: “Group performance has been broadly in line with our expectations in the seasonally quieter first half of the year. “However, trading at Legoland Parks has been disappointing.”


Legoland Windsor


Air France-KLM posts quarterly upturn and plans to shed A380s


Air France-KLM confirmed plans to ditch its Airbus A380 fleet earlier than planned in half-year results announced last week. Te Franco-Dutch group reported


a net profit of €80 million for the three months to June compared with a loss of €30 million a year ago, but a loss of €240 million for the half year was treble the loss a year earlier. Air France’s results showed


significant improvement on last year while KLM reported lower profits despite remaining the more profitable of the carriers. Air France’s quarterly profits to June increased by €130 million to €143 million, while the carrier’s half-year losses improved


by €51 million to €113 million. Air France-KLM chief executive


Benjamin Smith announced an order of 60 Airbus A220s for the group’s short and medium-haul fleet and “the accelerated phasing out of 10 Airbus A380s”. Te airline owns just one of its 10 A380s, leasing the other nine. Airbus confirmed the end of A380


production in February. O Luſthansa reported “a strong performance on long haul” but a “price war in Germany and Austria” in quarterly and half-year results last week. Te carrier made a loss of €116 million for the six months to June, having made a €713 million profit in the same period last year.


Ryanair signals 1,500 job losses 6%


Ian Taylor


Ryanair is to cut hundreds of jobs because it has “too many staff”, chief executive Michael O’Leary informed employees last week. Nine hundred pilots and cabin


crew could go by October and another 600 in the new year – a sharp turnaround from the situation less than two years ago when Ryanair had to cancel more than 20,000 flights through September, October and winter 2017-18 owing to a shortage of flight crew. O’Leary explained job losses were


needed because not enough staff have been resigning in a video posted online for Ryanair staff last week. He told employees: “It’s been a


challenging summer [and] we’re facing a very difficult winter. I’m sorry to advise you this means we need to cut our aircraſt numbers and our staffing.


travelweekly.co.uk


Decline in Ryanair’s average fare in the three months to June


We will need about 600 less pilots and cabin crew for summer 2020. “On top of this, we already have


a surplus of over 500 pilots and 400 cabin crew because resignations have dried up to effectively zero since January.”


Te increased likelihood of a


no-deal Brexit at the end of October would damage Ryanair’s bases in the UK and Ireland, O’Leary added. He also blamed delays in the delivery of the Boeing 737 Max following the aircraſt’s grounding in March. O’Leary said: “We have to cut


our aircraſt numbers and our staffing


not just in summer 2020, but also in winter 2019. Tis will result in some base cuts, some base closures, and I’m sorry to say, some job losses this winter.” He said the company would brief


staff and unions “in the next week or two” with final decisions about the losses to be made by the end of August. Ryanair posted the video online


last week aſter releasing results for the three months to June showing a 21% decline in quarterly post-tax profit to €243 million. Passenger numbers grew by 11% year on year and revenue by 11%, but there was a 6% decline in average fare. However, O’Leary insisted: “We


continue to negotiate atractive growth deals as airports compete to atract Ryanair’s traffic growth. We expect [full year] traffic to grow by 7% to over 152 million [passengers].”


Michael O’Leary 8 AUGUST 2019 63


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68