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British Airways: worst loss in 20+ years

Posted May 25th 2009 6:00PM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Bad News, Industry

British Airways (LSE: BA) lost ₤375 million ($595 million) in the 12 months ending March 31, 2009. This is down from a profit of ₤712 million ($1.1 billion) the year before. The airline, which was privatized in 1987, has never sustained a loss this great. As a result, British Airways will not pay any dividends to shareholders -- or bonuses to the management team.

Weaker demand and spikes in fuel costs are cited as the reasons for the year-over-year record loss. Revenue was up 2.9% (₤8.99 billion) year-over-year, but this was not enough to offset a 45% increase in fuel costs -- to ₤2.97 billion. Demand problems struck in the fourth quarter, with revenue dropping 8.4% to ₤1.9 billion.

Its previous record loss was ₤200 million for the year ending in 2002.

New York Stock Exchange holds ground while Nasdaq tumbles

Posted Feb 13th 2007 1:13PM by Brent Archer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major Movement, Earnings Reports, Good news, Industry, NYSE Euronext (NYX), Options

NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE: NYX) opened at $89.60. So far today the stock has hit a low of $88.46 and a high of $90.00. NYX is now trading at 89.75, up 1.33 (1.5%).

After hitting a one year high of 112.00 in November, the stock has been relatively flat around 100 until it dove down below 90 over the past week. NYX shares are up despite a competitor's disappointing earnings release this morning. The Nasdaq Exchange (NASDAQ: NDAQ) also failed in its takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange, and rumors are swirling that the LSE could look to partner with NYX. Recent technical indicators for NYX have been bearish and steady.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a March bull-put credit spread below the $75 range. NYX hasn't been below 75 since September and has shown support around 79.00. This trade could be risky if the stock market makes a decent sized correction, since the exchanges get hit hard when trading slows. However, if NYX does falter, the support formed in October around 75 could protect this position.

Brent Archer is an analyst on the move at Investors Observer. (Free Subscription)

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.