Budget airline Ryanair (RYA) lifted its full year traffic forecast and is eying breakeven as bookings rally with passengers taking advantage of discounted airfares. The Irish airline, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, said it expected to fly between 90 million and 100 million passengers in its financial year to 31 March 2022, up from an earlier estimated range of between 80 million and 100 ...

UK stocks started the week on the back foot with the FTSE 100 index shedding 29 points or 0.4% to 6,998 points by 8.30am, even though US markets hit a new peak on Friday, as weakness in banks offset gains for mining stocks. US markets ended last week at record levels with the S&P 500 index rising 1% to a new high of 4,411 points and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 1.2% to 15,112 points. In ...

A strong open on Wall Street and sterling weakness helped the FTSE 100 to extend gains on Friday afternoon. By the close, the index was up 0.85% at 7,027.58 points while the S&P 500 was up 0.9% to 4,406.12. Next week has plenty to occupy investors’ thoughts including some big names reporting in both the UK and US and the latest decision from the US Federal Reserve on fiscal ...

London’s FTSE 100 was 0.9% higher at 7,028.1 points by lunchtime on Friday, supported by gains in the US and a positive retail sales report for last month. Wall Street closed higher with the Nasdaq posting a new high led by Big Tech stocks, although trading was choppy as higher jobless claims raised doubts about the pace of economic recovery. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft ...

Shares in premium British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat (HOTC:AIM) gained 2.6% to 369.5p after it successfully raised around £40 million via a share placing at 355p per share. The net proceeds will be used to double the firm’s capacity to support revenues of up to around £500 million by expanding its factory footprint to 160,000 square feet. This follows relatively quickly on the heels of ...

Shares in defence contractor Ultra Electronics (ULE) flew 33% higher to £32.90 after the company confirmed it had received a takeover offer of £35 per share from private equity-owned rival contractor Cobham just days before the deadline set by the Takeover Code. The proposed offer follows an initial pitch at £28 per share on 29 June, which was rejected. Including the interim dividend of ...

Bisto gravy-to-Mr Kipling cake-maker Premier Foods (PFD) has reported a ‘very encouraging’ start to the year with first quarter sales up 6.3% on the same period of 2019, at the top end of its expectations, led by branded goods sales with 9.3% growth. The food producer’s expansion into new product ranges using well-known brands is bearing fruit and the firm now expects full year pre-tax ...

UK stocks advanced on Friday supported by gains in the US and a positive retail sales report for last month. At 8.30am the FTSE 100 index was up 38 points or 0.5% to 7,006 points, led by telecoms, industrial and financial stocks. Wall Street closed higher with the Nasdaq posting a new high led by Big Tech stocks, although trading was choppy as higher jobless claims raised doubts about the pace ...

A surprise increase in US jobless claims raised some doubts about the recovery as the FTSE 100 surrendered its earlier modest gains to trade 0.4% lower at 6,968.30. In the US the S&P 500 was broadly unchanged by 4.30pm UK time. FTSE 250 construction firm Morgan Sindall (MGNS) was one of the day's big winners, surging 13.1% to £23.92 as it unveiled its fourth round of earnings upgrades ...

The biggest insider deals of the last week were at house builder Berkeley Group (BKG) where Rob Perrins, group chief executive, bought almost £3 million worth of shares in two tranches last Friday and this Monday. Perrins, who started at the firm as a qualified accountant in 1994, has been a seller of Berkeley shares on balance this year but timed his purchase neatly as the shares are now ...