(1888PressRelease)
April 09, 2009 - Mira, Portugal – SADIF Investment Analytics SA, today announced the release of a new equity research report covering British Airways Plc (BAY). The report utilizes SADIF's powerful StockMarks™ stock rating system and is required reading for any current or potential British Airways investor.
Report Summary: UK airline company British Airways has taken a large hit over the past year as a result of the decline in the global economy. On February 6th the company reported that operating profits from the nine months to 31st December 2008 were down 88% to GBP 89M, creating a loss before tax of GBP 70M. The company cited the harsh economic climate and the weakness in the sterling as the main causes of the decline in British Airways' profits. The weak sterling contributed to the 50% rise in the company's fuel costs over the nine-month period. The company's most recent air traffic and capacity statistics for the month of March indicate that the situation has worsened over the past three months. British Airways announced that the company now expects a to report an operating loss of GBP 150M before severance costs of GBO 75M for the fiscal year ended March 31st.
While capacity, as measured by available seat kilometers edged up 0.9%, traffic, as measured by passenger revenue kilometers fell by 7.3% during March partly due to Easter falling in April this year. British Airways sought new strategic directions through mergers during 2008. Merger talks with Australia's Qantas ended in December, but talks with Spanish airline Iberia continue. The company also signed joint business agreements with American Airlines and Iberia in August. I order to assess British Airways as an investment prospect objectively, we should look at the company's long-term underlying fundamentals. We can analyze the company's fundamentals through the use of the StockMarks framework. British Airways currently has an overall long-term investment-attractiveness rating (Total StockMark or SMT) of 56, rating close to the market average. This rating places British Airways seventh when compared to nine of its closest UK-listed peers.
The complete report breaks down the Total StockMark into its three components – Business, Management and Price, performing a thorough analysis of British Airways for long-term investors.
A summary of the StockMarks™ ratings for British Airways Plc is available here:
http://sadifanalytics.com/stockmarks/company.php?ticker=BAY&cod_country=110
The report has been distributed to Reuters, and forwarded to Yahoo Finance and FT.com. It is available under 'Analyst Reports' from these websites, from multiple professional platforms including Reuters Knowledge, TheMarkets.com and Thomson Research or directly from SADIF-Investment Analytics SA at:
http://sadifanalytics.com/stockmarks/article/hist_article.php?cod_country=110
About SADIF-Investment Analytics SA:
SADIF-Investment Analytics SA is an independent investment research company covering sixteen different markets and over 12,000 companies. The StockMarks™ system is based on proven investment principles and is designed to drive long-term shareholder returns.
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