Virgin Australia shares slide 9% after airline slashes 750 jobs on mounting losses
The job cuts will impact close to 8% of the airline’s total workforce and will shrink corporate and head office staff, Virgin Australia said in a statement on Wednesday.
Airline company Virgin Australia Holdings announced a wide-ranging operational review and the slashing of 750 jobs on Wednesday after it posted its seventh straight year of losses.
The group’s shares sank to the lowest level since 2009 after the announcement. The stock shed as much as 1.5 Australian cents or 9.1%, to 15 Australian cents at around 10.30am Sydney time before clawing back some losses to close the day’s trading 6.06% lower, at 1.6 Australian cents.
The job cuts will impact close to 8% of the airline’s total workforce and will shrink corporate and head office staff, Virgin Australia said in a statement on Wednesday. In addition, the group will be cutting some international and domestic flights as it plans to review its fleet and routes.
The carrier’s existing contracts with suppliers will also be reassessed.
Commenting about the group’s results, chief executive officer Paul Scurrah called the airline’s A$349.1 million in losses ‘disappointing’ and ‘underscored the need for change’. ‘We must improve our financial performance,’ he said.
The carrier is among the most thinly traded airlines in the market, with a free float of less than 10%, according to Bloomberg.
It is collectively owned by HNA, Nanshan Group, Virgin Group, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines.
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients.
CFDs are a leveraged products. CFD trading may not be suitable for everyone and can result in losses that exceed your initial deposit, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved.
Act on stock opportunities today
Go long or short on thousands of international stocks with CFDs.
- Get full exposure for a comparatively small deposit
- Trade on spreads from just 0.1%
- Get greater order book visibility with direct market access
See opportunity on a stock?
Try a risk-free trade in your demo account, and see whether you’re on to something.
- Log in to your demo
- Try a risk-free trade
- See whether your hunch pays off
See opportunity on a stock?
Don’t miss your chance – upgrade to a live account to take advantage.
- Trade a huge range of popular stocks
- Analyse and deal seamlessly on fast, intuitive charts
- See and react to breaking news in-platform
See opportunity on a stock?
Don’t miss your chance. Log in to take advantage while conditions prevail.
Live prices on most popular markets
- Forex
- Shares
- Indices
Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.
