Wizz, easyJet and Lufthansa move; Citi revision

(Video Transcript)

European low-cost airlines going places

Low-cost airlines across Europe are on the move. We're seeing Deutsche Lufthansa falling, as you can see there on this chart here, down 1.3%.

This is after Citi cut Lufthansa to sell from neutral and said it expected an increased or rising risk to 2024 margin targets due to pricing softness in long haul and the geared turbofan (GTF)-related groundings impacting unit cost performance.

Also, checking in on easyJet, because easyJet was also given a revision. Citi raising easyJet to neutral from sell. This is as it sees continued momentum in the holiday segment, partly offsetting price pressures in the airline segment. However, its shares are down as the GTFs peak around 1.7%.

One thing, though, is Wizz Air: checking in on that for you, because Wizz Air shares are also down on the session, down more than 3%. Citi, although it maintained a scale on Wizz Air, did say that the GTF engine problems had disrupted the growth trajectory and the company is now expected to see a full year, to be flat year on year.

Asian-route airlines set to recover

The main thing here is that Citi sees network flexibility and self-help as key to airlines' earnings this year, as it believes that the European short-haul recovery to pre-pandemic levels is broadly done, and therefore it expects those airlines with exposure to Asia to recover.

One last one that I am checking in for you is Ryanair, because a number of online travel agents stopped selling Ryanair flights in early December, as it gives you legal and regulatory pressure.

Now, checking in on Ryanair for you, because we did see a reaction there. Its shares are down some 3.8%. The Irish airline says the move is not expected to affect its for your profit, but looking at this chart, it looks like traders think otherwise.