International Consolidated Airlines Group
IAG, the company behind airlines including Iberia, British Airways and Aer Lingus, issued a Q1 trading update this morning. Whilst the performance since the start of the new year had been robust with revenues up, cost recovery plans for higher fuel prices working well and limited network exposure to the Middle East also helping, the note also guided the outlook lower. In terms of fuel, management don’t see availability as the issue, just the price and that’s going to take a toll on profitability as we move through 2026. The IAG share price was down 4% in early trade.
The flexible office solutions provider Workspace has this morning advised the market that they have received a requisition notice for the forthcoming AGM. Activist investor Saba, who has been causing a degree of turmoil in the Investment Trust market of late, holds am 18% stake in the business and wants to shake up the non-executive management team. Given the belligerent nature of Saba’s activity in the past and the material cost that Workspace may now face in terms of engaging investors, there’s not much to cheer here. The Workspace share price was down 4% shortly after the open.
Meaningful losses for the FTSE-100 listed testing company Intertek after management rejected a third unsolicited offer from EQT to buy the company on an all-cash basis. This latest approach was worth £58 a share, a £4 improvement on the previous figure but the company believes it’s still undervaluing the proposition and the current review that’s underway, possibly resulting in a demerger, is a better way of returning value to shareholders. The market clearly doesn’t seem to think that this is going anywhere fast and the Intertek share price was down 4% by 8.45am.
Most read news on Investegate this morning
Offer Declared Unconditional - - Essensys (ESYS)
Response to revised proposal from EQT - - Intertek Group (ITRK)
