MARKET REPORT: British Airways shares ‘continue to rise’

British Airways owner IAG has seen its share price go on a journey this year, with its value nearly doubling, and Deutsche Bank thinks that journey has only just begun.

The German bank’s analysts said capacity restrictions on transatlantic flights should allow IAG to raise prices until 2025.

This, they say, is supported by early data from the bank’s rates tracker and supported by the macro outlook for the US, Britain and Spain.

The analysts see room for another year of above-consensus earnings growth in 2025.

As a result, they upgraded their rating from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’ and raised their price target to 400 cents, sending IAG up 2.1 percent, or 6 cents, to 288 cents.

After favorable US inflation data paved the way for a final round of rate cuts in 2025, the FTSE 100 closed 0.26 percent, or 21.26 points, higher at 8301.62, while the FTSE 250 was virtually flat – 0.49 points lower , to 20,973.45.

Among other big winners, British American Tobacco added 1 percent, or 39p, to 2999p after reaffirming full-year guidance for 2024, helped by a stronger second half thanks to investment in its US operations and innovation in its new category portfolio .

Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser rose 2.8 per cent, or 132p, to 4835p after an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ by HSBC analysts who noted it is trading at a significant discount to its peers and their price target increased to 5500p.

And Endeavor Mining gained 5.9 percent, or 89p, to 1589p as it unveiled a final feasibility study for a gold project in Ivory Coast after a preliminary assessment met strategic objectives.

On the other hand, equipment rental company Ashtead Group fell 1.7 percent, or 92 cents, to 5,300 cents, following a 14 percent decline following a cut in the previous session.

IT company Kainos rose 4.5 percent (36 cents) to 839 cents after Brendan Mooney was reappointed CEO, just over a year after he resigned. Mooney replaces Russell Sloan.

And SSP rose 2.5 percent, or 4.7 cents, to 191.5 cents after Upper Crust’s owner announced plans for an initial public offering in the spring of its Indian joint venture, Travel Food Services.

Among small caps, Sound Energy rose 53.9 percent, or 0.35 cents, to 1 cent, after the gas project developer completed the partial divestment of its Moroccan assets for up to £35.4 million.

Victoria gained 6.6 percent, or 3.8 cents, to 61.8 cents, adding to the jump in the previous session after the carpet company’s CEO bought 200,000 shares and Morgan Stanley increased its stake to 12.5 percent .

Fintech company Equals Group added 12.1 per cent, or 14.5p, to 134.5p after agreeing a £283m takeover by Alakazam Holdings.

And Billington rose 13.3 per cent, or 56p, to 476p, after the structural steel group said it expects its full-year pre-tax profit to exceed current market expectations.

But Versarien lost 16.9 percent, or 0.01 cents, to 0.03 cents, after gaining almost 23 percent in two sessions this week after announcing a distribution deal for a biosensor chip product in the UK and Europe.