MARKET REPORT: Travel stocks rise as Brits take to the skies

Travel stocks boosted the London stock market, with British Airways parent IAG and Upper Crust owner SSP among the big winners.

In a day of steady gains, the FTSE 100 rose 0.66 per cent, or 53.70 points, to 8,193.51 and the FTSE 250 rose 1.37 per cent, or 282.74 points, to 20,927.76.

The surge came as SSP catering outlet, located at airports and train stations, enjoyed its biggest rise since June 5, 2020, thanks to a surge in demand for leisure travel.

The company behind brands such as Upper Crust, Millie’s Cookies and Ritazza said sales in the third quarter to June 30 were 16 percent higher than during the same period last year.

The expansion across the Atlantic appears to have paid off, with revenue in North America up 27 percent year-over-year.

In May last year, the FTSE 250 company bought Midfield Concessions, which operates 36 airport restaurants across North America.

In the UK, sales were also strong, up 12 per cent. SSP remains on track to generate between £3.4bn and £3.5bn of revenue this year, along with between £210m and £235m of profits.

Shares rose 10.4 percent, or 16.2 pence, to 172.6 pence.

At the same time, IAG was among the blue chip stocks that rose the most after analysts at US investment bank Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating from “underweight” to “overweight”.

This comes on the back of expectations that the company will benefit from its exposure to long-haul travel.

He also pointed to “initial green shoots of progress” for BA and believes a turnaround will boost earnings – the shares rose 3 per cent, or 5.1p, to 178p.

Morgan Stanley also upgraded its ratings on other airlines: Wizz rose 2.5 percent, or 52 pence, to 2,126 pence, while Easyjet rose 2.8 percent, or 12.9 pence, to 478.3 pence.

Indivior recouped some losses a day after the pharmaceutical company launched a drug for schizophrenia and warned that earnings will be worse than expected.

The shares, which had fallen 36 percent in the previous session, added 3.1 percent, or 23.5 pence, to 780 pence.

The Gym Group gained 8.5 per cent, or 10.4p, to 133p as sales rose 12 per cent to £112.1m in the six months to the end of June, while its membership rose 4 per cent to 905,000.

The company remains on track to open ten to twelve gyms by the end of 2024 and 50 over the next three years.

But Hostelworld fell 5.6 per cent, or 9p, to 153p as business was hit by customers opting for cheaper holidays and solo travel.

Impax sank 10.8 percent, or 45 pence, to 372 pence as clients pulled money out of the funds. Its assets under management fell 6.8 percent to £36.9 billion in the third quarter to the end of June.

It announced that it has agreed to buy the European assets of investment firm Sky Harbor Capital Management.

Cordel Group, an AIM-listed artificial intelligence platform, signed a contract with US client G&W, which owns more than 100 railways in North America, to generate more accurate data on maintenance work, and rose 2.3 per cent, or 0.1 pence, to 4.5 pence.