Tag: VBA

A sell-off in Virgin Blue shares yesterday after the company surprised with yet another profit downgrade for the 2011 financial year.

Times are getting tougher for airlines, not just Qantas with the dodgy Airbus engines and other woes.

Virgin Blue says the cost of the collapse of its reservation system meltdown two weeks ago could reach $20 million.

This week’s first quarter growth figures will tell how the economy went in the March quarter, but we already have some indications that for some parts of business it was tough.

As it forecast a couple of weeks ago, Virgin Blue returned to profitability in the first half of 2009-10 and maintained annual earnings guidance.

Virgin Blue’s earnings upgrade last week won upgrades yesterday from two leading investment banks and brokers. 

On a strict comparison, Virgin Blue did better than Qantas did last year.

How come Virgin Blue doesn’t need a private buyout group to be able to finance a $2.2 billion expansion of its international fleet like Qantas claims it needs for its fleet expansion?

Virgin has announced it plans to purchase six Boeing 777-300 extended range aircraft to operate across the Pacific, taking on Qantas.

A couple of weeks ago we pointed out that with Qantas heading down the runway towards takeover, Virgin Blue would attract more interest from investors wanting some exposure to airline stocks and a proxy on oil prices.