Air France-KLM (NR/BB+/BBB-) equities bid on broker upgrade
Equities are going bid on a broker upgradefrom JP. It's flagging the two recent themes; falling fuel costs (has rolling impact as they hedge forward) {JET1NECC Index; 702, -18% YTD} and 1H airfare falls that may be moderating (our read from Ryanair CEO's comments and August inflation data - below).
Aerport de Paris which reports monthly traffic for Paris CDG and Orly airport's didn't' reveal anything dramatic; 5.3% and 3.4% traffic growth respectively which is not far off YTD run rates and still leaves CDG at 91% of 2019 levels. Traffic is less of a focus (we get monthly passenger numbers from many of the airlines) - load factors (how capacity is being adjusted to meet that), yields/pricing and cost discipline more important for us.
AFFP 3Q results come on the 7th of Nov, we are cautious ahead of it despite the levels (28s Z+170, 29s +200) given uncertain Olympics impact. Also worth noting spread to Finnair 29s is at the wider end (+40bps). We have sympathy for the govvie uplifted FOY's who (from our brief history with it) seems to show good governance. We have generally liked it for carry (decompresses harshly for those eyeing RV), main tail risk we see is the airspace bordering Russia (NATO member though). FY EBIT guidance is wide range at €110-180m. Q3 results come before Air-France on the 29th of Oct.