Wizz Air passenger numbers surge, JD Wetherspoon profits sink
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Friday 02 Oct 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open around 36 points higher (+0.34%) on Friday morning after dropping 177.73 points (-1.68%) the previous session to 10,428.27.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Low-cost airline Wizz Air carried 7.78 million passengers in September, an increase of 24.2% year-on-year, with capacity rising 25.3% to 8.46 million seats. The load factor for the month was 92.0%, down 0.8 percentage points year-on-year, although this in part reflected a stronger pricing environment, with a notable improvement seen in the month compared to earlier periods, the carrier said on Friday.
JD Wetherspoon has reported a slump in annual profits, weighed down by higher costs. The pub chain saw revenues rise 5.2% in the 52 weeks to 26 July, to £2.24bn, or by 4.2% on a like-for-like basis. However, pre-tax profits before separately disclosed items slid 28% to £58.6m following a 5.3% spike in costs, including wages, repairs and business rates. Looking to current trading, and Wetherspoons said underlying sales had jumped in the nine weeks to 27 September by 8.6%, including a 7.7% uplift in August, on the back of the unusually warm summer weather.
IP Group has sold around £21m-worth of shares in FTSE 250 outfit Oxford Nanopore Technologies, while retaining a significant holding in the sequencing technology specialist. The science and technology investor said on Friday that it had sold 10m Oxford Nanopore shares, leaving it with 70.8m shares, or 7.23% of the company. The remaining direct stake was worth around £151.5m at the current market price.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
The BBC has started a redundancy process in its TV and streaming division, heightening staff fears that Matt Brittin will announce the closure of the poorly performing BBC Three and BBC Scotland channels next week. The corporation's director general, who has repeatedly said that linear TV and radio services may have to shut as audiences move online, is expected to inform staff on Wednesday of the latest stage of a plan to save £500m and shed up to 2,000 jobs. - Guardian
Airlines will be blocked from charging parents extra to sit with their children on planes, according to government plans. The new rule would require airlines to seat passengers aged under 14 next to their parents or an accompanying adult free of charge. Passengers will also no longer need to pay to tweak the name on their flight booking if they need to correct a mistake. - Guardian
US officials have ramped up an investigation into the developer of ChatGPT after one of its most powerful AI systems went on a hacking spree. Rob Bonta, California's attorney general, confirmed on Thursday that the state's department of justice had issued a series of investigative subpoenas to OpenAI after its AI bots went rogue and launched an attack on another technology business. - Telegraph
BT's broadband rivals have warned of a legal quagmire if ministers allow the former state monopoly to take over troubled TalkTalk. Industry bosses raised concerns about breaches of competition rules after BT mounted an eleventh-hour effort to seize control of the ailing telecom provider. Any attempt by BT to take control of TalkTalk, Britain's fourth-biggest broadband provider with about 1.5 million customers, would attract significant concerns about market power. - Telegraph
The accounting industry regulator is "making inquiries" into the behaviour of accountants and auditors working with Manchester City, the football club at the centre of a financial scandal. The Financial Reporting Council has not opened a formal investigation into BDO, Manchester City's long-time auditor, but it has the power to should it see fit. The Times understands officials are deliberating behind the scenes if or when to get involved. - The Times
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is considering moving his Ineos Grenadier 4×4 company to the United States after President Trump's trade tariffs hit sales, helping to send it to a loss of more than €900m. In its third full year of trading, Ineos Automotive suffered a near 25 per cent fall in revenues directly related to the effect of the president's trade war on sales in America, which account for two in every three Grenadiers. - The Times
US CLOSE
US stocks erased earlier losses to finish in positive territory on Thursday as Treasury yields retreated from recent highs, though upside was limited as mostly improved economic data reinforced expectations of tighter monetary policy.
The Dow and Nasdaq both settled just 0.04% higher, while the S&P 500 finished the session up 0.19%, with AI and chip stocks in particular performing well after a bullish set of results from Micron Technology.
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