Cantor Fitzgerald Europe downgrades easyJet to HOLD

easyJet (HOLD from BUY) – Mixed signals
EZJ LN (£10.0, TP £11.50), Market Cap: £3.9bn
EZJ reported a generally upbeat first quarter last week but also warned that rising fuel costs, the continuing impact of weak Sterling and capacity growth in the market would crimp profitability. For prudence, we cut our forecasts, by 16% at PBT for FY17. As ever, Easter and summer trading are crucial to the outturn for the full year. Forward bookings are slightly up on last year but capacity growth in the market, and the dampening effect this has on unit revenues, is unlikely to abate before the summer. We think that EZJ will trade in a fairly tight range for the next quarter and hence we downgrade to HOLD from BUY.