ALTHOUGH no trading takes place at weekends, the FTSE-100 in effect became the FTSE-99 between market closure last Friday and the start of trading on Monday.
Gone, at the tap of a keyboard button, was the listing for British Airways, which expired with close of business that Friday night.
Almost a quarter of a century after the name first appeared on the Stock Exchange following privatisation of the business, the BA name – in share markets at least – has disappeared.
On Friday, BA shares closed at 282.5p, a mere 126% gain on the original flotation price, while the market as a whole grew 213% higher since that date in 1987.
Its highest price was 760p, in 1997, while its lowest, on March 12, 2003, in the run-up to the Iraq War and following the prolonged downturn in aviation triggered by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In BA’s place on the FTSE-100 since Monday, dealers are trading in shares in a new company, International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG).
This is the huge concern formed by the merger of BA and the Spanish carrier, Iberia.
It’s been quite a deal and a long time in the air, too. BA had earlier sought security by consolidation with others, notably KLM and Qantas.
Those deals went nowhere, but now our national carrier has the partner its chief executive and board have sought for so long.
The clinched deal has been a whopper – described as a £5.3bn all-share merger. The new operator will have a fleet of 419 aircraft and estimates it will carry almost 55m passengers a year.
So what’s likely to change for them? Probably not a lot.
The deal is huge in business terms and underlines the significance BA attached to its strategy to find a strong partner.
But equally huge is the equity BA has created in its brand. And the same goes for Iberia.
After more than a year of industrial strife, ash cloud disruption and snow in December closing its main base, BA will be hoping for a more settled outlook. Whether industrial action interferes with that or not remains to be seen.
What is clear is that one of the biggest brands in the world is entering a new phase in its history.
And signs are it is determined to keep its identity.
