EasyJet set to land on its feet as market awaits trading update

EasyJet reported a 7.6 per cent rise in passenger numbers last month, despite travel chaos caused by the snow and ice. The number of seats flown, regardless of whether passengers turned up, increased to 3.6 million.

Andrew Lobbenberg, an analyst at RBS, said passenger numbers were higher than expected and better than those of rival Ryanair.

EasyJet's UK bases at Gatwick and in Europe coped better with the snow than other airports such as Heathrow, which reported a 9.5 per cent drop in passenger numbers, he added.

The airline's chief executive Carolyn McCall – appointed last summer – has already achieved success early in her tenure. As well as the resilient recent trading, she has also overseen a resolution of the dispute with founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who stepped down from the board in May.

EasyJet recently revealed that pre-tax profits nearly trebled to 154m in the year to September 30 – an increase of 99.3m.

The profits lift was achieved despite disruption caused by the Icelandic ash cloud and snowy weather at the start of 2010.

The "no frills" airline currently has 193 planes and aims to increase this to 220 by the end of September 2013.

It ordered 15 more Airbus A320 planes earlier this month and switched a deal for the delivery of 20 A319 aircraft to larger A320s to increase passenger capacity.

Primark-owner Associated British Foods (ABF) was one of the FTSE 100 Index's success stories in 2010 and investors will be hoping its first-quarter update on Thursday will start 2011 in the same vein.

The company, which also makes Twinings tea, Kingsmill bread, Silver Spoon sugar and the Patak's spicy food range, saw its share price rocket 44 per cent in 2010, making it one of the Footsie's top 10 performing companies.

Sales increased by 10 per cent in the year to September 18, breaking through the 10bn barrier for the first time and adjusted pre-tax profits increased 26 per cent to 825m.

Value clothing retailer Primark, which has performed well in the recession, last year reported sales up 18 per cent to 2.7bn and operating profits up 35 per cent to 341m.

But the soaring cost of commodity prices threatens to make life difficult in 2011. Cotton, which nearly doubled in price in the past year, will put Primark under pressure to put up prices or take a hit to its profit margins.

The rising cost of wheat, sugar and oil will have a similar impact on ABF's food business. But chief executive George Weston recently said the company was well positioned to handle the price rises because the business could cut other costs to compensate.