easyJet share price: Carrier in talks over post-Brexit HQ move

easyJet (LON:EZJ) has opened talks with EU member states’ aviation regulators about relocating its headquarters from the UK, Sky News has revealed. The report comes after the group’s chief executive signalled earlier this week that the budget airline could move its headquarters from Luton where it has been based since it was founded in 1995.

easyJet’s share price has been steady in today’s session, having climbed 0.64 percent to 1,093.00 points as of 14:25 BST, largely in line with gains in the broader London market, with the blue-chip FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.77 percent higher at 6,554.19 points. The group’s shares have lost nearly 31 percent of their value over the past year, and are down by more than 37 percent in the year-to-date.

Sky News reported today that easyJet’s chief executive Carolyn McCall had signalled in private meetings this week that moving the carrier’s headquarters from the UK was almost inevitable in the wake of last week’s referendum which showed that the majority of UK voters supported Brexit. Sources close to the company told the newswire that the low-cost carrier had already held preliminary talks with a handful of unidentified EU member states about issuing easyJet with an air operator’s certificate which would enable the group to base its HQ there.
A spokesman for the budget airline meanwhile told Reuters in response to Sky News’ report that the company wanted to prepare for all eventualities.
“Issues around legal entity, or other structural issues, we don’t need to make those decisions […] until we know what the outcome of the (UK/EU) talks will be,” the spokesman pointed out.
Today’s news comes after the FTSE 100 group warned on its third-quarter profits earlier this week, citing strike action by French air traffic controllers, congestion issues at Gatwick airport and severe weather. easyJet further noted that following the outcome of the EU referendum, it also anticipated economic and consumer uncertainty this summer.
As of 14:43 BST, Friday, 01 July, easyJet plc share price is 1,093.00p.