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Non-Tech : Virgin Express (VIRGY) Richard Branson's European Airline -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)6/30/1998 12:39:00 AM
From: soozathelooza  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 62
 
mike...

i'm finding problems getting info
on this co..
is this a recent ipo?
i'm showing a 52 week range of
11 and 27 1/2, with a p.e. of 12.
are there cash flow problems with VIRGY?

paul.



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)1/12/1999 10:25:00 AM
From: AC Flyer  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 62
 
Virgin Express Announces December Traffic Results

Key facts:
1. Revenue passenger miles in scheduled service up 25.5%.
2. Load factor in scheduled service up 3.8% to 71.1%
3. Charter block hours up 60.3%

>>PR Newswire - January 11, 1999 12:37
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Express S.A./N.V., the subsidiary of Virgin Express Holdings plc (Nasdaq: VIRGY; Brussels: VIR) reported the following traffic results for December, 1998: Revenue passenger miles in scheduled service increased 25.5% in December 1998 to 105 million compared to 84 million a year ago. Scheduled capacity increased 18.8% to 148 million ASMs versus 124 million in the previous December. Passengers flown in scheduled service increased 33% to 231,107 in December 1998 versus 174,252 in December 1997. Load factor increased 3.8 percentage points to 71.1% from 67.3%.
From its Brussels hub Virgin Express operates scheduled services to London (Heathrow, Gatwick, & Stansted), Copenhagen, Milan, Rome, Nice, Barcelona and Madrid, and also operates flights from Rome to Barcelona and Madrid. Charter services are offered to over 150 different destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. New service between London and Shannon Ireland started on 18 December.<<



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)2/7/1999 9:58:00 PM
From: AC Flyer  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 62
 
Richard Branson's (and others) long-term game plan....

....is to assemble a European-Transatlantic-US airline system, which will transport passengers from anywhere in Europe to anywhere in the US in Virgin aircraft. This is a breathtakingly bold plan which will give Virgin a unique position in the most attractive airline markets in the world.

This concept was clear to me from the moment that I realized that Jonathan Ornstein left Virgin Express, where he was CEO, to become CEO of Mesa Airlines early last year.

A little digging identified the smoking gun: Ornstein is general partner of Barlow Partners II, LP, a venture fund of Barlow Management Inc. Barlow engineered the ouster of Mesa's Chairman and founder, Larry Risley, after acquiring a 5.3 percent stake in Mesa - 1.5 million of Mesa Air's 28 million shares - in January, 1998, and placing Ornstein AND Jim Swigart, none other than Virgin Express's current CEO and ALSO a principal of Barlow Management, Inc., on Mesa's board. Ornstein became CEO of Mesa shortly thereafter.

This story gets more intriguing, as Ornstein had previously worked at Mesa, serving as executive vice president from September 1993 to June 1994.

And now, someone at Mesa is talking. This message was posted on Yahoo on January 21, 1999: >>I heard a rumor today from a Mesa employee that Mesa and Virgin (it was unclear whether it is Atlantic or Express) may merge. Take this rumor for what it is - just that (regardless of Mesa's long history of leaking top secret information).<<

So, we have two key players at Barlow Management (Ornstein and Swigart) each running a regional airline, one in the US (Mesa) and one in Europe (Virgin Express). Ornstein and Swigart both have strong ties to Virgin - both have worked or are working for Branson - who owns the #2 transatlantic carrier (Virgin Atlantic). Mesa is making acquisitions (CCAir, 2/1/99). Virgin Express is operating in a newly deregulated environment.

Expect some fireworks.



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)2/17/1999 9:07:00 AM
From: AC Flyer  Respond to of 62
 
January load factor rises...

PR Newswire, Wednesday, February 17, 1999 at 04:29

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Express S.A./N.V. and Virgin Express (Ireland) Ltd., subsidiaries of Virgin Express Holdings plc (NASDAQ:VIRGY; Brussels: VIR) reported the following traffic results for January, 1999: Revenue passenger miles in scheduled service increased 22% in January 1999 to 94.3 million compared to 77.5 million a year ago. Scheduled capacity increased 19.7% to 146 million ASMs vs. 122 million in the previous January. Passengers flown in scheduled service increased 27.3% to 209,018 in January 1999 vs. 164,206 in January 1998. Load factor increased 1.1 percentage points to 64.6% from 63.5%.

On February 15 Virgin Express opened a new call center in Shannon, Ireland to support general sale inquiries from Ireland and the United Kingdom. The new call center will initially employ 30 agents and handle approximately 20% of the company's reservations calls.

From its Brussels hub Virgin Express operates scheduled services to London (Heathrow, Gatwick, & Stansted), Copenhagen, Milan, Rome, Nice, Barcelona and Madrid, and also operates flights from Rome to Barcelona and Madrid. Service is also offered between London (Stansted) and Shannon, Ireland. Charter services are operated to over 150 different destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

SOURCE Virgin Express Holdings plc
02/17/99
CONTACT: Paul Skellon, Director of Corporate Affairs of Virgin Express, +322-752-06-77/ Web site: virgin-exp.com



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)2/25/1999 8:09:00 AM
From: AC Flyer  Respond to of 62
 
VIRGY up 13.7% yesterday in Brussels...

....closing at 27.27 Euros/IDS - equivalent to $10.33/ADS. VIRGY ADS closed at 9 5/8 yesterday, up 1 1/8. Look for more upside today.



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)2/26/1999 1:38:00 PM
From: AC Flyer  Respond to of 62
 
VIRGY closed up 6.7% at 32 Euro/IDS in Brussels today....

....equivalent to $11.73/ADS. stockexchange.be

Next significant event will be release of 4Q98 and FY98 earnings towards the end of March.



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)2/26/1999 2:03:00 PM
From: AC Flyer  Respond to of 62
 
Press Release....

Virgin Express Holdings plc Calls Shareholder Meeting To Approve Repurchase of Up to $15 million of Its Shares

PR Newswire - February 25, 1999 16:30

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Express Holdings, plc (Nasdaq: VIRGY; Brussels: VIR) announced today that it has called for an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to approve a plan for the company to repurchase up to $15 million of its outstanding shares. The extraordinary shareholders meeting is to be held 13 April 1999.

Under the plan, the company would initially purchase up to $7 million of stock, and subject to net earnings of at least $8 million in 1999, the company would be authorized to purchase up to the full $15 million amount. It is expected that the company will purchase the shares in the open market at times, prices and amounts to be determined from time to time.

"We believe the fundamentals of our business are sound and that our shares represent good value at current prices", said Chief Executive Jim Swigart. "We have no debt and a strong cash position; the repurchase of our shares should also be accretive to earnings per share," he added.

Details of the plan will be distributed to shareholders together with the notice of the meeting. Execution of the repurchase plan is also subject to compliance with various regulatory requirements.

With the exception of historical factual information, the statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking statements under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in or contemplated by the statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the issuance of this press release.

SOURCE Virgin Express Holdings, plc

/CONTACT: Jim Swigart +322-752-0518, or Brett Godfrey +322-752-0521, both
of Virgin Express Holdings, plc/

/Web site: virgin-exp.com

(VIRGY)



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)3/1/1999 11:55:00 AM
From: AC Flyer  Respond to of 62
 
News Story, Virgin Group...

Britain's Virgin Launches New BA Offensive

LONDON (Reuters) - British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways promised a new onslaught on arch rival British Airways Plc Monday, with the launch of new routes and frequencies this year and a new corporate look next year.

It started ticket sales Monday for a fifth daily service between London's Heathrow and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport starting June 9 and its new twice weekly flights to Shanghai starting May 22.

And the airline said it expects 2,000 more people to join Virgin Atlantic's parent Virgin Travel Group's work force of 6,500 over the next 12 months to staff new services.

It also said Virgin's new corporate look would feature use of the Union Jack to attack BA's decision two years ago to replace its own abstract of the national flag on its tailfins with a range of multicultural ethnic designs.

''We will have a unique new look. ... It will include the Virgin logo, the Virgin red and the Union Jack and hopefully we won't alienate our passengers in the process,'' he said, in reference to the howls of protest which greeted BA's decision to remove its own version of the flag in a move to internationalize.

In addition to the Shanghai and New York services the company said it hoped to launch a new service from London Heathrow to Chicago in August, and was looking at a number of other routes longer term, including to Lagos, Nigeria.

However, the spokesman denied recent local press reports which suggested Virgin was to sign a 15-year collaboration deal with Nigeria Airways Monday.

Virgin said the main focus of expansion was to win more of BA's lucrative business travel customers and in particular win a greater share of the market for corporate accounts.

''This gives Virgin the ability to go to corporate clients with a bigger network,'' he said.

Funding is not seen as a problem and the airline says there are no current plans to float shares in the airline or seek a trade investor.

He said Virgin Travel Group is expected to make a profit of over 100 million pounds ($160 million) on sales of more than one billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in the current year ending April 30. In the previous year, it earned 89 million pounds ($142 million) on sales of 945 million pounds ($1.5 billion). Reut11:13 03-01-99



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)3/3/1999 11:42:00 AM
From: AC Flyer  Respond to of 62
 
VIRGY oversold....

....at 9 1/4. Now trading at 28.45 Euro/IDS in Brussels, up strongly from yesterday's close, equivalent to $10.34/ADS.

4Q98 earnings now about 3 weeks away. Will surprise on the upside. Recently announced stock buyback will reduce float by about 10% this year. VIRGY will form a new base at the $10 to $11 dollar level before moving up again sharply in July. Year-end target $18 - $20.



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)6/24/1999 11:11:00 AM
From: AC Flyer  Respond to of 62
 
Downside price action this a.m. makes no sense....

....VIRGY solid at 26 Euros in Brussels - equivalent to ~$9.00 per ADS.

If you're holding VIRGY, have patience. This company makes all its earnings in the second and third quarters. VIRGY's operating numbers - load factor, revenue per ASK and operating cost per ASK - are all moving in the right direction. My pro forma models indicate that VIRGY earnings will be about 62 cents per ADS in the second quarter, 92 cents per ADS in the third quarter, and $1.24 per ADS for FY '99.

Second quarter earnings will be released on or about 8/15. Strong earnings will demonstrate VIRGY's operating comeback after last year's poor second and third quarters. VIRGY will finish the year at $15 per ADS or above.



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)7/12/1999 12:59:00 PM
From: AC Flyer  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 62
 
Is anybody following this board?

VIRGY crossing its 40 day moving average to the upside in Brussels today.

Still expecting positive earnings surprise mid-August.



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)7/16/1999 5:47:00 PM
From: AC Flyer  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 62
 
VIRGY closed up .....

....in Brussels today, at 28.00 Euros, a gain of 3.7%, equivalent to $9.62/ADS.

It's possible that second quarter earnings rumors are leaking out in Belgium. In any case, VIRGY will move up on Monday.



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)9/28/1999 10:12:00 AM
From: AC Flyer  Respond to of 62
 
August Load Factor 84.7% - WOW!

Virgin Express Announces August Traffic Results

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Express (Nasdaq: VIRGY; Brussels:VIR) reported the following traffic results for August, 1999: Revenue passenger miles in scheduled service increased 14.5% in August 1999 to 129.3 million compared to 112.9 million a year ago. Scheduled capacity increased 6.6% to 152.7 million ASMs vs. 143.3 million in the previous August. Passengers flown in scheduled service increased 12.5% to 275,351 in August 1999 vs. 244,819 in August 1998. Load factor increased 5.9-percentage points to 84.7% from 78.8%.

From its Brussels hub Virgin Express operates scheduled services to London (Heathrow, Gatwick, & Stansted), Copenhagen, Milan, Rome, Nice, Barcelona and Madrid, and also operates flights from Rome to Barcelona and Madrid. Service is also offered between London (Stansted) and Shannon, Ireland. Commencing on 10 November Virgin Express will bring low fares to the capital of Germany with new flights between Berlin and London, Brussels & Rome. Charter services are offered to over 150 different destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.



To: Mike Fox who wrote (1)10/11/1999 5:03:00 PM
From: AC Flyer  Respond to of 62
 
September load factor 80.7%...

Virgin Express Announces September Traffic Results

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Express (Nasdaq: VIRGY; Brussels: VIR) reported the following traffic results for September, 1999:

Revenue passenger miles in scheduled service increased 9% in September 1999 to 116.5 million compared to 107.1 million a year ago. Scheduled capacity increased 3% to 144.2 million ASMs vs. 139.6 million in the previous September. Passengers flown in scheduled service increased 10% to 248,673 in September 1999 vs. 226,372 in September 1998. Load factor increased 4.0 percentage points to 80.7% from 76.7%.