Shares of British telecom company BT soared 10.5%, on course for its biggest daily gain since November 2021, after announcing a cost-cutting program.

In its full-year results released Thursday, revenues remained steady at £20.8 billion ($26.3 billion) in the year to March, up slightly from £20.7 billion the year prior. However, profit after tax fell 55% to £855 million.

CEO Allison Kirkby said the company is now laser-focused on doubling free cash flow over the next five years and will potentially dispose of its global business to focus on the U.K.

“As we move into the next phase of BT Group’s transformation, we are sharpening our focus to be better for our customers and the country, by accelerating the modernisation of our operations, and by exploring options to optimise our global business. This will create a simpler BT Group, fully focused on connecting the UK, and well positioned to generate significant growth for all our stakeholders,” she said.

— Karen Gilchrist

British low-cost airline EasyJet on Thursday posted a slightly larger than expected pre-tax loss of £350 million ($443 million) for the first half of the year even as it said inflationary pressures on the sector were beginning to ease.

The shortfall was above the £340 million expected by analysts, according to an LSEG poll cited by Reuters, but less than the £411 million pre-tax headline loss reported the year earlier, as the airline continued to emerge from a Covid-19-era travel slump.

CEO Johan Lundgren told CNBC that the airline was seeing “positive momentum” coming into the summer travel season, with consumers prioritizing travel, particularly to classic European destinations such as Spain, Portugal and Turkey.

The CEO, who announced he will be stepping down in 2025, added that EasyJet expects to receive all of its new plane deliveries from Airbus despite wider concerns about supply constraints.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s going to be less capacity out there versus last year. It certainly will be less than some airlines were expecting, but we are not affected by that,” he said.

— Karen Gilchrist

Citi recently named one under-the-radar company to buy on a “data and AI opportunity.”

Citi noted that the company said its total addressable market has increased three times, thanks to its artificial intelligence opportunity.

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— Weizhen Tan

With the consumer price index showing inflation slightly eased in April, the “lack of a nasty surprise” was welcome, unlike March’s disappointingly high readings, said Mark Hamrick, senior economist at Bankrate.

That said, interest rates will still remain higher for longer, he noted.

“With the 3.4% year-over-year headline increase and 3.6% in the core (excluding food and energy), these remain irritatingly high,” Hamrick said. “The status of the battle against inflation requires that interest rates remain elevated in the near-term.”

— Michelle Fox

European markets are expected to open higher Thursday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 22 points higher at 8,442, Germany’s DAX up 26 points at 18,896, France’s CAC 7 points higher at 8,244 and Italy’s FTSE MIB up 64 points at 35,091, according to data from IG.

Earnings are due from Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance, Siemens, Deutsche Telekom, BT and EasyJet, among others. There are no major data releases.

— Holly Ellyatt