Investors keen to see VBA's new product

[GAFA]

From AAP

SYDNEY, Feb 22 AAP - Travellers and investors alike hope chief executive John Borghetti sheds more light on Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd's new products beyond the confirmed new uniform when he delivers the airline's half year results on Wednesday.

The airline group, comprising Virgin Blue, Polynesian Blue, Pacific Blue and V Australia, has foreshadowed - through an earnings downgrade last month - that first half profit would be weaker due to the effect of the Queensland floods and weak consumer sentiment.
Hence, with little surprise expected from the financial numbers, much interest is expected to centre on whether Mr Borghetti will reveal more details on his strategy to capture a greater share of corporate travellers.

The Virgin Blue boss could unveil Virgin Blue's new domestic business class product, an alliance with an Asian carrier, new routes and even a new name for the airline group.

Or potentially, none of the above.

What is known is that cabin crew will start wearing new uniforms from Wednesday.

The new outfits, designed by Project Runway winner Juli Grbac, will be presented to the public for the first time during a fashion show featuring supermodel Elle Macpherson at a Sydney CBD shopping centre.

Net profit for the six months to December 31, was expected to come in at $27 million, according to the median of five analysts' forecasts gathered by AAP.

If the result prints in line with consensus, it would represent a 57 per cent decline from net profit of $62.5 million in the first half of 2009/10.

Company guidance, issued last month was for net profit of between $23 million and $26 million. It was the third earnings downgrade since May last year.

"The extent of this impact on revenue cannot be accurately estimated at this time, but could be up to $40 million," Virgin Blue said on January 25.

In terms of underlying profit before tax - the company's preferred measure - Virgin Blue said in January it expected the first half result to be between $70 million and $75 million, compared with the prior year's $75.6 million.

The market consensus for underlying profit before tax is $73 million.

"In terms of short-term financial performance, we expect 2H11 (second half of fiscal 2011) to be of greater significance, given rising fuel prices and continued yield pressure in the domestic leisure segment," JP Morgan analysts Scott Carroll and Paul Huxford said in a research note dated February 2.

Virgin Blue closed down one cent at 38.5 cents on Wednesday.

[1a sound asleep]

New uniforms are about #10 on the list of things that need fixing
:ugh:

[Sunstar320]

So does this mean we will see Virgin pilots on the Tulla Staff bus tomorrow in actual pilots uniforms!

Only taken 10 years...:ugh:

[Skystar320]

as a substantional shareholder myself, I am eager to see DJ's new product!

[bagchucka]

i'd offload those shares tonight skystar...

rumour has it the half-year results are faaaaaaar from pretty.

[Skystar320]

my bolding

rumour

I've heard a rumour that the results are better than Qantas! When you take about the FF business

[winglets747]

Project Runway winner turned uniform designer Juli Grbac has done away with the casual desert khaki pants and skirts. Females get knee-length cherry red dresses or skirts (not too tight, ahem Virgin Atlantic) and loose white blouses, both complemented with a thin black belt. The chic professional look is finished with a red jacket and violet & white blend scarf angled to the left over the uniform.

You would be forgiven for thinking this was the smart-looking Virgin Atlantic uniform. Virgin Blue's new scarf, worn over the uniform, is the major difference, and ladies can also wear grey pants that match the male uniform. The gents have gone upscale the most with white dress shirts, shimmering purple and indigo ties, and black vests and blazers.

Borghetti adds flair with new Virgin Blue uniforms - Wings Down Under (http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/wings-down-under/2011/02/borghetti-adds-flair-with-new-virgin-blue-uniforms.html)

[gobbledock]

as a substantional shareholder myself, I am eager to see DJ's new product!
I hope you bought in while the shares were under $0.40 and not at $2.65 !
I still cannot believe that people buy airline shares, period. The return on investment is small and stacked up against the highest of risks.
So DJ have a new CEO, new direction, about to be launched new product and major overhaul, new routes, new aircraft and the list goes on. All positive I say, agreed.
Then on the other hand you have one uni student on Youtube and Farcebook ignite a middle east revolt which at this point in time is pointing the world in the direction of an oil crisis beyond belief (Brent is already rising, and incidentaly so is gold and silver which are real investments) and airline profits = goooooooooooone.
My point is that is how fragile airline profitability is.

[desmotronic]

as a substantional shareholder myself

The corporations act defines a substantial shareholder as holding greater than 5% of the issued capital which in VB's case is more than 100,000,000 shares :rolleyes:

[gobbledock]

The corporations act defines a substantial shareholder as holding greater than 5% of the issued capital which in VB's case is more than 100,000,000 shares :rolleyes:
Which means Skystar320 is either JB, Brett or perhaps Richard ??

[KRUSTY 34]

Am I the only one feeling nervous about all of this! :uhoh:

[denabol]

Well as a minor shareholder, with some bought as low as 20 cents, you can't compare the old peak of $2.65 to nuthin'.

The shares pool was flooded with shares at a nominal value of 50 cents but free to Toll shareholders after it divided its stake in the airline up and gave it away to the punters.

[Mr. Hat]

You're not alone KRUSTY.

The rumour I've heard isn't a good one. As I said in another thread: There is a lot of expenditure taking place at the moment replacing equipment uniforms, paint jobs, terminals. The list must be massive. As JB said himself "It must be done, it had to be done anyway, now is the time."

He was reportedly shocked at the state of the Brisbane terminal. It really is disgusting. There are buckets under leaking urinals. Something you would expect in Africa. I'm not sure what they are going to do about the cheap and nasty retailers there. Everyone of them belongs at Fortitude Valley train station in my book.

[OneDotLow]

Skystar320 :

I've heard a rumour that the results are better than Qantas! When you take about the FF business

Why would you take out the FF business profit? There would be no FF "business" without an airline.

The other thing to remember is that any rewards program runs MASSIVE liabilities on the balance sheet, by virtue of the business itself. It is fair enough to show up the profit as the "points" go in (which is happening at an incredible rate with a large number of Woolworths customers signing up to the program), but when (if?)they are withdrawn that also has to be shown as well.

[Jack Ranga]

You've got to spend money to make money, I for one hope to jebus that their timing is not wrong. Australia needs this competition badly.

[GAFA]

Airline group Virgin Blue Holdings has reported a big decline in first-half net profit and says conditions in the second half are expected to be challenging.

Virgin Blue said net profit for the six months to December 31, 2010, came in at $23.8 million, down 62 per cent from the prior corresponding period.

The result was below the market consensus of $27 million, according to the median of five analysts' forecasts gathered by AAP.

Advertisement: Story continues below Company guidance, issued last month, was for net profit of between $23 million and $26 million.

Revenue rose 12 per cent to $1.693 billion, Virgin Blue said in a statement on Wednesday.

Virgin Blue chief executive John Borghetti said while business traffic was improving on both domestic and international routes, the same could not be said for the leisure market.

"In the domestic leisure market, flat consumer confidence, forecast industry capacity growth and flow-on impacts from the recent weather events will impact domestic demand," Mr Borghetti said in a statement.

The airline has flagged a six to eight per cent increase in capacity for the full 2010/11 year, but added that "domestic capacity growth remains under review".

The airline group comprises Virgin Blue, Polynesian Blue, Pacific Blue and V Australia.

Underlying profit before tax - the company’s preferred measure - came in at $72 million for the first half, Virgin Blue said, down from $75.6 million in the prior year but within guidance of between $70 million and $75 million.

The market consensus for underlying profit before tax was $73 million.

Mr Borghetti said yield, or average fares per passenger, had improved on both the airline’s long-haul and short-haul routes.

The half had also been impacted by a number of one-off events, such as Virgin Blue’s Navitare IT system outage, restructuring costs and adverse weather across Australia and New Zealand, Mr Borghetti said.

Virgin Blue’s long-haul offshoot V Australia reported negative earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $7.4 million in the first half of 2010-11, an improvement from negative EBIT of $24.2 million in the prior year.

Mr Borghetti said V Australia was ‘‘on track for reaching close to breakeven’’ at the EBIT level for the full financial year.

‘‘This follows the cancellation of non-profitable routes, changes to current schedules aimed at profit maximisation and the beginning of the benefits flow through from our international alliance strategy,’’ Mr Borghetti said.

Short-haul flying, including domestic flights and international destinations in the Pacific and Asia, posted positive first half EBIT of $83.9 million, down from $103 million in the prior corresponding period, Virgin Blue said.

The 2010-11 result was hit by the reservation system outage in September last year.

More to come

AAP

[GAFA]

Ten year alliance with Skywest will comprise ATR 500/600 airliners.

[GAFA]

This link also has pictures of the new uniform.

http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20110223/pdf/41wyyh3mshtl5s.pdf

[The Golden Rivet]

i've been thinking this for a while and after seeing the uniforms it looks like it's happening:

* Uniforms look like Virgin Atlantic, even the oversize Ray Bans?
* If you look at the color scheme for Virgin Atlantic, look at the tail and compare
it to the missing area on the tail of the two mostly white AFL jets, to me it looks like the curve at the back is going to meet with a new Virgin Logo like Virgin Atlantic...

My long shot:

Singapore Airlines sells out of Virgin Atalntic, allowing Virgin Blue to trade as Virgin Pacific or Virgin Australia, Virgin Australia/Pacific aligns with Virgin Atlantic through Hong Kong and Virgin America through LA (already happening.) Virgin Pacific/ Australia Jets to look like Virgin Atlantic......:ok:

[GAFA]

What are we wanting to achieve?

1. Hedging of revenue line exposure
- maintaining our strong leisure presence but lessening our reliance on this market
- modest increase in our penetration of the higher yielding Corporate and Government traffic from 10% to 15-20%

2. Improved return, not fixated on market share

3. Access growth markets without the burden of substantial capital requirements
- internationally through consolidation of our operations and creating a virtual network through strong strategic alliances
- regional Australia- suitable aircraft and not operating entity

4. No desire to be the biggest but want to be the domestic airline of choice

I think point 4 is the best!

[GalleyHag]

I reaaly like the new uniforms they look professional and stylish (maybe a little bright). The new J Class seat looks fantastic.

[GAFA]

4 in service mid 2011. Capability of up to 18 aircraft.

ATR will replace E170 flying
- operating new regional network

ATR will provide
-operational flexibility
- superior economics
- maintain competitive customer experience

ATR72-competitive customer experience vs Q400
- wider aisle
- wider cabin
- wider overhead lockers

[whatever6719]

galleyhag....where did you see a pic of the new business class seat?
Id be keen to have a look at it!

[Fuel-Off]

I'm kinda hoping that they dont follow Virgin Atlantic's scheme, it would look too much like the opposition! Red tail, white fuselage...

Just my two cents.

Fuel-Off :ok:

[GAFA]

Picture of the seat is in the ASX link. Lots of pics of seat and new uniforms.

Today is Phase 1, with Phase 2 announced before 30 June 2011. Phase 3 in 2012 will be about V Australia.

A330 business class cabin- best domestic business class product in the market.

New lounges, OOL and 2 others by end of 2011

Valet in Sydney April 2011.

Velocity re-launch prior to 31 DEC 2011.

New brand name prior to 30 June 2011.

[GalleyHag]

whatever6719

If you click on the ASX link posted by GAFA on page 1 and go the PDF doc the J Class product is on page 21, 22 and 23. Cheers

[whatever6719]

Thanks for that Galleyhag.
All I can say is wow!!
I can see why QF are putting alot more skybeds on the Perth run to be able to compete.
What will they do with the 73's?? Are they going to put J in them as well?

[GAFA]

I think it was great how the uniform was kept under wraps for so long with the likes of Facebook etc. Crews first saw the new uniform last October and the issue of the uniform started 3 weeks ago. Male flight crew are issued with R.M. Williams boots, which are airport friendly:D

[GAFA]

Roll out of J and new cabin on the 737 to be completed by DEC 2011. Product will be revealed by 30 June 2011.

[Going Nowhere]

Saw the new uniforms on the bus this morning... :eek: :E

[ditzyboy]

A330 business class cabin- best domestic business class product in the market.

Will Virgin Blue retain the 2-3-2 J configuration of the Emirates aircraft? I notice they only show the outside set of two seats in the images provided.

Those seats pictured are the newly-refurbished Emirates J product (A332/A343). They are the same model of seat as Qantas' old Dreamtime international J seat. They are 2-3-2 across. Seat pitch was originally 42", but was increased to 60" with the removal of a row of F 4-5 years ago.

Although 2-3-2, the seat pitch and comfort are vastly superior to Qantas' 2-3-2 or 2-2-2 (EBM-N). Qantas will soon be able to claim 'no middle seats in J'. Would that be a competitive advantage against Virgin, despite higher seat comfort (of QF's domestic config aircraft)?

Emirates Refurb'd J 60" Pitch (A332/A343) (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Emirates/Airbus-A330-243/1714698/L/)

Emirates Old J 42" Pitch (A332/A343) (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Emirates/Airbus-A330-243/0133609/L/)

[GAFA]

Link to the catwalk show revealing the uniforms, including Elle in pilots uniform;

Photos: Virgin Blue unveils new uniform - Wings Down Under (http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/wings-down-under/2011/02/photos-virgin-blue-unveils-new-uniform.html)

[The Kelpie]

Nice to see Pilots looking like Pilots again!!

[air command]

yes kelpie, it only took ten years but finally another part of the BG egalitarian society legacy is dead and buried.
Other poor Godfrey era decisions yet to be taken out the back and shot, but JB can only reload the gun so fast!

[GAFA]

From Australian BT.

As part of its "New Blue" shakeup, Virgin Blue will relaunch its Velocity Rewards this year following a significant internal review into all aspects of the airline's frequent flyer programme.

Velocity is currently undergoing a fundamental "strategic review" as part of the Virgin Blue Game Change strategy, with the airline giving a cagey "prior to 31 December 2011" date for the new programme to be launched.

In the detailed documents seen by Australian Business Traveller, the plans for Velocity are highlighted as the "launch of a new loyalty program", signalling that this may well be more than just changing the signs on the doors.

Also on track for the same release period are a "roll out of domestic business class on Boeing 737 fleet", and "ongoing product improvements on the ground".

Improvements to the frequent flyer programme are part of Virgin Blue's plans for a "modest increase in our penetration of the higher yielding corporate and government traffic".

The airline has told the stock exchange that it wants to gain 5-10%, bringing its share of the lucrative market to 15-20%. Of course, it emphasises that the focus is on business return, not market share.

Frequent flyers will be interested to know that the airline is planning to increase the benefits of its alliance with Etihad, with a "fully integrated frequent flyer program in place with its partner Etihad with reciprocal benefits for members of both airline programs, and roll-out with Air New Zealand by mid 2011."

That's in addition to the recent closer partnership with sister airlines Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America, where frequent flyers can earn and redeem points or miles on all flights on a Virgin plane.

The airline also revealed that there are over 2.4 million Velocity members, with "approximately 1,100 new members joining Velocity every day".

Virgin Blue also drew attention to its car hire partners Hertz, Thrifty and Europcar, and its launch in December of its new partnership with Virgin Wines.

[inandout]

the party is about to be spoiled by FUEL, here we go again.

[Skystar320]

Well I definately dont have more than 5% holding, but do have a substantial holding in my eyes!

[captwawa]

One thing the rat has done well always and VB seems to screw up is fuel hedging.

Has occurred more than once in the last couple of years and looks like it will bite VB again.

And what was wrong with the brown pants? Was easy to borrow c/c pants in the morning as you leave his room :ok:

[Capn Bloggs]

Nice to see Pilots looking like Pilots again!!
Poo. I won't be the smartest looking pielot on the airport anymore. :{

What's the go with the two and three stripes? FO seniority or skill level?

[who_cares]

It's nice to see that the model companies are using larger size models these days

[Red Jet]

What's the go with the two and three stripes?
Two stripes=V Australia Cruise First Officer

[Mr. Hat]

Yeah its..great..

[OneDotLow]

Red Jet :

V Australia Cruise First Officer

That would be a Second Officer, yeah? :ok:

[Ushuaia]

It's nice to see that the model companies are using larger size models these days

Are you saying you think Elle's fat, who_cares?! :}

[boeingwest]

Poo. I won't be the smartest looking pielot on the airport anymore. :{



Sorry Bloggs but you Nobham pilot's never do look that smart... more sloppy considering many wear grotty old baseball caps... you guys not have uniform standards there?

[Runaway Gun]

I didn't see the old Khaki FA uniforms, but I think these new red uniforms look very smart indeed.

[Che cows with guns]

I flew with Virgin today and the new uniform looks good. I spoke to a few of them and they seemed happy with the new direction the company seems to be taking, and the new clobber. I must say the whole airline is getting away from the original Virgin theme of just being a little "to cool for school", a lot more proffessional. They no longer say boys and girls in their P/A's and overall less of a kindergarten attitude. Don't get me wrong I am not a prude I just always cringed whenever I flew with them. I think new management is having a positive effect. Now they just have to turn around some pretty ****ty numbers on the balance sheet and become a little less Queensland centric.
CHEers

[PammyAnderson]

Yes 2 stripes does not = a First Officer :=
But the uniforms do look good. !

[Skystar320]

some of them a great and tight!