Investors cautious as fuel prices impact on airlines

High oil prices and overcapacity continue to depress airline profit margins, according to Nigel Ridge, fund manager at Deutsche Asset Management. In looking to explain the transport sector's underperformance year to date, Ridge points to the impact of the oil price increases early in the year. The Bloomberg 500 European index transport subsector fell 87.20% in sterling terms, for the year to 6 November, compared to the overall index returns of -5.02%. Within the sector the top performing company, British Airport Authority, returned 29.43% in sterling terms over the same time period. Ridg...