British Airways’ new parent company International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) enjoyed a quiet opening day’s trading on the stock markets of London and the linked exchanges of Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia on Monday.
Shares in IAG opened in the City at a price of 288.1p and closed at 287.19p after touching 289p. IAG shares in Spain finished the day at €3.31, broadly in line with the London price allowing for the exchange rate.
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh and chairman Antonio Vazquez were at the London Stock Exchange to watch trading open. Walsh said: “IAG has a great future ahead of it. BA and Iberia are the first two airlines in IAG, but they won’t be the last. Today is the first step towards creating a multinational multi-brand airline group.”
Ordinary shares held by BA shareholders were cancelled last Friday and new IAG shares issued on Monday on a one-for-one basis. BA shares were trading at 300p earlier this month after rising consistently since July last year when the merger with Iberia won a green light from European regulators. However, the carrier’s share price fell below 150p for much of 2009.