(Alliance News) - JD Wetherspoon on Friday lamented the UK government's handling of the coronavirus crisis and the ramifications this has had on the pub industry.
For the financial year ended July 26, the FTSE 250 pub chain swung to a pretax loss of GBP34.1 million before exceptional items from a GBP102.5 million profit the year prior. After exceptional items and application of the IFRS 16 accounting rule for leases, Wetherspoon swung to a loss of GBP105.4 million. Revenue fell 31% to GBP1.26 billion from GBP1.82 billion, with like-for-like sales down 30%.
Wetherspoon said like-for-like sales in the first 11 weeks of the new financial year have been 15% below those of last year, with strong sales in the first few weeks, followed by a marked slowdown since the introduction in the UK of a curfew - which causes pubs and restaurants to close at 2200 BST.
The pub chain skipped its annual dividend, having paid out 12.0 pence the year before.
Chair Tim Martin said that, as a result of recent changes in regulations, the outlook for pubs over the remainder of the current financial year is "even more unpredictable".
In his commentary on the annual results of the company he founded, Martin ranged from the business ideas of Warren Buffett to epidemiology to Newton's First Law of Motion.
"It appears that the government and its advisers were clearly uncomfortable as the country emerged from lockdown. They have introduced, without consultation, under emergency powers, an ever-changing raft of ill-thought-out regulations - these are extraordinarily difficult for the public and publicans to understand and to implement. None of the new regulations appears to have any obvious basis in science," Martin complained.
"For example, a requirement for table service was introduced - which is expensive to implement and undermines the essential nature of pubs for many people - pubs have now become like restaurants. Customers can approach the till in a shop, but not in a pub - which is, in no sense, 'scientific'".
Martin added: "The recent curfew and introduction of table service only have been particularly damaging for trade, depressing sales for customers who find it too much 'faff', at the same time as substantially increasing costs. As a result of recent changes in regulations, the outlook for pubs over the remainder of the current financial year is even more unpredictable than hitherto."
Wetherspoon share were down 0.5% early Friday. They are down 43% so far in 2020.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.9% at 5,884.35
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Hang Seng: up 1.0% at 24,390.20
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.4% at 23,410.63
DJIA: closed down 19.80 points, 0.1%, at 28,494.20
S&P 500: closed down 0.2% at 3,483.34
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GBP: down at USD1.2888 (USD1.2926)
EUR: flat at USD1.1700 (USD1.1705)
Gold: flat at USD1,904.40 per ounce (USD1,904.50)
Oil (Brent): flat at USD42.64 a barrel (USD42.58)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
EU summit concludes.
0930 BST UK Finance monthly card spending statistics
1100 CEST EU foreign trade
1100 CEST EU harmonised consumer price index
0915 EDT US industrial production and capacity utilization
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to set out whether trade talks with the EU should continue after his deadline for reaching an agreement passed without a deal in place. David Frost, Johnson's Europe sherpa, said the UK was "disappointed" by the outcome of a EU summit in which the bloc signalled it was willing to continue trade negotiations but called on Britain to make the next move. The UK's chief negotiator said the prime minister would set out his response on Friday. Johnson last month proposed that both sides should walk away from the talks and prepare for a no-deal outcome if there was no agreement by the European Council meeting on October 15. But, in a text adopted by the summit of EU leaders on the day of the deadline, they "invited" Brussels' chief negotiator Michel Barnier to continue his discussions while urging the UK to "make the necessary moves to make an agreement possible".
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A Chinese Covid-19 vaccine candidate based on inactivated coronavirus is safe and elicits an antibody response, preliminary results have shown. The research, published in the journal Lancet Infectious Disease, is based on small early phase randomised clinical trials involving 640 participants. Scientists said those aged 60 and over were slower to respond, with antibodies taking up to 42 days to be detected in blood tests, compared with 28 days for participants aged 18 to 59. They also found antibody levels to be lower in those aged 60 to 80 years, compared with those aged 18 to 59.
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US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden held rival televised town halls on Thursday, forcing voters to choose who to watch after the second presidential debate was cancelled. Both candidates were questioned on aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has become a key issue during the campaign and shows the differences and disagreements between them. When asked if his opinion on wearing masks has changed since his coronavirus diagnosis, Trump said no, adding that he supports masks but then falsely claiming that 85% of mask-wearers are infected with the virus. Biden used his event to attack the president on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, while pitching himself as the president who will unite the country after a divisive four years under Trump.
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The US Senate Judiciary Committee will vote next week on Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination, Senator Lindsey Graham said on Thursday. The vote on October 22 will take place as Senate Republicans push for the rapid confirmation of the 48-year-old conservative jurist before the presidential elections on November 3. The full Senate will vote on Barrett's nomination after the committee vote that day. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate and have enough votes to confirm Barrett, who is Trump's nominee for the country's highest court.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES WHITBREAD TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 2,500 (2,400) PENCE
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RBC RAISES JD SPORTS FASHION TO 'SECTOR PERFORM' ('UNDERPERFORM') - PRICE TARGET 825 (735) PENCE
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RBC RAISES DIXONS CARPHONE TO 'SECTOR PERFORM' ('UNDERPERFORM') - TARGET 100 (75) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Man Group reported a good performance in the third quarter and strong growth in funds under management. For the quarter ended September 30, funds under management stood at USD113.1 billion, up from USD108.3 billion as at June 30. Man Group posted net inflows of USD1.7 billion for the third quarter. In addition, Man Group said its USD100 million share buyback programme announced in September is "proceeding at the maximum permitted pace". "We are pleased to report good performance in the third quarter and strong growth in funds under management. This was driven by robust net inflows into alternatives as anticipated, as well as performance gains across both alternative and long-only strategies. Engagement with clients remains good, although there is increasing uncertainty due to upcoming political events and current Covid-19 trends," said Chief Executive Luke Ellis.
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Jupiter Fund Management said assets under management totalled GBP55.69 billion on September 30, up from GBP39.21 billion on June 30. The higher September total included GBP16.64 billion in acquired funds from the purchase of Merian Global Investors. Jupiter also booked GBP800 million in positive market returns, offset by GBP953 million in net outflows.
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Serco Group upgraded its earnings guidance after posting strong revenue growth in the third quarter. In an unscheduled trading update, the outsourcer expects full-year revenue to be around GBP3.9 billion and underlying trading profit in a range between GBP160 million to GBP165 million. Serco said all of its regions worldwide are performing better than expected and have increased their forecasts for 2020. At both group level and in the divisions, effective cost control and the ability of systems to respond efficiently to increased demand has helped increase margins, it said. "We expect the uncertainties of 2020 will persist into 2021 as the world grapples with recurring outbreaks of infection. We have only just started our budget review process, and we would not have a view concerning 2021 today which is materially different from that which we had at the time of our half year results in August," the company said.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Gilead Sciences's Covid-19 treatment remdesivir has no substantial effect on a patient's chances of survival, a clinical trial by the World Health Organization has found, delivering a significant blow to hopes of identifying existing medicines to treat the disease, the Financial Times reported Thursday. Results from the WHO's highly anticipated Solidarity trial, which studied the effects of remdesivir and three other potential drug regimens in 11,266 hospitalised patients, found that none of the treatments "substantially affected mortality" or reduced the need to ventilate patients, according to a copy of the study seen by the FT. "These remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir and interferon regimens appeared to have little effect on in-hospital mortality," the study found.
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Friday's Shareholder Meetings
Ashmore Group
K3 Capital Group
Metals Exploration
Loungers
Tungsten
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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