Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Cineworld Group said Friday it has not "observed any material impact" on its movie theatre admissions due to coronavirus, despite the release of the new James Bond movie postponed to November.
Following an increase in admissions in the first two months of the year, against the same period in the previous year, Cineworld said it continues to see "good" levels of admissions in all of its territories.
Looking ahead, the cinema operator noted that there can be no certainty as to the future impact of COVID-19, but it is taking measures to ensure that it is prepared its business for all possible eventualities.
The release date for Bond film 'No Time To Die' was postponed amid global concern around the spread of coronavirus.
The film was due to be released in April, but Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and film studios MGM and Universal said on Wednesday that "after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace", it will now be released in November.
It will be released in UK cinemas on November 12, and in the US on November 25.
Other major Hollywood titles including 'Mulan' – Disney's China-set live-action blockbuster – have been placed on hold in China, AFP reported, adding industry estimates put the financial loss from Asian theatres already shuttered this year around USD2 billion.
Citigroup cut Cineworld shares to Neutral from Buy.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: called down 111.73 points, 1.7%, at 6,593.70
----------
Hang Seng: down 2.3% at 26,158.26
Nikkei 225: closed down 2.7% at 20,749.75
DJIA: closed down 969.58 points, 3.6%, at 26,121.28
S&P 500: closed down 3.4% at 3,023.94
----------
GBP: up at USD1.2970 (USD1.2922)
EUR: up at USD1.1233 (USD1.1185)
Gold: up at USD1,669.02 per ounce (USD1,658.87)
Oil (Brent): down at USD49.52 a barrel (USD50.91)
(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting in Vienna.
0830 GMT UK Halifax house price index
1100 GMT Ireland gross domestic product
1100 GMT Ireland balance of payments
0830 EST US non-farm payrolls report for February
0830 EST US international trade in goods & services
1000 EST US monthly wholesale trade
1500 EST US consumer credit
----------
A patient with underlying health conditions became the first person in the UK to die after testing positive for coronavirus as the number of diagnosed cases hit three figures. The Royal Berkshire NHS Trust said the older patient, reported to be a woman in her 70s, had been "in and out of hospital" for other reasons but was admitted on Wednesday evening to hospital in Reading and tested positive. It came during a day of several key developments, with the number of UK cases of Covid-19 surging to 116 – more than double the total 48 hours earlier – and Downing Street warning it was "highly likely" the virus would spread "in a significant way".
----------
High street sales in the UK have taken a battering from storms and coronavirus fears over the past month, according to new figures. Like-for-like store sales slipped 0.9% in February, according to BDO's latest High Street Sales Tracker. The survey blamed storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge – as well as global fears over the coronavirus outbreak – for the decline, after sales had picked up in previous months. Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said: "Bad weather and concerning headlines contributed to an already difficult trading environment in February. The poor performance in non-store sales contributed further to a disastrous month for retail across the board." Sales away from the high street increased at a slower level than previous months, with growth slowing to 6% from 12.4% in the same month last year.
----------
Seven new cases of coronavirus have been detected in Ireland, including one patient with no link to travel to an infected area. Ireland's chief medical officer Tony Holohan said the country remains in the containment phase but warned it is a "rapidly evolving situation". Four of the latest cases are travel related from northern Italy, involving four males from the east of the country. Two are associated with close contact with a confirmed case and involve two females in the west of the country. The seventh case is a male, who the Department of Health have described as being "associated with Cork University Hospital" and is the first case of community transmission.
----------
German factory orders improved substantially in January following December's slump, Destatis reported. Factory orders were 5.5% higher in January on the month before, largely due to orders in the aerospace and machinery and equipment industries. This followed a 2.1% slump in December. Annually, orders were down 1.4%, though this marked a significant improvement on the 8.9% annual tumble recorded for December. Consensus, according to FXStreet, had pencilled in just a 1.4% month-on-month rise and a 7.6% annual decline.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
----------
BERENBERG CUTS JUPITER FUND MANAGEMENT TO 'SELL' ('HOLD') - TARGET 262 (367) PENCE
----------
CITIGROUP CUTS CINEWORLD GROUP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY')
----------
BARCLAYS CUTS VICTREX TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL WEIGHT') - TARGET 1870 (1940) PENCE
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
London-based insurer Aviva has agreed to exit Indonesia by selling its entire shareholding in its joint venture PT Astra Aviva Life to its partner PT Astra International. This transaction is expected to complete in the final quarter of 2020 and is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approval in Indonesia and the completion of Bangkok Bank Public Co Ltd's acquisition of PT Bank Permata. The shareholders of Bangkok Bank approved the acquisition of Permata Bank on Thursday, Aviva noted.
----------
AstraZeneca said the phase III Danube trial for Imfinzi and Imfinzi plus tremelimumab did not meet the primary endpoints of improving overall survival versus standard-of-care chemotherapy in patients with stage IV bladder cancer. "The results from this trial will inform our comprehensive phase III development programme in bladder cancer," said Executive Vice President Of Oncology R&D Jose Baselga. Imfinzi is currently approved for patients with locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer previously treated with platinum-containing chemotherapy in 15 countries, including the US. "AstraZeneca remains committed to addressing unmet needs in bladder cancer and the potential for immunotherapy to improve outcomes for these patients," added Baselga.
----------
HSBC Holdings evacuated 100 staff from its Canary Wharf offices in London after an employee was diagnosed with coronavirus, the Financial Times reported. The newspaper said the employee works in HSBC's investment bank research department and is now under medical supervisions and has self-isolated. The rest of the staff in the unit are now working from home. The department is on the tenth floor of HSBC's Canary Wharf office, with the affected area having has now undergone a deep-clean. The rest of the floor is still open, as is HSBC's trading operations on the fourth floor. HSBC said it has taken medical and official advice before deciding to leave the rest of the building open. About 10,000 people work in the office. The paper noted that the employee had visited the Canary Wharf office of S&P Global Platts, which has subsequently shut its office down, sending home 1,200 employees.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Murray International Trust said it underperformed its benchmark in 2019, with net asset value total return at 12% compared to the 21% returned by its benchmark - a combination of 40% of FTSE World UK Index and 60% of FTSE World ex UK Index. Murray reported NAV per share as at the end of 2019 of 1,190.0p compared to 1,107.8p reported on the same day a year earlier. The investment company said it will be paying a dividend of 53.5 pence for 2019, up from 51.5p paid a year earlier. Looking forward, Murray said it will continue to invest in opportunities across the globe that are not wholly tied to the developed economies and markets.
----------
Alliance Trust reported a 21% surge in its NAV per share, which stood at 875.9p as at December 31 versus 723.6p a year ago. The investment company said its total return of 24% outperformed its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI), which returned 22%. Alliance Trust said it will be paying a 13.96p dividend for the year, up 3.0% from 13.55p paid the year before. "During 2019, we completed the simplification of the trust by selling our subsidiary, Alliance Trust Savings, and virtually all our remaining non-core assets. As a result, we are now fully focused on global equities, something the board has been working towards for the last four years," said Chair Gregor Stewart. Looking ahead, the trust added that it expects its new streamlined structure to lead to continued improvement in returns to shareholders.
----------
COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
----------
Virgin Media has apologised after a data breach left the personal details of around 900,000 customers in the UK unsecured and accessible. The company, owned by the US's Liberty Global, said that the breach occurred after one of its marketing databases was "incorrectly configured" which allowed unauthorised access. It assured those affected by the breach that the database "did not include any passwords or financial details" but said it contained information such as names, home and email addresses, and phone numbers. Virgin said that access to the database had been shut down immediately following the discovery but by that time the database was accessed "on at least one occasion".
----------
Starbucks said the coronavirus outbreak is expected to hit earnings in the second quarter. The coffee chain said Starbucks China's comparable store sales were down 78% in February on a year ago, primarily due to store closures, reduced operating hours and "severely reduced" customer traffic. The company said it is seeing "early signs" of a recovery with sequential improvements in weekly sales. The disruption related to Covid-19 in China is expected to hit GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per share in the second quarter in a range of USD0.15 to USD0.18. The update came as Starbucks said it is to "pause" the use of personal cups, AFP reported. "We are pausing the use of personal cups and 'for here' ware in our stores," executive vice president Rossann Williams said in a statement Wednesday, adding that Starbucks would honour their 10-cent discounts for customers who arrive with their own cup even if they won't fill it.
----------
Friday's Shareholder Meetings
Ecofin Global Utilites & Infrastructure Trust
Global Resources Investment Trust (re allotment of shares)
----------
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
