Merlin Entertainments Share News (MERL)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Travel stocks were among the worst performers at the start of the week following disappointing results from Ryanair, as London stocks in general saw broad-based losses amid continuation of US-China trade spat.The FTSE 100 was down 54.06 points, or 0.7%, at 7,294.56 Monday midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 139.54 points, or 0.7%, at 19,359.07. The AIM All-Share was down 0.1% at 958.20.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.8% at 12,369.86. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.7% at 17,393.69, though the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,848.70."News that the decision to implement auto tariffs would be delayed caused a recovery into the end of last week, but this morning we received a timely reminder that this could well get worse before it gets better," commented David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB.Alphabet Inc's Google confirmed it has blocked Huawei from updating some parts of its Android software used on Huawei phones to comply with a US government order blacklisting the Chinese firm.The tech giant said it was "complying with the order and reviewing the implications", but assured Huawei users that their current phones would continue to work.Last week, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively banning the Chinese firm from using US technology without government permission.Meanwhile, the UK Government has said it is yet to make a decision on whether to allow another part of Huawei's business, its telecoms equipment, to be a part of new 5G networks in the UK.Remaining in the UK, the contest to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May is hotting up, with potential leadership candidates setting out their stalls.Health Secretary Matt Hancock refused to rule out a bid for the job, saying he had a "strong view about the sort of leader we need". Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson has already confirmed he will stand in the race to replace May, which is due to officially begin within weeks.The prime minister will set out the timetable for her exit and the leadership contest to succeed her after a crunch vote on the legislation for her Brexit deal in early June.The pound was quoted at USD1.2739 at midday, broadly unchanged from USD1.2737 late Friday.In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were down 1.2% and 1.3% respectively. In the US, Wall Street is on track for a downbeat start to the week. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 are both called down 0.1%, while the Nasdaq is pointed 0.5% lower. Oil was largely unchanged start of the week, quoted at USD72.62 Monday midday versus USD72.60 late Friday amid further deterioration in US-Iranian relations. The price of Brent had surpassed USD73 a barrel overnight before falling back in morning trade.US President Donald Trump vowed Sunday to deny Tehran nuclear weapons just hours after threatening it would "be the official end of Iran" when the country's Revolutionary Guard said it was not afraid of war."If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the US again!" Trump wrote on Twitter, seemingly in response to comments Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Hossein Salami made earlier in the day.Tensions have been escalating between the two countries since Tehran announced it would begin a partial withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, from which Washington pulled out of last year."With Donald Trump threatening the Iran's aggression towards the US would see 'the end' of the Islamic Republic, there was plenty reasoning behind the weekend gap higher. However, we are also seeing cracks in the OPEC+ story, with the Russians talking about a potential easing of the output restrictions," said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG."Saudi threats that any relaxing of the current production levels could spark a glut of oil on the market have certainly raised concerns amongst crude traders, with prices falling in early trade today," he added.As well as a volatile oil price hitting travel stocks - on fears of higher fuel prices - disappointing guidance from budget airline Ryanair.Irish carrier Ryanair, down 2.5% at midday, reported a 41% fall in annual profit to EUR948.1 million despite revenue rising 6% to EUR7.69 billion.Looking ahead, the airline expects traffic to rise 8% in financial 2020 to 153 million passengers. However, assuming revenue per passenger growth of 3%, Ryanair guided for broadly flat group profit, including Lauda. This will range from EUR750 million if revenue per passenger rises 2%, up to EUR950 million if revenue per passenger rises 4%. "While first half bookings are slightly ahead of last year, fares are lower and we expect this trend will continue through Summer 2019. We have zero second half visibility," the company added.Ryanair's results hit other airlines in a negative read-across, with FTSE 100 constituents TUI and easyJet down 3.7% and 1.3% respectively. Beleaguered travel agent Thomas Cook was down 18%, furthering Friday's 40% slide after analysts at Citigroup cut the stock's price target to zero following a sharply wider interim loss. In the FTSE 250, Merlin Entertainments slipped 6.2% after HSBC cut the Legoland owner to Reduce from Buy. Also hurting from a rating downgrade was Metro Bank, lowered to Sell from Hold by Investec. This comes following a turbulent period for the challenger bank, as it last week raised more than initially anticipated after being hit by macroeconomic difficulties, such as regulatory changes and a low-interest rate environment, as well as "company-specific factors".In January, the lender announced it had underestimated the risk on its commercial loans and needed to raise capital to compensate for the shortfall.Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings, meanwhile, motored to the top of the mid-caps as Bernstein boosted the luxury car maker to Outperform from Market Perform. IT infrastructure firm Softcat rose 1.9% as the firm said its annual results are expected to be "slightly ahead" of prior expectations. The FTSE 250 constituent said it continued to preform well in the three months to April 30, delivering "strong year-on-year growth" across all income and profit measures.