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(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Tuesday.
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COMPANIES
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Wm Morrison Supermarkets said its like-for-like sales surged over the festive period, helped by a "renewed focus on traditional Christmas fare". Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, over Christmas and the New Year were 9.3% higher annually. For the nine weeks of the fourth quarter to date, which ends on January 31, retail like-for-like sales excluding-fuel were up 7.3%. In addition, research firm Kantar said Morrison's market share inched up to 10.4% from 10.3% during the 12 weeks to December 27.
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UK supermarkets had their busiest month ever in December, market research firm Kantar said, as the usual festive sales boom was turbocharged by lockdown measures that forced bars and restaurants to shut once again. Out of the London-listed UK grocers, Ocado posted the chunkiest annual sales rise, but Tesco and J Sainsbury both gave up some market share during the 12 weeks to December 27. Total UK grocery sales during the 12 weeks, which included the run-up to Christmas, jumped 11% annually to GBP32.69 billion from GBP29.35 billion.
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Next said that its full-price sales over the holiday trading stretch fell by less than initially anticipated. However, the retailer did warn that profit it made in November and December "has been almost entirely offset by" lockdowns and additional costs it has incurred clearing retail stock. For the year ending January, Next expects pretax profit of GBP370 million, a notch higher than its GBP365 million guidance issued back in October, which itself was bumped up from its GBP300 million guidance issued a month earlier. Promisingly for Next, full price sales in the nine weeks to December 26 were down just 1.1% from the prior year, measuring up favourably to the retailer's central guidance of an 8% decline.
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DCC announced it has completed the acquisition of United Propane Gas, which will go towards expanding its presence in the US liquefied petroleum gas market. The support services firm said the United Propane Gas acquisition is its biggest one since entering the US LPG market back in 2018. With the material bolt-on acquisitions of NES Group in September 2020, Pacific Coast Energy in April 2019 and the recent smaller bolt-on acquisition completed in Colorado, the combined enterprise value of the transactions was USD145 million, which was paid from its cash resources. Based in Kentucky, US, UPG markets, sells and delivers LPG and related products and services to residential, agricultural and commercial customers in 13 midwest and southern states, with a particularly strong presence in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.
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Budget airlines Ryanair Holdings and Wizz Air Holdings reported sharp annual drops in passengers carried in December, amid tightened travel restrictions. Dublin-based Ryanair said it carried just 1.9 million passengers in December, down 83% from 11.2 million a year before. It said it operated 22% of its normal December schedule with a 73% load factor. Budapest-based Wizz Air said it carried 665,722 passengers last month, down 80% from 3.3 million in December 2019. It reduced seat capacity by just 68%, so its load factor was worse than Ryanair's, at 56%, down from 89% a year before. Wizz Air said it launched six new routes during December. These were between Doncaster Sheffield, Gatwick and London Luton bases in the UK and destinations in Turkey, Bulgaria, Spain and Greece.
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Plus500 expects to report an exceptional rise in earnings and revenue for 2020, as platform usage reached record volumes amid the volatile market conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. For the year, Plus500 expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be around USD515 million, nearly a fivefold rise from USD192.3 million the year before. This is on revenue that it set to more than double year-on-year to USD872 million from USD354.5 million. This was attributed to record levels of platform usage and a sharp rise in customer numbers. The company also said Managing Director Gal Haber will step down from his role and the board with immediate effect.
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MARKETS
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Stock prices in London were higher on Tuesday morning, despite Monday's evening's announcement that England will enter into a nationwide lockdown for the third time.
"Quite a few UK domestic businesses saw their shares sell off yesterday afternoon amid speculation about what Boris Johnson might announce in his evening speech, so an element of the bad news was already priced in before markets opened today," AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould said.
Morrisons shares were up 0.3%, giving back some of Monday's 2.1% gains. Retailer Next topped London's large-cap index, rising 9.6%.
Stocks in New York were called higher ahead of polls opening in Georgia for the crucial Senate runoff.
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FTSE 100: up 0.6% at 6,608.81
FTSE 250: up 1.0% at 20,740.00
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 1,162.40
GBP: weaker at USD1.3576 (USD1.3587)
EUR: soft at USD1.2273 (USD1.2275)
Gold: firm at USD1,945.85 per ounce (USD1,940.70)
Oil (Brent): up at USD51.48 a barrel (USD51.04)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Almost 14 million people in the UK could be in line for a Covid vaccine by the middle of February, in line with plans announced by the prime minister. In a TV address announcing the third national lockdown for England, Boris Johnson said officials were hoping for all people in the top four priority groups to have been offered a jab in the coming weeks. Tweeting afterwards, vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said the NHS "family will come together" to get 13.9 million doses prepared for the most vulnerable by the middle of next month. A source told the PA news agency that those near the top of the list will be contacted by mid-February, but the final figure could be lower – closer to 13 million – because of some crossover between groups, such as those over 80 who live in care homes. Speaking from Downing Street, Johnson outlined the NHS's "realistic expectations" for the vaccination programme in the coming weeks.
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Germany's unemployment rate was unchanged monthly in December, though promisingly, official data showed the actual number of those out of work fell. Numbers also showed that German retail sales climbed in November and topped market forecasts. Germany's unemployment rate in December was unchanged at 6.1%, using seasonally adjusted data. The figure was in line with the consensus forecast cited by FXStreet. Numbers also showed unemployment fell by 37,000 from the previous month, beating forecasts of a rise of 10,000. Separate data from Destatis showed retail sales in Germany grew in November, ahead market expectations. Sales were up 1.9% month-to-month and 5.6% annually. The FXStreet-cited consensus had predicted a 3.9% annual jump and a 2% monthly fall.
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US President Donald Trump on Monday implored Georgians to "save" America and re-elect Republicans in two runoffs that will determine US Senate control and could decisively impact the start of Joe Biden's White House tenure. "Our country's depending on you. The whole world is watching the people of Georgia tomorrow," Trump, who still refuses to concede defeat in the presidential election barely two weeks before he leaves office, told a raucous crowd in the town of Dalton. Tuesday's twin Senate runoffs are "your last chance to save the America that we love," the president said. "If you don't show up, the radical Democrats will win." Georgia has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in 20 years. But if Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock both win, Democrats will control the Senate, handing Biden all levers of political power in Washington.
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The New York Stock Exchange abandoned plans to delist three state-owned Chinese telecom companies on Monday, reversing a decision that further dented already strained relations between the world's two superpowers. In a brief statement, the stock exchange said it "no longer intends to move forward with the delisting action" for China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom. No detailed reason was given for the sudden reversal but the exchange said it came after "further consultation with relevant regulatory authorities".
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