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(Alliance News) - Irish airline Ryanair on Friday said it has raised EUR400 million in a share placing.
First announced after the market close on Thursday, Ryanair said the funds were being raised to help position the firm to "move quickly" should opportunities in the sector be thrown up.
"Post Covid-19 growth opportunities include gaining market share from peers retrenching, further European airline failures and competitive unit cost advantage over other carriers. The placing will provide Ryanair with greater financial flexibility to capture these opportunities," said Ryanair on Thursday.
The placing should also "significantly de-risk" the group's debt repayments over the next 12 months.
A total of 35.2 million shares were placed at a price of EUR11.35 each, Ryanair said on Friday morning, the price representing a 2.6% discount to Thursday's closing quote.
Ryanair on Thursday added that 2020 has proven to be "the most challenging period in Ryanair's 35-year history", though believes it has responded well.
On Wednesday, Ryanair said traffic in August dropped by 53% to 7.0 million passengers versus the 14.9 million passengers it carried a year earlier. The carrier said it operated about 60% of its normal August schedule, with a 73% load factor.
Despite August showing sharp declines, it represented strong growth from July, when the budget airline saw passengers crater 97% to 400,000.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called down 0.6% at 5,815.10
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Hang Seng: down 1.4% at 24,648.83
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.1% at 23,205.43
DJIA: closed down 2.9% at 28,292.73
S&P 500: closed down 3.5% at 3,455.06
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GBP: flat at USD1.3270 (USD1.3272)
EUR: firm at USD1.1841 (USD1.1825)
Gold: higher at USD1,934.21 per ounce (USD1,926.09)
Oil (Brent): higher at USD43.74 a barrel (USD43.42)
(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
11:00 BST Ireland Balance of Payments
11:00 BST Ireland GDP
09:30 BST UK CIPS / Markit Construction Purchasing Managers Index
08:30 EDT US Jobs report for August
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UK ministers are under fire from holidaymakers and the travel industry for failing to provide "clarity" after Portugal and Greece retained their places on England's coronavirus quarantine exemption list. Wales and Scotland have added restrictions to passengers returning from the summer holiday hotspots, but the UK government said on Thursday there would be no change to its list. There had been speculation that Westminster would reimpose the quarantine requirement on Portugal due to a spike in Covid-19 cases, leading many holidaymakers to pay hundreds of pounds to fly home this week. The government was also under pressure to reimpose quarantine rules on arrivals from Greece after Scotland and Wales introduced restrictions in recent days. But Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced on Thursday evening that there were no changes to the Government's list, though he said he would not "hesitate to remove countries if needed".
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Secrecy about the UK government's Brexit negotiating objectives hindered preparations for the UK's exit from the EU, according to a new report. The efforts also took a heavy toll on the Civil Service with a high turnover among senior staff, with more than 22,000 workers deployed across Whitehall departments on the preparations which cost GBP4.4 billion. The findings have emerged in a study by the National Audit Office which examined the lessons to be learned from the government's attempts to ready the country for Brexit following the 2016 Leave referendum result. Meanwhile, members of the logistics industry have warned the government the supply chain "will be severely disrupted" next year if "significant gaps" in UK border plans are not resolved before Brexit. Eight logistics organisations including the Road Haulage Association have written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove requesting a meeting about technological and infrastructure concerns, according to a copy of the letter seen by the Financial Times.
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German manufacturing orders climbed on a monthly basis, with its annual decline easing as the sector inches closer to pre-lockdown levels, data showed. Monthly, new orders in manufacturing climbed 2.8% in July, Destatis said, building on a 29% surge in June. Annually, new orders were 7.3% lower, easing from an 11% fall in June. While the monthly figure disappointed the market which expected a 5% climb, FXStreet-supplied consensus also anticipated a 20% yearly plunge, meaning the 7.3% fall was a pleasant surprise.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BARCLAYS RAISES HIKMA TO 'OVERWEIGHT' (EQUAL WEIGHT) - TARGET 2800 (2350) PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES IMPERIAL BRANDS TO 'OVERWEIGHT' (NEUTRAL)
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JPMORGAN RAISES SMITHS GROUP PRICE TARGET TO 1685 (1500) PENCE - 'OVERWEIGHT'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Berkeley Group, which is holding its annual general meeting on Friday, said recent trading has been resilient. For the period spanning May 1 to August 31, Berkely said trading has been resilient and supports its existing guidance of GBP500 million of pretax profit for the full-year. The company also reaffirmed its commitment to its shareholder returns programme of GBP280 million per annum. The upmarket housebuilder added that it anticipated a more even split of profit between the first and second halves of the year, following better-than-expected levels of production and robust pricing. Berkeley's update came as the UK Competition & Markets Authority opened enforcement cases focusing on the sale of leasehold homes by four leading housebuilders. The CMA's probe pertains to Barratt Developments, Countryside Properties, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey. The probe comes after the CMA uncovered what it called "troubling evidence of potentially unfair terms concerning ground rents in leasehold contracts and potential mis-selling."
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WPP said its subsidiary Wunderman Thompson acquired French customer experience consultancy Velvet Consulting, for an undisclosed sum. WPP said the acquisition forms a key part of its wider strategic transformation, which is investment in technology services. Velvet Consulting's clients include L'Oreal, Sephora, Schneider Electric, Fnac Darty, La Poste Group, Pierre Fabre and Sanofi.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Centrica said it has agreed to acquire the energy supply customers of Robin Hood Energy via its British Gas business, for an undisclosed sum. Robin Hood Energy currently has around 112,000 residential customers, and 2,600 business customers across 10,000 sites. Completion of the transaction is expected on September 16, with customers moving to British Gas over the next few months, Centrica said.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Malaysia has dropped criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group over its role in the 1MDB scandal, a lawyer for the bank said. Billions of dollars were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad in a fraud that involved former prime minister Najib Razak and his cronies that spanned the globe. The money was used to buy everything from expensive artwork to real estate and a massive luxury superyacht. Goldman's role came under scrutiny over bond issues totalling USD6.5 billion it helped arrange for the investment vehicle, with Malaysia claiming large amounts were misappropriated during the process. Authorities previously pursued all those involved in the scandal and filed charges against the Wall Street titan but state news agency Bernama reported that prosecutors told a Kuala Lumpur court they no longer intended to pursue them. Hisyam Teh, a lawyer for the bank, confirmed to AFP that acquittal orders were granted.
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Johnson & Johnson said Thursday its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutical had reported positive data on its SARS-CoV-2 investigational vaccine candidate Ad26.COV2.S during pre-clinical studies. Janssen reported that the candidate prevented severe clinical diseases in Syrian golden hamsters, upon being challenged by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 in humans. The vaccine candidate is currently being evaluated in clinical studies to set up the performance of the candidate in humans. "This pre-clinical study further validates our confidence in our SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate. With our phase three trials planned to start this month, we remain committed to expanding our manufacturing and distribution capabilities to enable global access to our SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate should it prove to be safe and effective in humans," said Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels.
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Friday's Shareholder Meetings
Berkeley Group Holdings
IDE Group Holdings
Amino Technologies - GM re dividend resolution
Allianz Technology Trust - GM re share issue
Halma
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By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
