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(Alliance News) - The UK's largest airlines and travel companies have expressed their concerns about "haphazard and disproportionate" travel restrictions imposed by the government, PA reports.
Tougher rules introduced due to the Omicron coronavirus variant mean everyone entering the UK must have evidence of a negative pre-departure test, and self-isolate until they receive a negative result from a post-arrival test.
People arriving in the UK from the 11 African countries currently on the red list must spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of GBP2,285 for solo travellers.
In a letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the chief executives of seven companies – including Ryanair and IAG's British Airways – accused Johnson of breaking his promises to fix the expensive cost of PCR tests for travellers.
"As leaders of UK airlines, we are deeply concerned about the haphazard and disproportionate approach by government to travel restrictions following the emergence of the Omicron variant", they said.
They added that the timing of the restrictions, so close to Christmas, has "undermined customer sentiment".
The letter also came from the bosses of Tui UK, easyJet, Loganair, Virgin Atlantic, Jet2 and trade group Airlines UK.
IAG shares were 0.1% higher early Monday, while easyJet was up 0.4%.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 7,299.19
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Hang Seng: down 0.2% at 23,954.58
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.7% at 28,640.49
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.4% at 7,379.30
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DJIA: closed up 216.30 points, 0.6%, at 35,970.99
S&P 500: closed up 1.0% at 4,712.02
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 0.7% at 15,630.60
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EUR: down at USD1.1290 (USD1.1314)
GBP: soft at USD1.3228 (USD1.3235)
USD: up at JPY113.55 (JPY113.28)
Gold: flat at USD1,785.76 per ounce (USD1,785.71)
Oil (Brent): up at USD75.77 a barrel (USD74.64)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's key economic events still to come
Germany balance of payments
1700 GMT UK Bank of England financial stability report
1100 EST US ISM manufacturing and services semi-annual report
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House prices in the UK cooled off in December, figures from property portal Rightmove showed. The average asking price of a UK house slipped by 0.7% in December to GBP340,167 from GBP342,401 in November. Despite the monthly fall, the average price still was up 6.3% annually. Rightmove expects a more "normal" housing market in 2022 following a "hectic" and "exceptional" past 18 months. While fully available stock for sale has hit a new record low this month, valuation requests from home-owners are up 19% from a year ago, suggesting more people will be making a New Year resolution to move, the online property portal said.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES ROYAL MAIL TO 'BUY' (HOLD) - PRICE TARGET 650 (530) PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES HOCHSCHILD MINING TO 'OVERWEIGHT' (NEUTRAL) - PRICE TARGET 200 (195) PENCE
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GOLDMAN SACHS CUTS SUPERMARKET INCOME REIT TO 'NEUTRAL' (BUY) - PRICE TARGET 142 (136) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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BHP said it has ended talks with Wyloo Metals. The duo had tried to find a way to cooperate on the acquisition of Canadian nickel group Noront Resources. In a statement, BHP said the two companies have determined that they are unable to reach an agreement. In a separate statement on Monday, Wyloo announced it had sweetened its offer for Noront to CAD1.10 per share, which is 47% above what BHP is proposing and nearly 60% above its original offer of CAD0.70. Wyloo said the Noront board supported the latest bid. BHP is offering CAD0.75 per share for Noront.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Sports Direct-owner Frasers Group announced it has kicked off a new share buyback worth GBP70.0 million. The programme begins on Monday and concludes on the last trading day before the company's financial year-end on April 24. The maximum number of shares that can be purchased under the programme is 10.0 million. It follows a previous GBP70.0 million buyback which was announced in October and concluded last week.
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Homeserve said its US arm has agreed to sell to Piedmont Natural Gas the book of policies created during the two companies' affinity partner relationship, which is due to end in April. Homeserve expects to receive about USD22 million gross in cash for the policy book. Separately, London-listed acquisition vehicle Spinnaker Acquisitions said it has agreed to buy HomeServe Labs from Homeserve in a reverse takeover. HomeServe Labs trades as LeakBot, a 'InsurTech' solution for home insurers. No price was disclosed. Spinnaker shares were suspended from trading on Monday ahead of a share issue to complete the transaction.
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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London-based geotechnical contractor Keller Group said it has won a USD160 million deal connected to the development of an energy site in the Gulf Coast region of the US. "The contract is expected to mobilise in 2022 and conclude in 2023 and comprises ground preparation, primarily through soil stabilisation, for the construction of an energy facility," Keller said. The pact was won by its Recon Services subsidiary. Keller bought Recon back in July for an initial USD23 million in cash from Oaktree Capital Management. Once the Gulf Coast project mobilises, Keller will pay an additional earn-out for the Recon acquisition. In July, the company said the acquisition consideration could rise to up to USD38 million.
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Invoicing platform Tungsten Corp said it has agreed to pay USD1.5 million, plus USD513,00 in legal fees, to settle an employment claim in the US. It said it denies the allegations made in the claim but thinks settlement is in the best interests of the company and shareholders. Tungsten, which also issued interim results on Monday, said it had GBP1.9 million in net cash as of October.
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Estate agent Purplebricks said it will need to take a provision of between GBP2 million and GBP9 million for expected claims resulting from an issue with how it has been communicating with tenants on behalf of its landlords within its letting business. While it finalises the amount of provision, Purplebricks has delayed its interim results, which had been scheduled for Tuesday.
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Monday's shareholder meetings
ADM Energy PLC - GM re equity raise
EPE Special Opportunities Ltd - EGM re issue of zero dividend preference shares
John Lewis of Hungerford PLC - AGM
River & Mercantile Group PLC - AGM
River & Mercantile Group PLC - GM re solutions business sale to Schroders
Roquefort Investments PLC - GM
Time Out Group PLC - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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