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(Alliance News) - Ryanair on Thursday hit out at the UK and Irish governments' latest travel restrictions, as well as what said was a too slow vaccination programme in Ireland.
The carrier now expects traffic for the year ending March of between 26 million and 30 million, its guidance reduced from the previous forecast of "below 35 million".
Ryanair expects its January traffic to fall to below 1.25 million passengers and Covid-19 restrictions could mean it may only carry 500,000 customers in each of February and March.
The company warned: "In response, Ryanair will significantly cut its flight schedules from Thurs 21 January, which will result in few, if any, flights being operated to/from Ireland or the UK from the end of January until such time as these draconian travel restrictions are removed."
The firm called on the UK and Ireland to speed up their vaccination programmes. Ryanair particularly hit out at Ireland, which it said has vaccinated just 4,000 people, ten times slower than Denmark, a population of a similar size.
"The WHO have previously confirmed that governments should do everything possible to avoid brutal lockdowns, because lockdowns 'do not get rid of the virus'. Ireland's Covid-19 travel restrictions are already the most stringent in Europe, and so these new flight restrictions are inexplicable and ineffective when Ireland continues to operate an open border between the Republic and the North of Ireland," a spokesperson for Ryanair said.
Ryanair shares were down 1.0% early Thursday in London.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.5% at 6,878.77
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Hang Seng: down 0.3% at 27,620.14
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.6% at 27,490.13
DJIA: closed up 437.80 points, or 1.4%, at 30,829.40
S&P 500: closed up 21.28 points, or 0.6%, at 3,748.14
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GBP: firm at USD1.3578 (USD1.3570)
EUR: up at USD1.2315 (USD1.2275)
Gold: up at USD1,923.94 per ounce (USD1,907.65)
Oil (Brent): up at USD54.79 a barrel (USD54.22)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
0930 GMT UK CIP-Markit construction PMI
0930 GMT UK narrow money (notes and coin) and reserve balances
0930 GMT UK Finance quarterly business finance review
1100 GMT Ireland industrial production and turnover
1000 CET EU ECB economic bulletin
1100 CET EU flash estimate euro area inflation
1100 CET EU retail trade
1100 CET EU business climate and economic sentiment indicators
1000 EST US ISM report on business services PMI
0830 EST US international trade in goods and services
0730 EST US Challenger job-cut report
0830 EST US initial jobless claims
1030 EST US EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1200 EST US monthly retail chain store sales index
1630 EST US federal discount window borrowings
1630 EST US money stock measures
1630 EST US foreign central bank holdings
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London's hospitals are on the verge of being overwhelmed by coronavirus even under the 'best case' scenario, according to an official briefing. The Health Service Journal said NHS England London medical director Vin Diwakar had established the stark predictions to the medical directors of London's hospital trusts on a Zoom call. The NHS England presentation, seen by the HSJ, showed that even if the number of Covid patients grew at the lowest rate considered likely, and measures to manage demand and increase capacity, including opening the capital's Nightingale hospital, were successful, the NHS in London would be short of nearly 2,000 general and acute and intensive care beds by January 19. The briefing forecasts demand for both G&A and intensive care beds, for both Covid and non-Covid patients, against capacity. It accounted for the impact of planned measures to mitigate demand and increase capacity.
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The decline in UK retail footfall slowed in December, as England came out of lockdown, data on Thursday showed, though the sector saw a muted festive period after much of the country was put under stringent Tier 4 restrictions. According to Springboard's insights monitor, footfall slumped 42% annually across UK retail destinations in December, though this was not as severe as November's 51% plunge. In November, England was subject to its second nationwide lockdown. In December, high-street footfall fell by 51% annually. Shopping centre footfall dropped 46%. In retail parks, helped by a greater variation of stores, footfall fell just 19%. "Footfall during December as a whole improved from November in all three destination types; however, the month can only be described as a month of two halves which was a trading rollercoaster for retailers," said Springboard Marketing & Insights Director Diane Wehrle. "Footfall improved at the beginning of the month when Lockdown 2 ended but was sharply curtailed by further Tier 4 restrictions imposed across a large number of UK destinations during the penultimate trading week of the year." In the second and third weeks of December, the average UK retail footfall decline was 32% annually, though in the final two weeks of the month, the decline averaged 50%.
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened sanctions against individuals and organisations involved in the arrest of dozens of Hong Kong democracy figures, voicing anger that an American was among those rounded up. Pompeo said the 53 people arrested Wednesday "should be released immediately and unconditionally". "The US will not stand idly by while the people of Hong Kong suffer under Communist oppression," Pompeo said in a late-night statement after a day of political violence in Washington. "The US will consider sanctions and other restrictions on any and all individuals and entities involved in executing this assault on the Hong Kong people." Pompeo, who remains in office for two weeks, said the US would also "explore restrictions" against the financial hub's trade representative office in Washington.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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JEFFERIES RAISES SMURFIT KAPPA TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 3950 (3450) PENCE
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JEFFERIES RAISES DS SMITH TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 440 (370) PENCE
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INVESTEC CUTS CAIRN ENERGY TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 215 (170) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Sainsbury's said like-for-like sales in the nine weeks to January 2 - so including the key festive period - were up 9.3% year-on-year. For the whole of its third-quarter, like-for-likes, excluding fuel, climbed 8.6%. Sales hikes were reported across the board, with grocery sales up 7.4%, general merchandise sales climbing 6.0%, and clothing sales up 0.4%. Sainsbury's noted that online grocery sales more than doubled. "Grocery, general merchandise and clothing sales were stronger than our expectations throughout the quarter and particularly since the start of England's second national lockdown and subsequent increased restrictions throughout the UK. general merchandise and clothing gross margins additionally benefited from better than anticipated full price sales, driven by customers shopping earlier for Christmas and successful changes to our Black Friday trading strategy," the company explained. For the year ending March, Sainsbury's expects underlying pretax profit of at least GBP330 million, meaning a potential 44% fall from GBP586 million in financial 2020.
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B&M European Value Retail said revenue jumped 23% in the 13 weeks to December 26, its third quarter. Revenue totalled GBP1.40 billion, up from GBP1.14 billion. B&M's UK stores saw annual revenue growth of 27% during the quarter. B&M slightly nudged down its annual earnings forecast, however. It now expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation between GBP540 million and GBP570 million. Previous guidance issued in December was for an adjusted Ebitda between GBP600 million and GBP650 million.
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Ladbrokes Coral owner Entain said it has made a GBP250 million recommended offer for Enlabs, extending the UK bookmaker into Baltic markets. The SEK40 per share offer values Enlabs at SEK2.80 billion, about GBP250 million. The agreed bid comes in the wake of Entain rejecting a potential takeover offer from its US partner, MGM Resorts International, as too low. "The acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in Entain's first full year of ownership," Entain said on Enlabs. "Enlabs predominantly operates online sports-betting and gaming brands across the fast-growing Baltic region with a small retail presence. It is the market leader in Latvia, the second largest in Estonia and a top-five operator in Lithuania." Entain said it has the support of the Enlabs board and shareholders representing 42% of the total. The firm added that it has continued its "strong performance" during its final quarter, despite government restrictions meaning it was forced to shut its UK bricks and mortar estate. It bumped up its Ebitda guidance to between GBP825 million and GBP845 million, between 6% and 8% higher than the previous range.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Interdealer broker TP ICAP launched a GBP315 million rights issue of shares to help pay for its Liquidnet acquisition. TP ICAP will issue 225.3 million shares at 140.0 pence, offered to existing shareholders on a 2-for-5 basis. The rights issue, fully underwritten by HSBC Bank, represents 40% of TP ICAP's existing share capital and 28.6% of its enlarged total. TP ICAP said the USD575 million acquisition of Liquidnet, announced back in October, will create UK-headquartered, global financial markets infrastructure provider. "This acquisition is a unique opportunity to transform TP ICAP's growth prospects by materially accelerating our stated strategy of electronification, aggregation and diversification," said CEO Nicolas Breteau. TP ICAP also said it expects revenue for 2020 to be down 1% on 2019, as trading volumes were subdued in the fourth quarter.
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Embattled All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers has revealed plans for an investor cash-call to boost its battered balance sheet as UK lockdowns have forced the closure of all its sites, PA reports. The group said it is "prudent" to consider an equity raise as it burns through up to around GBP40 million in cash a month before GBP50 million of quarterly debt payments during lockdown. Mitchells, which also owns brands including Harvester and Toby Carvery, said it has cash balances of GBP125 million. It said no decision has yet been made on the timing or size of an equity capital raise. Total sales over its first quarter to January 2 crashed 67.1% as tightening coronavirus restrictions hit trading and saw increasing numbers of pubs shut, with all its sites closed from December 30. Sales fell 30% on a like-for-like basis, when only taking into account periods where stores were able to open.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Twitter has locked Donald Trump's account for the first time and demanded he remove tweets excusing violence as it threatened him with "permanent suspension" from the platform. The site had earlier removed the retweet, like and reply functions on a video in which Trump addressed his supporters who had clashed with police in Washington DC forcing a lockdown at the US Capitol building. In the video, the president told protesters that they "have to go home now", adding "we don't want anybody hurt", but he also claimed that "this was a fraudulent election". "As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC, we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy," Twitter Safety posted, adding: "Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account."
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The New York Stock Exchange reversed course again Wednesday saying it would delist three Chinese telecom equities from trading due to new US government guidance. Meanwhile, Washington is considering adding Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and tech giant Tencent Holding to the blacklist, The Wall Street Journal reported. The latest flip-flop by the NYSE, which will remove China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom, reverts the exchange back to its original policy announced last week. The exchange had abandoned the decision to delist two days ago amid criticism from Beijing, but said Wednesday it will follow "new specific guidance received on January 5, 2021, that the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control provided to the NYSE." The move will end trading in the firms after 1430 GMT on January 11.
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Thursday's Shareholder Meetings
Global Petroleum Ltd - AGM
Cadence Minerals PLC - AGM
Cambria Automobiles PLC - AGM
Ormonde Mining PLC - AGM
Value & Income Trust PLC - GM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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