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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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Vodafone reported a swing to profit for financial 2020, as it maintained its all-important annual dividend. For its financial year to the end of March, the telecommunications provider swung to a pretax profit of EUR795 million from a loss of EUR2.61 billion in financial 2019. Revenue rose 3% to EUR44.97 billion from EUR43.67 billion last year. Adjusted earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation grew by 2.6% to EUR14.9 billion, reflecting revenue progression and cost savings success. Free cash flow grew by 12% to EUR4.9 billion. Vodafone said it had 64.4 million mobile contract customers in Europe in financial 2020, up 1.9% from 63.2 million the year before. European broadband customer numbers rose 33% to 25.0 million from 18.8 million. A final dividend of 4.5 euro cents was declared, up from 4.16 cents the year prior, thereby maintaining the total annual dividend at 9.0 cents. Looking ahead, Vodafone guided for financial 2021 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to be flat to slightly lower from EUR14.5 billion.
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Land Securities Group posted a sharply widened annual loss, as a result of a drop in the value of assets, after an already challenging and changing retail sector was hurt further by the Covid-19 pandemic. For the financial year to March 31, Landsec's pretax loss widened to GBP837 million from a loss of GBP123 million in financial 2019, as revenue slipped 6.3% to GBP414 million from GBP442 million. The property company said the value of its assets fell 8.8% in the recent year to GBP1.18 billion from a decline of GBP557 million last year. Annual EPRA net asset value per share - a measure of the fair value of the company's assets - was down 12% at 1,192p from 1,348p. Landsec slashed its full-year dividend 49% to 23.2p per share from 45.55p last year.
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Wm Morrison Supermarkets reported sales growth in the first quarter despite "highly volatile" trading and a worse-than-expected Easter due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in the UK. For the 14-week period from February 3 to May 10, the grocer said like-for-like sales excluding fuel were up 5.7% - with retail sales up 5.1% and wholesale up 0.6%. Total sales were up 5.7% excluding fuel, and down 4.0% including fuel. Morrisons said that retail like-for-like sales were up 5.0% for the first six weeks of the year. Sales were flat in the first four weeks of financial 2021, with weeks five to seven being marked by "considerable stocking up" by customers, lifting sales. Morrisons has deferred its special dividend payout for financial 2020 due to "the unprecedented nature of events around Covid-19". In March, the company announced its intention to declare a special payout.
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Standard Life Aberdeen reported a 10% decline in assets under management and administration, as it recorded GBP24 billion in net outflows during the first four months of 2020. The company's estimated AUMA at April 30 was GBP490 billion, down 10% from GBP544.6 billion at the end of 2019, with estimated net outflows of GBP24 billion. The remaining GBP30.6 billion of the decline would have been from market movements, though Standard Life Aberdeen didn't specify this in its statement. In a video statement to Standard Life Aberdeen's annual general meeting, Chief Executive Keith Skeoch reiterated the company's commitment to pay the 14.3p final dividend in respect of 2019, saying this was supported by its capital strength and GBP237 million proceeds from the sale of shares in its Indian joint venture HDFC Life.
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Kingfisher's first-quarter sales were battered by Covid-19, the DIY retailer reported, but almost all of its stores are operating again to some extent, including all but one of its B&Q sites in the UK. In the three months to April 30, Kingfisher's total sales slumped 24%, or 25% on a like-for-like, constant currency basis. It was period during which the pandemic began to gain a foothold in Europe, meaning some retailers were forced to close due to not providing essential services, while others, in the case of chains like B&Q, shuttered by choice. UK & Ireland total sales were 15% lower year-on-year, with numbers showing a 22% sales slump in B&Q and a 0.1% decline at Screwfix.
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Ryanair Holdings said it plans to run 40% of its schedule from July, should government measures allow, as the budget carrier unveiled social distancing and precautionary measures for when flights resume. Ryanair said it aims to operate a daily schedule of about 1,000 flights, and hopes to restore 90% of its pre-pandemic route network. All cabin crew will wear face masks, and in-flight services will be limited to just pre-packaged snacks and drinks with just cashless payments only. Passengers also will have to wear face masks and undergo temperature checks at the airport. What's more, there will be no queues for on-board lavatories, with passengers being made to ask cabin crew if they can use the toilet.
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MARKETS
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Vodafone was the best performer in the FTSE 100, up 8.0%, while Land Securities was the worst performer, down 15%. The pound was flat against the dollar as investors await an economic update from Chancellor Rishi Sunak later in the day. US stock market futures were pointed lower as fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections in some parts of the world weighed on sentiment.
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FTSE 100: up 0.4% at 5,964.79
FTSE 250: down 0.3% at 16,225.22
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.3% at 824.38
GBP: flat at USD1.2327 (USD1.2328)
EUR: flat at USD1.0810 (USD1.0812)
GOLD: firm at USD1,704.00 per ounce (USD1,698.03)
OIL (Brent): firm at USD30.02 a barrel (USD29.78)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK ministers are to set out guidance on how people can travel safely on public transport as the coronavirus lockdown begins to ease. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he does not expect a sudden "flood" of people heading back to work following the publication of the government's "road map" for lifting the restrictions. However, the prime minister has made clear he wants those who cannot work from home to start returning to their workplaces from Wednesday. It prompted a barrage of questions as to how it could be achieved amid warnings the government is watering down its clear "stay home" message. The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland made clear they were not yet ready to follow the government at Westminster in beginning to relax the controls. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is expected to announce a further extension of the furlough scheme to subsidise the wages of workers temporarily laid off during the outbreak.
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Consumer inflation in China slowed in April, and Covid-19 continued to hurt producer prices, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. In April, consumer prices rose 3.3% year on year, slowing from a 4.3% rise in March. Market consensus, according to FXStreet, had predicted a 3.7% consumer price inflation rate in April. The producer price index - which reflects what factories charge wholesalers - fell 3.1% in April, accelerating from March's 1.5% slip and steeper than market consensus of a 2.6% drop.
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The World Health Organization hailed dwindling Covid-19 infection rates and deaths in some countries, but called on nations to show "extreme vigilance" as they begin loosening their restrictions. Swathes of Europe began the long process of reopening from coronavirus lockdowns on Monday, with officials in countries like France and Spain emboldened by declining death rates. "The good news is that there has been a great deal of success in slowing the virus and ultimately saving lives," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing. WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan meanwhile hailed the gradual lifting of the lockdowns as a sign of "hope". But he cautioned that "extreme vigilance is required." More than 280,000 people have died out of the more than four million known Covid-19 infections worldwide.
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US President Donald Trump ruled out renegotiating the trade agreement signed with China. "I'm not interested in that," Trump told reporters when asked about reports that China was looking to reopen talks about the trade deal signed in January. "Not even a little bit," Trump said. "Let's see if they live up to the deal that they signed." Washington and Beijing reached a partial trade deal in January. As recently as Friday Vice Premier Liu He, who had led China's negotiations, spoke by phone with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and confirmed that both sides agreed to implementing the first phase of the deal. Under the agreement the Trump administration agreed to postpone any further tariff increases, while China promised to increase by USD200 billion over two years their purchases of US products compared to the level of 2017. The US president has hit out at China's handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic and threatened fresh tariffs.
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