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"Most planes are still grounded but the Ryanair boss said he was “reasonably confident” the airlien could get 50% to 60% of its seats filled by July after a “big surge” in bookings from the UK and Ireland to Portugal, Spain and Italy. O’Leary expects to fly 75m to 80m passengers this year, against pre-pandemic targets of 150m."

Business here for Easyjet to take as well.

Astonishing, isn't it? 18m arrivals over the last three months, reportedly only 300 people hospitalised or quarantined, this at a time when many other countries these people were coming from were suffering raging outbreaks but when there were relatively few cases in UK . Then introduce quarantine for people arriving now when most of those other countries are far "cleaner" in terms of present infection and contagion than UK now is. Completely nuts, they are making it up as they go along. MP's will be bombarding Johnson, Han**** and this useless government to try to make them see some sense.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/betting/william-hill-kiosks-open-more-drive-thru-service-2032971/

Would Xaar be a worthwhile acquisition for Stratasys? I mean Xaar in total, bought by Stratasys. Not simply Xaar 3D. A bid or negotiated sale at a bit above the present low market cap. Stratasys would get themselves the £25m or so cash on Xaar's balance sheet, they would save themselves the $33m option price to buy the rest of 3D, they would save themselves the 2% royalties over 15 years on future 3D business up to $10m. They really would end up paying not much at all, in cash terms. At a time when the poor old pound has been battered down to about $1.23. Now the value of the rest of Xaar to Stratasys or the value of relationships in China or whether there is compatibility within their different businesses or the synergy there might be or might not be, all that I have no idea of. If all this is nonsense, please do excuse me.

One of 500k, two of 250k each.

Large number of repatriation flights in May from Pakistan:

Https://nation.com.pk/25-Apr-2020/uk-announces-9-more-chartered-flights-to-repatriate-its-nationals

There was particular mention of more than 3,000 UK nationals still stranded in Nigeria, where commercial flights are suspended until June 4, and of British crew members still on cruise ships in overseas countries. Air Partner ought to have their hands full for some time ahead, arranging charter flights to bring all these people back.

There was discussion in Parliament today on the repatriation of UK nationals stranded overseas, cruise passengers as well as air passengers. The Foreign Secretary mentioned there had been 141 chartered (non-commercial) flights so far which have brought back 30,000 people. No figures were mentioned of the numbers of people still to be repatriated but, from the questions put by MP's, it seems there are still some people stranded overseas. This discussion may be viewed on the Parliament Live website.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3561540-live-nation-cinemas-up-following-wh-reopening-guidelines?utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&mail_subject=cnk-live-nation-cinemas-up-following-wh-reopening-guidelines&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-1

"Klepierre remains interested in Britain, despite failure of Hammerson deal" "According to Jefferies analysts, Klepierre might re-bid for the British peer in the coming months, but this time with a lower offer after Hammerson withdrew its bid on Intu." Https://www.reuters.com/article/us-klepierre-results-britain/klepierre-remains-interested-in-britain-despite-failure-of-hammerson-deal-idUSKBN1HX2XG

Article very critical (and very rightly critical) of Alison Brittain: Https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/at-whitbread-a-cup-of-coffee-can-cost-2-billion-pounds-gadfly/2018/04/23/602d12e2-46f7-11e8-8082-105a446d19b8_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0dd7bc6a37c3

"LONDON (Reuters) - Whitbread boss Alison Brittain believes a split between the group�s hotel and coffee shop businesses is inevitable, the Sunday Times reported ahead of the company�s annual results announcement on Wednesday." Https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-whitbread-activist/whitbread-boss-believes-costa-coffee-split-inevitable-report-idUKKBN1HT0KN

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/19/allergan-will-not-bid-for-shire-sources-tell-cnbc.html

Just reported on Bloomberg Live.

"Activist pair make split of Whitbread all but inevitable" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/04/16/activist-pair-make-split-whitbread-inevitable/

Pressure building on CEO to deliver increased value for shareholders: https://www.bloombergquint.com/gadfly/2018/04/16/activist-elliott-gives-whitbread-a-long-overdue-caffeine-kick

For Whitbread's management the opportunity to sell to investors if trying to avoid a break-up, "is to turn interesting international bridgeheads into material growth opportunities for both Premier Inn and Costa Coffee. For Premier Inn the focus is on Germany and for Costa Coffee the focus is China". In a preview of the full year figures due next Wednesday, Deutsche Bank said Whitbread was "one of the cheapest stocks" in the sector on a rating of circa 14.5 times earnings, even before the emergence of Elliott."

In our view it is entirely logical that the two businesses be split at some point, as the natural end game to the unpicking of the conglomerate," Numis said, seeing a demerger as easiest to execute although trade sale would clearly crystallise a control premium, with Krispy Kreme and Caribou Coffee owner JAB seen as most likely trade buyer or a range of global consumer companies. "An IPO is unlikely, unless WTB wishes to generate cash for reinvestment such as in Germany." Broker Stifel noted that "many US investors" view Whitbread in a different light from mainstream UK investors, more as an investment in hotels, property and Costa together with a lightly geared financial structure. "We consider it is very unlikely that the current management would separate the freehold assets from the hotel business, or move to a more leveraged financial structure. However, it is possible that Costa could be separated from the rest of the group, particularly if an attractive offer arose for that business." With the current UK consumer outlook and Costa's difficult recent trading, Stifel was "not convinced" that a demerged Costa would attain a higher rating than Whitbread currently does. "Such a step may, however, be a move towards exploiting value from both parts of the group and would certainly encourage corporate activity. Our sum-of-the-parts valuation is �48.50 per share." Panmure Gordon noted that CEO Alison Brittain's tone "has become noticeably more conciliatory to shareholder demand, which will make next week's finals interesting" and estimated each turn of Costa EV/EBITDA is worth �235m/130p per share. "The challenge is why sell now when LFLs are flatling and market is worried about the high st, having rebutted demands to sell over the last 8 years when LFL averaged mid-single digit growth? If CEO Alison Brittain can demonstrate self-help initiatives are working and Costs LFLs inflect in H2 then Costa would be primed for sale. "The other angle, spinning off property, feels like a non-starter given than i) SLBs would increase operational gearing, ii) the Board consistently advocate benefits of freehold ownership, iii) WTB doesn't really need the cash proceeds." Over at Canaccord Genuity they said Whitbread was "under-leveraged" with net debt/EBITDA of just 1.1x for FY18E and circa �4bn of freehold assets on the balance sheet but pointed out that the position of the Whitbread pension trustees "potentially adds a complication to any break-up" as the last year end deficit was circa �400m with Whitbread paying �95m per annum in contributions. For Whitbread's management the opportunity to sell to investors if trying to avoid a break-up, "is to turn interesting international bridgeheads into material growth opportunities for both Premier Inn and Costa Coffee. For Premier Inn the focus is on Germa

ShareCast News) - With 10% of Whitbread shares now in activist investor hands following the emergence of Elliott Advisers, analysts from Credit Suisse, Stifel and Numis offered varying opinions on how much value can come from breaking-up of the Costa Coffee and Premier Inns owner. Elliott has confirmed that is has amassed a near-6% stake which together with Sachem Head, which revealed its 3%-plus sake in December, means roughly 10% of the shares are held by activists. Sachem has reportedly been pushing for the separation of the property from the hotel assets, a re-leveraging of the balance sheet, and the separation or sale of Costa, while Elliottt is said to just be pursuing a spin-off of Costa rather than "any other financial engineering". Whitbread shares were up 6% to 4,180p as midday approached on Monday. Credit Suisse said it saw a 26% potential upside to 4,950p as the addition of Elliott as the group's largest shareholder "will increase the likelihood of break-up". The Swiss bank believes there is "much wider shareholder support for change" and that a split of Premier Inn and Costa "makes sense", with the current price "inconsistent" with the long term competitive advantages of each business and a sum-of-the-parts valuation that implies 40% potential upside. January's update showed that current trading isn't easy, while the combined corporate agenda is "very full", with Costa facing structural challenges from its high street focus and both business striving for material UK space growth, with international aspirations, cost inflation pressures and management's saving plan alongside Costa's wide range of operational initiatives to improve positioning. If management want to fight the break-up, Credit Suisse said "other levers could be pulled", said CS, noting Whitbread's �5.4bn of freehold property, potential for restructuring the low-return pub restaurant business and for extending the efficiency mindset and the �150m cost saving target. Morgan Stanley's take was that the while the reported push for a Costa demerger is "likely leading to further speculation" that "should support the shares", as Costa is only 25% of profit/EV, "investors need to believe in more for outsized returns". A demerger of Costa "could remove the risk the business is sold too cheaply" amid the turnaround and "seems relatively lower risk" versus a disposal of hotel real estate that "risks taking on more expensive long-term leases, losing control of the asset/product, and reducing investment opportunities" or a disposal of the pub restaurants that "risks dis-synergies given nearly all are co-located adjacent to a Premier Inn". Analysts at Numis noted that the �3bn of extra value perceived by Elliott would be equivalent to 1650p per share or a 3.5x EBITDA for the whole group. "