Gordon Stein, CFO of CleanTech Lithium, explains why CTL acquired the 23 Laguna Verde licenses. Watch the video here.
Playtech negotiating TradeTech sale at $200-250 million value
https://fxnewsgroup.com/forex-news/institutional/playtech-negotiating-tradetech-sale-200-250-million-value/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=playtech-negotiating-tradetech-sale-200-250-million-value
"According to Air Partner, before the pandemic hit, global private travel was growing steadily. However, It says it has seen a huge surge in enquiries and bookings in recent months.
It believes this is down to the unique safety and convenience benefits that it claims commercial airlines cannot offer.
When travel restrictions in Europe began to ease, Air Partner saw a boom in private jet travel demand as people regained appetite for travel.
Initially, it saw a 210 per cent increase in private jet requests for future flight bookings compared to last year. This grew to 321 per cent by June.
It says the demand has been primarily from leisure travellers and critical business flights, when Zoom just won't cut it.
The most popular cities it has received enquiries for in recent months are Nice, Faro and Mykonos, in France, Portugal and Greece respectively.
Prior to travel restrictions in Spain, it also had a number of bookings for Spanish locations, with Ibiza proving particularly popular.
Trends are also driven by quarantines - so, with France, Malta and the Netherlands added to the quarantine list last week, Croatia emerged this week as the number one choice for those looking to fly privately.
However, that has now also entered the quarantine list, so it is likely that Portugal - now off the list - will likely become the new number one. "
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/holidays/article-8643455/How-does-cost-charter-private-jet-UK.html
Perhaps Air Partner (AIR)?
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-volatility-heres-small-105755071.html
Following on from the Group's trading update on 2 June 2020, the Company is pleased to announce that it has continued to trade ahead of market expectations. Revenues in H1 2020 (the "Period") were £5m (H1 2019: £3.1m) with adjusted EBITDA of approximately £1.2m (H1 2019: Loss of £0.1m).
The performance in the Period is a result of the expansion of our partners internationally and the release of new "Slingo" games, which have had increased take up by consumers.
Whilst the revenue growth in the Period was helped by the impact of COVID-19, trading during the 7 weeks following the Period end, which were post lockdown, have maintained similar levels seen during the Period.
As a result of this, the Board expects revenue and EBITDA for the full year to 31 December 2020 to be materially ahead of current market expectations.
The Board will be announcing its H1 2020 results on 8 September 2020.
https://www.investegate.co.uk/gaming-realms-plc--gmr-/rns/trading-update/202008180700033751W/
"The San Francisco-based company also reported that Taiwanese carriers, such as EVA Air Cargo, have announced a 20 to 25% rate increase effective Aug. 12. “It is anticipated that this is the first of many rate increases to come over the next few months,” it said
Trans-continental rail
The premium pricing and congestion at major hub airports is leading more shippers to consider rail from China to Europe as a less expensive alternative to air for a range of goods, including clothing, paper, consumer goods, electronics, and industrial components.
Rail transport is up to 50% faster than sea freight and up to 60% cheaper than airfreight, according to European logistics specialists.
Railroads have developed several routes over the past dozen years. Initially, logistics companies needed to book an entire block train, but now can offer less-than-container and container-load options.
The railroad joint venture that operates a line through Belarus, Kazakhstan and and Russia said July container volume of 54,200 TEU was 76% more than a year ago and set a record. China shipments to Europe doubled and loaded containers from Europe grew by 80%. For the first seven months of the year, traffic is up 267%.
Transit times average about 15 days, depending on the origin and destination points.
Earlier this year CEVA Logistics launched an intermodal product that trucks shipments from China to Vietnam and loads them into high-cube containers for rail transport to Europe.
Cargo.partner, an Austrian forwarder, recently introduced two new weekly LCL direct connections between Duisburg, Germany, and Hefei, China, as well as between Linz, Austria, and Xi’an. The company says it expects demand to increase in both directions.
Freight forwarder Davies Turner has responded to increased bookings on its weekly fixed rail service from China to Dartford, U.K. by adding direct service to Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester.
The weekly service departs the rail hub in Hefei and goes to Neuss, Germany. Containers are then trucked under bond to the Port of Rotterdam and transported by ferry to East London.
DSV Panalpina, which offers a rail service, also says its road transport service from eastern China to western Europe has gained popularity during the COVID-19 crisis.
Passenger network uncertainty
The wild card for cargo rates is the extent to which airlines resume passenger service. Although there have been blips of increased travel activity this summer, airline executives are more cautious about adding costly flights when the coronavirus is spiking in parts of the world.
U.S. passenger throughput, as measured by the Transportation Security Administration at airport checkpoints, increased last week for the first time in a month. For the week ending Thursday, the passenger level was 71.9% off of the same period in 2019, but airline ticketing numbers declined 0.4 points from the prior week."
More in article, including charts.
This all sounds like good news for AIR:
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/pressure-on-air-cargo-rates-from-china-keeps-increasing
"Outbound airfreight rates from China continued to rise for the fifth consecutive week, with pricing the strongest out of Shanghai as shipments increased for electronics, e-commerce orders, and hospital gear.
The pricing trend is good for carriers. But it means higher costs for cargo owners, especially with a large amount of all-cargo capacity already committed to big gadget launches from Sony, Apple and Samsung in the next couple months. There also is uncertainty about how many aircraft passenger airlines will put in the air as coronavirus outbreaks pop up.
Rates from China to Europe and the U.S. increased 6.7% and 5.8% to $3.51/kilogram and $5.46/kilogram, respectively, according to data compiled by The Air Freight Index Co. The Shanghai market was even stronger, rising 14.8% to Europe and 10.9% to the U.S. in the past week. Chicago to Europe rates also increased, but eastbound rates from the key hub of Frankfurt to the U.S. fell 3.8% as new capacity outstripped new demand.
Airfreight rates from Asia were several times higher in the spring. They started to fall in the spring, but are still about 25% greater than during last summer and heading up.
CLIVE Data Services, which consolidates data from representative international airlines, said planes on average were filled at 70% of capacity during July. The figure is very high considering summer is typically the low season for air shipping and the load factor during the traditional peak shipping season before the holidays is about 68%.
London-based CLIVE Data said cargo volumes increased 8% monthly in July, further evidence transport demand is trending upward as manufacturing and retail activity pick up following quarantine measures. Cargo volume, which CLIVE analyzes using a formula that combines weight and cubic space, was 20% below July 2019. That’s a significant improvement from the 26% throughput drop in April, compared to the prior year, and the 31% and 37% yearly contraction in May and June, respectively.
The refusal of some pilots to fly to Hong Kong after the city imposed aggressive COVID testing procedures and quarantine measures for air crews is reducing some air supply from a critical logistics hub. FedEx pilots are urging the company to suspend flights because of way Hong Kong authorities have treated some pilots, while pilots at UPS have asked for the option to decline flights there.
“This is beginning to have a quite serious productivity impact on many of the largest freighter operators and could mean there will be less surge capacity available for the peak season,” logistics provider Flexport said in a newsletter to customers.
The San Francisco-based company also reported that Taiwanese carriers, such as EVA Air Cargo, have announced a 20 to 25% rate increase effective Aug. 12. “It is anticipated that this is the first of
"GlobeAir is adding to the good news coming from Europe. Last week NetJets announced it was hiring back furloughed pilots at its subsidiary there. It also said it was reversing plans to ground some of its European fleet there it had designated for retirement.
WingX, the business aviation analyst, reported through the first three weeks of July, private jet travel in Europe had rebounded to 85% of pre-COVID-19 levels.
Now Globe Air, operator of very light jets, is reporting strong results as well.
For the month, net sales increased by 11.3% compared to 2019. Its Cessna Citation Mustang fleet made 1,288 flights, an 8.6% year-over-year gain.
The four-seat private jets flew with two passengers on average, landing at 185 airports, 6.1% below the norm.
Bookings for August look even better, Fragner tells Private Jet Card Comparisons. At the end of July, advanced reservations are 16% higher than they were in June for July.
Customers are also making decisions faster. The lag from quote to booking dropped from five to three days, he says.
What’s more, pricing is solid. “The expected price battle is not happening, Price quality is 1% up compared to pricing average last July,” Fragner says.
Still, GlobeAir’s year-to-date sales are down 27%. In a post on LinkedIn, the business aviation boss credited his team.
The industry can also credit Fragner. Research from GlobeAir provided tangible evidence of the significant social distancing advantages for private jets compared to the airlines.
The study he directed that identified over 700 touchpoints when flying with the airlines versus less than 20 via private jet. It has been widely quoted in global media, including here, as well as by other private aviation providers."
Good for July, solid for August, prices holding up very well.
Sounds like Mark Briffa has been ultra-cautious once again!
https://privatejetcardcomparisons.com/2020/08/03/globeair-reports-a-record-busting-july-for-private-jet-flights-in-europe/
https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2020/08/04/1596527995000/Markets-Now---Tuesday-4th-August-2020/
About half-way down.
(Not a holder)
They already announced they would be stopping the monthly updates and reverting to the normal pattern of reporting. Unless there is something exceptional or unusual, the next reporting will be with the H1 results.
The incidence of hurricanes in number has often brought in substantial business for AIR, flying in relief supplies and equipment and relief teams. I remember Mark Briffa having mentioned this specific point in his comments on the last FY results, in which there was an absence of major catastrophes requiring emergency air freight. These unusual climate factors seemingly present this year may well bring in extra revenues.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-hurricanes/?srnd=premium-europe
https://www.livemint.com/news/world/covid-vaccine-the-supply-chain-to-save-the-world-is-unprepared-11595662315522.html
Imagine the panic and chaos there is likely to be as desperate governments scramble for air cargo space.
https://www.ft.com/content/063785d0-ed9a-4eae-b4ba-8a56cf59e905
The press release:
https://www.airpartner.com/en/latest-news/jetcard-lifestyle-membership-launch/
The merger between Caesars Entertainment (CZR -0.1%) and Eldorado Resorts (ERI -2.3%) has closed to create a new company also to be called Caesars Entertainment.
The transaction creates the largest casino and entertainment company in the U.S. The combined company owns and operates more than 55 casino properties worldwide, including a portfolio of eight casino hotel properties on the Las Vegas Strip. Additionally, Caesars owns or operates casinos in 16 states across the U.S. including Nevada, Colorado, Missouri, Iowa, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, California and Maryland.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3592731-caesars-deal-closes-to-create-largest-u-s-casino-operator?utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&mail_subject=eri-caesars-deal-closes-to-create-the-largest-u-s-casino-operator&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-1
"Due to the impact that COVID-19 has had on global supply chains, Air Partner’s freight team is now starting to see an uptick in requests for the transportation of commodities from new clients. This includes the movement of high-value items, as well as delayed goods that have been held up as a result of the loss of belly cargo operations on passenger aircraft. "
https://www.aviationpros.com/airlines/press-release/21146783/air-partner-air-partner-operates-hundreds-of-cargo-flights-transporting-medical-supplies-in-the-fight-against-covid19
Strong 1H20 results expected for GVC, says Citi Citi analyst Monique Pollard reiterated a Buy rating and GBp 960 price target on GVC, saying that "strong" H1 results are expected. Pollard said that strong web visits data suggests outperformance by the company.
Read more at:
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=3124494
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/MANO/response-to-article-published-by-*************/14613720
"One of the most popular platforms as of April 2020 for online casinos and other forms of betting is bet365.com, boasting an astonishing 20,883,957 users. However, the industry has a whole has seen several online casino platforms embraced as people find new ways of enjoying their favourite games.
Impressive numbers have also been seen with SkyBet with 15, 977,119 users and William Hill with 12,912,724."
https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2020/07/13/74016/how-online-gaming-casinos-in-the-uk-have-prospered-during-lockdown/