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Trak should be relatively immune, compared to retailers, travel companies etc. Widespread avoidance of public transport might actually work in its favour.

It's just that when SP movements do occur, they are huge because of the tiny turnover.

I see the AA is being crucified today, mainly because of high debt. Hopefully the business itself will survive, whatever happens to AA the company, and Trak continues to be involved.

With the increased social isolation announced today, won't delivery companies like DX stand to benefit?

"Ministers say older people WILL be able to leave the house amid coronavirus outbreak but should 'be sensible' and avoid crowds".

Time to get on your bike!!

Market generally, and HFD in particular, seems to be pricing in not just economic meltdown, but societal breakdown. Scary times.

EmeraldCarrots - I agree, with fewer people going abroad this year, Halfords should do really well from increased use of personal transport at home.

Trump has just been asked during the White House press conference if any help would be given to the cruise industry. He seemed to be caught unawares, but was generally receptive to the idea.

Now that the UK govt has found the Magic Money Tree, there should be nothing in its way when considering similarly compensating Saga for doing its bit at the govt's bidding. If not, all the talk from the govt about assisting businesses affected by Coronavirus will be exposed as pretty hollow.

LordA - I think it's problems with the LSE site (I've noticed that Trak isn't the only company affected on this site).

No suggestion of a dividend cut in this further, reassuring RNS.

10,000 at 13.9p at about 16:15.

I should know - it was me!

rs28 - "over 70's advised to not go on cruises if they have any medical issues"

I think the Saga SP turned up after that announcement by the govt, perhaps because the govt will be expected to cushion the blow - quite rightly, because it would be as a result of govt edict. Saga's get-out-of-jail-free card?

Also, why should countries refuse to dock ships, while still allowing planes to land with many times the number of passengers (in aggregate)?

pintofhsb - Saga has already given a reassuring trading update, and not much has changed since then. I'm sure it will review the dividend if necessary.

What do you mean "delaying ship 2"? (fortunately, it's not due to be delivered till August anyway, by which time everybody will NEED a holiday!).

Very clever and amusing advert. Don't need to be a Red Dwarf fan to appreciate it. Gives us hope...

Huge spread today - quoted 13.9p to buy, but held off because I agree, KBYK, it could go lower in the short term. Nervy times...

Directors have done deals around this time in the past. If they were really keen to buy, they could put back the next trading update by a month or so if necessary? (If indeed they have already announced a date).

Stunned into silence on this BB! Let's hope the economic outlook generally looks worse than it really is. But we really are in uncharted territory.

By the way, Saga still keeps, for example, 70% of the cruise price if you cancel 29-42 days before departure. So as long as the virus is brought under control by the summer, Saga cruises should not be too badly affected.

Also, I'm not sure what proportion of passengers are in the most at-risk group. I'm sure there are plenty of over-70's, but maybe the most compromised octogenarians won't have booked a cruise anyway?

As regards loan covenants, lenders will generally have no choice but to waive these, otherwise the whole economy will come to a shuddering halt!

TRAK exhibits 17% SP movements at the best of times, so hardly worthy of comment!

As long as the next TU has no nasty surprises, you'd think the directors would see this moment as a fantastic, almost unique, buying opportunity.

"Sale of cruises in the future seems absolutely critical to Saga’s survival".

This is incorrect: the requirement for Cruise cash flows to cover Cruise debt service costs is only relevant when the company is within 0.5x of the ex-Cruise covenant.

For y/e 31/1/20, the ex-Cruise covenant debt ratio should be around 2.2x (as for the half year), compared to the permitted maximum of 3.5x (currently) - so plenty of headroom.

I reckon non-Cruise EBITDA would need to drop by at least 25% this year for there to be a problem with the Cruise debt covenant. Following the trading update, this seems highly unlikely.

So the CEO and CFO buy £140k of shares at the end of Feb, and just a week later issue a profits warning? Nothing's impossible, but it must be highly unlikely.

Due to its heavy TV and radio advertising of cruises, SAGA is widely perceived as a travel company, whereas it is principally a "robust" insurance business.

In the wake of Flybe, this clearly isn't helping sentiment towards the company right now.

I wonder if in a few months time, we'll look back on this moment (or when it dips below 20p for a time) as an almost unique opportunity to multi-bag?

With the market sharply down today, it is not surprising that SAGA's SP is suffering more than most.

I agree it could certainly bottom at sub 20p, depending on the wider market.

Some more director buying wouldn't go amiss (if currently allowed).

Until now, I can understand why people have cancelled a few cruises, what with the publicity about passengers being put into quarantine etc in the early stages of the outbreak.

But once this soon becomes a full blown epidemic, and the virus is all around us, why should anyone then avoid going on a cruise? Being on a ship won’t be any different to being on land.

Will life come to a standstill for a year or two? I think people will quickly realise that there is no point in going over the top in trying to avoid it.

All the apocalyptic government talk is an overreaction to media overreaction, and just a desire to to be seen to be doing something, anything.