UK Transportation Stocks Fall on Potential Government Omicron
Measures
Stocks in U.K. transportation companies fell on Wednesday after
the U.K. government said it would announce new restrictions in
England to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Restrictions may include an order to work from home, as well as
vaccine passports for large venues. Julian Jessop, Economics fellow
at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said the new measures could
knock 2% off GDP, and cost the U.K. GBP4 billion a month, forcing
taxpayers to pay billions more to prevent a new wave of bankrupties
and job losses. Shares in Stagecoach were down 0.7% at 76.15 pence,
with FirstGroup down 2.2% at 103.40 pence, and National Express
down 3.7% at 231.80 pence.
Companies News:
TUI Says Covid-19 Omicron Variant May Hit FY 2022 Bookings;
Shares Fall
Shares in TUI AG fell Wednesday after the company reported a
narrowed net loss for fiscal 2021, which missed full-year market
views, and warned over the potential effects of the new Covid-19
Omicron variant on bookings.
---
Clinigen Shares Rise on Agreed GBP1.2 Bln Takeover by Triton
Funds
Shares of Clinigen Group PLC rose as much as 11% in early trade
Wednesday after the company said that it has agreed to a 1.2
billion-pound ($1.59 billion) takeover by Triton Funds.
---
Stagecoach-National Express Takeover Talks Continue; No 1H
Dividend Due to Pandemic -- Update
Stagecoach Group PLC said Wednesday that constructive
discussions with National Express Group PLC over a potential
takeover are continuing, and that it isn't planning a dividend for
the first half of fiscal 2022 due to pandemic-induced
uncertainty.
---
Taylor Wimpey CEO Pete Redfern to Step Down
Taylor Wimpey PLC said Wednesday that Pete Redfern will step
down as chief executive officer after more than 14 years in the
role.
---
Quiz Swung to a 1H Pretax Loss
Quiz PLC on Wednesday reported a swing to a pretax loss for the
first half of fiscal 2022 and said that revenue in the first two
months of the second half has increased significantly, in line with
pre-Covid-19 levels.
---
Berkeley Group 1H Profit, Revenue Increased; Raises FY 2022
Guidance
Berkeley Group Holdings PLC said Wednesday that pretax profit
and revenue increased for the first half of fiscal 2022, and raised
its full-year earnings expectations.
---
Centrica to Sell Spirit Energy's Oil & Gas Assets in
Norway
Centrica PLC said Wednesday that it has agreed to the sale of
Spirit Energy's oil-and-gas assets in Norway to Equinor ASA and
Sval Energi AS for $1.08 billion.
---
McColl's Retail FY Revenue, Adjusted Ebitda Set to Decline
McColl's Retail Group PLC said Wednesday that revenue and
adjusted Ebitda declined during fiscal 2021 as a whole due to
supply-chain disruptions and Covid-19 restrictions, and warned
about the business continuing to be hit during the current
financial year.
---
Glanbia Plans EUR50 Mln Share Buyback Program
Glanbia PLC said Wednesday that it is starting a 50 million euro
($56.3 million) share buyback program to reduce its share
capital.
---
Equals Group Year-To-Date Revenue Rose; Already Beat Full-Year
Views
Equals Group PLC said Wednesday that it has already
significantly exceeded its full-year expectations for both adjusted
earnings and revenue.
---
Games Workshop Says Performance Is In Line With Expectations
Games Workshop Group PLC said Wednesday that its performance
since September has been in line with expectations.
---
SSP Group FY 2021 Pretax Loss Narrowed on Lower Costs
SSP Group PLC said Wednesday that its fiscal 2021 pretax loss
narrowed as revenue decreased after it booked lower costs and said
that revenue for the first nine weeks of the new year are averaging
66% of 2019 levels.
---
Alpha FX Group Expects to Beat Market Views for 2021
Earnings
Alpha FX Group PLC said Wednesday that its performance has
remained strong since the first half of 2021, adding that it
expects to close 2021 with revenue and earnings ahead of most
market views.
Market Talk:
Centrica's Norway Asset Sale Is Strategically Positive
1120 GMT - Shares in Centrica edge 0.7% lower after the British
Gas owner--which owns 69% of Spirit Energy--said it was selling
Spirit's oil-and-gas assets in Norway to Equinor and Sval Energi
for $1.08 billion. Strategically, the transaction should be seen as
a positive as Centrica makes progress to simplify the group,
Citigroup says. Financially, the transaction, net of hedging
losses--assuming half is crystallized--should stand at around
GBP360 million for Centrica's share, the investment bank adds.
"Grossing this up based on reserves--at GBP570M--, this crudely
compares to our valuation of GBP612M for the full portfolio of
Spirit assets. Overall, we believe the transaction is a strategy
positive, while value of the transaction is less stellar," Citi
analysts say.
---
Stagecoach's Potential National Express Merger Likely to
Dominate Short-Term Sentiment
1115 GMT - Stagecoach 1H revenue of GBP579.4 was above Visible
Alpha consensus expectations of GBP528 million, and USB consensus
of GBP532 million, the Swiss bank says. The transport operator said
full-year results in its Regional Bus division were likely to be
weighted toward the first half, but didn't give any concrete
financial guidance due to difficulty in predicting the speed and
extent of the post-Covid-19 recovery, UBS says. Regarding
Stagecoach's potential merger with National Express, UBS said it
expects this to continue to dominate sentiment in the short term,
the bank says. The bank rates the stock buy and has a 115 pence
target price.
---
Potential UK Leadership Contest Could Hit Sterling
1116 GMT - The prospect of a leadership contest for the U.K.'s
ruling Conservative Party would weaken sterling at least initially,
RBC Capital Markets currency strategist Adam Cole says. "The
kneejerk reaction would probably be negative to the rise in
political uncertainty," he says. "But the longer-term implications
for GBP have become less clear." Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is the
favorite to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson and would likely
lead a more fiscally conservative and less populist government, he
says. That would have significantly hit sterling when the economy
was struggling but the implications are now more ambiguous as the
attention turns to fiscal imbalances, he says. GBP/USD falls 0.2%
to a one-week low of 1.3200 and EUR/GBP rises 0.4% to 0.8544.
---
Centrica's Sale of Norwegian Oil & Gas Assets Should Please
Investors
0846 GMT - Investors will be happy to see Centrica shed its
interest in the Norwegian Spirit oil-and-gas assets, which should
fetch just under GBP400 million in proceeds after the closing of
hedging-related costs and minority distributions from the GBP800
million sale, RBC Capital Markets says. It should also be taken
positively that Centrica has passed on the GBP830 million of
decommissioning costs, the bank says. Given that the Norwegian
assets were prominently oil-focused, the deal leaves the remaining
U.K. portfolio stationed in gas assets, RBC adds. "We still think
this newsflow will be positively received by the market where
expectations for any positive net cash disposal by Centrica are
very low." Shares in the owner of British Gas are up 0.5%.
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka
Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 08, 2021 07:37 ET (12:37 GMT)
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