5th May 2020 07:48
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening in the green on Tuesday as governments move to relax coronavirus lockdowns.
In early company news, property investor LondonMetric Property announced a GBP100 million share placing. Ryanair Holdings and Wizz Air reported sharp falls in April traffic due to Covid-19.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 79.32 points higher at 5,833.10. The blue-chip index closed down 9.28 points, or 0.2%, at 5,753.78 Monday.
LondonMetric Property said it will raise GBP100 million from the issue of 56 million shares, representing 6.7% of its issued share capital. Proceeds from the share placing will be used to fund existing deals as well as other potential pipeline opportunities, LondonMetric said. The placing is being run by JPMorgan and Peel Hunt.
In addition, LondonMetric said its progressive dividend policy remains unchanged. It expects to pay a fourth quarter dividend to shareholders of 2.3 pence per share. The dividend for all of financial 2020 will be 8.3p, up from 8.2p last year.
For the financial year ended March 31, LondonMetric reported a 24% increase in net rental income to GBP116 million and EPRA earnings per share of 9.3 pence, up from 8.8p last year.
Ryanair Holdings reported a 99.6% drop in April traffic to just about 40,000 passengers from 13.5 million in April 2019 due to flight bans and travel restrictions.
The Irish airline said it operated just 600 scheduled flights in April and expects to carry minimal traffic during the months of May and June as well.
Eastern European-focused Wizz Air reported a 98% fall in April passenger numbers to 78,389 from 3.3 million in April 2019, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
More positively, Wizz Air announced five new destinations to Abu Dhabi, with the first flights from Budapest and Bucharest commencing in June 2020, and three additional destinations starting in September. The launch of the company's new low-cost airline Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is progressing in line with the initial timeline, it said.
Carnival said its P&O Cruises unit has extended its voluntary pause in operations in Australia and New Zealand to August 31, in response to continuing travel restrictions due to Covid-19. Carnival on Monday said it plans to phase in the resumption of its North American service over the summer, with operations to remain on pause for all but eight of its ships.
The global death toll from coronavirus passed 250,000 and infections approached 3.6 million, but there are signs it is easing, allowing governments in Europe and parts of Asia-Pacific as well as some US states to begin allowing some businesses to reopen.
Brent oil was quoted at USD28.25 a barrel Tuesday morning, up sharply from USD26.12 late Monday.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "The rebound in the oil price was largely driven by expectations of a pickup in demand as governments continue to gear up for the gradual easing of various states of lockdown, as Italy and Spain relaxed some restrictions, while the UK government outlined its latest guidelines, or blueprint for what is required for a limited restarting of the UK economy.
"As a result, today's European open is likely to be a positive one, as we look ahead to another big week for economic data in Europe, the UK and US."
The pound was quoted at USD1.2468 early Tuesday, up from USD1.2425 at the London equities close on Monday.
The UK was poised on Monday to roll out a new smartphone tracing app for coronavirus on an island off England's south coast, as the country looks to ease a six-week nationwide lockdown.
The app, developed by the state-run National Health Service, will be trialled on the Isle of Wight ahead of its planned rollout across Britain later this month. It is seen as a key part of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plans to lift stay-at-home orders imposed in late March.
The euro was quoted at USD1.0910, flat from USD1.0913. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY106.59, lower than JPY106.87.
Gold was quoted at USD1,701.10 an ounce, marginally lower from USD1,705.55,
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.9%. Stock markets in Tokyo and Shanghai remain closed for public holidays.
The economic events calendar on Tuesday has the UK services PMI at 0930 BST and eurozone producer prices at 1000 BST.
By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]
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