12th Jan 2021 11:27
(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Tuesday.
----------
COMPANIES
----------
Kingfisher said it expects its annual profit to be at the top end of market estimates as the B&Q and Screwfix DIY chains owner has continued to see "strong" demand so far in its fourth quarter. In the 10 weeks to January 9, group like-for-like sales jumped 17% year-on-year, helped by e-commerce sales more than doubling. Kingfisher added that its year-to-date like-for-like sales are up 6.5%. Kingfisher said it is confident its annual adjusted pretax profit can land in the top end of the GBP667 million to GBP742 million analyst expectations range. For the year ended January 31, 2020, Kingfisher reported adjusted pretax profit of GBP544 million, so financial 2021 could see a jump of up to 36%. DIY store owners such as Kingfisher, which in mainland Europe also owns Castorama France and Brico Depot, have benefited from boosted demand for home improvement as locked-down consumers spend more time indoors.
----------
AstraZeneca and Oxford University have applied for authorisation for their coronavirus vaccine in the EU with a decision possible by January 29, the European Medicines Agency said. The jab would be the third available for the 27-nation EU after the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna drugs, as the bloc struggles to speed up the rollout. "EMA has received an application for conditional marketing authorisation for a Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University," the Amsterdam-based regulator said in a statement. The EMA said its assessment would "proceed under an accelerated timeline".
----------
GlaxoSmithKline said it will conduct an NHS-backed study alongside Nasdaq-listed Vir Biotechnology to assess the VIR-7832 antibody for early treatment of Covid-19. The duo eye beginning the AGILE trial in the first quarter of the year, "across multiple sites across the UK". It is the second monoclonal antibody being investigated in the GSK-Vir partnership, the first, VIR-7831, is currently being probed in two phase 3 studies. The news of the latest trial comes after various vaccines have been approved across the globe, though GSK Chief Scientific Officer Hal Barron said recent rises in hospitalisations mean other treatments are still necessary.
----------
THG raised its 2021 growth forecast after the luxury brands retailer finished a busy 2020 with a revenue rise of more 50% in its final quarter. The Manchester-based firm, which owns the Hut Group, said its fourth quarter revenue jumped 51% to GBP558.7 million, from GBP370.0 million a year earlier.The 51% jump topped its forecast of a rise between 40% and 4%%, which itself was raised significantly from 16% to 25% growth. The fourth-quarter is often labelled as the "golden quarter" in the retail sector, due to the Christmas period and the Black Friday sales event. For the whole of 2020, THG's revenue jumped 41% to GBP1.61 billion from GBP1.14 billion.
----------
Greeting cards retailer Moonpig set out plans to float in London, hot-on-the-heels of bootmaker Dr Martens which outlined initial public offering plans of its own on Monday. The online greeting card and gifting platform, which also includes the Greetz brand in the Netherlands, said it will seek a premium listing on the London Main Market for holding company Cards Holdco. The Times on Friday reported that Moonpig was eyeing a GBP1 billion stock exchange listing. The IPO will be led by Citigroup Global Markets and JP Morgan Securities as joint global co-ordinators. HSBC Bank, Jefferies International and Numis Securities will be joint bookrunners, Moonpig said. Moonpig recorded GBP173.1 million in revenue in the financial year that ended April 30, 2020. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were GBP44.4 million.
----------
MARKETS
----------
London shares were lower as the prospect of a global economic recovery is now being offset by alarming Covid-19 cases. Kingfisher was the best blue chip performer, up 2.7%. Oil hit a fresh 11-month high in early trade. US stock market futures were pointed to a higher open.
----------
FTSE 100: down 0.4% at 6,770.20
FTSE 250: down 0.3% at 20,717.47
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 1,178.36
GBP: up at USD1.3585 (USD1.3506)
EUR: up at USD1.2148 (USD1.2163)
GOLD: up at USD1,860.74 per ounce (USD1,845.86)
OIL (Brent): up at USD56.46 a barrel (USD55.58)
(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
A team of WHO experts will land directly in Wuhan on Thursday, China's foreign ministry said Tuesday, starting their long-delayed probe into Covid-19 at the virus epicentre. The ten scientists will investigate the origins of the new virus in a politically fraught mission that comes more than a year after the pandemic began and after accusations Beijing has tried to thwart the project. The World Health Organization team will leave from Singapore and fly straight to Wuhan, the central city where the first cluster of cases was detected in December 2019. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters this was the "current plan" and said the WHO team was set to arrive Thursday. It is expected that they will have to complete two weeks of quarantine due to China's strict border restrictions.
----------
Donald Trump and his deputy Mike Pence met Monday evening in the Oval Office, a senior official said, signalling a common front as Democrats press the vice president to have the president removed from office as unfit. "The two had a good conversation," the administration official said of the meeting, their first since last week's assault on the US Capitol. According to the official, Trump has no intention of resigning his office before his term comes to an end on January 20. The official likewise indicated that Pence has no intention of invoking the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to remove Trump as unfit to discharge his duties – as Democrats are demanding. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Tuesday evening on a resolution calling for Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, and Pelosi will give him 24 hours to respond.
----------
US Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf announced his resignation unexpectedly Monday as worries rose over more violence during President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week. Wolf's departure as head of the body in charge of security for the January 20 event came five days after President Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol, hoping to prevent Biden from replacing him. The Homeland Security Department oversees several law enforcement bodies including the Secret Service, the point agency for security for the White House and the US president. Wolf, who said he was stepping down for procedural reasons, named Pete Gaynor, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to replace him. But the move did not end questions over whether the US capital city would be adequately secure over the coming week.
----------
The UK retail sector concluded a fraught 2020 with a month of growth in December, numbers on Tuesday showed, though Covid-19 restrictions meant the sector had little Christmas cheer at the end of its worst year on record. According to the British Retail Consortium-KPMG monitor, total retail sales in the UK rose 1.8% yearly in December, though this was below the three-month average growth of 2.5%. On a like-for-like basis, sales rose 4.8% annually in December. For the whole of 2020, total retail sales fell 0.3% to its lowest level since records began in 1995, the BRC said. In the three months ended December, total in-store, non-food sales plunged 25% and dropped 14% like-for-like. For the whole of 2020, total in-store, non-food were down 24% from 2019.
----------
New rules that will require international travellers to test negative for coronavirus before arriving in England will come into force from Friday, a transport minister has said. From 0400 GMT on January 15, passengers arriving in England by boat, train or plane – including UK nationals – will have to take a test up to 72 hours before leaving the country of departure. They will need to present proof of a negative test result to their carrier on boarding while the UK Border Force will conduct spot checks on arrivals. New arrivals who flout the rules will face a minimum GBP500 fine, while the operator who transported them will also be fined. Passengers will still have to quarantine for 10 days regardless of their test results, transport minister Robert Courts said in a statement.
----------
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Kingfisher