28th Oct 2020 11:30
(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Wednesday.
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COMPANIES
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Next upped its profit forecast, after online sales remained strong in the third quarter, but emphasised the uncertainty posed by Covid-19 and the looming threat of another lockdown. The clothing and homeware retailer said full-price sales in the third quarter ended this past Saturday were up 2.8% year-on-year. Total sales were up 1.4%. Next said its central scenario for pretax profit for the full financial year is now GBP365 million, having been expected at GBP300 million in September, though down from last year's GBP748.5 million. Addressing the key Christmas trading period, Next said sales could fall 8% based on the "central scenario", which includes further lockdowns, customers avoiding busy stores in the run-up to Christmas, and increased self-isolation. An "upside" scenario predicts a flat period of sales, compared with last year, where "busier stores prove no further deterrent to retail shopping", and no further lockdowns. The "downside" would see a two-week lockdown, with sales falling 20%.
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Land Securities Group said it has appointed Vanessa Simms as its new chief financial officer to replace Martin Greenslade, who announced his departure last month. Simms is currently CFO at residential landlord Grainger and is expected to join LandSec by no later than June 1 next year. She has previously held senior positions at student accommodation provider Unite Group and warehouse investor SEGRO. Grainger separately said that a search for Simms's replacement is underway, confirming Simms will leave Grainger no later than June 1, 2021.
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Kaz Minerals has agreed to a GBP3.0 billion takeover offer from Nova Resources, which already holds a 39% stake in the company. Nova Resources is a company owned by a consortium comprising Kaz Minerals Chair Oleg Novachuk and Non-Executive Director Vladimir Kim. Under the acquisition's terms, Nova will acquire Kaz Minerals for 640 pence per share, reflecting a 12% premium to the group's closing price of 570.8p on Tuesday. The acquisition is conditional on gaining at least 75% in shareholder approval at both the court meeting and general meeting, which is expected to be held either in December or early January 2021. Kaz expects the deal to be completed in the first half of 2021. So far Nova Resources has obtained irrevocable acceptances from around 29.0 million shares in Kaz, a further 6.1% of the company's shares, giving the bidders acceptances or ownership of 45% of the company.
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French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and UK peer GlaxoSmithKline have agreed to make available 200 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to the Covax facility, the companies said. The Covax facility is a global risk-sharing mechanism for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of eventual Covid-19 vaccines. Sanofi and GSK intend to make available their adjuvanted recombinant protein-based Covid-19 vaccine, if approved by regulatory authorities and subject to contract. "The commitment we are announcing today for the Covax facility can help us together stand a better chance of bringing the pandemic under control," said Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president and global head of Sanofi Pasteur.
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MARKETS
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London shares were firmly in the red, amid the imminent introduction of tighter lockdown measures to combat soaring coronavirus infection rates in Europe. Next was a standout performer, however, up 3.5%. Brent oil fell below the USD40 mark for the first time since early October. US stock index futures were pointing to a sharply lower open.
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FTSE 100: down 1.5% at 5,646.19
FTSE 250: down 1.3% at 17,361.93
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 1.1% at 961.55
GBP: down at USD1.2978 (USD1.3067)
EUR: down at USD1.1744 (USD1.1830)
GOLD: down at USD1,898.01 per ounce (USD1,908.04)
OIL (Brent): down at USD39.76 a barrel (USD41.20)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under growing pressure to impose heightened coronavirus restrictions as the UK recorded its highest daily Covid-19 death toll since May. With total deaths involving the virus reaching 61,000 across the nation, Downing Street did not deny a projection provided by government scientists which suggested the toll could remain high throughout the winter and result in more fatalities than in the spring. The Sun newspaper reported Sage analysis suggests the highest level of restrictions, Tier 3, may be needed across all of England by mid-December. On Tuesday, the government said that a further 367 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, while there were another 22,885 lab-confirmed cases of the virus. The number of deaths is the highest daily figure since May 27, when 422 deaths were reported.
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US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Republicans will approve a pandemic rescue package for the US economy after the November 3 election, seeming to concede defeat on efforts to reach a deal this week. He also improbably predicted Republicans would regain control of the lower house of Congress, and blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the impasse in talks over steps to help counteract the devastating impact that the health crisis has had on households and businesses. After months of negotiations between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and despite signs of recent progress, there appears to be no time left to get the deal approved before Trump and Biden go before voters next Tuesday. The two sides are looking at a package of measures that would total around USD2 trillion, but remain divided over provisions to combat the coronavirus and help struggling state and local governments.
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Nearly 70 million people had already voted in the US presidential election as of Tuesday, a week before election day, meaning voters have cast more than half of the total ballots counted in the 2016 election. According to data from the US Elections Project, some 69.5 million people have already used early voting options. Around 137 million people voted in total in the election four years ago, according to the Federal Election Commission. Early voting has also far surpassed the 47 million early votes recorded by the Elections Project in 2016.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to push for a "lockdown light" in crisis talks with Germany's regional leaders Wednesday, as the number of coronavirus cases soars and hospital beds fill up. The proposed new restrictions would include closing restaurants and bars and putting strict limits on private and public gatherings while keeping schools, daycares and shops open, according to the best-selling Bild daily. "We need quick and decisive steps to break the new wave of infections," Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on the eve of the closely watched meeting between Merkel and the premiers of Germany's 16 states. Under the country's federal system, individual states have the final say on which restrictions to impose, and some less-affected regions are likely to bristle at measures that will inflict more economic pain. In addition, French President Emmanuel Macron is to address the nation on Wednesday evening to present tougher restrictions.
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Protests against coronavirus restrictions are spreading across Italy, with violent incidents in Milan, Turin and Rome, while infections have surged to a new daily record. A few hundred people, including members of the neo-Fascist Forza Nuova party, clashed with police in Rome's central Piazza del Popolo at around 1800 GMT Tuesday. Protesters threw paper bombs, set fire to rubbish bins and damaged parked bicycles and scooters, while riot police responded with water cannon and charges, the ANSA news agency said. On Monday, the Italian government imposed the most draconian restrictions since the end of the lockdown in June in a bid to contain a mounting second wave of coronavirus infections. On Tuesday, infections reached a record 21,994, while Covid-19-related deaths rose by 221, the highest daily figure since mid-May.
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Zeta has re-strengthened into a hurricane as the US state of Louisiana braces for the 27th named storm of a record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season. Landfall is expected south of New Orleans with life-threatening storm surge and strong winds expected along portions of the northern Gulf Coast on Wednesday. Zeta raked across the Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday, striking as a hurricane, before weakening to a tropical storm. Hurricane warnings stretched from Morgan City, Louisiana, along the Mississippi coast to the Alabama border. Early on Wednesday, the storm had sustained winds of 85mph and was centred 320 miles south-south-west of the Mississippi River's mouth. The centre of Zeta will approach the northern Gulf Coast on Wednesday and make landfall in south-eastern Louisiana in the afternoon, according the National Hurricane Centre. Zeta will move close to the Mississippi coast on Wednesday evening, and across the south-eastern and eastern US on Thursday.
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