The Times - UK (2020-07-28)

the times | Tuesday July 28 2020 1GM 43

MarketsBusiness

Exchange rates

Bank sells Bank buys

Australia $ 1.709 1.965

Canada $ 1.622 1.866

Denmark Kr 7.705 8.788

Egypt n/a n/a

Euro ¤ 1.049 1.199

Hong Kong $ 9.348 10.628

Hungary 344.316 418.506

Indonesia 17032.900 21353.700

Israel Shk 4.087 4.790

Japan Yen 126.506 146.072

New Zealand $ 1.822 2.154

Norway Kr 11.041 12.773

Poland 4.384 5.351

Russia 82.366 98.912

S Africa Rd 20.031 23.654

Sweden Kr 10.726 12.064

Switzerland Fr 1.117 1.296

Turkey Lira 8.390 9.807

USA $ 1.221 1.392

Rates for banknotes and traveller's cheques as

traded by Royal Bank of Scotland plc yesterday

Dollar rates

Australia 1.4004-1.4008

Canada 1.3374-1.3378

Denmark 6.3293-6.3318

Euro 0.8505-0.8505

Hong Kong 7.7512-7.7517

Japan 105.24-105.26

Malaysia 4.2500-4.2550

Norway 9.0945-9.0985

Singapore 1.3786-1.3788

Sweden 8.7316-8.7346

Switzerland 0.9204-0.9207

Other Sterling

Argentina peso 92.827-92.836

Australia dollar 1.8037-1.8046

Bahrain dinar 0.4822-0.4887

Brazil real 6.6671-6.6696

Euro 1.0954-1.0958

Hong Kong dollar 9.9839-9.9853

India rupee 96.302-96.303

Indonesia rupiah 18549-18658

Kuwait dinar KD 0.3929-0.3951

Malaysia ringgit 5.4747-5.4812

New Zealand dollar 1.9261-1.9273

Singapore dollar 1.7755-1.7763

S Africa rand 21.119-21.136

U A E dirham 4.7346-4.7371

Money rates %

Base Rates Clearing Banks 0.10 ECB Refi -0.50 US Fed Fd 0.00-0.25

Halifax Mortgage Rate 3.74

Treasury Bills (Dis) Buy: 1 mth 0.023; 3 mth 0.041. Sell: 1 mth 0.000; 3 mth -0.020

1 mth 2 mth 3 mth 6 mth 12 mth

Interbank Rates 0.0680 0.0844 0.0843 0.1763 0.3153

Eurodollar Deps 0.05-0.25 0.06-0.31 0.07-0.32 0.12-0.37 0.26-0.51

Mkt Rates for Range Close 1 month 3 month

Copenhagen 8.1362-8.1783 8.1516-8.1572 45ds 125ds

Euro 1.0988-1.0931 1.0958-1.0954 4pr 14pr

Montreal 1.7156-1.7261 1.7225-1.7233 2pr 4pr

New York 1.2797-1.2899 1.2879-1.2881 2pr 6pr

Oslo 11.645-11.742 11.713-11.723 2pr 15pr

Stockholm 11.220-11.309 11.235-11.245 20ds 55ds

Tokyo 135.15-135.81 135.55-135.62 2ds 9ds

Zurich 1.1754-1.1876 1.1854-1.1861 8ds 26ds

Premium = pr Discount = ds

Sterling spot and forward rates

London Grain Futures
LIFFE Wheat (close £/t)
Nov 167.00 Jan unq Mar unq
May unq Jul unq Volume: 491

London Metal Exchange

(Official)

Cash 3mth Dec 21

Copper Gde A ($/tonne)

6425.5-6425.5 6420.0-6420.0 6396.0-6396.0

Lead ($/tonne)

1801.0-1801.0 1813.0-1813.0 1853.5-1853.5

Zinc Spec Hi Gde ($/tonne)

2210.5-2210.5 2220.0-2220.0 2261.5-2261.5

Alum Hi Gde ($/tonne)

1661.5-1661.5 1700.5-1700.5 1784.5-1784.5

Nickel ($/tonne)

13718.0-13718.0 13773.0-13773.0 14014.0-14014.0

Tin ($/tonne) 15mth

17900.0-17900.0 17817.0-17817.0 17557.0-17557.0

Gold/Precious

metals (US dollars per ounce)

European money

deposits %

Currency

1mth 3mth 6mth 12mth

Dollar

0.13 0.20 0.29 0.55

Sterling

0.07 0.08 0.18 0.32

Euro

0.10 0.15 0.20 0.50

Bullion: Open $1912.78

Close $1938.51-1938.97 High $1944.91

Low $1912.41

AM $1941.65 PM $1939.63

Krugerrand $1919.00-2022.00 (£1489.79-

1569.75)

Platinum $944.00 (£732.86)

Silver $24.33 (£18.89)

Palladium $2322.99 (£1803.42)

Data as shown is

for information

purposes only. No offer is made by

Morningstar or this publication

B

ritain’s hospitality

sector suffered a

“catastrophic”

collapse in sales of

almost £30 billion in

the three months after

lockdown (Dominic

Walsh writes).

Revenues from April

to June reached only

£4.6 billion, a slump of

£29.6 billion from the

£34.2 billion recorded

the year before, the

latest UK Hospitality

Tracker suggests.

The tracker,

compiled by the

consultancy CGA, lays

bare the impact of the

lockdown on

restaurants, pubs, bars,

hotels and visitor

attractions, including

the Tower of London,

above.

The industry

contributed

£133.5 billion to the

economy in 2019, but

the rolling annual

unsecured debt to below investment

grade. The credit rating agency said it

expected “substantial cash outflows in

2020 and 2021 resulting in materially

increased leverage, in excess of

previous expectations”.

Stemming the FTSE 100’s losses

were the precious metals miners

whose shares tracked gold, as its spot

price hit a new high. Fresnillo, the

Mexican miner, added 85p to £12.76½,

the biggest gainer, and Polymetal

International added 127½p to £19.32½.

Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q and

Screwfix, was also outperforming, up

2¼p to 250½p, boosted by an upgrade

to “outperform” by Credit Suisse,

which said “recent trading shows that

two long-term trends appear to have

reversed”.

The Swiss broker added: “Consumer

demand across Europe has finally

shifted back to the home and the new

management team has resolved many

of the company’s IT, range and supply

chain issues and got the business

trading again.”

ANDY RAIN/EPA

Kainos is top scorer with

an eye for digital goals

Alex Ralph Market report

S

hares in an IT company whose

digital services are designed to

transform its customers’

operations were looking

similarly improved yesterday.

Kainos Group jumped by more than a

quarter on the FTSE 250, up 209p at

£10.36, hitting new highs after raising

its full-year forecast and declaring a

special 6.7p dividend.

The Belfast-based company, which

was founded in 1986, listed in 2015 at

139p a share and was promoted to the

mid-cap index last year. It provides

digital services to the public and

private sectors. Customers include

central government departments and

agencies, and its work includes

digitising NHS patient records.

Kainos said revenue is set to be

“well ahead” and adjusted profit

“substantially ahead” of City forecasts

for the year to the end of March.

Trading was boosted by long-term

customer relationships and demand

in the NHS and public sector, as well

as one-off efficiencies in recruitment

and training and reduced travel

expenditure during the lockdown. In

addition to the special dividend, it

expects to return to interim and final

year dividends for the current

financial year and is returning

government furlough money.

The share price rally was welcome

to senior management who are

among the top shareholders. Brendan

Mooney, the chief executive, who

joined in 1989 as a graduate software

engineer, is the second biggest

shareholder with a 11.6 per cent stake.

Kainos was dramatically

outperforming a wider market that

was stuck in the red, with US-China

tensions, new Covid-19 cases and

government restrictions renewing

concerns about the pandemic slowing

economic recovery. The FTSE 100

closed down 18.94 points, or 0.31 per

cent, at 6,104.88 and the more-UK

focused FTSE 250 mid-cap index

declined 106.90 points, or 0.62 per

cent, to 17,157.94.

Airlines and travel groups were

among the heaviest fallers, hit by the

two-week quarantine on travellers

from Spain. IAG, the owner of British

Airways, fell 11¾p to 187p, and IHG,

the hotel group behind Crowne Plaza

and Holiday Inn, retreated 149p to

£36.19. Tui was the biggest mid-cap

faller, down 38p at 301p after it

cancelled all holidays to mainland

Spain up to August 9 following the

government’s restrictions.

Joining them among the heaviest

fallers were BT, down 4¼p to 108p,

ahead of its first quarter trading

update on Friday, and Pearson, the

education company, 32½p weaker at

512¼p amid bearish broker reaction to

its first-half results last week. Rolls-

Royce was down 8¼p at 260p, after

Moody’s downgraded the aerospace

engineer’s long-term senior

Talktalk rejected investor offer

telecoms

T

alktalk rejected

a takeover

approach last

year from Toscafund,

one of the telecoms

company’s biggest

investors, at almost

double its current

share price.

The fund led by

Martin Hughes, the

investor nicknamed

“the rottweiler”,

wrote to the FTSE 250

broadband provider

about a year ago to

propose a 135p-a-

share offer, Sky News

reported last night.

The approach was

rejected by Talktalk,

whose founder and

executive chairman is

Sir Charles Dunstone,

because it failed to

provide sufficient

value for investors.

Sir Charles, who

took greater control

of management in

2018, holds a 29.9 per

cent stake. Toscafund

has lifted its holding

from 18 per cent at

the time of its

approach to 29.1 per

cent.

A spokesman for

Toscafund told Sky

News that it “fully

understands the

reasons behind the

board rejecting the

offer” and “continues

to evaluate strategic

options for all the

companies within its

portfolio, particularly

those where the

London stock market

fails to correctly

recognise their

prospects and

strategic optionality,

as is clearly the case

at Talktalk”.

Shares in Talktalk,

which declined to

comment, closed

down 3p at 74¾p.

Sir Charles Dunstone,

Talktalk’s founder and

executive chairman

Wall Street report

Indices closed higher as investors

monitored government stimulus

efforts. The Dow Jones industrial

average rose 114.88 points, or 0.4 per

cent, to 26,584.77. The Nasdaq

Composite was up 173.09 points, or

1.7 per cent, to 10,536.27.

Company Change

Kainos Group Unveils special dividend and raises full-year outlook 25.3%
Fresnillo Tracks record gold price 7.1%

Polymetal International Investors seek out precious metals miners 7.1%
Cairn Energy Sale of Senegal interests to trigger special dividend 6.3%

Centamin Gold price rally boosts miners 5.8%
Micro Focus International UBS cuts target price to 350p from 510p -7.1%

Easyjet Airlines drop on Spain quarantine restrictions -8.0%

Carnival Travel stocks buffeted by Covid concerns -8.4%
Ascential Falls to half-year loss after cancelling or delaying exhibitions -8.8%

Tui Spain quarantine hits leisure market -11.4%

The day’s biggest movers

Name Pre-tax figure

Profit (+) loss (-)

Dividend

Ascential (media H1) -£78.3m (£30.5m) nil
6 Results in brief are given for all companies valued at more than £30 million. f = final p = payable

Results in brief

value of the sector has

fallen below

£100 billion, with sales

for the 12 months to

the end of June

totalling £97.2 billion.

Kate Nicholls, chief

executive of UK

Hospitality, the trade

body, said the tracker

highlighted “how

precarious the present

situation is”. She

added: “These figures

substantiate our

message that

businesses still need

support from the

government.”

Hospitality

marches

off a cliff