The Times - UK (2020-08-06)

the times | Thursday August 6 2020 1GM 43

Business

Exchange rates

Bank sells Bank buys

Australia $ 1.732 1.991

Canada $ 1.651 1.899

Denmark Kr 7.774 8.867

Euro ¤ 1.058 1.209

Hong Kong $ 9.522 10.827

Hungary 346.506 421.168

Indonesia 17366.700 21772.200

Israel Shk 4.171 4.889

Japan Yen 129.196 149.179

New Zealand $ 1.865 2.205

Norway Kr 11.165 12.917

Poland 4.411 5.384

Russia 85.961 103.229

S Africa Rd 21.275 25.123

Sweden Kr 10.836 12.187

Switzerland Fr 1.129 1.310

Turkey Lira 8.688 10.154

USA $ 1.244 1.418

Rates for banknotes as traded by Royal Bank of

Scotland plc yesterday

Dollar rates

Australia 1.3872-1.3879

Canada 1.3272-1.3272

Denmark 6.2678-6.2683

Euro 0.8410-0.8413

Hong Kong 7.7501-7.7506

Japan 105.53-105.54

Malaysia 4.1900-4.1950

Norway 8.9495-8.9540

Singapore 1.3678-1.3688

Sweden 8.6602-8.6632

Switzerland 0.9062-0.9064

Other Sterling

Argentina peso 95.340-95.353

Australia dollar 1.8218-1.8220

Bahrain dinar 0.4920-0.4987

Brazil real 6.9450-6.9490

Euro 1.1044-1.1050

Hong Kong dollar 10.175-10.176

India rupee 98.257-98.259

Indonesia rupiah 18765-19273

Kuwait dinar KD 0.4004-0.4026

Malaysia ringgit 5.5018-5.5084

New Zealand dollar 1.9724-1.9738

Singapore dollar 1.7964-1.7968

S Africa rand 22.763-22.775

U A E dirham 4.8245-4.8275

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 0.015; 3 mth 0.034. Sell: 1 mth 0.000; 3 mth 0.015

1 mth 2 mth 3 mth 6 mth 12 mth

Interbank Rates 0.0601 0.0771 0.0771 0.1480 0.2959

Eurodollar Deps 0.05-0.25 0.06-0.31 0.07-0.32 0.11-0.36 0.25-0.50

Mkt Rates for Range Close 1 month 3 month

Copenhagen 8.2232-8.2656 8.2288-8.2300 46ds 130ds

Euro 1.1097-1.1040 1.1046-1.1045 5pr 14pr

Montreal 1.7351-1.7432 1.7425-1.7427 1pr 3pr

New York 1.3060-1.3161 1.3129-1.3130 2pr 5pr

Oslo 11.725-11.901 11.751-11.755 3ds 10pr

Stockholm 11.350-11.414 11.358-11.368 22ds 61ds

Tokyo 138.03-138.99 138.55-138.57 3ds 10ds

Zurich 1.1890-1.1956 1.1898-1.1900 9ds 27ds

Premium = pr Discount = ds

Sterling spot and forward rates

London Grain Futures

LIFFE Wheat (close £/t)

Nov 164.00 Jan unq Mar unq

May unq Jul unq Volume: 507

London Metal Exchange

(Official)

Cash 3mth Dec 21

Copper Gde A ($/tonne)

6525.5-6525.5 6523.0-6523.0 6531.0-6531.0

Lead ($/tonne)

1889.0-1889.0 1907.0-1907.0 1949.5-1949.5

Zinc Spec Hi Gde ($/tonne)

2370.0-2370.0 2381.5-2381.5 2415.5-2415.5

Alum Hi Gde ($/tonne)

1739.0-1739.0 1778.5-1778.5 1854.0-1854.0

Nickel ($/tonne)

14250.0-14250.0 14287.0-14287.0 14519.0-14519.0

Tin ($/tonne) 15mth

17960.0-17960.0 17932.0-17932.0 17685.0-17685.0

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

0.06 0.08 0.15 0.30

Euro

0.10 0.15 0.20 0.50

Bullion: Open $2029.09

Close $2033.30-2035.30 High $2054.10

Low $2009.64

AM $2034.45 PM $2048.15

Krugerrand $2013.00-2122.00 (£1533.10-1616.11)

Platinum $966.00 (£735.70)

Silver $26.50 (£20.18)

Palladium $2162.50 (£1646.95)

Data as shown is

for information

purposes only. No offer is made by

Morningstar or this publication

C

afé meal prices at

Morrisons’

supermarkets are

to be cut by 50 per cent

for the whole week,

extending the

government’s scheme

by an extra four days

(Robert Miller writes).

Britain’s fourth

largest grocery chain,

with 494 stores, is

taking part in the Eat

Out to Help Out

scheme, which runs

from Monday to

Wednesday in August

and offers a half-price

discount on menu

items. Morrisons has

said that it will help

the maker of Guinness and Johnnie

Walker retreated by a further 98p, or

3.6 per cent, to £26.23. BT also fell

back from its sharp rise on Tuesday.

Stock in the telecoms group fell

almost a penny, 0.8 per cent, to 105¼p.

The more domestically inclined

FTSE 250 ended the day up 330.6

points, or 1.9 per cent, at 17,638.3.

Shares in Morgan Sindall, the

construction business, surged 182p or

17.5 per cent, £12.22 after it reinstated

guidance and projected pre-tax profits

of between £50 million and

£60 million. At the bottom of the

index, shareholders in Hammerson

were selling ahead of its half-year

update today. The shopping centre

owner stumbled 4p, or 6.8 per cent,

lower, to 56p

On the junior market, Fulham

Shore finished flat at a little over 6p

amid rumours that the restaurant

minnow behind the Franco Manca

and Real Greek chains is set to bolster

its finances by issuing new equity and

securing additional debt.

RICH BENNETT

Deutsche Bank looks at

the big picture with ITV

Callum Jones Market report

T

he Covid-19 lockdown may

have lifted television and

digital video audiences —

with Britons spending an

average of 6hr 25min a day

watching their screens in April,

according to Ofcom — but if you

think that was automatically good

news for ITV, then think again. Fears

of a slump in advertising sent shares

in Britain’s biggest commercial

broadcaster tumbling to a nine-year

low of 54½p in April and the picture

hasn’t changed much since. A

tentative recovery was followed by

another collapse and the shares were

languishing at 56¾p on Friday.

Time, perhaps, for analysts to take a

closer look at what the small screen

can offer. Deutsche Bank certainly

thought so yesterday as it added ITV

to its “buy” list and labelled it an

“attractive entry point” for would-be

media investors. “Don’t change the

channel just yet,” its analysts advised.

Why? “Traditional media formats

including TV and print have come

under significant structural pressure

over the past few years as consumers

have moved online and advertisers

have followed suit. However, TV has

fared better than its print peers and,

with enough content and digital

avenues of their own to keep viewers

engaged, should maintain their not-

insignificant share of the advertising

pie going forward.”

The succession of new on-demand

platforms from Disney+ to HBO Max

was already “priced in”, Deutsche

added. ITV, which reports its half-year

results today, has its own premium

service in Britbox, although its

audience numbers in these early days

are well behind those of Netflix,

Amazon and Now TV.

Shares in the broadcaster duly

jumped to 62½p yesterday before

settling at the close at 61p, up 1½p, or

2.5 per cent.

An airlines-led rally cleared the

London market for take-off, with the

FTSE 100 finishing the day up 68.72

points, or 1.1 per cent, at 6,104.72

International Consolidated Airlines

Group, the owner of British Airways,

surged by 18½p, or 10.5 per cent, to

193¾p; Easyjet, the low-cost carrier,

rose by 35½p, or 6.5 per cent, to

587¼p; and Wizz Air, the Hungarian

operator, gained 52p, or 1.6 per cent,

to £33.28.

Evraz led metals and mining

companies higher, advancing 26¾p, or

9 per cent, to 322p as prices climbed

again. Gold prices have breached

$2,000 per ounce, boosted by a

weakening dollar as investors seek

safe havens. Credit Suisse also raised

its demand forecasts for copper and

aluminium. Glencore, a key producer,

rose by 13¾p, or 7.5 per cent, to 196¼p.

The hangover continued for

Diageo after the drinks multinational

revealed its annual results. Shares in

Mulan’s deadly blow to cinemas

leisure

D

isney’s plan to

bypass cinemas

and release a

long-awaited

blockbuster on its

new streaming

platform next month

knocked shares in

Cineworld Group, the

struggling multiplex

chain.

Mulan, which

industry executives

had been hoping

would help them to

lure film fans back to

cinemas, will be on

Disney+ for $29.99

(£22) from next

month, the company

said when

announcing its results

on Tuesday.

The move

heightened concerns

over Cineworld, which

was angered earlier in

the year when

Universal Studios

decided to release

Trolls World Tour on

digital platforms

before in cinemas.

Its shares retreated

half a penny, or

1.3 per cent, to 38p.

While Disney has

insisted that the move

is a “one-off ” because

of the coronavirus,

Phil Clapp, of the UK

Cinema Association,

told Deadline that

skipping cinemas

“will be seen by many

as hugely

disappointing and

mistimed”.

Universal and AMC

Entertainment, the

world’s largest cinema

chain, have already

announced a deal that

will allow the studio

to release films on

digital platforms after

three weeks in

cinemas, rather than

the previous three

months.

Mulan’s release was

keenly awaited by

cinema chain bosses

Wall Street report

The prospect of further government

stimulus continued to boost indices.

The Dow Jones industrial average

rose 373.05 points, or 1.4 per cent, to

27,201.52 and the Nasdaq hit another

record with a gain of 57.23 points, or

0.5 per cent, to 10,998.40.

Company Change

Hastings Agrees takeover deal 17.7%

Morgan Sindall Forecasts annual pre-tax profit of up to £60m 17.5%

Hochschild Mining Precious metal prices continue to climb 14.4%

International Consolidated Airlines Group Sentiment around sector improving 10.5%

Centamin Gold prices breach $2,000 per ounce 9.6%

RHI Magnesita Half-year results fail to impress -2.3%

XP Power Eases off record high -2.8%

Diageo Continues to fall after annual results -3.6%

Watches of Switzerland Shares remain volatile -4.2%

Hammerson Half-year earnings due for release today -6.8%

The day’s biggest movers

Name Pre-tax figure

Profit (+) loss (-)

Dividend

Bank of Ireland (banking HY) -€828m (€313m) nil

Ferrexpo (resources HY) $294m ($318m) 6.6 cents p Aug 26

Hastings (finance HY) £63.5m (£46.1m) 4.5p p Nov 6

Hill & Smith Holdings (engineering HY) £19.5m (£33.4m) 9.2p p Jan 8

IP Group (finance HY) £11.7m (-£49.5m) nil

Legal & General (finance HY) £285m (£1.1bn) 4.93p p Sep 24

LSL Property Services (property HY) £2m (-£4.6m) nil

Metro Bank (banking HY) -£240.6m (£3.4m) nil

Morgan Sindall (engineering HY) £13.6m (£35.5m) nil

Page Group (services HY) -£0.8m (£74.6m) nil

RHI Magnesita (industrials HY) €70m (€165m) nil

Segro (property HY) £220.9m (£410.8m) 6.9p p Sep 24

William Hill (leisure HY) £141.1m (-£63.5m) nil

6 Results in brief are given for all companies valued at more than £30 million. f = final p = payable

Results in brief

customers to save

money by the store

funding the discount

between Thursday and

Sunday.

The supermarket’s

cafés are letting

children under the age

of 16 eat free, as long

as the accompanying

adult meal costs more

than £3.25 for

breakfast or £4.25 for

any other hot food.

Morrisons

makes more

of meal deal