54 1GM Saturday October 17 2020 | the times
Business
5
Gurpreet Narwan Market report
Company Change
Serco Upgrades its guidance for full-year revenues 16.55%
Rolls-Royce Plans to double fundraising target receive positive reception 13.74%
Man Group Reports substantial rise in funds under management 4.06%
Just Eat Shares rise amid tightening of pandemic-related restrictions 3.76%
Burberry Growing optimism about the luxury goods market 3.16%
BT Ofcom opens inquiry into the company -1.76%
Jupiter Reports £1 billion in quarterly net outflows -3.27%
Trainline Concern that tightening restrictions will hit travel -3.38%
WH Smith Analysts cut price target -4.07%
JD Wetherspoon Announces annual loss and job cuts -19.43%The day’s biggest movers
Name Pre-tax figure
Profit (+) loss (-)Dividend
Scancell Holdings (health FY) -£6.8m (-£6.7m) nil
Wetherspoon (JD) (leisure FY) -£34.1m (£102.5m) nil
6 Results in brief are given for all companies valued at more than £30 million. f = final p = payableResults in brief
Rio Tinto review into
work at heritage sites
Rio Tinto has committed to
review all plans to disturb
heritage sites in Australia,
following its destruction of the
ancient Juukan Gorge rock
shelters. The mining giant has
permits that would allow it to
disturb more than 1,700 other
sites in the Pilbara region of
Western Australia. Jean-Sébastien
Jacques, who is stepping down as
Rio Tinto chief executive over
the debacle, said that it had
written to traditional owners of
the sites promising to “review all
heritage disturbance”. It has also
promised to modernise its
agreements with Aboriginal and
other groups to “ensure respect,
transparency and mutual
benefit”. The miner is searching
for a replacement for Mr Jacques
and is under pressure to pick an
Australian.400 Pret jobs to go in
new round of closures
Pret A Manger became one of the
first hospitality businesses to
launch a second round of
redundancies as it revealed plans
to close another six outlets and
shed up to 400 jobs. It said the
additional changes to its British
business were a response to the
“worsening Covid-19 situation
and expected challenges over the
coming six months” amid tighter
restrictions. In August it made
almost 2,900 of its 9,000 UK
employees redundant, closing 30
shops permanently. Trading was
severely affected by empty
offices, particularly in London,
which accounts for 266 of its 389
UK stores. Pret said that it had
achieved consistent sales growth
during the past four months but
this had slowed since the end of
September as infection rates
increased.Ashmore faces revolt
over bonus scheme
About 31 per cent of voting
investors opposed the new pay
policy proposed by Ashmore at
the City investment group’s
annual meeting amid concerns
about a bonus scheme. Two
investor advisory groups,
Institutional Shareholder
Services and Glass Lewis, raised
concerns about the potential
payouts top executives could
receive, centred on a lack of caps
on individual awards. This week
the emerging markets-focused
asset manager reported that it
had attracted $1.9 billion of new
money in the last quarter. Assets
under management edged up by
0.1 per cent to $91.9 billion after
$2.3 billion of investment losses
in the period offset the new
business that the company had
pulled in.I
nvestors have been closely
following every twist and turn in
the global race to develop a
coronavirus vaccine. Yesterday
it was Pfizer’s turn in thespotlight. The American
pharmaceuticals company announced
that it will soon apply for emergency
US approval of the vaccine it is
developing with the GermanPfizer grabs the spotlight with
fresh hopes of vaccine progress
company Biontech. “Assuming
positive data, Pfizer will apply for
Emergency Authorisation Use in the
US soon after the safety milestone is
achieved in the third week of
November,” its chief executive, Albert
Bourla, said.
Traders piled in after the
announcement, sending Pfizer up
by 3.8 per cent, or $1.40, to $37.95 by
the close of trading in New York.Stock markets from the US to
Europe were buoyed by the news,
with the FTSE 100 snapping a four-
day losing streak. The index rose by
1.5 per cent, or 87.06 points, to
5,919.58. Investors were in better
spirits after concerns about a
resurgence in coronavirus cases
knocked confidence on Thursday. The
index has fallen by 1.49 per cent over
the week.
The more domestically focused
FTSE 250 was down by 15.54 points,
or 0.1 per cent, to 17,822.91. It was
down 1.36 per cent on the week.
Traders had started the day in a
cautious mood as they awaited
further details on Britain’s progress in
securing a trade deal with the
European Union.
Boris Johnson said yesterday that
the country should “get ready” for a
no-deal Brexit. There was a subdued
response on stock markets and, after
stumbling briefly, the pound
recovered some of its losses against
the dollar.
Industrials and financial companies
led the way on Britain’s blue-chip
index, climbing by 2.75 per cent and
1.93 per cent respectively.
Rolls-Royce registered the
biggest gains, climbing by 13.74 per
cent to 222p, after news that the
company was doubling its fundraising
target.
Burberry Group rose by 3.2 percent, or 47p, to £15.35 after its rival
LVMH announced that improved
sales of Louis Vuitton handbags had
offset the fallout from the pandemic
in the third quarter.
In the mid-caps Serco, the
outsourcer, jumped 16.6 per cent, or
19½p, to 138p.
It has upgraded its guidance for
full-year revenues to £3.9 billion, a
rise of 15 per cent.
Serco, one of the companies behind
the severely criticised test and trace
programme, said that it would reach a
decision on a dividend before the end
of the year.
JD Wetherspoon dropped 19.4 per
cent, or 186½p, to 773½p. The pub
group reported a £34 million pre-tax
loss for the year to July 26 and
announced another 108 job losses.Wall Street report
Indices reversed three days of losses,
after positive news from Pfizer on its
Covid-19 vaccine and strong retail
sales last month. The Dow Jones
industrial average was up 112.11
points, or 0.4 per cent, at 28,606.31,
for a weekly rise of 0.1 per cent.