(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Wednesday.
----------
COMPANIES
----------
Greggs expects to swing to an annual loss as it feels the "enormous" impact of Covid-19. The baker cautioned that profit will not return to pre-health crisis levels until "2022 at the earliest". Greggs said total sales in the 53 weeks ended January 2 slumped 31% to GBP811 million from GBP1.17 billion the year before. On average, fourth-quarter company-managed shop like-for-like sales were at 81% of the prior year's levels. Greggs expects a full-year pretax loss of up to GBP15 million, swinging from a GBP108.3 million profit the year before. It expects to post annual total sales of GBP811 million, down from GP1.17 billion, including fourth quarter sales of GP294 million, down year-on-year from GBP344 million.
----------
Auto Trader said it has continued to see an improvement in customer numbers despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the business. The Manchester-based online automotive marketplace said demand for car buying in its third quarter ended December "remained strong". Visits to its marketplace were 20% higher than in the previous year. However, Auto Trader said it expects its sales volumes "to be impacted in January and February" as a result of the national lockdown in England that began this week. Auto Trader said it will also book monthly operating losses between GBP5 million and GBP7 million due to its services being free for customers in December 2020 and in February this year.
----------
Informa expects to post annual revenue in line with its September interim guidance and also announced the promotion of John Rishton as its next chair. Rishton is chair-elect at London-listed security services firm Serco Group. For 2020, Informa expects to report revenue in the range of GBP1.65 billion and GBP1.68 billion, in line with guidance provided back in September for revenue of GBP1.7 billion. This would be at best down 42% from GBP2.89 billion in 2019. Adjusted operating profit will tumble to between GBP250 million and GBP270 million, from GBP933.1 million.
----------
AstraZeneca said its drug Farxiga has been granted priority review in the US for the treatment of adult patients with chronic kidney disease. The British-Swedish pharmaceutical company said the US Food & Drug Administration granted priority based on clinical evidence from its DAPA-CKD phase 3 trial, which showed that Farxiga "reduced the risk of the composite of worsening of renal function or risk of cardiovascular or renal death by 39%", in patients with stages two to four of chronic kidney disease.
----------
MARKETS
----------
Stock prices in London were higher on Wednesday, with the large-cap FTSE 100 index set to extend its winning streak. The index was given a boost by the US Senate runoff in Georgia and the increasing likelihood of President-Elect Joe Biden's Democrats controlling Congress.
US futures were mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq called 1.7% lower amid regulatory fears for big tech stocks.
"The FTSE 100 continued to make a positive start to 2021 – construction materials firm CRH topped the leaderboard on expectations it might benefit from supercharged infrastructure spending across the Atlantic, assuming Biden has a freer hand. Rising oil prices on Saudi Arabian plans for a production cut also lifted BP and Royal Dutch Shell," AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould said.
CRH was 5.4% higher, BP was up 5.1% and Shell's 'A' shares and 'B' shares were 3.1% and 3.8% higher, respectively.
----------
FTSE 100: up 1.6% at 6,718.83
FTSE 250: up 0.2% at 20,753.78
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 1,167.64
GBP: up at USD1.3655 (USD1.3611)
EUR: up at USD1.2339 (USD1.2280)
Gold: higher at USD1,956.73 per ounce (USD1,947.54)
Oil (Brent): up at USD54.54 a barrel (USD53.01)
(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
The UK's services economy rounded off a difficult final quarter with another month of decline. The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services purchasing managers' index posted 49.4 in December, though an improvement from 47.6 in November, it was still below the 50.0 mark which separates growth from decline. Markit added that in the fourth quarter of 2020, service sector output posted an average of 49.5, a stark contrast to the third quarter average of 57.1. The sector continues to be hit by Covid-19 restrictions. Meanwhile, the composite output index - which also takes into account Monday's manufacturing data - came in at 50.4, from 49.0 in November, signalling the UK's private sector returned to growth in December.
----------
MPs will return to Westminster to vote on regulations enforcing England's national lockdown as the stringent restrictions entered into force overnight amid spiralling coronavirus cases. The Commons has been recalled from its Christmas recess for the second time, to debate and retrospectively vote on the measures announced by the prime minister on Monday. Boris Johnson will update MPs on the new controls – which include the closure of schools to most pupils and a return to the stay at home order – before a vote due in the evening. The measures are expected to pass with ease, with Labour set to support the motion. It comes as the World Health Organisation said it would not recommend witholding the second dose of the vaccine for up to 12 weeks, instead suggesting the interval should be between three and four weeks.
----------
The eurozone's private sector contracted at a slower pace in December, though the performance lagged below initial estimates, data on Wednesday showed. The IHS Markit eurozone composite output index rose to 49.1 in December, from 45.3 in November, suggesting the single currency area's private sector declined at a slower pace. The final December figure was however, below the 49.8 flash estimate. The eurozone services business activity index rose to 46.4 in December, from 41.7 in November. The final figure was below the 47.3 flash estimate, however.
----------
Biden's Democratic Party took a giant step towards seizing control of the US Senate as they won the first of two Georgia run-offs, hours before Congress was set to certify the president-elect's victory over Donald Trump. Raphael Warnock's victory, projected by multiple US networks overnight, capped a gruelling nine-week runoff campaign and puts Georgia's other knife-edge race in the spotlight for its potential to impact the balance of power in Washington. Warnock, 51, made history as just the third African American to win a Senate seat from the South. He defeated Kelly Loeffler, a 50-year-old businesswoman appointed to the Senate in December 2019. In the second race, Democrat Jon Ossoff's campaign manager said in a statement that once all votes are counted they "fully expect" Ossoff will have defeated his Republican opponent. With 98% of precincts reporting, Ossoff was 16,370 votes ahead, more than Biden's victory margin in Georgia for the presidential race. Analysts have said he was well placed to win, with many outstanding votes coming from staunchly Democratic-leaning Atlanta suburbs.
----------
With the end of his presidency looming, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched a crusade against Chinese apps, branding them a threat to US national security. Trump ordered a ban on transactions involving Alipay, WeChat Pay and other apps linked to Chinese companies, saying they could route user information to the government in Beijing. The executive order is to take effect in 45 days, just weeks after Trump is replaced in the White House by President-Elect Biden on January 20. A senior administration official said the order and its implementation have not been discussed with the "potential incoming Biden administration." The move by Trump comes after previous executive orders aimed at banning TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, were derailed by court rulings indicating Trump overstepped his legal authority.
----------
The pace of growth in China's service industry slowed in December, data from Caixin showed Wednesday, mirroring the country's manufacturing sector. The headline seasonally adjusted business activity index fell to 56.3 in December from 57.8 in November. The dip was blamed on softer new business growth with only a "modest" rise in new export sales. Caixin did note, however, new business growth remains "solid". Business confidence meanwhile remained "robust", Caixin said, and improved to the highest since April 2011 due to hopes of a further rebound in global economic conditions.
----------
An expert mission to China to probe the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic was in disarray Wednesday after Beijing denied entry to the World Health Organization team at the last minute despite months of painstaking negotiations. Ten experts were due to arrive in China this week for the delicate, highly politicised task of establishing how and where the virus jumped from animals to humans. But with a number of the team already in transit, China denied them entry visas, prodding WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to say he was "very disappointed". China is determined to control the origin story of the virus, which has killed more than 1.8 million people around the world and laid waste to global economies.
----------
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
