Next closes online operations, Rightmove cancels dividend
By Josh White
Date: Friday 27 Mar 2020
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 90 points lower on Friday, having closed up 2.24% at 5,815.73 on Thursday.
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Next shut its online, warehousing and distribution operations overnight after staff expressed concerns about working during the coronavirus lockdown. "Next will not be taking any more online orders after this time until further notice," the company said, adding that it had "listened very carefully" to staff.
Online real estate agent Rightmove cancelled its dividend and pulled full year guidance as due to uncertainties caused by the impact of Covid-19. Rightmove had planned to pay a final dividend payment of 4.4p per share - ?38.3m in total - for the year to 31 December.
Coca-Cola HBC updated the market on its trading in light of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic on Friday, reporting that during March, it had been dependent on the severity of restrictions on mobility. The FTSE 100 soft drinks bottler said that in markets with heavy restrictions, such as Italy as well as central and southern Europe, demand in the 'out of home' channel - which represented between 35% and 40% of sales - had been severely affected. Given the situation, the company said it was already looking at cost-saving measures and reassessing marketing and capital expenditure investments, to support its profitability.
Newspaper round-up
The government has put the brakes on the housing market until the coronavirus restrictions are over, telling people to delay their home moves if possible and not to allow new viewings. In new guidance, the government said it was urging buyers and sellers to "adapt and be flexible" by agreeing new moving dates. - Guardian
British car production will slump to its lowest level since the financial crisis this year, the industry has warned, after the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of every large factory in the UK. Passenger car output will fall by 18% to only 1.1m in 2020, down from 1.3m last year, according to forecasts for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) carried out by AutoAnalysis. It would be the lowest number since the depths of the financial crisis in 2009, when 999,460 cars were made in the UK. - Guardian
Last week whispers from Brussels that the EU may cave on the UK's Brexit fishing demands were welcomed by many in the UK's fishing communities. But now, even in the event that French trawlers are held at bay, the British fishing industry faces a graver threat. With restaurants and pubs forced to close their doors to halt the spread of coronavirus, fish prices at markets across the south-west have slumped. Harbours all along Cornwall and Devon's coastline are packed with moored fishing boats. "This is a dire situation for us," says Paul Trebilcock, CEO of the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation. - Telegraph
Companies in every industry in Britain have been hit hard and expect the coronavirus crisis to be worse than the great recession, according to a Bank of England survey of businesses. "The situation has been described by many agency contacts as being worse than the financial crisis in 2008," the Bank's agents report said. Brexit, by comparison, does not come close. - The Times
Sir John Vickers, former chairman of the Independent Commission on Banking, has urged the Bank of England to block more than ?7.5 billion of dividends to be paid out by banks. The intervention by Sir John, a former senior official at the Bank, heaps more pressure on Andrew Bailey, the governor, to force banks to abandon payout plans, starting with Barclays, which is pressing ahead with a promise to pay ?1.03 billion next Friday. - The Times
US close
Shares on Wall Street finished higher for a third consecutive session after the head of the country's central bank assured investors that more could be done if needed to help the economy through the fallout of the coronavirus epidemic.
That helped financial markets overcome news of a record surge in initial weekly unemployment claims.
"Those who thought that the passage of the $2 trillion stimulus might be time to 'sell the news' have been caught out, with an impressive rebound across Wall Street. Even the highest ever initial jobless claims figure has been unable to dent the boundless confidence apparent in US markets, perhaps because like European PMIs earlier in the week, everyone 'knew' it would be bad," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
Against that backdrop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 6.38% to reach 20,522.17 and the S&P 500 added 6.24% to 2,630.07, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 5.6% to 7,797.54.
Yet the CBoE VIX volatility index fell just 4.61%, a possible signal that traders remained on their guard.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury meanwhile dipped by one basis point to 0.85%.
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