Three things you need to know in the financial markets this morning from investment writer, Tony Cross.
John Menzies
There’s a trading update out from John Menzies [LON:MNZS] this morning, the former newsagent that just recently completed a pivot to focus solely on global aviation services. Clearly the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the group hard, but the note states that Q2 performance has been ahead of expectations, there’s sufficient liquidity to sustain the company into the New Year and flight activity is expected to recover from July. One interesting take away from the numbers is that in April and May, ground handling and fuelling activity was 75% lower than the previous year, yet anecdotally the message was that commercial aviation had essentially stopped. Cargo handling revenues for the same period were 37% lower. The share price started the year just shy of 500p, dropped as low as 67p and closed on Friday at 144p.
Saga
There’s a trading update from Saga LON:SAGA ahead of the company AGM later today. The insurance business is performing in line with expectations although margins have been under pressure as a result of the economic backdrop and COVID-related uncertainty. The travel/cruise business has been stalled since March and some £44m worth of payments have been refunded to customers. Despite this, liquidity remains strong and an ongoing campaign of cost savings is yielding results, too. The company does have significant exposure to the cruise industry and this is still struggling to find a way to restart, but there’s no detail in the update of any contingency plans that may be in place here.
Cineworld
Another note from Cineworld LON:CINE this morning, advising the market that yet more liquidity has been secured for the cinema operator. A $250m secured debt facility maturing in 2023 has been announced, further strengthening the balance sheet as the company’s global reopening program gets underway.
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