Headlines
• Nottinghamshire to go into Tier 3 on Friday
• US government to pay Eli Lilly $375m for experimental drug
• Heathrow no longer Europe’s largest airport
• Wales records highest daily death toll in six months
Company news
Leisure
• Carnival – “Due to the uncertainty about when international travel restrictions might be lifted, Princess Cruises is extending its pause in operations for cruises departing from Australia and New Zealand through May 31, 2021.
Guests will receive a refundable Future Cruise Credit (FCC) equivalent to 100% of the cruise fare paid plus an additional non-refundable bonus FCC equal to 25% of the cruise fare paid. To receive the above FCCs, no action is required by the guest or their travel advisor.
Alternatively, guests can forfeit the bonus FCC offer and request a refund for all money paid on their booking.”
Retail
• Next – “The sales performance by product category remains very similar to the second quarter, with Home and Childrenswear over-performing while demand for men’s and women’s formal and occasion clothing remains weak. Online sales remain strong, both in the UK and overseas. In Retail, out of town retail parks continue to perform better than high streets and shopping centres.
Markdown sales were down -12.3% against last year. This reduction was driven by (1) lower footfall in our Retail stores and (2) capacity constraints in our Online warehouses, where we have chosen to prioritise full price sales over our clearance operation.”
Transport
• Heathrow – “Demand forecast revised down. Passenger numbers are now forecast to be 22.6m in 2020 and 37.1m in 2021, compared to our June forecast of 29.2m in 2020 and 62.8m in 2021, and 2019 actuals of 81m. The reduction is caused by the second wave of Covid-19 and slow progress on introducing testing by the UK government to reopen borders with ‘high-risk’ countries.”
Other
• Nottinghamshire will move into Tier 3 on Friday, which will include the whole county.
• The US government will pay up to $1.19bn to Eli Lilly and Co to secure nearly 1m doses of its experimental Covid-19 antibody treatment. The company will start delivering 300,000 doses of the treatment, for which it is being paid $375m.
• A remote-working period for businesses in Moscow will be extended until 29 November, and online learning for secondary school students will continue until 8 November.
• Melbourne’s shops, restaurants and hotels opened for business on Wednesday after a four-month coronavirus lockdown.
#corporate client of Peel Hunt
