Coronavirus - 6 November

Headlines

• Mass testing begins in Liverpool
• R number for UK is now between 1.1 and 1.3
• New restrictions in Oslo
• Denmark removed from UK’s safe travel list


Company news
Buildings & Construction
• Redrow# – “The value of net private reservations in the 18 weeks to 30 October 2020 was 5% ahead of last year at £630m (2020: £598m excluding £119.5m PRS sale at Colindale Gardens). Demand in the regions has been particularly strong with the value of reservations 17% ahead. The private revenue per outlet per week on a like-for-like basis (excluding the PRS sale) was £302k compared to £262k last year.

Pricing has remained firm with modest gains in the regions. The average selling price of private reservations for the first 18 weeks was 2% up on last year at £396,000 (2020: £389,000 excluding the PRS sale).

Homes turnover for the 18 weeks to 30 October 2020 was 48% up on last year at £657m. This strong performance has not depleted the total forward order book which currently remains close to record levels at £1.5bn, a 10% increase on this time last year.”
Industrials
• Morgan Advanced Materials – “Sales for the nine months to 30 September 2020 were 9.8% lower for the Group, on an organic constant currency basis, compared to the same period last year. This reflects a 11.5% organic constant currency decline in the third quarter, an improvement from the 15.4% decline seen in the second quarter.
By business, the organic constant currency trends for the nine months to 30 September 2020 compared to the same period last year are as follows:

• Carbon & Technical Ceramics division sales were 6.3% lower, with growth in Seals & Bearings partially offsetting declines in Electrical Carbon and Technical Ceramics.
• Thermal Products division sales were 14.1% lower.
With respect to order trajectory, we have seen an improving performance since the position reported at the half year, with average daily order intake improving to a year on year decline of around 15% in August to October.”
Support Services
• James Fisher & Sons – “Trading in the third quarter continued to be challenging as the Group did not see the improvement to trading conditions and the seasonal uplift it had been anticipating at the Half Year Results. As a result, revenue for the nine months ended 30 September 2020 was 17% lower than the comparable period last year. Stringent cost control has reduced selling, general and administration costs by 17% to date compared to 2019.”
Transport
• easyJet – “Following the UK Government’s announcement on Saturday, as well as similar announcements in Germany and France recently, easyJet now expects to fly no more than c.20% of planned capacity for Q1 of Financial Year 2021. We remain focused on cash generative flying over the winter season in order to minimise losses during the first half and retain the flexibility to ramp capacity back up quickly when we see demand return.”

Other

• Denmark has been taken off the UK's coronavirus travel corridor list. Passengers arriving in the UK from 04:00 GMT today will need to self-isolate for 14 days.

• Police arrested at least 190 protesters during anti-lockdown demonstrations in central London.
• Romania will impose a nationwide night-time curfew and close all schools for 30 days from Monday.
• Theatres, cinemas, training centres and swimming pools are to be closed in Norway’s capital, Oslo.
• The ONS infection pilot suggests there were 46,000 infections a day in homes in England in the week to 31 October. This figure is slightly less than last week’s (52,000).

#corporate client of Peel Hunt