Coronavirus to knock £40m off WH Smith's profits, Tullow Oil swings to pre-tax loss

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WH Smith warned that the coronavirus outbreak would reduce annual profit by up to £40m as the outbreak took its toll on the company's airport outlets. The bookseller and stationer said underlying profit for the six months to 29 February would meet expectations but that the COVID-19 virus had a significant impact on its business in recent weeks. Second-half revenue will be 15% less than expectations at WH Smith's UK travel business and 20% less than expectations in the US, the company said in an update. "As a result, the group currently estimates an adverse impact in the financial year ending 31 August 2020 of between £100m and £130m on the group's revenue and between £30m and £40m on underlying group profit before tax," the company said.

Tullow Oil swung to a full year pre-tax loss of $1.6bn driven by exploration write offs and impairments as it cut capital expenditure for 2020 by 30% and maintained current year production guidance.

AstraZeneca, alongside its partner MSD, announced high-level results from the phase 3 ‘GY004’ trial on Thursday, which examined the efficacy and safety of the potential new medicine ‘cediranib’ added to ‘Lynparza’, or olaparib, when compared to platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer. The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant described ovarian cancer as the eighth most common cause of death from cancer in women worldwide. It said the trial did not meet the primary endpoint in the intent-to-treat population of a “statistically significant improvement” in progression-free survival, with cediranib added to Lynparza compared to platinum-based chemotherapy.

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A fresh round of high street bloodletting is expected after major chains, who are closing stores and shedding jobs, were overlooked by emergency business rates cuts. The government took the step of scrapping bills for small business owners including shops, restaurants and nightclubs in the coming year so their finances would be better able to cope with coronavirus-related upheaval. – Guardian

The national living wage will rise to more than £10.50 an hour in 2024 compared with £8.21 at present, as the government set a target for the wage to reach two-thirds of median earnings. The new rate will apply to everyone aged over 21, not the current threshold of 25, although it is not guaranteed, as the chancellor cautioned that the increases will only happen “as long as economic conditions allow”. – Guardian

Italy could be about to make its quarantine lockdown measures even more draconian, closing businesses, shops and all non-essential services in a desperate attempt to halt the spread of coronavirus. More than 10,000 people have been infected in Italy, and the country's death toll rose to 631 on Tuesday – up by 168 from Monday. – Telegraph

Boeing plans to draw down the rest of a $13.8 billion loan it secured in January, as the coronavirus outbreak adds to pressure on the American planemaker due to the grounding of its 737 Max jets. Shares in the aircraft manufacturer were down by $41.93, or 18 per cent, at $189.08 at the close in New York yesterday. It was the largest daily percentage fall since December 1974 and wiped $23 billion off the company’s value. – The Times

Alphabet, the owner of Google, has advised almost all of its 100,000 workers across 11 offices in the United States and Canada to work from home and then extended that to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As big companies around the globe rushed to counter the spread of coronavirus, Chris Rackow, Google’s vice-president of global security, said the move was being taken “out of an abundance of caution and for the protection of Alphabet and the broader community”. Twitter is also “strongly encouraging” all of its 5,000 staff around the world to not to go into their offices. – The Times

US close

US stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday as investors dealt with uncertainty around a fiscal response from the White House aimed at curbing reduced economic growth.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 5.86% at 23,553.22, while the S&P 500 was 4.89% softer at 2,741.38 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 4.70% weaker at 7,952.05.

The Dow closed 1,464.94 points lower on Wednesday, erasing yesterday's gains as coronavirus fears continued to roil shares and leaving the 30-stock average in a bear market - down more than 20% below its record close set just last month and putting to end an expansion that started in 2009.

Losses intensified after the World Health Organisation officially declared the outbreak a global pandemic.

Wednesday's focus was also centred on comments made by Donald Trump towards the end of the previous session. The President suggested a 0% payroll tax rate that could last until the end of 2020 in order to combat any potential economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

However, no dates were offered as to when such policies would be implemented and Senator Chuck Grassley, who heads up the Senate Finance Committee, said any such cut would need to be examined.