Cineworld to suspend operations, Greencore sees business pick up
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 53 points higher on Monday, having closed up 0.39% at 5,902.12 on Friday.
Stocks to watch
Cineworld on Monday confirmed it would temporarily suspend operations at all of its UK and US theatres from Thursday due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The company cited an “increasingly challenging theatrical landscape and sustained key market closures” adding that the move would hit 536 Regal theatres in the US and 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK. “As major US markets, mainly New York, remained closed and without guidance on reopening timing, studios have been reluctant to release their pipeline of new films,” Cineworld said in a statement.
Greencore said business had picked up in the fourth quarter after production was fully restored at its site in Northampton. The maker of sandwiches and other foods for supermarkets said annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would be about £85m after charging more than £10m for one-off Covid-19 costs.
LXi REIT reported “robust” rent collection of 97% to date for the September to December quarter on Monday, having been “actively engaged” with all of its tenants over the summer. The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust said that as a result, it was further increasing its quarterly dividend guidance by 6% to 1.44p per share for the fourth quarter ending 31 December. It said that dividend was expected to be fully covered by net rental income for the quarter.
Newspaper round-up
Rishi Sunak has been urged to embark on a big tax simplification by an influential group of more than 30 economists, academics, business people and politicians. An open letter organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) advises the chancellor to look to the past for inspiration for policies that can “recreate success” and build a “bright future” despite the damage done to the economy by the pandemic. - The Times
More than 15,000 coronavirus cases went unpublished in the government’s daily reports for over a week it has emerged, as scientists called for transparency over delays in reporting infections which the prime minister had blamed on a “computing issue”. The backlog of infections that were left out of Public Health England’s daily figures between 25 September and 2 October led to a staggering 22,961 cases being published on Sunday, after 12,872 on Saturday, as the figures were piled on to the weekend days’ totals. - Guardian
President Trump took a surprise drive last night to wave at supporters gathered outside the hospital where he is being treated for Covid-19 after his doctors said he could be discharged as soon as today. Mr Trump, 74, announced his brief jaunt to see the “great patriots” outside Walter Reed medical centre in a video on Twitter, adding that he would soon be sharing details of what he had learnt about his “very interesting journey” with coronavirus. - The Times
UK and European governments give companies subsidies worth €32bn (£29bn) a year towards buying cars, the vast majority of which are polluting diesel and petrol models, new analysis has found. The UK subsidies were worth €5.7bn (£5.2bn) to company car owners in 2019, according to the study by analysts Dataforce on behalf of Transport & Environment, a campaign group. - Guardian
US close
Stocks on Wall Street finished weaker on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 0.48% at 27,682.81.
At the same time, the S&P 500 lost 0.96% to 3,348.44, and the Nasdaq Composite was 2.22% weaker at 11,075.02.