Heathrow airport in London on Wednesday 7 bemoaned that it was the only hub airport in Europe to see a reduction in passenger numbers in 2021, due to the UK’s tougher coronavirus travel rules.
Just 19.4 million people travelled through the west London airport last year.
That was down 12% on the previous 12 months and represents the lowest annual total since 1972.
The airport blamed its poor performance in comparison with European rivals on the UK’s tighter restrictions on international travel.
Cost savings of £870 million were achieved in the past two years, but the airport’s pretax loss still came in at £1.79 billion, narrowed only slightly from £2.01 billion in 2020, due to high fixed costs and low passenger numbers. Cumulative losses during the pandemic rose to £3.8 billion.
The airport said it is hopeful for a strong summer rebound, contributing to 45.5 million passengers expected to use the airport this year, but it reported lower-than-expected passenger numbers in January and February.
Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye described 2021 as ‘the worst year in Heathrow’s history’.
But he said demand is ‘starting to recover’ and the airport is working with airlines to ‘scale up our operations’.
Terminal 4 will be reopened for the peak summer season when passenger numbers are expected to increase.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.4% at 7,522.63
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Hang Seng: up 0.6% at 23,660.28
Financial markets in Japan shut for Emperor’s Birthday.
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.6% at 7,205.70
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DJIA: closed down 482.57 points, or 1.4%, at 33,596.61
S&P 500: closed down 1.0% at 4,304.76
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 1.2% at 13,381.52
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EUR: soft at $1.1337 ($1.1344)
GBP: firm at $1.3601 ($1.3595)
USD: up at JP¥115.05 (JP¥114.94)
Gold: down at $1,896.62 per ounce ($1,900.36)
Oil (Brent): up at $96.92 a barrel ($96.70)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday’s key economic events still to come
Japan Emperor’s Birthday holiday. Financial markets closed.
1100 CET EU consumer price index
0930 GMT UK BoE Governor Andrew Bailey appears before Treasury Committee
0700 EST US MBA weekly mortgage applications survey
0855 EST US Johnson Redbook retail sales index
1630 EST US API weekly statistical bulletin
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday the country’s interests were non-negotiable, as Moscow massed more than 150,000 troops on the borders with Ukraine and the West punished Russia with new sanctions. In a video address to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day, a public holiday in the country, Putin congratulated the Russian military and praised the battle-readiness of the army after he signalled plans to send troops to Ukraine. ‘Our country is always open for direct and honest dialogue, for the search for diplomatic solutions to the most complex problems,’ Putin said. But he added: ‘The interests of Russia, the security of our citizens, are non-negotiable for us.’ Putin spoke after parliament’s upper house, the Federation Council, on Tuesday evening gave him unanimous approval to deploy ‘peacekeepers’ to two breakaway Ukrainian regions now recognised by Moscow as independent, and potentially into other parts of Ukraine.
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Putin is highly likely to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and attack Kyiv, the UK foreign minister said Wednesday. ‘We think it’s highly likely that he will follow through on his plan for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine’, Liz Truss told Sky News.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Credit Suisse cuts Hargreaves Lansdown target to 1,530 (1,590) pence - ’outperform’
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Morgan Stanley raises Synthomer to ’equal-weight’ (underweight) - price target 335 (400) pence
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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UK lender Barclays said it delivered a strong performance in 2021 embodied by a resilient, growing and well-capitalised balance sheet. For 2021, total income edged higher to £21.94 billion from £21.77 billion in 2020, though net interest income was down slightly to £8.07 billion from £8.12 billion. Pretax profit almost tripled to £8.41 billion from £3.07 billion in 2020. The bank’s 2021 common equity tier one ratio - a key measure of a bank’s financial strength - was 15.1%, unchanged from 2020. Barclays declared a total dividend of 6.0 pence, substantially higher than the 1.0p paid out in 2020. The bank also intends to initiate a share buyback of up to £1.0 billion, which is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2022. ‘Looking ahead into 2022, we are focussed on delivering consistent performance and returns across our businesses, supported by robust management of our balance sheet, costs and controls. We recognise that the economic environment is more than usually uncertain, with rising inflation rates and tighter monetary policy, while many parts of society continue to recover from the severe social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,’ said Chief Executive Officer CS Venkatakrishnan.
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Rio Tinto reported a sharp rise in annual earnings boosted by higher commodity prices as the Anglo-Australian miner paid out its highest total dividend ever. For 2021, Rio generated sales revenue of $63.50 billion, up 42% from $44.61 billion in 2020 as pretax profit doubled to $30.83 billion from $15.39 billion. Adjusted underlying earnings surged to $21.4 billion from $12.46 billion. Rio Tinto declared total 2021 dividend of 1,040 US cents, up from 557.0 cents in 2020. This also included a 247 cents special payout. Looking ahead, Rio said capital expenditure to be $8.0 billion in 2022, rising to $9.0 billion to $10.0 billion in 2023 and 2024. The miner’s production guidance was unchanged from January update.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Aston Martin Lagonda posted a sharp rise in annual revenue as the luxury carmaker was boosted by significant growth in Americas and record sales in China, driven by strong demand for its sports utility vehicle, the DBX. For 2021, Aston Martin generated revenue of £1.10 billion, up 79% from £611.8 million in 2020, and its pretax loss narrowed by half to £213.8 million from a loss of £466 million. Aston Martin’s 2021 total wholesales were £6.18 billion, up 82% from £3.39 billion in 2020 as more normal operations were resumed following Covid-19 restrictions in 2020. The carmaker said its brand desirability is strong, pointing to retails outpacing wholesales. Wholesales are deliveries to dealers, while retails are dealer sales to customers. Looking ahead, the Warwickshire, England-based firm said it was ‘well on its way’ to achieving medium-term targets of 10,000 wholesales, £2 billion revenue and £500 million adjusted EBITDA by 2024/25. Supply chains globally continue to experience disruption, Aston Martin said, and it is focused on mitigating any impact on production. The first quarter is expected to be the smallest quarter of the year, given the timing of product launches of the DBX707 in the second quarter and V12 Vantage in third quarter. The carmaker is refining the production process for the Valkyrie hypercar programme, it said.
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Hochschild Mining reported 2021 pretax profit of $137.3 million, doubled from $62.0 million, on revenue of $811.4 million, up 30% from $621.8 million. The gold and silver miner declared a final dividend of 2.3 cents per share, saying this brings its total annual payout to $22.0 million, down from $32.6 million in 2020. However, Hochschild plans an additional dividend in specie of $94.6 million from its Aclara demerger.
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Cybersecurity firm Darktrace said it has acquired The Hague, Netherlands-based Cybersprint, an attack surface management company. Darktrace will pay €47.5 million, which will be 75% in cash and 25% in Darktrace shares. It said the price is 12.5 times Cybersprint’s annual recurring revenue. The deal is expected to close around March 1, and Cybersprint will be added to the Darktrace ’Prevent’ product suite.
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Wednesday’s shareholder meetings
Blencowe Resources PLC - AGM
Gooch & Housego PLC - AGM
Income & Growth VCT PLC - GM re share subscription
Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT PLC - GM re share subscription
Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT PLC - GM re share subscription
Mobeus Income & Growth VCT PLC - GM re share subscription
RWS Holdings PLC - AGM
Tharisa PLC - AGM
Titon Holdings PLC - AGM
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