singapore hotel: MARKET REPORT: Soggy start to the New Year prompts sun seekers to book ...

Thứ Năm, 2 tháng 1, 2014

MARKET REPORT: Soggy start to the New Year prompts sun seekers to book ...

By

Geoff Foster

PUBLISHED:

17:28 EST, 2 January 2014

|

UPDATED:

17:28 EST, 2 January 2014

It’s time for a New Year’s resolution and many punters will be busting a gut to go on holiday to get away from the torrential rain and flood warnings that have become commonplace in the UK.

The Thames Barrier in London even had to be closed yesterday to protect people and property along the river.

Flying off to a warmer clime will also help take City folks’ minds off yet another inflation-busting rail fare rise.

Back from the brink: December¿s stellar performance stopped the rot for Michael O¿Leary’s airline

The average 2.8 per cent increase pushes the cost for some commuters to more than £5,000 a year. For the service provided, its just daylight robbery.

Michael O’Leary’s Irish budget airline Ryanair, €0.08 dearer at €6.33, enjoyed a record-breaking December with 5million people travelling on the airline over the period, a gain of 4 per cent on the same month in 2012. It took the number of passengers carried in 2013 to more than 81million.

December’s performance stopped the rot for O’Leary because the month before saw him wheel out a second profits warning in two months.

He was then forced to admit that his beloved airline would report its first fall in annual profits for five years as intense competition in Europe pushed average fares down by around 10 per cent over the winter months. He slashed full-year profit estimates to €510million from €570million.

Meanwhile, O’Leary’s biggest rival EasyJet has flown from strength to strength. It touched down in the Footsie after its share price more-than-doubled under the stewardship of boss Carolyn McCall.

It gained a further 16p to a record 1,552p amid reports it also has enjoyed a bumper festive period.

McCall introduced allocated seating on easyJet planes from November 2012 when the shares were changing hands at 620p.

Needless to say as soon as Joe and Joan Public could pre-book allocated seats for a small premium price, doing away with the bunfights and long queues, demand took off, especially in the business end of the market. Consensus forecasts for 2014 are for a pre-tax profit of £540million.

Travel group Thomas Cook improved 1.4p to 168.6p on hopes sun seekers will fill its hotels this year.

Ahead of its 30th anniversary today, the Footsie succumbed to sporadic bouts of profit-taking to finish the first full day of trading of 2014 31.18 points lower at 6,717.91. Wall Street lost 123.9 points in early trading to 16,452.76 for a similar reason.

While other mining stocks were dragged lower by news that China’s factory activity slowed in December, Randgold Resources rallied 144p to 3,934p and African Barrick Gold improved 11.7p to 197.5p, helped by a 1.5 per cent improvement in the gold price to $1,220 an ounce.

Last year the precious metal produced its worst performance in 32 years.

Financial services giant Hargreaves Lansdown jumped 51p to a record 1,405p on expectations that interim results due on February 5 will more than please.

Rumours in the market have suggested that City number crunchers had upgraded their full-year earnings forecasts in the wake of October’s mega successful Royal Mail (9p dearer at 579p) flotation.

Chief executive Ian Gorham said at the time Hargreaves had seen an ‘immense’ influx of investor cash ahead of and during trading in Royal Mail.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals scored a healthy gain of 76p to 1,277p after UBS upgraded to buy from neutral. The broker expects the group to benefit from a weaker Japanese yen and to continue to profit from sales of doxycycline, an antibiotic to treat malaria.

Takeover favourite Ophir Energy dipped 26.9p to 300.9p after announcing the Mlinzi Mbali-1 well, its first well on block 7 offshore Tanzania, is dry.

Avocet Mining slumped 0.82p to 8.71p following the board’s revelation it has not been able to repay the $15.8million owed to its largest shareholder Elliott Associates by the end of December deadline.

It has been able to pay the accrued interest of $0.8million, and ‘remains in discussions’ with Elliott about repayment of the principal loan.

Broker Shore Capital believes Elliott’s best chance of recouping its cash lies in continuing to support Avocet, rather than calling in the liquidators.

Shares in AIM-listed and Singapore-based New Trend Lifestyle were chased up to 11p on news that New Zealand’s Menora Trading had taken a 3.1 per cent stake in the Feng Shui consultancy. Profit takers later moved in and the close was 3.75p better at 9.5p after dealers heard that director James Tan Men Dong had resigned.

He apparently helped mastermind the company’s flotation in London.

Exploration company Kalimantan Gold plummeted 0.75p, or 35 per cent, to 1.38p after it disappointed followers by revealing its joint venture partner Surya Kencana is withdrawing from the company’s KSK Contract of Work copper project.