easyJet (EZJ) will today unveil a package holiday business – just weeks after Thomas Cook went bust. Customers will be able to book hotels at some of its top destinations, including the Canary Islands and the Alps. The business will offer flexible breaks that can be booked at any time of the week coinciding with its flights, instead of the traditional model of offering one or two-week holidays with flights at fixed times. The airline has spent almost a year striking deals with hundreds of hotels on its most popular routes. Easyjet Holidays launches before Christmas as families book winter skiing holidays and summer breaks. The move will be unveiled with the firm’s annual results today, when profits are set to tumble from £587m to between £420m and £430m.
Recent numbers from Genel Energy (GENL) underlined the improvement both in its situation and in the part of Iraqi Kurdistan where it operates. Production was up, but so was the amount of cash generated by the oil group. In total, Genel has generated $413million so far in 2019 and had net cash of $115million at the end of September. Unsurprisingly, sentiment towards the stock closely follows the political and economic situation in Kurdistan. ISIS’s gradual decline means the region is increasingly stable, while increased revenues from oil sales and a series of economic reforms has helped to transform the economy. Under former chief executive Murat Özgül, who stepped down in early April, and his successor, the company’s former chief operating officer, Bill Higgs, Genel’s balance sheet has been transformed.
Aviva (AV.) decision not to sell its operations in Singapore and China was met with scepticism from the City. Aviva was the worst performer on the Footsie after it said investors would benefit the most from keeping the Singapore division and its joint venture in China, where there are ‘high growth prospects’ and a huge market. Media reports suggested it would use an investor day tomorrow to confirm a sale of the Singapore division, after it kicked off a review of its Asian business earlier this year. It is still mulling whether to flog its units in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Indonesia. Analysts consider Aviva’s structure to be clunky and in need of a shake-up – but the roll-back on Singapore has raised fresh questions over what new chief executive Maurice Tulloch actually has planned for the group.
H&T Group (HAT) shed around a quarter of its value in early trading after it revealed it is working with City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority to review its high-cost, short-term credit business, which could result in H&T paying customers compensation. Boss John Nichols said the company is working with regulators but that its cash-strapped customers could be forced to turn to loan sharks in the run-up to Christmas.
IQE (IQE) had a dour start to the week. Its shares plunged after it cut its revenue forecast for the second time in five months and warned this would trigger an annual loss compared with a profit of £16m last year. IQE said it had been hit hard by the raging US-China trade war and had ‘experienced very challenging market conditions in 2019’. Hedge funds will be sitting pretty after yesterday’s share price drop – almost 9% of its stock was out on loan to short-sellers by the end of last week.
