Easyjet sinks on takeover rejection as FTSE plunges

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good morning.

Morrisons revealed profits fell 43% in the six months to August as it prepares to start an auction to choose between two US private equity firms.

The supermarket chain fell from a pandemic half-year profit before tax of 145 million pounds this time last year to 82 million pounds as it calculated the cost of cafe closures and Covid expenditures.

Direct Covid-19 costs totaled £41m and Morrisons also lost £80m in profits from closed cafes, fuel and takeaway food sales.

However, the retailer said it expected full-year profit before tax to exceed £431m last year.

Shares rose yesterday after it confirmed that it will start an auction to choose between competing bids from CD&R and Fortress, two US private equity groups, which could exceed £9 billion.

Total revenue including fuel rose 3.7 per cent to £9.05 billion, but excluding similarly fuel sales, were broadly flat year over year. Online sales are up 48 percent year over year, and are up more than 200 percent compared to 2019.

Morrisons also warned of higher prices in the second half, driven by rising commodity costs and a shortage of truck drivers.

“We will seek to mitigate these and other potential cost increases, such as any increase incurred, to maintain good shelf availability,” she said.

5 things to start your day

1) Andrew Bailey: UK economic recovery ‘falls’ The Bank of England governor pleaded for 2 million marginalized workers to return to the labor market as he warned severe staff shortages were hampering Britain’s economic recovery. He said Britain needed millions of people to return to the workforce to fill the huge vacancies that have sprung up since society reopened.

2) Facebook accused of discrimination after mechanic and pilot jobs target men The social network has been accused of violating equality laws after it was found that its technology favors men when targeting job ads to male-dominated roles such as mechanics and pilots. Campaign group Global Witness has submitted complaints to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Information Commissioner, alleging that Facebook’s algorithm designed to show jobs to the most interested candidates is a discriminatory algorithm.

3) The battle to take over Morrisons is set to end in a £7 billion auction. An ongoing grocery bidding war between US private equity firm Clayton, Dobellier & Rice (CD&R) and a consortium led by SoftBank-owned Fortress is set to begin at auction next month after Morrisons said that neither side “declared their bids final.” [so] The competitive situation is still there.”

4) Marks & Spencer revives the St Michael brand after a 21-year absence The retailer is reviving the St Michael brand after a 21-year absence, as vintage clothing finds a new audience in younger generations. This year, M&S said it plans to start selling menswear using the vintage label first launched in 1928.

5) Force Britain to ask France to cut electricity exports due to the threat of a power surge Officials issued a request for “emergency assistance” from France on the morning of Sunday 29 August to limit flows to Britain via giant undersea cables. It came after merchants buying and selling power across borders across Europe were temporarily unable to book deals due to problems with the Joint Appropriation Office, meaning much of the energy was going to enter Britain via cable.

What happened overnight

Asian stocks fell on Thursday, while the dollar held steady, in line with a cautious global mood with investors worried about a combination of slowing global growth and the potential diminution of central bank stimulus.

Particular focus is placed on the European Central Bank, as analysts expect it to announce a symbolic step toward cutting emergency economic support later Thursday.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 1.04% while Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.38%.

There were losses in Australia of 1.01 percent, Korea of ​​0.74 percent, and in Hong Kong that fell 1.17 percent, tech names led the declines there.

Hang Seng Tech was down 2.44 percent in early trade, weighed down by Tencent Holdings’ 3.7 percent declines and Netease’s more than 7 percent drop after the Chinese government on Wednesday summoned gaming companies to ensure they were implementing new rules for the sector.

Chinese blue chip stocks fell 0.41% just after the bell, and US stock futures, S&P 500 e-minis, were down 0.16%.

Coming today company: Genus (full year); Burford Capital, Capital & Regional, Cairn Homes, Computacenter, Funding Circle, STV, Morrisons, EMIS Group, Spire Healthcare, International Public Partnership Economics (Interim) Economics: Trade (Germany), Funding Claims (US).

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