Hundreds of UK listed companies have now made statements warning about the affect’s coronavirus may have on their business and the markets they operate in, says Bowmore Asset Management, the asset managers.
The number of UK companies warning of the risk coronavirus poses has more than doubled in the last week to 113, up from 62 the week before and just ten, five weeks ago.
Bowmore Asset Management say that there is now an increasing number of businesses warning of the actual negative impact on their current trading rather than the theoretical impact that they could encounter.
ITV, Ryanair and easyJet are among the latest companies warning about the material impact coronavirus is having on their business. Recent warnings include:
ITV
“…early indications suggest total advertising revenue will be down 10% in April” due to “an impact from travel advertising deferments relating to the Coronavirus. All deferments to date have been included in this guidance.”
Ryanair
“Over the past week, Ryanair has seen a significant drop in bookings over that late March/early April period, in response to the Covid-19 Virus. There has also been a significant step up in passenger no-shows on flights, particularly from and within Italy.”
EasyJet
“…to help mitigate the impact from COVID-19 we will be focusing on delivering operational efficiency and cost savings across a number of areas of the business, including:
- Budget cuts in administrative areas and discretionary spend
- Recruitment, promotion and pay freezes across the network
Braemar Shipping Services PLC
“Until the spread of COVID-19 shows signs of slowing, forecasts for economic growth and global trade are widely expected to continue to fall. Braemar expects this will have an effect on earnings for the first quarter of the year ending 28 February 2021 in the Shipbroking Division.”
Hostelworld
“As the Coronavirus has spread from region to region, we have observed a material reduction in bookings and an increase in marketing cost as a percentage of net revenue.”
Aeorema Communications plc
“…given the anticipation of a growing impact of the COVID-19 virus and likelihood that other events may also be postponed beyond FY20, the Board believes that revenue and profit before tax for FY20 will be below current market expectations.”
Charles Incledon, Client Director at Bowmore Asset Management, says: “As the coronavirus crisis continues to unfold, the message to investors should still be the same: for those with a long-term horizon, it is best to avoid the temptation to exit the market.”
“Sharp corrections can be followed by sharp rallies – anyone who manages to time that correctly is doing that largely through luck rather than insight.”
“Some sectors that have declined heavily, such as oil & gas and travel, could present real opportunities to buy at significantly lower levels once the dust has settled.”
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