Losses better-than-expected for easyJet, Shaftesbury reinstates progressive dividend

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 88 points lower on Tuesday, having closed up 0.94% at 7,109.95 on Monday.

Stocks to watch

Budget airline easyJet reported a better-than-expected annual loss on Tuesday and said it expected capacity to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the current fiscal year. The company posted a headline pre-tax loss of £1.13bn, compared with an £835m loss a year earlier and guidance of £1.14bn - 1.18bn. It also noted an increase in transfers and softer trading in the current quarter due to the outbreak of the new Omicron Covid variant.

Shaftesbury restored its progressive dividend policy as the company reported improving trends and a narrower annual loss. Pretax loss for the year to the end of September was £194.9m compared with £699.5m a year earlier as rental income fell to £105m from £114.4m. Valuation deficits fell to £196.8m from £698.2m. Shaftesbury declared a final dividend of 4p a share after paying no dividend a year earlier. The company said the dividend would track growth in net property income and earnings over time. The FTSE 250 group said footfall at its London properties was about 80% of 2019 levels during the week and back to pre pandemic activity at weekends. Vacancies are returning to pre pandemic levels.

Newspaper round-up

Volumes of goods shipped directly from Ireland to the EU on new Brexit-busting ferry routes have rocketed by 50% in the past six months as exporters seek to avoid travelling across land through Great Britain, according to official data. Figures published by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) show significant traffic diverted away from the traditional routes between Dublin and Britain to some of 32 new ferry services direct to ports such as Le Havre, Cherbourg and Dunkirk in France and Zeebrugge in Belgium. - Guardian

A US company that gathered photos of people from Facebook and other social media sites for use in facial recognition by its clients is facing a £17m fine after the Information Commissioner’s Office found it had committed “serious breaches” of data protection law. Clearview AI, which describes itself as the “world’s largest facial network”, allows its customers to compare facial data against a database of over 10bn images harvested from the internet. - Guardian

An effort by Virgin Atlantic to raise £400m in rescue funding has been thrown into doubt by fears of new travel curbs, raising concerns among industry observers about its prospects over winter. Sir Richard Branson’s airline has been in talks with existing shareholders and lenders over a cash lifeline in recent weeks, after extended restrictions on travel from the UK to the United States forced it to shelve plans for a public listing. - Telegraph

Accenture will create 3,000 new jobs in the UK over the next three years as part of a push into technology services, with half of the roles to be based outside London. The professional services firm said the new jobs are being driven by increased client demand for services in cybersecurity, cloud engineering, data, intelligent operations and platforms. - Telegraph

The government is monitoring the situation at BT amid heightened takeover speculation surrounding Britain’s biggest telecoms group. Uncertainty intensified yesterday after a report that Reliance Industries, the Indian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate controlled by Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest businessman, was weighing a takeover bid. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Monday following Friday's omicron variant-fuelled selloff.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.68% at 35,135.94, while the S&P 500 was 1.32% firmer at 4,655.27 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.88% stronger at 15,782.83.

The Dow closed 236.60 points higher on Monday, reclaiming a small amount of losses suffered at the end of last week as traders returned from the Thanksgiving Day break to concerns regarding a new and virulent strain of Covid-19 found in South Africa.

Market participants still monitored developments around the new "variant of concern" on Monday, with preliminary evidence suggesting omicron comes with an increased risk of reinfection, according to the World Health Organization.

While the variant was initially reported to be centralised to South Africa, it has now been found in the UK, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Australia and Hong Kong. No cases have been detected in the US as of yet.