Shares in engine maker Rolls Royce (LON:RR) sank on Thursday after the group reported a £5.4bn loss in the first half. The destruction of demand for travel was the main driver behind the loss as the company was forced to write down assets and unveil an asset sale programme. Rolls Royce shares were down over 8% shortly after midday on Thursday. “We ended 2019 with good operational and financial momentum. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected our 2020 performance, with an unprecedented impact on the civil aviation sector with flights grounded across the world,” said Warren East, Chief Executive of Rolls Royce. “We have responded rapidly to increase our liquidity, with £6.1bn at the end of H1 and a further £2.0bn term loan agreed in H2, to help weather the continued uncertainty around the timing and shape of the recovery in the civil aviation sector.” “We have made significant progress with our restructuring, which includes the largest reorganisation of our Civil Aerospace business in our history. This restructuring has caused us to take difficult decisions resulting in an unfortunate but necessary reduction in roles. These actions will significantly reduce our cost base, which combined with recovery in Power Systems and continued resilience in Defence, will help us to deliver significantly improved returns as the world recovers from the pandemic.” “While our actions have helped to secure the Group’s immediate future, we recognise the material uncertainties resulting from COVID-19 and the need to rebuild our balance sheet for the longer term. We have identified a number of potential disposals that are expected to generate proceeds of more than £2bn, including ITP Aero and a number of other assets. Furthermore, in light of ongoing uncertainty in the civil aviation sector, we are continuing to assess additional options to strengthen our balance sheet to enable us to emerge from the pandemic well placed to capitalise on the long-term opportunities in all our markets.”

EQTEC shares (LON:EQT) rallied on Wednesday after the waste-to-energy company announced the financial close of Greek gasification plants as part of an agreement with ewerGy. EQTEC will now supply Equipment and Engineering and Design Services to the project which is worth £2m over 18 months. Shares in EQTEC were in excess of 10% higher in early trade on Wednesday following the news. The move means EQTEC shares are now up over 490% in 2020.   The Greek gasification project is one of many agreements EQTEC are working on to supply their gasification technology to waste-to-energy plants across Europe. The Greek project will typically utilise farm waste to produce fuel, but EQTEC’s technology is able to convert a wide range of waste forms into fuels, highlighting the huge potential for the technology in the circular economy. The Greek project will convert farm waste to green electricity and be sent to the grid for distribution across the country. There are a total of 22 plants earmarked in Greece under the Collaboration Framework Agreement with ewerGy after another 6 were recently added. “EQTEC’s cooperation with ewerGy and ECO Hellas continues to strengthen and deliver results and we are pleased to have signed an equipment sales and services contract with them, said David Palumbo, CEO of EQTEC. “With the strong and increasing appetite from traditional banking institutions to provide financing for projects applying EQTEC’s advanced gasification technology, we look forward to commencing the construction of Greece’s first waste to energy gasification plant, which is fully permitted and fully funded.” “This plant and the growing pipeline of 18 potential projects that we are progressing well in Greece and the Balkan region are expected to deliver value to our stakeholders, local communities and our shareholders. Scalable waste to energy solutions using proven advanced gasification technologies such as EQTEC’s are important in the energy transition and decarbonisation market.” EQTEC shares were trading at 0.685p, up 11%, shortly before 11am on Wednesday.

Provident Financial (LON: PFG) shares surged on Wednesday morning despite the group posting a £28m pre-tax loss for the first six months to the end of June. The loss was compared to a £43.1m profit for the same period in 2019 – however, the doorstep lender still performed ahead of expectations amid the pandemic. Revenue fell from £501.5m last year to £445.5m. Amid the pandemic, the group has said that it will not pay out its interim dividend (H1’19: 9.0p per share) and aims to continue payouts when operational and financial conditions normalise. “The first six months of this year have been the most difficult and testing in my career. However, I am very pleased with how well the Group has responded to the challenges brought about by Covid-19, and how effectively we have operated. We are reporting an adjusted loss before tax for the period of £32.6m, this result is better than our initial view of Covid-19’s potential impact on our businesses. Pleasingly, within this number Vanquis Bank and Moneybarn were both profitable,” said the chief executive, Malcolm Le May. “Looking forward, our strong financial position will mean that we can keep helping, and responsibly lending to, our customers, many of whom are key workers, as we, and they, face the challenge of furlough support ending and unemployment rising in the coming months. Provident Financial has performed robustly in the first half of the year because we focused on our customers, colleagues and strengthening our balance sheet for the challenges the pandemic would bring.” “In fact financial and operational performance were better than expected, and therefore we have decided to repay all furlough support to the government. We believe this is the right thing to do, and on behalf of customers have also advocated the government should support wider funding for the sector. Our market will grow due to the pandemic, but at present it appears the supply of credit into the market is decreasing, which cannot be a good outcome for customers, nor a public policy one for the UK,” he added. Provident Financial shares (LON: PFG) are trading 12.93% at 221.00 (0856GMT).

DFS (LON: DFS) posted strong results on Tuesday morning after the retailer saw a growth in revenue and demand following the lockdown. Demand over the past six weeks has surged and totals revenues of around £70mn – higher than the group’s initial expectations. Despite the growth in revenues, the retailer remains cautious around Brexit and the pandemic. “The financial year has started strongly, however, we do note that significant uncertainty related to Covid-19 on UK consumer confidence and the potential impact of Brexit exists and it is exceptionally difficult to assess the outlook beyond the short term,” said the group. “While positive trading momentum currently remains we do note that some consumers may be bringing forward spending decisions and this may impact trading later in the financial year.” Shares in the group (LON: DFS) rose over 13% this morning. Shares in the group are currently trading +13.60% at 170.40 (1034GMT).

Arrow Global (LON: ARW) shares soared on Tuesday morning after the group posted “resilient” results for the six months ending June 30. The asset manager revealed a fall in cash collections from £202.1mn last year to £175.8mn. The group also posted a pre-tax loss of £108.9mn amid the “significant economic uncertainty”. As Arrow Global Group swings into a loss, the group remains positive and has seen “improving trend in collections performance following the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns.” Lee Rochford, the chief executive, said: “I am proud of Arrow’s response to the challenges posed by the pandemic. We have protected our people, strengthened our funding and balance sheet, maintained robust operational performance and supported our customers.” “As we exit the crisis, European banks will be under significant pressure to provision for non-performing loans. With €1.1 billion of discretionary undeployed fund management capital, we are extremely well placed to be a leading investor in this huge market with increasingly attractive returns. We remain resolutely focused on executing our strategy to build a compelling integrated asset manager, offering differentiated access to high yielding assets whilst continuing to treat customers fairly,” he added. Arrow Group shares (LON: ARW) are trading +13.27% at 90.50 (1008GMT).  

The FTSE 100 rose on Monday as investors found confidence in reports a vaccine could be fast tracked in the United States where there was also optimism around a possible treatment using plasma. “European markets have kicked off the week in style, with the FDA’s decision to approve the convalescent plasma coronavirus treatment raising hopes that we could see a vaccine fast-tracked before long,” said Joshua Mahony, Senior Market Analyst at IG. “Rumours of a move to fast-track the Oxford-led vaccine may have provided a boost for global market sentiment, yet significant question remain over whether we would see significant participation without the full development process having been undertaken.” “This move to push through a treatment could play a crucial role in helping to bring down the casualty rate in the US, with that coronavirus response intrinsically linked to the upcoming election,” Mahony said. With elections in November, the roll out of a vaccine in October would be seen as a boost to Trump’s chances of another term in the White House. However, a UK Government spokesman said the Oxford vaccine would first be distributed in the UK as the UK already has a 100 million order in place. This raises questions over a fast tracked distribution in the United States, given October is now juts 6-weeks away. AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company driving the trials for the vaccine, rallied 4% on the news. The FTSE 100 was followed higher by European indices as travels shares rose on hopes of a return to normalised travel. “Jumping – literally – at the chance to turn their attentions to something positive, the European markets came out of the gate hot. The FTSE just about returned to 6100 following a 100 point surge, with the DAX crossing 12950 thanks to a 1.7% increase. Better than both of its more popular peers, the CAC added 2%, leaving it at 4980,” said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex.