Royal Mail anticipates permanent shift to online sales

Liam Roche
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Royal Mail anticipates permanent shift to online sales

Royal Mail parcel volumes retreat as online boom eases

Royal Mail (LON:RMG) revealed its parcel deliveries slowed during the previous quarter as the pandemic-induced boom in online sales lost some momentum.

However, the parcel delivery company also suggests that the trend established during the pandemic is here to stay.

Royal Mail’s revenue during the quarter ending in June 2021 is up by 12.5% from the year before. When compared to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, it has increased by 20.2%.

Despite the volume of parcels being sent falling by 13%, income generated from parcels increased. This is down to Royal Mail achieving a better product mix, the company said.

Speaking before the FTSE 100 company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, chairman Keith Williams said: “As expected, parcel volumes decreased and letter volumes increased compared to the exceptional period last year encompassing the UK’s first lockdown, when non-essential retailers closed for the first time.”

“We are starting to see evidence that the domestic parcel market is re-basing to a higher level than pre-pandemic, as consumers continue to shop online.”

Williams added that it is too soon to know what’s in store for the remainder of the year due to uncertainty, particularly with regard to Covid-19. The Royal Mail chairman is retaining a sense of optimism.

Ben Nuttall, Senior Analyst at Third Bridge, provided additional context to the results announced by Royal Mail on Wednesday.

“As the UK begins to open up parcel volumes have declined compared to last year down 13%, but there are early signs that some of the behaviour of buying online is sticking as domestic parcels remain 19% above 2019 levels,” Nuttall said.

“International parcel volumes were down more, as we still see impacts of passenger flights reducing air freight capacity and increased conveyance costs as well as Brexit impacts while the country transitions into a new trade deal.”

“Overall structural letter decline continues compared to 2019, but there is a nice jump from last year as businesses reopen compared to the same period last year.”

“Any decline in volumes in parcels has been more than offset by pricing increases, showing lasting benefits for Royal Mail of delivering last year under tough conditions when we all wanted home delivery.”

The Royal Mail share price is down by 1.32% during the morning session on Wednesday to 523.60p

New AIM admission: Lords Group Trading

Andrew Hore
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New AIM admission: Lords Group Trading

Lords Group Trading appears to have a chosen a good time to float on AIM with current trading at record levels.  
The builders’ merchant plans to increase revenues to £500m a year by 2024. That is a more than 50% increase on the current annualised figure, and it will require a significant amount of acquisition activity. Lords Group Trading already has plenty of experience as a consolidator. Management will spend time with potential sellers to understand why they are selling and the culture of the business.
There are around 900 independent builders’ merchants in the UK and there is little ...

Short-term uncertainty could hold back the Lloyds share price

Liam Roche
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Short-term uncertainty could hold back the Lloyds share price

Lloyds Share Price

The Lloyds share price (LON:LLOY) is down by 7.68% during the afternoon session on Tuesday. It is the seventh day out of the last eight that the Lloyds share price has been in the red. However, despite the recent dip, it has been a solid 2021 so far the the FTSE 100 company, which has added 23.88% to its share price since the turn of the year. A creeping uncertainty over the recovery of the UK economy has been reflected in the Lloyds share price. However, it could provide an opportunity to find value for those whose faith remains strong in the UK’s outlook.

UK Outlook

When the UK economy is doing the well, the Lloyds share price will grow alongside it. Therefore, for investors curious about the current state of the major bank, it is useful to paint a broader picture of where the country is at on the whole.

Despite the uncertainty, it is not all doom and gloom for the UK economy, which is clearly making strides, albeit stumbling at times, towards a full recovery. Enough for the the IMF to forecast that the British economy will grow by over 5% this year and the next.

Strong growth within the UK could be good for Lloyds for a number of reasons. Firstly, its means lower default rates and higher demand for credit. It could also result in higher interest rates being introduced down the line, which could lead to Lloyds getting more income from mortgages.

Risks

However, for investors with their eye on the Lloyds share price, there are a handful of events which could derail the UK recovery. Firstly, the sustainability of the UK housing market. A large portion of Lloyds’ business comes from being a mortgage lender. Therefore, it benefitted from the stamp duty holiday and the ongoing housing boom. However, as the policy is phased out, property purchases may cool off, causing Lloyds’ revenue to do the same.

With restrictions removed it remains unclear what the impact will be on infection rates and hospitalisations. Professor Neil Ferguson, British epidemiologist, has warned that the UK is in for a difficult summer, with Covid cases in the UK possibly reaching 200,000 a day, and hospitalisations getting to 2,000 admissions per day.

In the short-term it is likely that at best there will be uncertainty. This might not be what investors want to hear as the Lloyds share price could take some time to find its momentum again.

Litigation funding as an investment with Cormac Leech

UK Investor Magazine
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Litigation funding as an investment with Cormac Leech

The UK Investor Magazine Podcast is joined by Cormac Leech, founder of Litigation Funding platform AxiaFunder.

AxiaFunder is the only investment platform available to UK investors to access the new asset class of Litigation Funding.

AxiaFunder was established after Cormac’s personal experience within litigation funding found that while there was a substantial market for litigation funding, there wasn’t an available platform for high net worth and sophisticated investors.

One of the standout attractions of litigation funding is the absence of correlation with the broad economic environment.

Litigation, and the need to pursue litigation, is not largely impacted by economic growth in the same way traditional assets such as equities and bonds are. 

Find more information on the AxiaFunder website.

Investing in offers promoted by AxiaFunder involves risks. Capital is at risk and projected returns are not guaranteed. Investors have a significant risk of losing all of their investment if the case fails. Investments promoted by AxiaFunder are not listed or traded on any recognised exchange. This means you will not be able to easily sell your investment if you need to get your money back quickly. Investments are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The investments on this website are intended for Sophisticated and High Net Worth Investors as defined by the FCA.

600 Group share price jumps on increased order book

Liam Roche
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600 Group share price jumps on increased order book

600 Group Share Price

The 600 Group share price (AIM:SIXH) surged by 12.8% on Tuesday as the engineering company said its order book rose, while its trading levels during Q1 of fiscal 2022 were robust.

It caps of a busy period for the 600 Group share price. During the first few months of the year it traded sideways between 8 and 9p per share. However, heading into April, there began some big moves upwards. With today’s news taken into account the 600 Group share price is up by 59.76% in the last six months.

Results

A key update which served to support the 600 Group share price on Tuesday is the fact its order book at July 15 came in at $22.5m, up from $14.1m at March 31.

The 600 Group did however see its revenue fall by 20% to $53.5m, which the company put down to the impact of the pandemic on its trading levels.

The company is expecting to announce revenue of $53.5m and EBIT (adjusted earnings before interest and taxes) of $2.5m for the year ended March 31. This is a fall in the figures from fiscal 2020 to $67.2m and $2.7m respectively.

600 Group will report its earnings for the year ended March 31 by the end of September. This is due to delays caused by the pandemic.

The 600 Group is a distributor, designer and manufacturer of industrial products with three principal areas of activities: Industrial Laser Systems, Machine Tools and Precision Engineered Components.

CVS upgrades profit expectations was momentum continues post-lockdown

Liam Roche
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CVS upgrades profit expectations was momentum continues post-lockdown

CVS Group’s like-for-like sales jumped by 17.4% for the full year

CVS Group revealed strong full-year sales and upgraded its profit guidance on Tuesday as demand for pets soared during the pandemic.

The British vet’s like-for-like sales jumped by 17.4% for the full year, as the company opened more clinics with the easing of restrictions.

CVS is now expecting its underlying cash profits (EBITDA) to exceed its upgraded targets, which it confirmed towards the end of April.

The group also said it expects its EBITDA margins to rise above the 18.4% seen at the end of H1, as well as the 16.6% reported last year.

CVS is expecting its full year net debt to be well below its EBITDA, while it is “well placed to pursue further targeted acquisitions”.

Just after lunchtime on Tuesday the CVS Group share price (LON:CVSG) is down by 0.44%.

Sophie Lund-Yates, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown commented:

“Pandemic or no pandemic, the UK still needs to care for its pets. While there was some disruption to service because of restrictions, on the whole CVS Group’s vet clinics fared much better than other businesses. As restrictions have allowed clinics to offer a wider range of treatments once more, business has boomed, allowing full year profit expectations to be upgraded yet again. A best-in-show performance is especially welcome given the group’s arguably frothy valuation. CVS Group has reached the point where even a good performance could see the share price wobble, so its results need to stand out from the crowd.”

“CVS Group is also likely being buoyed by the phenomenal rise in pet ownership brought about during lockdowns, which should act as a long-term boon. CVS Group’s revenues are particularly attractive, because once a pet owner registers an animal with a clinic, they’re very likely to be a repeat customer over its lifetime. Recurring revenues are somewhat of a luxury in the world of business, adding a layer of certainty others could only hope for.”

CVS will publish more detailed full year results on 23 September 2021.

Sunak and Johnson to propose 1% National Insurance hike to fund social care reforms

Liam Roche
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Sunak and Johnson to propose 1% National Insurance hike to fund social care reforms

The policy risks being an ‘intergenerational raid’

National Insurance (NI) contributions look set to rise by 1% to fund long-term care reforms, according to reports.

Boris Johnson is expected to make the plans public soon, in a move that could raise £10bn annually from both employers and employees.

It implies that the employee NI rate on earnings below £967 a week could jump from 12% to 13%.

As things stand, NI contributions are only paid by those below the UK state pension age of 66.

The policy has come under pressure as it is seen as an unfair tax on young people, who feel as though they are already disadvantaged by soaring university fees and house prices.

The tax would initially be allocated to addressing the NHS backlog in the aftermath of the pandemic. The health secretary Said Javid warned that the waiting list could jump from 5.3m to 13m people.

Jeremy Hunt, chair of the health select committee, said there was “a growing realisation that with the Covid backlog we’ll never get the NHS back on its feet without social care reform”.

Hunt added that while there were other options to raise funds, none of them were practicable.

“The attraction of a health and social care levy is it would fund the NHS backlog in the short term and desperately needed improvements in the social care system in the medium-longer term,” Hunt said in a tweet.

Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, said the pandemic may be the crisis that finally forces politicians to take meaningful steps to address the UK’s long-term care crisis “after decades of prevarication by successive Governments”.

“However, it would also break a central Conservative manifesto commitment and leave the Government open to accusations of an intergenerational raid, with younger people paying for reforms which immediately benefit older people, most of whom won’t be subject to National Insurance,” Selby added.

“The Government may try to badge this as a ‘social care levy’ separate to National Insurance contributions. This would, on the face of it at least, keep its pledge not to raise NI rates intact – although whether or not voters would see it that way remains to be seen.”

FTSE 100 rebounds after brutal sell-off on Monday

Liam Roche
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0
FTSE 100 rebounds after brutal sell-off on Monday

The FTSE 100 added 0.75% during the morning session on Tuesday as its mood picked up following an underwhelming start to the week.

“Investors appear to have taken the view that yesterday’s global markets sell-off was overdone and now it is time to buy some of the stocks worst hit,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Miners, oil producers and banks led the way on Tuesday, all sectors highly leveraged to economic activity.

“This feels more like a dead cat bounce rather than a healthy rebound as all the arguments behind yesterday’s sell-off remain today,” said Mould.

“Inflation is still a major threat and there are plenty of reasons to expect the global economic recovery to slow down.”

“There is no need to panic, but investors should remain cautious in the current environment,” Mould added.

FTSE 100 Top Movers

Rolls-Royce (3.11%), Berkley Group (2.77%) and ITV (2.45%) are leading the pack on the UK index on Monday with solid gains.

Just Eat (-3.09%), Entain (-0.91%) and National Grid (-0.75%) are the top fallers on the FTSE 100 on Tuesday.

Apollo pulls out of Morrisons takeover talks

Liam Roche
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0
Apollo pulls out of Morrisons takeover talks

Apollo could be involved as part of the Fortress offer

Apollo, the American investment company, has pulled out of the running to acquire Morrisons, as the firm changed its mind.

This stops the possibility of a bidding war in its tracks, as Fortress stepped up its own efforts in recent weeks.

Earlier this month Morrisons looked set to be taken over following a bid of £6.3m for the supermarket chain by a consortium that appears to have beat the competition to the finish line.

While the supermarket group’s directors are recommending acceptance, the offer remains subject to approval by shareholders.

Apollo said that while it does not plan to launch its own takeover bid, it could be involved as part of the Fortress offer.

Last year, Apollo missed out when it tried to acquire Asda, one of the largest supermarket companies in the UK.

Sophie Lund-Yates, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said: “Apollo is laying down its weapons and potentially joining forces with the Fortress-led syndicate. From a shareholder perspective this is disappointing, because it takes the heat out of a potential bidding war, meaning the cash offer already on the table is less likely to get pushed upwards.”

During the morning session the Morrisons share price (LON:MRW) is down by 0.13%.

Morrisons first existed as a market stall in Bradford in 1899 owned by William Morrison. His son then took over the company and opened the first supermarket in the 1960s.

EasyJet flights reach 60% of pre-pandemic levels

Liam Roche
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0
EasyJet flights reach 60% of pre-pandemic levels

EasyJet records £318m pre-tax loss in Q3

EasyJet (LON:EZJ) will increase the number of flights it operates to 60% of the amount seen before the pandemic.

The budget airline will run 1,400 flights per day between July and September.

The British company also confirmed in a trading update that during Q3 it made a £318m pre-tax loss. EasyJet confirmed that the figure was in line with its own expectations.

Compared to the same period in 2019, EasyJet operated 17% of the level of flights, carrying 3m passengers.

Its revenues came in at £212m, up from £7.2m a year earlier.

EasyJet’s customers are waiting for longer to book their flights than in previous years, as 49% of its summer flights have been booked, compared to 65% in 2019.

Following the company’s trading update, the EasyJet share price is up by 1.9% during the morning session.

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, made recent comments on how his company has dealt with the ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic: “We have used our existing strengths like our network with renewed purpose – pivoting capacity to Europe where we saw the strongest demand.”

“The UK has had some of the toughest travel restrictions,” he said. “We know people want to fly, we know they want to travel. It’s all about the unwinding of restrictions.”

“Airlines are used to thinking on their feet and EasyJet has certainly been busy trying to find ways in which to generate as much revenue as possible during the pandemic,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Having raced to cut costs in the business, it is now shifting attention to customers in Continental Europe where there are more opportunities to make money than the UK.”

“Many companies the size of EasyJet would not be able to adapt so quickly, so credit must be given to the company for being able to shift a lot of moving parts.”

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