Upbeat Retailers Find Market a Tougher Sell

A number of leading retailers of all sizes presented trading updates to the Macquarie investment conference yesterday. Some numbers were solid but investors remained unimpressed.
Read MoreA number of leading retailers of all sizes presented trading updates to the Macquarie investment conference yesterday. Some numbers were solid but investors remained unimpressed.
Read MoreThe circumstantial siege that has beset the travel sector since Covid emerged in 2020 shows no signs of letup, just as it seemed some light was breaking through at the end of the tunnel.
Read MoreDespite revealing that it is selling more international tickets than domestic ones for the first time since the start of the pandemic, Flight Centre saw 4% carved off its share price in Wednesday’s trading session.
Read MoreIn the middle of the second and third round of lockdowns across Australia and some of its global markets, Flight Centre has decided that that is a good time to invest in a new business, with potential.
Read MoreAs expected, Qantas, Air NZ and Flight Centre all clocked up losses in the year to June 30 thanks to the continuing impact of Covid and its variants on domestic and international travel.
Read MoreThere were many positives generated for retailing by the pandemic. What could be short term and what could be longer-lasting impacts?
Read MoreOutperform rating with a target of $17.50.
Read MoreUnderweight with the target dropping to $16 from $17.50.
Read MoreOn Tuesday a very weak trading update from Flight Centre, Australia’s biggest travel agency, helped explain the recent loss of traction for the sector.
Read MoreTravel group Flight Centre has lengthened what it called in its interim results last week its “liquidity runway” by $90 million to more than $1.2 billion.
Read MoreIn an initial assessment of Flight Centre’s first quarter, Citi assesses the company’s revenues are gradually improving led by corporate travel revenue and limited liquidity drawdown during the quarter.
Read MoreFlight Centre big loss in the year to June was very much expected as the company raised new capital, slashed staff numbers and costs, accepted JobKeeper payments in a struggle to survive.
Read MoreFlight Centre anticipates a FY20 pre-tax loss in a range of -$475-525m. Citi downgrades to Neutral from Buy with a $13.50 target, given the uncertainty surrounding the resumption of global and domestic travel and the lack of catalysts outside of a successful vaccine.
Read MoreFlight Centre shareholders have been warned to expect a loss of more than $800 million when it reports its full-year results later this month as the travel group continues to battle the impact of COVID-19 on its core travel agency business here and offshore.
Read MoreMacquarie believes a $700m capital raising provides the company with the ability to deal with the travel restrictions. While total transaction value in April was down -95%, an improvement is expected as travel restrictions gradually ease.
Read MoreFabric and home crafts chain, Adairs has ruled out the need for a capital raising and will start to slowly reopen stores from this Thursday after reporting a 37% drop in total sales during its store closures over the past 5 weeks.
Read MoreFar from being a voluntary act, the competition and consumer regulator, the ACCC has forced travel group, Flight Centre to stop charging a $300 cancellation fee for customers seeking refunds on international travel (and $50 for domestic bookings) they have booked but been forced to cancel because of COVID-19.
Read MoreFlight Centre has slashed monthly operating costs and raised capital. Brokers expect a leaner enterprise with greater market share is likely to emerge.
Read MoreLife after near-death for Flight Centre and Southern Cross Austero yesterday as the two companies emerged from trading halts to allow bailout fundraisings to start.
Read MoreThe travel sector is now a wasteland as the COVID-19 virus continues to wreak havoc across here and across the globe. Helloworld will make 275 staff redundant and temporarily stand down 1300 more workers while Flight Centre has cancelled $40.1 million worth of interim dividend payments.
Read MoreA big test for the market and investment confidence this week with news expected on whether there will be coronavirus-driven rescue/recaps of Webjet, Flight Centre and oOH!media.
Read MoreThe crisis in the travel and aviation sector worsened yesterday with the Federal government banning all foreigners from entering Australia from midnight tonight and again told Australians returning from overseas that they will have to undergo 14 days of quarantine.
Read MoreYesterday saw a host of downgrades and other poor news from ASX companies of all sizes – all understandable in the current terrible investment climate as the combination of the coronavirus pandemic and the idiotic price war in oil between Russia and Saudi Arabia wreck market confidence and share price.
Read MoreFlight Centre has withdrawn FY20 guidance. The broker has revised down forecasts with the caveat of best guess under the circumstances. The broker’s travel sector view is one of depressed conditions throughout the first half FY21 before normalising in FY22.
Read MoreFlight Centre shares have sunk to their lowest level since mid-2012 as the company scrapped its guidance for the June 30 financial year amid the continuing market panic over the COVID-19 virus’ impact on travel and the global economy.
Read MoreTravel agency giant Flight Centre has cut its full-year profit guidance by 22% and interim dividend by a third, thanks to the growing uncertainty caused by the coronavirus outbreak that is now stretching around the globe.
Read MoreCredit Suisse observes recent travel data has been weak, consumer sentiment is poor and there is a strong second half skew to guidance.
Read MoreTravel giant, Flight Centre has put more meat on its October 9 earnings warning, and seen a further sell-off.
Read MoreTravel groups are finding it hard to get airborne early in the 2019-20 financial year. Webjet got caught by the collapse of UK group, Thomas Cook with $43 million of likely losses, now Flight Centre, the sector’s biggie, yesterday slipped out a forecast of lower first-half earnings and the shares hit turbulence and slumped more than 13%.
Read MoreThe collapse of UK travel company, Thomas Cook after 178 years in business will leave an impact across every part of the global holiday and business travel businesses, with costs estimated to easily top $A2 billion.
Read MoreConflicting market reactions to the annual results of the two better-performed travel groups listed on the ASX Webjet and Flight Centre.
Read MoreMacquarie has surveyed 40 travel agents, airlines and hotel operators to gauge recent travel trends. The consensus view is that conditions are subdued for both domestic and international travel. Global political uncertainty and corporates mandating travel freezes of varying degrees are having an impact.
Read MoreThe company has downgraded guidance by -12% to $335-360m for pre-tax profit in FY19. Credit Suisse notes the Australian leisure business continues to be challenged and total transaction value appears to have declined in the first months of 2019.
Read MoreInvestors couldn’t quite decide about the Flight Centre interim results yesterday. First up they were unhappy and pushed the shares down more than 4% to a day’s low of $41.40, then they changed their minds and chased the shares back up to where they ended the day at $44.30, up 2.8%.
Read MoreFlight Centre shares sold off heavily yesterday after a weak trading update at the annual meeting yesterday.
Read MoreTravel agent Flight Centre shares took a hammering yesterday despite a higher profit and dividend.
Read MoreAttempts by Flight Centre, the country’s largest travel agency to fix the value of tickets with three airlines so its “price beat guarantee” didn’t reduce the company’s profits has rebounded badly with the Full Federal Court fining it $12.5 million in a decision handed down yesterday.
Read MoreTravel group, Flight Centre has gone all bullish about its outlook for 2017-18, forecasting not only a solid December half, but a full year profit rise of 15%.
Read MoreFlight Centre shares jumped 11% yesterday – hitting a three-year highs in the process after the travel group suggested that the heavy discounting of international airfares was ending.
Read MoreFlight Centre shares jumped sharply yesterday when a profit shortfall became a positive.
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