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Summary
- Morrison Supermarkets Plc’s profit before tax fell 50.7 per cent for 53 weeks ended 31 January.
- Savills Plc’s revenue dropped 9 per cent for the year ended 31 December 2020.
- Helios Towers Plc’s revenue increased 7% year-on-year for year ended 31 December 2020
The last year was indeed a difficult one for all establishments globally. The pandemic outbreak and the ensuing enforcement of lockdowns disrupted the global supply chains. Most companies had to announce job cuts to maintain liquidity. Lockdown and social distancing norms took away number of productive months for companies, making business activities almost impossible.
Also read: Business Beyond Covid-19: Growth Means Continuous Reinvention and Revolution
Public-facing industries like aviation and hospitality were the most affected. With flying restrictions and social gatherings almost prohibited, aviation companies and restaurant chains had nil to negligible business.
Most businesses had anticipated that 2020 would be a washout, still some companies have reported positive results. We look at companies that have announced their results recently.
Morrison Supermarkets Plc (LON:MRW)
The FTSE 100 company declared its results for the 52 weeks ended 31 January and reported that its profit before tax and exceptionals dropped 50.7 per cent to £201 million, against £408 million. This included £290 million in direct Covid-19 costs borne by the company to feed the country in the crisis. Its profit before tax fell 62.1 per cent to £165 million from £435 million a year ago.
Also read: Morrisons (LON:MRW) breaks the barrier, to pay at least £10 an hour to its colleagues
The company’s earnings per share before exceptionals were down 54.9 per cent to 5.95 pence from 13.18 pence a year ago. The company said that for 2021-22, it expects profit before tax and exceptionals would be more than the £431 million profit in 2020-21.
The shares of Morrison Supermarkets were trading at GBX 174.70, down by 0.31 per cent on 12 March at 08:17 GMT + 1.
Savills Plc (LON: SVS)
The real estate service provider said that its revenue was down 9 per cent to £1.74 billion for the full year ended 31 December 2020, against £1.91 billion a year ago. The company reported an underlying profit before tax worth £96.6 million against £143.4 million a year ago.
Also read: Is the UK Housing Market near a standstill state?
CEO Mark Ridley said the company had a strong balance sheet and it would focus on the growth of its less transactional businesses and increase its share of global transactional markets.
The shares of Savills’ stocks were trading at GBX 1,147, up by 0.18 per cent on 12 March at 08:14 GMT +1.
IG Group Holdings (LON:IGG)
The financial services company announced its revenue for the third quarter for the financial year ending 31 May was up 65 per cent compared to the same period a year ago to £230.3 million. It said that its performance improved due to sustained elevated levels of trading by existing clients and from increased client acquisition. It had 230,100 active clients active in the quarter, which was a 60 per cent year-on-year growth.
IG Group’s shares were trading at GBX 844.50, down by 0.71 per cent on 12 March at 08:16 GMT+1.
Helios Towers Plc (LON:HTWS)
The British telecommunications company said that for the year ended 31 December 2020, the company’s revenue increased 7 per cent year-on-year to US $414 million from US $387.8 million a year ago, aided by continuous growth in the number of sites tenancies across the company.
Its adjusted EBITDA for the whole year was up by 10 per cent year-on-year to US $226.6 million against US $205.2 million and full-year operating profit increased to US $56.3 million year-on-year, against US $4.5 million a year ago.
Helios Towers’ shares were trading at GBX 160.40, up 1.52 per cent on 12 March at 08:16 GMT+1.
