EasyJet signs new term loan facility, British Land collects 71pc of December quarter rent
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open seven points lower on Monday, having closed up 0.24% on Friday at 6,873.26.
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Budget airline easyJet has strengthened its balance sheet by signing a new five-year term loan facility of $1.87bn (£1.4bn). The carrier on Monday said the loan was underwritten by a syndicate of banks and supported by a partial guarantee from the UK government’s Export Development Guarantee scheme.
British Land said 73% of its retail stores were open before Christmas and 32% were trading under the latest national lockdown. On 7 January it had collected 71% of rent due for payment in the December quarter comprising 99% of office rents and 46% of retail rents.
Former Ocado director Simon Thompson has been appointed chief executive of Royal Mail, the company confirmed on Monday. Thompson, already on the letter and parcel carrier’s board as a non-executive director, replaces former boss Rico Back, who left last year after resistance to his reform plans.
Newspaper round-up
Small businesses and manufacturers are bracing themselves for a fight for survival this year, according to fresh survey data, as they negotiate the twin threats of Covid-19 and weaker post-Brexit trade with the EU. More than 250,000 small firms expect to fold without further government financial support, according to a quarterly poll by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). - Guardian
A surge in online shopping helped to push up the Post Office’s income over Christmas, as web-based retailers escaped the Covid-19 restrictions that bedevilled the high street. In the four weeks to 27 December, the Post Office recorded 51.3m customer transactions, just 0.5% below the same period of 2019, with sales up 17% to £66.3m. - Guardian
Fund manager M&G has blamed City rules as it refuses to hand investors back money from its suspended £2.1bn property fund, almost a fifth of which is now held in cash and earning no returns. The M&G Property Portfolio fund has blocked investor withdrawals since December 2019, when a raft of real estate funds were gated as plummeting retail property valuations prompted a wave of redemption requests. - Telegraph
The private equity owner of TGI Fridays in Britain plans to put the bar and restaurant chain up for sale this year as it winds down its portfolio after succumbing to an attack by a corporate raider. Electra Private Equity, a London-listed investment vehicle, is also aiming to sell off its other assets before the year is out and return the proceeds to shareholders. - The Times
MPs have opened an investigation into the insolvency profession after criticism from businesses about their objectivity standards, The Times has learnt. A focus is likely to be on the relationship between insolvency practitioners and the lending banks that have the power to appoint them. - The Times
US close
Stocks finished in positive territory on Wall Street on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up 0.18% at 31,097.97.
The S&P 500 added 0.55% to 3,824.68, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.03% firmer at 13,201.98.