City round-up: Auto Trader; Astrazeneca; TalkTalk

Auto Trader, the Manchester-based vehicle trading website, revealed the impact of the first UK lockdown on its results for the year year to September 30.

Revenues fell by 37% to £118.2m, while pre-tax profits of £66.2m declined from £127.7m the previous year.

No dividend has been recommended by the board, which last year paid out 2.4p per share.

During the first lockdown, the group announced, on April 1, the placing of approximately 46m shares, raising proceeds net of all fees of £182.9m, which strengthened the balance sheet and liquidity position.

Once lockdown was lifted, the group said it saw a return to more normal trading levels.

However, with a second national lockdown beginning today, it said, it expects consumer activity seen through October and into November will sustain some sales.

The group confirmed that, as in the first lockdown, it will make its advertising packages free for the month of December for all retailer customers in the UK and extend payment terms by a month for November services.

Chief executive, Nathan Coe, said: “The past eight months have represented perhaps the greatest challenge ever faced by our company and our industry.

“However, as a result of the early and decisive actions that we took to protect our people and support our customers, we believe that our business, culture, and customer relationships are in a strong position.

“Our Q1 performance was heavily impacted by our decision to support our retailer customers by allowing them to advertise for free during the months of April and May, and for a 25% discounted rate in June.

“Since that time the used car market has bounced back strongly. We have seen a steady increase in the number of retailers advertising on our platform and our revenues in Q2 were only marginally down on prior year, with profits flat.

“The recent government announcement once again restricts our customers’ ability to meaningfully trade. As we have announced today, we remain committed to supporting our retailer partners by making our advertising packages free for the month of December and extending payment terms by a month for November services.

“I want to thank all our employees, customers, suppliers and our loyal car buyers for their support. The coming months will no doubt present many challenges, but we are confident in our ability to navigate these successfully, while continuing to execute our long-term strategy to enable retailers to bring more of the car buying process online.”

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Pascal Soriot

Drugs giant Astrazeneca reported better revenues and profits during the nine month period to September 30.

Turnover rose from $17.720bn to $19.207bn, while pre-tax profits increased from $1.308bn to $2.749bn.

Astrazeneca, which is involved in the race to find a vaccine for the coronavirus, employs around 4,700 people in the North West on sites at Macclesfield and Alderley Park in Cheshire and Speke on Merseyside.

It said total revenue was in line with expectations and the operating performance continued to improve, with earnings growth in the third quarter reflecting collaboration revenue and other operating income and expense weighted towards the fourth quarter.

As a result, its full-year guidance remains unchanged.

Chief executive, Pascal Soriot, said: “We made encouraging headway in the quarter, despite the ongoing disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Highlights of the sales performance included further success in oncology and an acceleration in the progress of Farxiga. Our pipeline also excelled, with Farxiga expanding its potential beyond diabetes and heart failure with ground-breaking new data in chronic kidney disease, while regulatory submission acceptance was achieved for anifrolumab in lupus.

“In the fight against COVID-19, we advanced our vaccine collaboration with the University of Oxford and are launching Phase III trials for our long-acting antibody combination for the prophylaxis and treatment against COVID-19 for people who need an immediate defence or whose weaker immune systems mean they are less likely to benefit from a vaccine.

“We continue to progress in line with our expectations and maintain our full-year guidance, which is underpinned by the strategy of sustainable growth through innovation.”

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TalkTalk’s offices in Salford

Salford-based telecoms group TalkTalk said it has extended the deadline for a possible acquisition offer to be made, from today, to 5pm on December 3.

It follows an announcement by the group, on October 8, that it had recently received a preliminary and non-binding proposal from Toscafund Asset Management (TAM) on behalf of funds advised by it, regarding a possible cash offer to be made by a newly-formed company.

TalkTalk said today that commercial discussions and due diligence are progressing with TAM, which has prompted the decision to extend the deadline to next month when TAM must either announce a firm intention to make an offer or announce that it does not intend to make an offer.

The group cautioned that there can be no certainty that a firm offer will be made for the company by TAM.