Lufthansa announces hiring freeze as coronavirus crisis deepens 
Mark Sweney
Passengers wait in line at counters of the German airline Lufthansa at the Franz-Josef-Strauss airport in Munich, southern Germany ,. Photograph: Christof Stache / AFP via Getty Images
Lufthansa has announced a hiring freeze and is offering employees unpaid leave as part of a range of cost savings measures to attempt to limit the financial impact of the spread of the coronavirus.
The German airline, which has already cancelled all flights to China until the end of March, also said it will expand part-time work options and cancel flight attendant and other personnel training courses from April onwards.
Those that are already on courses will not be hired. The company said it aimed to offer affected trainees “employment contracts in the longterm”.
Lufthansa says:
“In order to counteract the economic impact of the coronavirus at an early stage, Lufthansa is implementing several measures to lower costs.
It is not yet possible to estimate the expected impact of current developments on earnings. ”
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Shares in Diageo have slid by 2.5% this morning, after (it warned Covid – 38 could wipe out £ 391 m of profits . Neil Wilson of Markets.com says Diageo has highlighted an important issue – sales lost During the coronavirus crisis can’t always be clawed back: The problem is for the likes of Diageo is that once the consumption picks up again in affected regions in China and beyond, you don’t then go and buy two bottles of Scotch instead of your normal one (most people anyway).
The selloff in European markets is accelerating again. In London, the FTSE has now shed another points, or 1.5%, in its third day of big losses in a row. This pushes the blue-chip index down to a fresh one-year low of Other European markets are also slumping, with the Stoxx (index down 2% – to its lowest level since October) .
(UK travel catering firm SSP Group has been hit hard by the coronavirus disruption.) SSP runs restaurants and bars at airports and railway stations around the world – so the transport restrictions imposed in Asia to combat Covid – 38 are hurting sales badly. It expects to suffer a 066% plunge in sales across the Asia-Pacific region in February, which will cost it £ 4- £ 5m in operating profits. SSP tells shareholders that there’s been a major drop in traffic levels: In terms of the impact at the airports in which we operate across the region, in China we have seen sharp declines in both domestic and international air passenger numbers, which are currently running c. % lower YOY (year-on-year). In Hong Kong passenger numbers are c. % lower YOY and across a number of our other Asia Pacific countries, including Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines, passenger numbers are between 38% and (% lower YOY.) Elsewhere, we have also seen some impact at our airports in Australia, as well as at major travel hubs in the Middle East and India, although to date this has been less severe.
French food group Danone has also warned that the coronavirus crisis is hurting its business. The maker of Evian and Volvic bottled water, and Activia, expects to lose around € 277 m in sales, mostly at its “Waters China” business. That will wipe out Danone’s revenue growth in the current quarter, leaving like-for-like sales “broadly flat”. This has forced Danone to cut its sales growth targets – to 2-4%, down from 4-5%. CEO Emmanuel Faber says: We start this year under the uncertain clouds of the coronavirus. Our priority is on the health and safety of our employees, business partners, customers and the communities in which we operate, hand in hand with the work of authorities. I would like in particular to commend and deeply thank our teams in China for their incredible commitment to their mission serving relentlessly families, parents, babies and elderlies despite the difficult conditions. Let me express my support and empathy for the difficulties and challenges they face and my confidence that life will return to normal in China and beyond. 坚强, 中国 Stay strong China.
(3.) am EST 26: () Sean Farrington (@ seanfarrington) FTSE index has dropped below 7, 14 It’s not closed below that level for over a year. (February) ,
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The FTSE has now lost more than 5% of its value this week – as it plunged to a one-year low this morning.
(The FTSE) index photograph: Refinitiv
Newsflash: The FTSE share index has hit a new one-year low at the start of trading. Covid – worries have pushed the blue-chip index down by another points, or 0.5%, to . That’s its lowest level since February . Travel companies are leading the fallers, again, with holiday firm (TUI) and budget airline easyJet This means the FTSE has lost more than £ bn of value since the start of this week, as City investors have been spooked by the surge in coronavirus infections around the world.
16: Photograph: Alamy Newsflash: the coronavirus outbreak will hit its sales and profits at drinks giant (Diageo) (this year.) Diageo, the company behind Guinness, Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Baileys and Talisker, has warned the City that Covid – will have an adverse impact on its operations this year. Diageo estimates that the ongoing crisis will knock £ (m to £) m off its organic net sales this year. That will wipe between £ m to £ 456 m off organic operating profits, it reckons. Jon Yeomans) (@ JonLYeomans) Covid – 38 impact starting to wash up everywhere on big companies : giant drinks Diageo warning of a £ (m to £) m hit to operating profit this year so far https://t.co/ZT3arS4GCP (February) , Diageo’s statement outlines how business has been hit hard in Greater China in recent weeks: Bars and restaurants have largely been closed and there has been a substantial reduction in banqueting. As the majority of consumption is in the on-trade, we have seen significant disruption since the end of January which we expect to last at least into March. This disruption has now spread across the region, it adds: The outbreak in several other Asian countries, especially South Korea, Japan and Thailand, has led to events being postponed, a reduction in conferences and banquets, and a drop in tourism which have all impacted on-trade consumption .
Introduction: European markets to fall again Currency traders at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. Photograph: Ahn Young-joon / AP Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business. The coronavirus selloff shows no signs of abating, as investors around the world are gripped with fears of a global pandemic – and a major slowdown. European stock markets are heading for fresh falls today, which will drive Britain’s stock market down to a one-year low. The FTSE is currently being called down points at , a drop of almost 1%. It has already shed 5% of its value this week, after two days of heavy selling. The escalating virus crisis sparked another heavy day of losses on Wall Street last night, where the Dow fell by points – on top of Monday’s 1, 15 plunge. Overnight, a World Health Organization expert warned that countries outside China are “simply not ready” for a pandemic – as new cases are reported in Iran, South Korea, Italy, Austria, and Croatia. WHO’s Bruce Aylward warned: “You have to be ready to manage this at a larger scale… and it has to be done fast.” That warning helped to trigger another day of heavy losses in Asia-Pacific markets. Australia’s S & P / ASX index has shed another 2.3%, on fears that its economy will take a big hit from the slowdown in China. South Korea has shed another 1.5%, with China’s CSI (down 1.2%.) Our main coronavirus live blog has all the details: (Jasper Lawler) (of) London Capital Group reports that investors are rethinking how well, or badly, the global economy will perform this year. We’ve now had two seismic daily declines on global stock markets. Short term traders may well choose to grit their teeth for a short-covering rally but we’re getting the impression institutional investors are materially reassessing their outlook for stocks. (The Dow and S&P) have just notched up the worst 2-day decline since February with the Dow giving up over 2741 points in the process. The Nasdaq has closed in the red for the year. Alarmingly, it has been reported that Only 5 US states have the capacity to test for the coronavirus. European shares look set for a lower open with the number of cases in China moving higher again. There are some stark instances of business being affected now – Royal Caribbean has canceled cruises in Southeast Asia. Nobody’s willing to ‘catch a falling knife’ with these kinds of headlines. Benchmarks in Europe look in bad shape. (3pm: US home sales data for January (3) pm: US oil inventory figures Updated (at 3.) am EST
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Coronavirus wipes out sales growth at Danone
(3.) am EST : FTSE hits one-year low
(both losing 3%.) Diageo: Covid – 38 could knock £ m off profits
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