Vaccinations boost Saga hopes of calmer waters
PENT-UP demand from Saga customers near to the front of the vaccination queue today boosted hopes that the over-50s travel company can eventually sail into calmer waters.
Saga has been cheered by £140 million of cruise ship bookings, representing 68% of its target for the 2021/22 financial year, as it prepares to restart trips and tours in May.
That date is looking uncertain due to tighter travel restrictions, but when sailings do happen Saga is insisting that passengers have had the vaccine before they travel. Given that its target customers should have been among the first to get a Covid-19 vaccine, Saga is looking well placed to benefit.
Analysts at Numis Securities welcomed today’s “reassuring” trading update, including a resilient performance from Saga’s insurance division in a competitive marketplace. Saga also forecast it will make an underlying profit for the year to January, compared with City forecasts for a loss of up to £5 million. But shares still fell 4% or 13.6p to 264.2p, as disruption in the travel sector means the company has entered into further “constructive” talks with lenders about improving financial flexibility.
Other travel stocks were also under pressure amid fears that more contagious strains of Covid-19 will wreck the summer holiday season. Shares in British Airways owner IAG were off 4.4p to 135.6p — the lowest since mid-November — and TUI fell 6.9p to 341.4p.
The latest declines failed to derail the FTSE 100 index, which climbed 34.7 points to 6673.6 following gains of more than 2% for technology stock Ocado and private equity firm 3i.
AstraZeneca shares continued their strong recent performance, despite the escalation in the vaccine wars between Britain and the EU over the supply of Astra and Pfizer doses.
The market heavyweight rose another 90p to 7,986p as its drug Symbicort became the first dual-combination therapy approved in China for mild, moderate and severe asthma.