Shares in aviation services company John Menzies slip on coronavirus profit warning
Shares in aviation services company John Menzies fell more than six per cent this morning after it warned of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on its business.
“The outbreak and continued spread of Covid-19 [coronavirus] is having a direct impact on the operations of the group,” it told the stock exchange in a trading update today.
“This impact has been at its greatest within our operations in Macau and where we handle Chinese carriers across our network.
“The situation is still evolving, and we only have limited visibility of what flight schedules are being impacted into March and beyond, so it is difficult to assess how extensive the impact could be at this point.”
The company estimated a hit to profit of approximately £6-9m for the year on the assumption the impact of the virus subsides towards the end of the second quarter.
John Menzies said it was taking mitigation actions “wherever possible” alongside a tight control of costs and expenditure.
“Given the otherwise underlying positive momentum of the business, this headwind is disappointing, but the group is well positioned to manage it effectively and return to our positive growth trajectory for this year and beyond,” the company said.
The group is set to announce its full-year results for 2019 on 10 March.
Shares fell 6.6 per cent to 332p.