Showing posts with label Roche. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roche. Show all posts

Monday 27 April 2009

Swine flu: the UK shares affected

Swine flu: the UK shares affected

The outbreak of swine flu, which has killed more than 100 people in Mexico and spread to the US, Canada and New Zealand, has hit UK shares linked to travel and agriculture, and give a boost to pharmaceuticals companies. Some of the biggest companies affected are listed below.

By Amy Wilson
Last Updated: 10:26AM BST 27 Apr 2009
GlaxoSmithKline
Shire
British Airways
Easyjet
Thomas Cook Group
TUI Travel
Carnival
InterContinental Hotels Group
Cranswick
Genus


Pharmaceuticals

GlaxoSmithKline: its shares rose as much as 44p, or 4.4pc to 1,050p. Glaxo makes a flu drug called Relenza, which could be bought up by governments seeking to treat and halt the spread of swine flu. Relenza has been shown to work against viral samples of the disease.

Roche: The shares rose in Swiss trading. Roche's Tamiflu drug can reduce the symptoms of swine flu and said it has an ample supply of the drug as the outbreak spread outside Mexico.

Shire: the drugs company’s shares rose in sympathy with Glaxo's.

Airlines:

British Airways: The airline has been hit along with others in the sector, on fear the swine flu outbreak will reduce demand for travel.

easyJet: The low-cost airline fell.

Ryanair: the Irish budget airline was also under pressure.

Travel companies:

Thomas Cook: The holiday company fell on concern the spread of swine fever will curb foreign travel. Mexico has been a popular destination for holidaymakers trying to avoid countries using the euro while it remains so strong against the pound.

TUI Travel: The Thomson holiday group also declined.

Carnival: the cruise operator, whose Caribben cruises take in Mexico, dropped.

Intercontinental: Shares in the hotel operator also fell.

Agriculture:

Cranswick: The food firm, which has just bought a Norfolk-based supplier of pork for Tesco and a number of other major retailers, fell on concern shoppers will avoid pork products as a result of swine flu.

Genus: The pig breeding specialist declined.