THE BIG QUESTION fl oating
around the stock market forums
over the last few months is ‘how
resistant is telecoms to share
price fl uctuations during a global
pandemic?’ While we all hunker
down at home, and are most
likely using more bandwidth
than previously, surely this is
great news for anyone involved
in the connectivity space right
now?
Not exactly, BT is experiencing
the kind of low it hasn’t seen
since the 2008 crisis despite
high demand for network
access. The government’s pre-
COVID decision to limit the use
of Huawei technology in the 5G
network certainly didn’t help, it
will cost the incumbent £500m
over fi ve years.
I think the time for the
telecoms market is here and
now, but I don’t expect to see
any major recovery in share
prices for some time, excluding
Gamma perhaps - their share
price chart doesn’t go down too
Pre & Post EU Referendum Vote
KEY CHANNEL INDICATORS
Indicator 23 Jun 16 18-May-20 Change Change %
FTSE 100 6,338 5,929.28 408.72 -6.45%
FTSE 250 17,333 16,073.69 1,259.31 -7.27%
BT 439.70 108.90 330.08 -75.23%
Vodafone 217.90 122.21 95.69 -43.91%
TalkTalk 226.60 88.52 138.08 --60.93%
Gamma 440.50 1,265.00 824.50 187.17%
£/$ 1.487 1.21 0.277 -18.62%
£/€ 1.307 1.12 0.187 -14.31%
www.commsbusiness.co.uk
often and is constantly making
all the other price charts jealous.
The UK economy shrank
by 2% in the last quarter,
the largest contraction since
2008. In one month (March)
the economy contracted by
the same amount as the year
and a half after the 2008
recession. April fi gures are likely
to be much worse. The Bank of
England is warning of a 14%
decline which would make it
the deepest recession for 300
years. Although, if you sell food,
alcohol, or TVs apparently you
have been having a bumper
year!
It is crucial we start the road
to recovery as soon as is safely
possible, the furlough scheme
has been extended to October
but it will likely not be enough
to stop unemployment fi gures
rising signifi cantly. The experts
are warning the recovery might
be slower than fi rst thought, but
one thing is certain, the Channel
will be key in the process.
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/www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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