BUSINESS LIVE: Rolls Royce plunges to £4bn loss

It has been a busy day for business news, with a string of big-name brands posting stinging losses exacerbated by the pandemic.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.17 per cent or 11.36 points to 6,736.96 this afternoon. 

The John Lewis Partnership warned over further store closures as it swung to a £517 million annual loss after the pandemic battered its department stores.

Aerospace group Rolls-Royce plummeted to a giant £4billion loss in 2020 as the pandemic kept planes on the ground and it was forced to slash jobs and raise cash from investors to bolster its finances.

Supermarket chain Morrisons saw its pre-tax profits halve to £201million last year despite a massive jump in sales as the group was hit by a higher-than-expected £290million in pandemic-relatedcosts.

Heathrow Airport has announced passenger numbers fell to just 461,000 people last month, the lowest monthly total since 1966 and a 92 per cent decline compared with February 2020. 

Reference: Daily Mail: This Is Money  22 hrs ago