On 20 April 2020, Deloitte was appointed administrator of Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd and a number of its subsidiaries.

On 21 April 2020, against the backdrop of an evolving COVID-19 pandemic and unprecedented grounding of its fleet, Virgin Australia Holdings Limited (VAH, Company) announced that it had appointed Deloitte as administrators to the Company and a number of its subsidiaries. At this stage, Deloitte has taken control of most of the VAH business and have indicated that it will seek a recapitalisation of the business and have already received expressions of interest from a number of parties.

The coronavirus induced volatility has really brought the importance of portfolio diversification to the forefront of investors’ minds. Now is the perfect time to assess both the make-up of your portfolio and risk exposure within the portfolio.

On 14 April 2020, Pioneer Credit released an update on the proposed acquisition by Carlyle. In particular, Pioneer disclosed that Carlyle is alleging that Pioneer is in breach of a number of its obligations under its senior debt agreement as well as the scheme implementation agreement.

Like the broader corporate bond market, RMBS is also responding to market uncertainty. Structural support features and government assistance for borrowers will provide short-term support for the asset class.

We take a look at the impacts of COVID-19 and the resulting travel restrictions on airlines and airports globally

We provide an update on Ansett Aviation following the Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s decision to place a moratorium on pilot training hours stemming from COVID-19

In this note, we take a look at the health of the Australian banking sector and how it is positioned to absorb the invariable rise in credit costs as businesses shutter and unemployment rises.

The primary bond market is showing signs of recovery, mainly in investment grade bond issuance as non-traditional investors move to relative safety of fixed income over equities.

Given the current situation and uncertainly around COVID-19, Lucas Total Contract Solutions (Lucas, Company) recently provided an operational update for the months of January and February.

Privium Group (Privium, Company) recently announced 1H20 results. Results were mixed, with Privium reporting a decline in revenue in line with a softer residential property market for the first half of calendar year 2019. However, the Company reported growth in unconditional property sales and cash flow from operations. Liquidity remains adequate with AUD6m in cash on its balance sheet at 31 December 2019.

We provide an update following 1H20 results and settlement of Noosa Civic Shopping Centre

We provide an update following government mandated shutdown of non-essential services.

We provide an update following recent results from Sunland.

On 23 March 2020, Next Generation Clubs Australia (Next Gen, Company) provided an update following the government mandated shutdown of non-essential services. The resulting government mandated shutdown has led to Next Gen temporarily suspending all memberships, while standing down the majority of its employees to align costs with business activity.

On 17 March 2020, Adani Abbot Point Terminal Pty Ltd (AAPT, Company) issued a notice of redemption in relation to the AUD100m notes due May 2020 (2020 Notes), indicating that the 2020 Notes will be fully repaid on 17 April 2020.

The RBA’s QE announcement yesterday focused on ensuring flow of credit to businesses and households via ADIs. We think the lowering of funding cost for banks is a net positive for the institutions in the current challenging operating environment.

We look at the RBA’s latest series of decisions and implications.

On 16 March 2020, S&P Global Ratings (S&P) downgraded its corporate rating on Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd (VAH, Company) by two notches. At the same time S&P downgraded its rating on the Company's senior unsecured notes and affirmed the recovery rating on the notes. S&P placed VAH’s ratings on CreditWatch Negative. The rating action, which in and of itself wasn’t a surprise, is reflective of a view that the Covid-19 fuelled rapid deterioration in the international airline market has spread through to the Australian domestic market.

The coronavirus, followed by the nascent oil price war, has been the largest shock that the most expensive equity markets since the Great Depression and lowest yielding bond markets in history has received.