Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 22 August 2018

Wed Aug 22 06:37:55 CAT 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 22 August 2018

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*  Can Venezuela halt hyperinflation?

*  S&P index set for record winning streak

*  South African gold sector wage negotiations deadlock - union

*  Profit drops, mining deaths spike at South Africa's Harmony Gold

*  South Africa's Shoprite logs first annual profit drop in 19 years

*  China sells diesel to South Africa as refiners seek new export markets

*  Ethiopian Airlines, Zambia to relaunch national airline at cost of $30
million

*  Microsoft claims win over 'Russian political hackers'

*  Nike removes balaclava accused of 'targeting gun culture'

*  Businessman Richard Cousins 'leaves £41m' to Oxfam

*  Workers in open-plan offices 'more active'

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Can Venezuela halt hyperinflation?

The amount of currency needed to buy a chicken at a market in Caracas last
week before the Venezuelan currency was devalued.

What does hyperinflation look like? It could well be this photograph of a
raw chicken dwarfed by the huge piles of banknotes needed to buy it.

This particular purchase cost 14 million bolivars in Venezuela last week,
according to the Reuters photographer who took the image.

Anyone buying it may well have needed a wheelbarrow to transport their cash
to the butchers. Even so the price has still risen several times since then.

The International Monetary Fund predicts that prices will soar by an almost
inconceivable 1 million per cent in Venezuela this year.

Prices have been doubling every 18 days, according to the economist Steve
Hanke, who has studied episodes of hyperinflation.

Many people have been left hungry. More than a million have tried to flee.
It's little wonder Venezuelans have lost faith in their currency.

"The central bank has been printing more and more money to try and pay the
government's bills, making the money already in the economy increasingly
worthless," says Jeremy Thomson-Cook, an economist at World First.

The government's revenue from oil production has dropped sharply as
production has fallen.

Cash - freshly printed and drawn out of the ATM - quickly loses value.

Venezuela, now in its fourth year of recession, has joined a sad list of
other countries whose economies imploded as hyperinflation tore through
them.

"The situation in Venezuela is similar to that in Germany in 1923 or
Zimbabwe in the late 2000s," said Alejandro Werner, the IMF's director of
the western hemisphere department in a blog.

What can Caracas learn from Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe devalued its currency, lopping several zeroes off its bills.
Venezuela has done the same this week, removing five zeroes.

However, the action failed to solve Zimbabwe's problems. Economists say it
will also fail to rescue the Venezuelan economy, particularly as it has
tried the same trick before.

"I'd say this has a low chance of working economically," says Mr
Thomson-Cook.

Zimbabwe ended up abandoning its currency and largely adopted the US dollar.

This restored faith in the economy because it stripped the authorities in
Harare of control over the currency and led to a rise in incomes.

'Incoherent' plan

Venezuela is trying to adopt a version of this tactic - but it already has
been rapidly discredited by economists.

As well as removing five zeroes from its notes, Caracas has linked the
currency's value to a little-understood cryptocurrency it has invented
called the Petro.

Petro is in turn related to the value of the country's dwindling oil
production.

"The plan is incoherent," said Carlos Larrazabal, president of the country's
Fedecamaras business organisation.

Digital "currencies" - which are not currencies in the traditional sense -
have been highly volatile recently, with the best-known Bitcoin soaring and
then plunging in value.

The search for a more stable cryptocurrency

"It's all worthless assets trading around each other," says Mr Thomson-Cook.

Jeremy Stretch at CIBC World Markets agrees: "You need to look at the cause
of the issue. There is this inherent instability because oil production
levels have plummeted."

If businesses and economists are right, there'll be further economic pain
and perhaps yet more attempts to change the currency.

It's unlikely the Socialist government in Venezuela would happily follow
Zimbabwe and adopt the dollar, the currency of its ideological foe, the US.

"There is a lack of confidence in the government as a whole," says Mr
Stretch.

A change of government may be the only thing that restores faith in
Venezuela's money.--BBC

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

S&P index set for record winning streak

The S&P 500 share index, which tracks the 500 biggest public companies in
America, is poised for a new record.

By the end of trade, the benchmark index is set to have gone 3,453 days
without a fall of 20% or more, marking the longest rally ever in US history.

The positive run dates to 9 March 2009, when the world was reeling from the
financial crisis.

Overall the index has risen almost 325% in the period, lifted by companies
such as Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.

This year, the gains have been shaken at times by worries about rising
inflation, interest rates and trade disputes.

Still, the S&P 500 - the broadest measure of the US market - remains up more
than 6% so far this year.

It closed at 2,862.96 on Tuesday, within striking distance of the record
high of 2,872.87 it hit on 26 January.

That performance, which has coincided with broader economic growth,
outstrips global markets.

"The bottom line is that the US is doing well - and much better than any
other market," said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at the S&P Dow
Jones Indices.

The US has Silicon Valley to thank for much of this rally - dubbed a bull
market, which is loosely defined as a rally that consistently avoids a 20%
decline.

Apple has been the single biggest contributor to the S&P index, accounting
for 4.1% of the gains since 9 March 2009, followed by Microsoft.

Overall, technology companies contributed more than 22%, followed by the
consumer discretionary sector - a category that includes Amazon - at about
16%.

This year, the tech sector has been responsible for more than half of the
rise on the index.

Apple is first public company worth $1 trillion

Stock markets hit record highs – here are three reasons why

This has fuelled some concerns about a tech bubble.

But Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, said the
frenzy that accompanied previous market rallies has been largely absent.

In April 2007, about 65% of Americans had money invested in the stock
market, according to Gallup. That share had shrunk to about 55% this year.

"Investors were hurt so badly by the prior bear market that they have been
very mistrustful," Mr Stovall said, noting the current run has been dubbed
the "most hated" bull market.

"I don't think we're getting that kind of irrational exuberance."

The US government and central bank took extraordinary action in 2008 and
2009 to spark the recovery, investing billions to bail out struggling banks
and car companies and buy up securities backed by troubled home loans.

As jobs returned, consumer spending - the main driver of the US economy -
picked up. Global expansion provided another boost.

While many analysts forecast the slow and steady economic rebound, the stock
market gains, especially in the US, have been surprisingly strong, said John
Rekenthaler, vice president of research at Morningstar.

He said that's in part because US companies have largely avoided passing
higher profits onto employees in the form of higher wages, helping to keep
inflation in check and interest rates low.

They have also lifted share prices by purchasing their own shares and
benefited from loose enforcement of competition rules.

Last year, the US slashed its corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, further
helping the corporate bottom line.

"Employees wouldn't be sharing so much in higher revenues," Mr Rekenthaler
said. "Shareholders win and non-shareholders lose."

Gains aside, the returns of the current bull market have been somewhat
lacklustre compared to prior rallies, said Mr Silverblatt.

Since 9 March 2009, the S&P index has risen at an annual rate of about 16.5%
- compared to an average of more than 22% in prior expansions.

The index's roughly 325% returns fall short of the 417% gain during the
previous record-setting bull market, which ran for most of the 1990s.

"You're not going to cry for either one, but the bottom line is the other
one did better," Mr Silverblatt said.

The 2018 economy: What to watch

US markets are rising - so why are some people worried?

Analysts said the steadier returns may signal that the current bull market
remains sustainable - at least over the next 12 months or so - assuming that
factors like inflation and interest rates remain on their current
trajectory.

"It's not the most lucrative but I don't know that I would say I'm
dissatisfied," Mr Rekenthaler said, noting that inflation has also been low.
"It's got a more stable feel to it."--bbc

South African gold sector wage negotiations deadlock - union

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
said on Tuesday that wage negotiations in the gold sector were at a deadlock
and the union had declared a dispute, a move that is one step short of a
strike.

However, the Minerals Council, formerly known as the Chamber of Mines, which
is representing gold producers in the wage talks, said the talks were still
ongoing.

Gold producers have argued that above-inflation wage hikes have been adding
to the cost burden in the bullion industry, which has been hit by depressed
prices and labour unrest.

The dispute meant that if conciliation talks between the parties mediated by
the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration failed to break
the impasse, a protected strike could potentially go ahead.

“We have reached a deadlock. It is the end of the road. We have declared a
dispute,” NUM said in a statement.

NUM is one of four unions involved in negotiations, which include the
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), Solidarity and
UASA.

“We are still engaging with the unions,” said spokeswoman Memory Johnstone
at the Minerals Council said.

The four companies involved, Sibanye-Stillwater, Harmony Gold, AngloGold
Ashanti and a smaller producer Village Main Reef each tabled different offer
in August of up to 7.2 percent to underground employees and up to 4.5
percent for miners and artisans. [nL5N1UT7F6] Inflation stood at 4.6 in
June.

($1 = 14.6363 rand)

Profit drops, mining deaths spike at South Africa's Harmony Gold

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Harmony Gold reported a 43 percent
fall in annual earnings on Tuesday, hurt by impairments and a loss relating
to debt denominated in U.S. dollars, and a setback to its safety record.

The gold industry in South Africa, which has produced a third of the bullion
mined in history and is home to the world’s deepest mines, has been squeezed
for years by depressed prices and soaring labour, power and operational
costs.

The challenges faced by the sector, which is mostly labour-intensive and
non-mechanised, were underscored by a spike in the number of Harmony workers
killed during the financial year, to 13 from five in the previous year.

Safety is a huge issue in South Africa’s deep and dangerous mines and a
concern for investors. A spate of deaths at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold
operations, including a seismic event that killed seven miners in early May,
has raised red flags and brought the issue into focus.

There was a rise in mining deaths overall in South Africa in 2017 to more
than 80 from 73 in the previous year, ending nine straight years of falling
fatalities.

In one incident last August at Harmony’s Kusasalethu operation west of
Johannesburg, which fell under the 2018 financial year, five miners were
killed when a support pillar burst at a depth of around 3 kms (2 miles).

“We fired people over the incident ... We are taking action,” Chief
Executive Peter Steenkamp told Reuters.

But he admitted more needed to be done and that more could be done despite
the constraints of an unforgiving geology that makes mechanisation extremely
difficult and the inherent risks of deep-level mining.

“I firmly believe that eventually we will have a way of automating more
things for example through robotics,” Steenkamp said.

Harmony is also rolling out a network of permanent safety netting in the
tunnel roofs to help prevent falls of rock, a common danger.

Headline earnings per share - the main profit measure in South Africa that
strips out certain one-off items - came in at 171 cents, in line with what
it had previously flagged to the market, from 298 cents a year earlier.

Harmony produced 1.22 million ounces of gold in the 2018 financial year and
said its 2019 target was 1.45 million ounces.

($1 = 14.6363 rand)

South Africa's Shoprite logs first annual profit drop in 19 years

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa’s biggest grocer Shoprite reported its first
annual earnings decline in 19 years on Tuesday, due to a currency
devaluation in Angola and a lacklustre showing in its home South African
market and elsewhere on the continent.

South African retailers have struggled to lift earnings as elevated
household debts, higher fuel prices and an increase in value-added tax
squeeze consumer income.

But Shoprite, which has extensive operations elsewhere on the continent,
took another hit this year as key markets in Angola and Nigeria battle
chronic foreign exchange shortages and tepid economic growth.

Shares in Shoprite tumbled more than 7 percent to a level last seen in
August last year. At 1148 GMT shares were down 6.44 percent, on track for
their worst daily fall since December 2016.

Chief Executive Pieter Engelbrecht told a results presentation it was
probably “the toughest (year) that I can recall.”

A listeria outbreak, blamed on a tainted meat product, that forced Shoprite
to conduct its largest ever product recall, two strikes over pay and 489
armed robberies at its stores sapped turnover growth, Engelbrecht said.

The Cape Town-based retailer said diluted headline earnings per share (EPS)
for the year ended July fell by 3.8 percent to 968.7 cents.

That compares with a predicted 8.2 percent increase, or 1,090 cents,
estimated in a poll of 10 analysts by Thomson Reuters’ I/B/E/S.

The company last reported a decline in diluted headline EPS in its financial
year ending in 1999. Diluted headline EPS, the most widely watched profit
gauge in South Africa, strips out certain one-off items.

Shoprite, which targets lower-income consumers with discounts on staples
such as maize meal and potatoes, slashed its final dividend by 14 percent to
279 cents per share.

“The fact that they cut the dividend, I suppose the market is saying the
consumer looks like it’s under more pressure than they realised and it’s
quite a disappointing set of earnings,” said Greg Davies, an equities trader
with Cratos Capital.

AFRICA FALLING

Trading in Nigeria continues to be hampered by foreign exchange fluctuations
which have limited imports and therefore ranges in stores, while in Angola,
Shoprite’s biggest market outside South Africa, the currency has lost more
than half its value against the U.S. dollar since December 2017.

This weighed on its non-South Africa operations, which recorded a decline in
sales of 7 percent, while its local division reported turnover growth of 5.7
percent.

Sales rose 3.1 percent to 145.3 billion rand ($9.9 billion). Rest of Africa
operations contribute 18 percent to group sales.

“Non-RSA (Republic of South Africa) is still profitable, it’s not a crisis,”
Engelbrecht said, adding that the grocery chain store remains committed to
Africa as shown by its recent bid for 11 franchise stores in Botswana.

“It (the process) is still under arbitration and we should have an answer at
the end of the calendar year,” Engelbrecht said.

($1 = 14.6363 rand)

China sells diesel to South Africa as refiners seek new export markets

BEIJING (Reuters) - State-run oil company Sinopec is selling diesel as far
afield as South Africa as China’s refiners seek homes for their surplus fuel
in the latest sign of troubles in the domestic refining business.

Sinopec said on Monday it shipped its first 30,000 tonnes of diesel from its
Shanghai refinery heading for South Africa.

This cargo and another September shipment marked the first batch to South
Africa in two years, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon shipping data. Such
shipments have also been extremely rare in the past five years, according to
the data.

“China’s four oil majors are facing a glut overhang in domestic market and
the companies are fully aware of the headwinds ahead,” a product trader from
a state-owned oil company said.

“Chinese companies are looking to expand sales to emerging market countries
beyond South East Asia where margins have weakened amid competition,” he
said referring to India and South American countries.

He declined to be named to due company policy.

Sinopec’s rival CNPC also sold its first ever gasoline to Americas in April.

China exported record volumes of diesel in May, with the total almost
hitting 2.4 million tonnes. Shipments have remained firm since, as domestic
fuel demand growth stagnates.

Vehicle sales, a barometer of gasoline demand, were down 4 percent in July.
An environmental crackdown has also hurt diesel sales from trucks in the
past two years.

“Refinery runs were growing fast but domestic consumption did not catch up.
With two more new refineries expected to start soon, the glut is only going
to get worse,” Liu Mengkai, fuel products analysts with consultancy Sublime
China said.

“Chinese refiners are vying for a bigger share of fuel market in countries
like Australia where consumption is still good,” Liu said.

Eikon trade data showed that China’s total fuel exports to Australia hit 11
cargoes or 344,800 tonnes in July, a record high.

In Africa, Sinopec is seeking to buy Chevron’s assets in South Africa and
Botswana, giving Asia’s top refiner its first major African refinery as well
as petrol stations and convenience stores.

China’s refinery runs rose in June as state-controlled oil majors boosted
output of fuel products, data showed.

Ethiopian Airlines, Zambia to relaunch national airline at cost of $30
million

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines has signed a shareholding agreement
with Zambia’s main develoment agency to relaunch the southern African
country’s flag carrier at an initial cost of $30 million.

The Ethiopian state-owned carrier has outpaced regional competitors Kenya
Airways and South African Airways to become Africa’s largest airline by
revenue and profit, and has been buying shares in other African airlines to
gain a competitive advantage over rivals such as those in the Gulf.

Under the plan, Zambia Airways, being revived more than two decades after it
was shut down, would operate 12 planes by 2028, Ethiopian Airlines said in a
joint statement with Zambia’s state-owned Industrial Development Corporation
(IDC).

Ethiopian Airlines will own 45 percent of the revamped Zambian airline, and
Zambia 55 percent, the statement said.

“The initial investment as we start up the national carrier will be $30
million. Obviously, as we operate the airline, we will facilitate the
financing necessary to support its growth,” it said.

Ethiopian Airlines said in January it had signed an agreement with the
Zambian government to relaunch Zambia Airways.

Zambia Airways will launch local and regional routes this year while
intercontinental routes, including Europe, the Middle East and Asia, will be
added in the near future, it said.

State-owned Zambia Airways went into liquidation in 1994. The
privately-owned Zambian Airways then emerged as the country’s main carrier
with flights to other major hubs in southern Africa, but it suspended
operations in 2009.

Ethiopian Airlines operates and manages Malawi Airlines through a deal
signed in 2013.

In May, the airline said it was in talks with Chad, Djibouti, Equatorial
Guinea and Guinea to set up carriers through joint ventures. It also aimed
to create a new airline in Mozambique that it will fully own.

Ethiopia said in June it would open Ethiopian Airlines and its state-run
telecoms monopoly to private domestic and foreign investment in a major
policy shift that will loosen the state’s grip on the economy.

Microsoft claims win over 'Russian political hackers'

Russian attempts to launch cyber-attacks against US conservative groups have
been thwarted, Microsoft says.

The software company said Russian hackers had tried to steal data from
political organisations, including the International Republican Institute
and the Hudson Institute think tanks.

But they had been thwarted when its security staff had won control of six
net domains mimicking their websites.

Microsoft said the Fancy Bear hacking group had been behind the attacks.

Domain control

"We're concerned that these and other attempts pose security threats to a
broadening array of groups connected with both American political parties in
the run-up to the 2018 elections," Microsoft said in its blog detailing its
work.

The thwarted attack was likely the start of a "spear phishing" campaign,
said Microsoft. This would involve tricking people into visiting the
mimicked domains allowing the Fancy Bear group to see and steal login
information that people use.

As well as the two think-tanks, the domains seized were associated with
several Senate offices and services. One domain sought to mimic Microsoft's
Office 365 online service.

Hunt wants 'malign' Russia to face action

Trump relaxes rules around cyber-attacks

US accuses Russia of 'pervasive' meddling

Russia has denied Microsoft's allegations that it targeted the right-wing
think-tanks.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was "unaware"
of any attempted interference by Russia-linked hackers in the US mid-term
elections.

"[Our] reaction is traditional," he told the Interfax news agency. "We are
unaware what kind of hackers they refer to, we do not know what this
interference entails."

BBC Monitoring reported him as adding: "We do not understand whom exactly it
concerns, what the evidence is and what such conclusions are based on. We
have no such information."

He said: "We hear confirmation from America that there was no meddling in
the election."

Spying charges

The New York Times suggested that the two think tanks were targeted because
they were former supporters of President Trump but were now foes who had
called for more sanctions to be imposed on Russia.

The International Republican Institute's directors include Senator John
McCain and General HR McMaster who was replaced earlier this year as the
White House national security adviser.

IRI president Daniel Twining told the Times that the attacks were consistent
with the "campaign of meddling" the Kremlin is known to have indulged in.

In its blog, Microsoft president Brad Smith said it had grabbed dodgy
domains 12 times in two years to shut down 84 websites associated with Fancy
Bear.

It said that, so far, it had no evidence that the domains had been used in
any attacks. The domains could have been set up to help a future planned
assault.

Microsoft added that the attack activity seen around the domains "mirrors"
what it saw in 2016 in the US and during the 2017 election in France.

Microsoft's action comes soon after the US charged 12 Russian intelligence
officers with hacking computer networks used by Hillary Clinton and the
Democratic Party.--BBC

Nike removes balaclava accused of 'targeting gun culture'

Nike has removed a balaclava from its website after it was accused of
"targeting gang culture for profit".

An image showing a black model wearing the product - which covers the
majority of the face and appears to have straps and pockets - was circulated
online.

Some people on Twitter described it as "distasteful" and accused the brand
of "endorsing knife crime".

Nike said it was "in no way condoning the serious issues of criminal and
gang culture".

"These products were part of a wider Nike Training collection, styled on
different models and available in multiple markets around the world," Nike
said in a statement.

It confirmed to Newsbeat that the balaclava had previously been available
for sale on its website - but the listing was removed yesterday.

Some people described the Nike x MMW balaclava as "distasteful", a "big
mistake" and accused the company of enforcing "racial profiling".

While the product's intended use is to keep wearers warm, the
military-inspired headgear has recently been popularised by drill musicians
who often wear them in music videos.

Drill music has recently been blamed by police, politicians and the media
for fuelling a surge in violent crime in London.

Earlier this year, Puma was accused of glamorising London crime after it
hosted a party that was accused of being based around drug dealing.

Those invited to the event were apparently sent shoe boxes with fake £50
notes and "burner" phones.

The location where it was held was reportedly designed to look like a "trap
house" - a place where illegal drugs are sold.

Puma later apologised for its use of language, telling the Independent: "We
want to make clear that Puma in no way endorses or intends to glamorise drug
culture."

One Twitter user linked the Nike and Puma incidents, tweeting: "We've had
the Puma "Drug House" promotion and now Nike are using a black guy to
promote a balaclava with straps and pockets.

"Where there's blood there's money."--BBC

Businessman Richard Cousins 'leaves £41m' to Oxfam

A multi-millionaire catering boss has left a "substantial amount" of money
to Oxfam after dying alongside his family in a plane crash.

The Sun reports that Richard Cousins left £41m to the charity after he was
killed with his fiancee, her daughter, and his two sons on New Year's Eve.

The paper said his will specified the money should go to the charity because
his two sons died with him.

Oxfam told the BBC it had been left money by Mr Cousins, but not how much.

A spokesman for the charity said they were "extremely grateful" for the
bequest.

In its last annual report for 2016-17, the charity received £19.8m in gifts
left to it through wills.

Tributes paid to seaplane crash family

Seaplane crash family members 'drowned'

Oxfam scandal: Thousands cancel donations

Mr Cousins, 58, who was chief executive of Compass Group, died alongside his
fiancee, magazine editor Emma Bowden, 48, her 11-year-old daughter Heather,
and his sons, Edward, 23, and William, 25, in Sydney on New Year's Eve 2017.

Australian pilot Gareth Morgan was also killed.

All six died when the seaplane - which belonged to a firm running
sightseeing tours - plunged into a river 30 miles (50km) north of the
Australian city.

An inquest in the UK found the family had died from a combination of
multiple injuries and drowning, calling it a "tragic accident".

According to the Sun, a year before the incident, Mr Cousins had added a
"common tragedy clause" to his will so that if he and his family were to die
at the same time, his fortune would go to charity.

After the accident, this meant £41m would go to Oxfam - although his two
brothers would also receive £1m each, it reported.

A common tragedy clause allows for a provision to be made for where your
estate will go if all your immediate family die at the same time as you.

Claire Davis, a partner at Howells Solicitors and director of Solicitors for
the Elderly, said it was similar to "catch all provisions" made in many
wills.

"If you are getting the correct advice, your solicitor will cover every
eventuality," she said - even the unlikely event of your whole family dying.

If you do not add this clause, or you do not have a will, the money will go
through the rules of intestacy - working through a list of family members
until someone alive inherits it.

But if your relatives are already wealthy, or you do not get on, you may not
want them to have it.

In these cases, many people pick a charity.

"Each will is different because each person is different," said Ms Davis.
"But it sounds like Mr Cousins had good advice to prepare."

It comes as Oxfam is facing financial difficulty in the wake of allegations
that its staff hired prostitutes while working in Haiti after the 2010
earthquake.

Four employees were fired for "gross misconduct" and three others, including
the country director Roland Van Hauwermeiren, were allowed to leave the
charity.

Mr Van Hauwermeiren denied paying for sex but admitted "making mistakes".

Oxfam was accused of concealing the findings of an inquiry into the
allegations, and its chief executive, Mark Goldring, resigned.

After the scandal emerged earlier this year, thousands of people stopped
making regular donations, and in June, Oxfam said it would be making £16m in
cuts because of reduced funding.

A spokesman from the charity said: "We are extremely grateful for this
bequest of which we have only recently been notified.

"We are working with the family and our board of trustees to identify how
the money will be used."--BBC

Workers in open-plan offices 'more active'

Workers in open-plan offices are more active and less stressed than those
with desks in cubicles or private offices, research suggests.

This could be because they make the effort to find privacy to talk away from
their desk, the researchers said.

The US study used chest sensors to track movement and heart rate in hundreds
of people in different buildings over three days.

The potential health benefits should not be ignored, they said.

But they said the study was observational only and factors like location of
stairs and lifts could be at play too.

The University of Arizona study, published in Occupational & Environmental
Medicine, claims to be the first to measure activity and stress in office
workers, rather than asking them in a survey.

It said office workers tended to be a sedentary group compared to other
workers, making them more likely to have health issues, including heart
problems, tiredness and low mood.

Being less active during working hours has also been linked to greater
feelings of stress.

Office cake is 'danger to health'

Could offices change from sitting to standing?

Office workers 'too sedentary'

In the study of 231 office workers in government buildings in the US, those
in open-plan offices - with no partitions between desks - clocked up 32%
more physical activity than workers in private offices and 20% more than
those in cubicles.

And those who were more active had 14% lower levels of stress outside the
office compared to those who were less active.

Participants in the study also answered questions about their current mood
every hour on their smartphones during work time.

Older office workers were more likely to have higher stress levels. The most
stressed people at work were also those who were highly stressed at home
too.

On the whole, men were more active than women.

'Healthy behaviour'

Esther Sternberg, study author and professor at University of Arizona
College of Medicine, said: "We all know we should be increasing our activity
but no matter how we try to encourage people to engage in healthy behaviour,
it doesn't work for long.

"So changing office design to encourage healthy behaviour is a passive way
of getting people to be more active."

Although people tend to like individual offices or cubicles more because
they are more private, the researchers found open plan offices could have
other benefits, such as better communication, more impromptu conversations
and increased awareness of colleagues.

The researchers said other design features could also affect activity levels
- such as how people circulate in their offices, where meeting spaces are
located and how accessible stairs and lifts are.--BBC

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

NicozDiamond

shares delist from the ZSE

06/07/2018

Zimbabwe

Heroes’ Day

Zimbabwe

13/08/2018

Zimbabwe

Defence Forces Day

Zimbabwe

14/08/2018

The Harare Agricultural Show

The Harare Agricultural Show

The Harare Agricultural Show

August 27- September 1

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

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been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
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any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

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