Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 24 August 2018

[Bulls n Bears]

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 24 August 2018

 


 

 


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*  Trump: Impeach me and the market crashes

*  South Africa's Eskom expects to reduce staff by 15 percent in five years

*  South Africa's rand sinks after Trump land reform tweet

*  One in three chance of South Africa recession this year

*  Egypt targets $11 bln foreign investment in 2018-19 vs $7.9 bln in
previous year

*  David Jones impairment knocks South Africa's Woolworths into annual loss

*  Monsanto faces a surge in lawsuits following cancer ruling

*  Kalashnikov's CV-1 electric car touted as Russia's answer to Tesla

*  Ryanair brings in new rules on cabin bags

*  Conservative anger at Philip Hammond's 'dodgy project fear'

*  BA and Air France to stop flights to Iran next month

*  UK's 'no-deal' Brexit plans warn of credit card fees

*  LOL! Proctor & Gamble wants to trademark WTF

 

 

 


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Trump: Impeach me and the market crashes

US President Donald Trump has responded to speculation that he might be
impeached by warning that any such move would damage the economy.

 

In an interview with Fox & Friends, he said the market would crash and
"everybody would be very poor".

 

He was speaking after Michael Cohen, his ex-lawyer, pleaded guilty to
violating election laws and said he had been directed to do so by Mr Trump.

 

Mr Trump has rarely spoken about the prospect of being impeached.

 

How easy is it to impeach a president?

Impeachment can of worms

Correspondents say it is unlikely Mr Trump's opponents would try to impeach
him before November's mid-term elections.

 

Why does Trump say the market would crash?

"I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job," Mr Trump
told Fox and Friends.

 

"I tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash, I
think everybody would be very poor."

 

Pointing to his head, he said: "Because without this thinking, you would see
numbers that you wouldn't believe in reverse."

 

What did he say about hush money?

Cohen says he handled hush money payments to two women during the 2016
presidential campaign.

 

The two women, thought to be porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy
model Karen McDougal, both claimed they had affairs with Mr Trump,

 

Under oath, Cohen said he had paid the money "at the direction" of Mr Trump,
"for the principal purpose of influencing the election".

 

However, Mr Trump insisted the two payments had not broken election campaign
rules.

 

He said that the payments had come from him personally, not from the
campaign, but he had not known about them until "later on".

 

In July, Cohen released audio tapes of him and Mr Trump allegedly discussing
one of the payments before the election.

 

The president also accused Cohen of making up stories to receive a lighter
sentence.

 

He added: "And by the way, he pled to two counts that aren't a crime, which
nobody understands.

 

"In fact, I watched a number of [TV] shows. Sometimes you get some pretty
good information by watching shows. Those two counts aren't even a crime.
They weren't campaign finance."

 

Later, US media reported that prosecutors in the Cohen case had granted
federal immunity to the chairman of the company that publishes the National
Enquirer tabloid, David Pecker.

 

In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, Ms McDougal sold her story
to the Enquirer, which is owned by a personal friend of Mr Trump.

 

She says the $150,000 (£115,000) agreement gave the tabloid exclusive story
rights and banned her from talking publicly about the alleged affair.

 

The Enquirer did not publish her kiss-and-tell, and she says she was
tricked.

 

So did the payments break campaign rules?

The hush money payments were not reported to the Federal Election Commission
during the campaign.

 

The question is whether the payments were made to protect Mr Trump's
personal reputation or to protect his image as a presidential candidate.

 

Under US election rules, any payments made with the aim of influencing a
vote must be reported.--BBC

 

 

Bonds were slightly firmer, with the yield on the benchmark 2026 paper down
0.5 basis points to 8.98 percent.

 

Stocks were set to open a touch lower at 0700 GMT, with the Johannesburg
Stock Exchange’s Top-40 futures index down 0.1 percent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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South Africa's Eskom expects to reduce staff by 15 percent in five years

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s state-run power utility Eskom
expects to have 7,000 less staff in five years from now, a senior manager at
the utility that is struggling to emerge from a financial crisis said on
Thursday.

 

Cash-strapped Eskom is critical to Africa’s most industrialised economy as
it supplies more than 90 percent of its power and is one of its most
indebted state firms.

 

Eskom has powerful labour unions, some allied with the ruling African
National Congress (ANC) and others more militant, that have said they will
resist attempts to cut the workforce and fight moves to privatise the
company.

 

“Eskom intends to reduce headcount from 48,678 to 41,613 by 2023 across all
levels through normal attrition,” Marion Hughes, a senior manager at the
utility said in a strategy presentation.

 

Eskom has 270 billion rand ($18 billion) of state-guaranteed debt and is
often cited as a threat to South Africa’s credit ratings. Its total debt is
around 390 billion rand.

 

President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a new board at Eskom early this year in
one of his first interventions since becoming leader of the ANC. He later
secured the backing of senior ANC figures for a radical overhaul of Eskom.

 

Eskom said last month it was considering selling non-core assets and job
cuts after swinging to a full-year loss.

 

The utility was forced to cave in to union demands for higher pay after
protesting workers forced some generating units to be switched off, leading
to power outages in July and earlier this month.

 

($1 = 14.6363 rand)

 

 

 

South Africa's rand sinks after Trump land reform tweet

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand stretched overnight losses to
1.52 percent against the dollar on Thursday, slipping to 14.3600 after U.S.
President Donald Trump raised concerns about Pretoria’s land reform plans.

 

Trump tweeted late on Wednesday that he would ask his Secretary of State to
look closely at the changes proposed by the ruling African National Congress
including, he said, “expropriations and large-scale killing of farmers”.

 

Trump’s tweet appeared to be a response to a Fox News report on Wednesday
that focused on the land issue and murders of white farmers.

 

State broadcaster SABC said President Cyril Ramaphosa would seek
clarification from the U.S. embassy.

 

Ramaphosa said on Aug. 1 that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) was
forging ahead with plans to change the constitution to allow the
expropriation of land without compensation.

 

Whites still own most of South Africa’s land more than two decades after the
end of apartheid.

 

The move has unnerved some investors already concerned about the country’s
weak economic growth, ballooning public debt and policy missteps.

 

In June Moody’s - the last of the top three credit agencies to rate the
country’s debt at investment grade - said uncertainty around land and mining
reforms risked limiting investment.

 

“Mr Trump’s tweet last night about South Africa land redistribution, (and) a
...stronger dollar combined with domestic concerns will not be considered
all that fantastic for local financial markets,” said Standard Bank’s chief
trader Warrick Butler.

 

Local bonds were flat, with the yield on benchmark government paper due in
2026 down 1 basis point to 8.975 percent.

 

 

 

One in three chance of South Africa recession this year

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s economy probably struggled to gain
traction in the second quarter after shrinking at the start of 2018,
according to a Reuters poll of economists who said there was a one in three
chance of recession this year.

 

Around 30 economists polled expect Africa’s second-largest economy to grow
by 1.4 percent this year and by 1.9 percent next, slightly lower than the
median view last month.

 

The South African Reserve Bank was even more pessimistic at its last
monetary policy meeting, in July. It forecast that the economy would expand
by just 1.2 percent in 2018, sharply down from a 1.7 percent projection in
May.

 

For the second quarter, the consensus view sees just 0.6 percent growth on a
quarterly basis. That would be a very feeble recovery from the 2.2 percent
contraction recorded for January-March.

 

“The risk is that the services-driven sector, particularly financial
services, fared poorly again in the second quarter, which could be the
difference between whether South Africa avoids slipping into a recession or
not,” said Jeffrey Schultz, economist at BNP Paribas.

 

The first quarter marked South Africa’s worst quarterly contraction in nine
years, a reminder of the huge challenge faced by President Cyril Ramaphosa,
who took over from Jacob Zuma in February, in delivering robust long-term
growth.

 

“A real year-on-year growth rate for the second quarter of around or below
0.8 percent would result in a negative seasonally-adjusted and annualised
growth value,” said Frank Blackmore of EFConsult, adding: “That would be the
second quarter in a row of negative growth, and technically a recession.”

 

The poll showed the Reserve Bank holding interest rates at 6.50 percent
until at least end-2019 and then only hiking them by 25 basis points in
2020.

 

However, this remains a huge challenge for South Africa’s rand currency,
which has suffered from a broad emerging market sell-off this year.

 

A separate Reuters poll showed emerging market currencies are unlikely to
rebound from this year’s downturn until 2019, in part on rising trade
tensions and the prospect of higher interest rates in major economies.

 

Inflation in South Africa is expected to remain within the central bank’s
3-6 percent target band, averaging 4.7 percent this year and 5.2 percent
next year and in 2020.

 

Joblessness and social inequality are among the biggest problems facing
Africa’s most industrialized nation.

 

Just over a quarter of the country’s labour force is unemployed. South
Africa’s Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality by the World Bank,
is 0.63, one of the most unequal societies in the world on a scale between
0-1.

 

 

Egypt targets $11 bln foreign investment in 2018-19 vs $7.9 bln in previous
year

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt plans to attract $11 billion in foreign direct
investment in the current 2018-19 fiscal year, up from $7.9 billion the year
before, Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed said on Wednesday.

 

The minister said the government, under a medium-term development plan to
2022, hopes to create about 750,000 jobs in the current fiscal year which
ends in June 2019.

 

Egypt is implementing deep reforms under a 2016 IMF-backed austerity plan
that called for energy subsidy cuts.

 

Economists say that the reforms, which had piled up pressure on ordinary
Egyptians grappling with higher fuel, transportation and electricity prices,
were intended to help attract more foreign investments into the country.

 

Egypt’s unemployment rate fell to 9.9 percent in the second quarter of 2018,
down from 11.98 percent during the same period a year ago, according to
state statistics agency CAPMAS.

 

The medium-term plan, which is part of Egypt’s Vision 2030, is intended to
bolster the Egyptian economy’s competitiveness, Saeed said.

 

She said that the plan envisages economic growth to increase to 8 percent in
the 2021-22 fiscal year, up from 5.8 percent in the current 2018-19 fiscal
year.

 

Saeed said that raising non-oil exports by an annual average of 13 percent
to reach $35 billion by 2021-22 was one of the main goals of the plan.

 

The plan also aims to increase average savings to 23 percent by 2021-22 from
around 11 percent in the current fiscal year.

 

 

David Jones impairment knocks South Africa's Woolworths into annual loss

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Shares in South African retailer Woolworths slid to
a six-year low on Thursday after it reported a 3.5 billion rand ($239.13
million) annual post-tax loss, hurt by a hefty write-down on the value of
its David Jones business in Australia.

 

Woolworths paid a big premium to bulk up in Australia via David Jones as
part of Chief Executive Ion Moir’s ambitions to turn the firm into a leading
southern hemisphere retailer, but has faced delays in redeveloping the
business.

 

Woolworths booked an impairment charge of 6.9 billion rand against the
carrying value of David Jones as a result of the cyclical downturn and
structural changes that have hurt performance across the Australian retail
sector.

 

“2018 has been a difficult year,” Moir said. “Significant costs and
disruption from transformation initiatives in David Jones and poor
performance in our fashion business in South Africa have led to a result
which is disappointing.”

 

Woolworths reported a loss after tax of 3.5 billion rand in the year to end
June versus a profit of 5.4 billion rand in the year before.

 

Shares in Woolworths fell 6.8 percent to 48.01 rand in early trade, a level
last seen in June 2012. At 1045 GMT, shares were down 1.71 percent at 50.67
rand.

 

Woolworths, which sells groceries, food and homeware, said headline earnings
per share (HEPS) for the year to June fell 17.7 percent to 346.3 cents from
420.9 cents a year before, while sales rose 1.6 percent to 75.5 billion
rand.

 

DAVID JONES ON NEW GROWTH PATH

During the year David Jones put in place new merchandise and finance systems
and a new online platform, repositioned its food business and moved its head
office from Sydney to Melbourne.

 

Moir said he is starting to see the benefits of the restructuring in
improved sales momentum. David Jones’ full-year sales were 0.9 percent
lower, while sales for the first seven weeks of financial year 2019 were up
3.7 percent.

 

The department store chain is also investing 200 million Australian dollars
($146.32 million) and raising another 200 million Australian dollars from
concession partners to refurbish its Elizabeth Street store, due to be
completed by mid 2019.

 

These partners include luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel and
Disney. The revamped store will include a luxury “shoe heaven” floor and a
children’s world.

 

“Department stores are not dead,” Moir said. “The key to future department
store success is through brand exclusivity and private label.”

 

Moir said David Jones has also secured exclusive retail agreements with
Scotch & Soda, Nautica, Loewe, Kenzo, Isabel Marant, Burberry Beauty and
Christian Louboutin Beauty, and said it is in advanced discussions with
other key international and Australian brands.

 

($1 = 14.6363 rand)

 

($1 = 1.3669 Australian dollars)

 

 

Monsanto faces a surge in lawsuits following cancer ruling

American agro-chemicals company Monsanto is facing a surge in lawsuits that
may cost its new owners, Bayer, billions in damages.

 

Monsanto manufactures glyphosate-based weedkillers which some believe are
carcinogenic.

 

Last month it lost a $289m (£225m) court case that alleged its products
Roundup and RangerPro had led to a Californian man's terminal cancer.

 

Bayer said the number of outstanding cases had risen from 5,200 to 8,000.

 

The German firm's shares have lost 11% of their value since it lost the case
in a California court to groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson, who claimed Monsanto
herbicides containing glyphosate, had caused his non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

 

Bayer shares fell another 1.7% on Thursday.

 

Chief executive Werner Baumann said that when it bought Monsanto, Bayer
"could not foresee the scope of the current lawsuits." The $63bn deal was
completed earlier this month.

 

"In the course of the acquisition, we carried out due diligence as is
standard practice when taking over a listed company. In doing so, we of
course also considered the legal risks," he said in an interview with
Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper.

 

In a conference call on Thursday, Mr Baumann added: "Our view is that the
number is not indicative of the merits of the plaintiffs' cases".

 

Mr Baumann reiterated Bayer's stance that the court's verdict was not in
line with the approach taken by regulators in the US and elsewhere, which
allow the use of glyphosate-based weedkillers.

 

However, scientific opinion is divided.

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last September concluded that
glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.

 

But the World Health Organization in 2015 classified glyphosate as "probably
carcinogenic to humans."

 

Bayer said it will try to have the Californian verdict reversed and, if that
fails, it would take the appeal process further.

 

Mr Bauman said the company would defend all the cases brought against
Monsanto rather than settle them out of court.

 

Liam Condon, head of Bayer's Crop Science division said: "Nothing whatsoever
has changed in the regulatory status of the product. There is simply very
high demand, and has been for many decades, for glyphosate. It is an
invaluable tool for growers."

 

Chief Financial Officer Wolfgang Nickl said that Bayer's next financial
results, due next month, would set aside money for legal defence costs but
not for any possible future damages.--bbc

 

 

 

Kalashnikov's CV-1 electric car touted as Russia's answer to Tesla

Russian manufacturing firm Kalashnikov has wheeled out a retro-looking
electric car it says will give Elon Musk's Tesla a run for its money.

 

The firm behind the famous AK-47 assault rifle presented the eggshell-blue
prototype vehicle, the CV-1, at an event near the capital, Moscow.

 

It said the CV-1, inspired by a Soviet hatchback created in the 1970s, was a
revolutionary cutting-edge "supercar".

 

Kalashnikov was earlier ridiculed over its new combat robot "little Igor".

 

The company said in a statement on Thursday that the CV-1 car featured a
number of "complex systems" with technology that would "let us stand in the
ranks of global electric car producers such as Tesla".

 

It added that, when fully developed, the car would have a top speed several
times higher than current electric vehicles produced by its firm and would
be able to travel 220 miles (350 km) on a single charge.

 

As it is an initial prototype, details such as the vehicle's price tag have
not yet been disclosed.

 

Kalashnikov has been looking to take its brand in different directions and
recently launched a clothing line and a catalogue of personal items ranging
from umbrellas to smartphone covers.

 

However its decision to go down the road of developing electric vehicles was
met with mixed reactions in Moscow.

 

Social media users quickly took to the company's Facebook page to share
their thoughts on Russia's answer to Tesla, with some commenting on its
"funny Zombie-like" design, while others praised its "cool" appearance.

 

"Your tanks are great, but it would be better if you stayed away from cars,"
one user wrote.

 

Many online have mocked the Kalashnikov robot for its clunky and
old-fashioned appearance

Earlier this week, Kalashnikov unveiled Igorek (aka "little Igor"); a
four-metre (13 ft) tall, 4.5-tonne, manned robot designed for "carrying out
engineering and combat tasks".

 

At a time when robots are competing to become smaller, sleeker and smarter,
the company was mocked over the robot's bulky old-fashioned design.

 

Kalashnikov later said it hoped to display an improved version of the robot
at an exhibition in 2020.--BBC

 

 

Ryanair brings in new rules on cabin bags

Ryanair is tightening the rules on what passengers pay to take luggage onto
the plane, in order to "speed up boarding".

 

>From November, passengers will still be allowed to take one "small personal
bag" into the cabin, as long as it will fit under the seat in front.

 

But they will have to pay £6 if they also want to take a 10kg bag, such as a
pull-along suitcase, on board.

 

And they'll still have to pay up to £10 if they want to check that bag into
the hold instead.

 

The move is not aimed at making money, the airline said, but was intended to
"improve punctuality and reduce boarding gate delays".

 

Under the new policy only 95 passengers per flight - around half of the
total - will be permitted to pay for the right to take the extra bag on
board.

 

Other travellers will have to pay £8 to £10 for their 10kg bag to go into
the hold. Larger checked-in luggage will still cost £25 per bag.

 

It is the second time in a year that Ryanair has altered its cabin luggage
policy.

 

Rival airlines such as Easyjet, Wizz and Norwegian allow one piece of free
hand luggage in the cabin on short-haul flights.

 

Ryanair said it was increasing the size of the small carry on bag that
remains free to take on board to 20 litres.

 

Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair's chief marketing officer, said the new policy "will
speed up boarding and cut flight delays" by encouraging people to either
travel very light with just one small bag, or to check-in a medium-sized
bag.

 

Currently Ryanair allows customers a small personal bag, and passengers who
have paid for priority boarding can take a 10kg bag into the cabin as well.

 

Those without priority boarding currently take pull-along bags and other
medium-sized luggage with them until they board at the gate - at which point
bags are transferred to the hold free of charge, which means passengers can
take two bags without paying extra fees.

 

But Ryanair said this policy was causing delays.

 

>From November, if passengers turn up at the boarding gate with more than the
20 litre carry-on bag but haven't paid for the priority boarding status, the
bag will be placed in the hold at a charge of £25, Ryanair said.--BBC

 

 

 

Conservative anger at Philip Hammond's 'dodgy project fear'

Brexiteers have attacked Philip Hammond for reiterating a warning that a
no-deal Brexit could damage the economy.

 

The chancellor's warning was published in a letter, hours after the
government laid out plans for a no-deal Brexit.

 

Conservative MP Marcus Fysh accused Mr Hammond of embarking on "another
instalment of dodgy project fear".

 

Meanwhile, the World Trade Organization head has told the BBC a no-deal
"would not be the end of the world...but it's not going to be a walk in the
park".

 

What do the Brexit 'no deal' papers reveal?

Reality Check: What would 'no deal' look like?

In a letter published on the Treasury website, Mr Hammond repeated the
findings of the Treasury's provisional Brexit analysis released earlier this
year.

 

That analysis includes a warning that a no-deal Brexit could mean a 7.7% hit
to GDP over the next 15 years, compared to the "status quo baseline".

 

Writing to Nicky Morgan, chair of the treasury committee, he said that under
a no-deal scenario chemicals, food and drink, clothing, manufacturing, cars
and retail would be the sectors "most affected negatively in the long run".

 

He added that the largest negative impacts would be felt "in the north-east
[of England] and Northern Ireland".

 

The letter also said Treasury analysis estimated borrowing would be around
£80bn a year higher under a no-deal scenario by 2033.

 

Mr Hammond added that this analysis was now "undergoing a process of
refinement" and emphasised that a no-deal Brexit was not the government's
preferred option and that it was "confident of a agreeing a good deal".

 

The timing of the letter was criticised, coming so soon after Brexit
Secretary Dominic Raab sought to play down the risk of a no-deal -
describing the impact as a "potential short-term disruption".

 

Prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees Mogg said leaving on WTO terms was not "as
absurdly frightening as the chancellor of the exchequer thinks it may be."

 

"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly," he
said.

 

"The naysayers in the Treasury have consistently wanted to paint a bleak
picture because they are frightened of taking responsibility for managing
the economy without the crutch of the EU. It is a sign of their weakness.

 

"What Mr Hammond is doing is a reminder of why no one believes the
politicised forecasts of the Treasury.

 

"The Treasury is desperate to stop Brexit. Everything the Treasury does has
to be read in this light."

 

However, Mrs Morgan - a Remain campaigner - said the chancellor's letter
confirmed that a no-deal Brexit would be a "disastrous hit" to the economy
and living standards.

 

Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said: "A no-deal Brexit has never been
viable and would represent a complete failure of the government's
negotiating strategy."--BBC

 

 

BA and Air France to stop flights to Iran next month

British Airways and Air France have announced that they will stop flying to
Iran next month.

 

Both airlines said that the route was "not commercially viable."

 

The reintroduction of US sanctions has caused a slump in the value of the
Iranian currency, the rial, making it harder for Iranians to travel
overseas.

 

BA restarted the service to Tehran two years ago after a four-year gap. The
last flight will be on 22 September, returning the next day.

 

The airline apologised to travellers planning to travel to Iran and said it
was offering refunds for affected customers or a possible rerouting through
other airlines.

 

Air France, which had transferred its connections with Tehran to its
low-cost airline Joon, had reduced the frequency of the flights from three
to one a week since the beginning of this month. It will stop all flights on
18 September.

 

KLM said last month that it would also suspend flights from Amsterdam to
Iran from September.

 

The sanctions, prompted partly by Washington's decision in May to abandon
the Iran nuclear deal, have prompted many western firms to step back from
business in Iran.

 

Companies such as the French energy giant Total, German insurer Allianz and
Danish tanker operator Maersk have said they are preparing to wind down
their operations in Iran.--BBC

 

 

UK's 'no-deal' Brexit plans warn of credit card fees

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has set out what he called "practical and
proportionate" advice in case the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

 

The guidance includes instructions for businesses who could face extra
paperwork at borders and contingency plans to avoid medicine shortages.

 

Britons visiting the EU could also face extra credit card charges.

 

Ministers say a deal is the most likely outcome but that "short-term
disruption" is possible without one.

 

BBC political correspondent Chris Mason described the publication as a "vast
swirling porridge of detail - much of it at a technical level, advising
individual industries about the manner in which they are regulated in the
event of a no-deal Brexit".

 

Labour said a no-deal outcome would be "catastrophic" and a "complete
failure by the government to negotiate for Britain".

 

Just after the documents were released, Chancellor Philip Hammond reiterated
a warning from his department of a 7.7% hit to GDP over the next 15 years
under a no-deal Brexit scenario, in a letter to the Treasury Committee.

 

The timing of that release angered pro-Brexit MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who said
the Treasury was trying to stop Brexit, and that it consistently painted a
bleak picture "because they are frightened of taking responsibility for
managing the economy without the crutch of the EU".

 

What's in the no-deal Brexit plans?

In the 24 documents, which cover industries including medicine, finance and
farming, it says:

 

The cost of card payments between the UK and EU will "likely increase" and
won't be covered by a ban on surcharges

Businesses trading with the EU should start planning for new customs checks,
and might have to pay for new software or logistical help

Britons living elsewhere in Europe could lose access to UK banking and
pension services without EU action

UK organic food producers could face new hurdles to exporting to the EU

Pharmaceutical companies have been told to stockpile an extra six weeks'
worth of medicine to ensure a "seamless" supply

The UK would continue to accept new medicines that have been tested in the
EU

Low-value parcels from the EU would no longer be eligible for VAT relief

New picture warnings will be needed for cigarette packets as the EU owns the
copyright to the current ones

Mr Raab said reaching a deal with the EU was the "overriding priority" and
"by far the most likely outcome" but that "we must be ready to consider the
alternative".

 

He also dismissed what he said were "wilder claims" about the impact of not
reaching a deal, including that it could spark a "sandwich famine" in the
UK.

 

"Let me assure you that, contrary to one of the wilder claims, you will
still be able to enjoy a BLT after Brexit, and there are no plans to deploy
the Army to maintain food supplies," he said.

 

What do the Brexit 'no deal' papers reveal?

Reality Check: What would 'no deal' look like?

Brexit: The key dates ahead

No-deal Brexit: A costly prospect for many consumers and firms

The UK will cease to be a member of the EU on 29 March 2019.

 

With several sticking points remaining in negotiations, there has
increasingly been talk of what happens if there is no agreement in place,
including police chiefs warning of a risk to the public if the UK loses
access to EU-wide crime databases and Bank of England governor Mark Carney
saying no deal would be "highly undesirable".

 

Pro-Brexit campaigners have described the warnings as "Project Fear" -
saying the UK has nothing to fear from leaving without a trade deal and
falling back on World Trade Organization rules.

 

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that
such an arrangement "would suffice" and said the risks had been "absurdly
overstated".

 

His fellow Brexiteer John Redwood said stockpiling six weeks worth of
medical supplies was "a bit over the top" but that the government was being
"ultra cautious".

 

This didn't seem a comfortable moment for Dominic Raab.

 

The Brexit secretary campaigned for Leave, and is a true believer in the
cause. Yet here he was, setting out plans to cope with a British failure to
reach the kind of deal Brexiteers once claimed would be easy to accomplish.

 

Again and again, the Brexit department's guidance refers to the "unlikely
event" of Brexit without an EU deal - but Dominic Raab conceded it could
happen.

 

The risk was real. The International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, has
suggested that outcome is more likely than not.

 

The Brexit secretary may disagree on the level of risk, but could not deny
that it would lead to higher costs and a fresh burden of red tape on
businesses, scientific and medical research and individuals.

 

Read John's blog on the no-deal papers

 

Reaction to the no-deal papers

The European Commission said Brexit would lead to disruption "with a deal or
without a deal".

 

"That's why everybody, and in particular economic operators, need to be
prepared," it said.

 

The commission has already published its own assessment of no deal, saying
there would be "no specific arrangement" for EU citizens living in the UK or
for UK citizens in the EU and warning of "significant delays" at borders.

 

For Labour, shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said Mr Raab's speech was
"thin on detail, thin on substance and provided no answers to how ministers
intend to mitigate the serious consequences of leaving the EU without an
agreement".

 

"A no-deal Brexit has never been viable and would represent a complete
failure of the government's negotiating strategy," he said.

 

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said a no-deal Brexit would cause "huge
disruption and serious, long-lasting economic and social damage", and Lib
Dem leader Sir Vince Cable added: "This isn't project fear by critics of
Brexit, this is the government itself and independent bodies pointing to the
damage that will be caused."

 

The National Farmers' Union warned of a "disastrous" cliff edge scenario for
the UK food supply chain.

 

Business group the CBI said: "These papers show that those who claim
crashing out of the EU on World Trade Organisation rules is acceptable live
in a world of fantasy, where facts are not allowed to challenge ideology."

 

Pointing to the possibility of new credit card charges, Lord Adonis of the
People's Vote campaign, said: "Every time a new Brexit paper is published,
more people are made worse off".

 

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said the reports confirmed no-deal
Brexit was not a credible option, as it would be "devastating for working
people".--BBC

 

 

 

LOL! Proctor & Gamble wants to trademark WTF

Proctor & Gamble is reported to have applied to trademark acronyms that are
common in text speak, including "WTF".

 

If successful, expressions including "LOL" (Laugh Out Loud) and "NBD" (No
Big Deal) could be used to market and sell its products.

 

The global household products company has applied to use the acronyms in
soap, detergents and air fresheners.

 

P&G reportedly registered the trademark applications with the US Patent and
Trademark Office in April.

 

The products would be sold alongside well known brands such as Febreze,
Fairy and Mr Clean.

 

It seems the firm believes that under thirty-fives can be persuaded to buy
its products if they're branded with slang lifted from text speak.

 

And tech savvy millennials are an important potential consumer group for
packaged goods companies.

 

Collectively, millennials (the group born around the turn of the millennium
and often referred to as Generation Y) in the US alone, are expected to
increase their annual spending to $1.4tr (£1.09tr) by 2020, according to the
statistics portal Statista.

 

But P&G's applications have not yet been approved and are still "TBD" (To Be
Decided).

 

The change in brand strategy may have come from activist investor, Nelson
Peltz, who joined the P&G board in March.

 

Last September, he told CNBC that younger consumers do not want "one size
fits all" brands but products that "they have an emotional attachment to".

 

Perhaps, these consumers - when faced with a pile of dirty dishes, unwashed
socks and a grimy bathroom - already have just those words in mind.

 

The applications were first highlighted by Ad Age which pointed out that
other brands, which might have wished to adopt the terms, are now faced with
"FOMO" (that's "Fear of Missing Out" in case you didn't know).

 

The BBC has not been able to reach P&G for comment.--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> 

 


 

 


DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
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
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
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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