Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 12 June 2018

Tue Jun 12 08:57:43 CAT 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 12 June 2018

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*  'No sacred cows': South African Airways boss plans deep cuts

*  Airtel's Kenyan unit abandons plan to merge with Telkom: sources

*  South Africa's Vodacom to increase black ownership

*  War-torn South Sudan issues higher denomination banknotes amid soaring
inflation

*  Morocco, Nigeria agree on next steps for offshore/onshore gas pipeline

*  Seaboard Corp confident of sealing deal for Kenya's Unga

*  Total signs deal to extend TFT gas field license in Algeria

*  South Africa's finance minister warns of challenges as rand tumbles

*  Car insurers warn on 'autonomous' vehicles

*  Daimler forced to recall Mercedes with defeat devices

*  Russia 2018: Chinese firms fill World Cup sponsorship gap

*  Land Rover Discovery model moved to Slovakia from the UK

*  Indian gem billionaire Nirav Modi 'fled to London'

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'No sacred cows': South African Airways boss plans deep cuts

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Six months into the job of running loss-making
South African Airways, Vuyani Jarana is mapping out a punishing austerity
plan.

Jarana, who faces the daunting task of turning the flag carrier around, said
layoffs and other cuts were unavoidable as he contends with a draining
cost-to-income ratio of 108 percent.

“SAA cannot carry the same workforce, whether it is pilots, cabin crew or
administration,” he told Reuters. “We have to make some tough decisions to
save the airline. There cannot be sacred cows when it comes to SAA.”

He declined to put a number to the job losses, but two sources familiar with
his plan said the state-owned carrier was likely to cut between 1,000 and
1,500 people via a combination of layoffs and voluntary redundancies to
bring its employee-per-aircraft ratio in line with regional competitors.

The numbers include roughly 300 flight attendants, according to one of the
sources. Some of the carrier’s 700 pilots, encouraged to look for jobs
elsewhere, have drafted their own severance pay offer to SAA, the second
source said.

In a dramatic fall from grace over the past decade, SAA has lost its place
as Africa’s biggest airline and a symbol of patriotic pride to become a
source of frustration for taxpayers who have forked out more than 30 billion
rand ($2.3 billion) since 2012 to keep it in the air.

SAA’s woes are emblematic of the struggles of traditional flag carriers
around the world, such as Malaysia Airlines, Air India and Air France-KLM.
These airlines are contending with low-cost rivals and a spike in oil
prices, which puts pressure on those with the highest labour and other
non-fuel costs.

The problems are also an illustration of the malaise afflicting the airline
industry in Africa, whose airlines have the weakest finances and emptiest
planes of any region of the world.

Jarana told Reuters he was also setting up other moves to reduce the
airline’s 33.5 billion rand operating costs. They include squeezing
suppliers for better deals and cutting back on its number of flights to
London from twice to once a day.

The carrier makes its biggest losses on the London route because it faces
fierce competition that expose its inefficiencies.

“My view is that the starting point to getting out of the hole is to stop
digging, you stop doing the things that sink you deeper into trouble,”
Jarana said in his office near O.R. Tambo International Airport in
Johannesburg.

AFRICAN AIR INDUSTRY LAGS

Although the global industry is looking at another profitable year in 2018,
much of the money is in the United States where legacy carriers have been
through years of restructuring.

Africa is the weakest region of all, with airlines struggling to improve
load factors - percentage of seats filled - from the world’s lowest level of
61.5 percent in 2018, compared with 81.7 percent globally, according to
International Air Transport Association forecasts.

SAA employs just over 10,000 people and has 64 aircraft, putting its
employee-per-plane ratio at 160. That compares with just over 130 employees
per aircraft for Ethiopian Airlines, which has overtaken SAA to be become
the biggest airline by revenue and profit in recent years.

However, the ratio is below 190 employees per aircraft at Air India, a
debt-laden and loss-making carrier that last month failed to attract a
single bidder for the government’s 76 percent stake.

Despite carrying roughly the same number of passengers annually - around 10
million - Ethiopian Airlines makes more than $200 million annual profit
while SAA extended its losing streak to the sixth year in 2017 when it
suffered a hefty $400 million loss.

Ethiopian Airlines has bucked the African trend and has been expanding fast,
thanks in part to a geographical position that enables it to serve as a hub
in competition with Gulf carriers and to a young, modern fleet.

PRESIDENT’S POLITICAL DILEMMA

While investors are likely to welcome Jarana’s blueprint, it could put him
on a collision course with politicians a year before the national elections.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faces a dilemma.

He wants to wean SAA off its state support, which is a major risk to South
Africa’s credit rating, and burnish his economic reformist credentials. Yet
mass layoffs could prove politically unpalatable in a country where a
quarter of adults are unemployed.

However BNP Paribas South Africa senior economist Jeff Schultz said the
government had little choice but to take the political hit at the polls from
turnaround plans at inefficient state firms like SAA and power utility
Eskom.

“Large cuts to state-owned companies’ workforces are probably unavoidable
and necessary at this juncture, even as the ruling African National Congress
is going into an election year,” he said.

To cushion the blows, however, Jarana said he had been talking to other
airlines about offloading some pilots and flight attendants to them, without
naming the carriers.

The plan comes at a time when there is a growing shortage of pilots across
the airline industry.

“We have got excess pilots and we are signing up contracts for them so that
they are not put out on the street,” said Jarana, a former executive at
telecom company Vodacom. “That is what we have been working on in the past
five months.”

($1 = 12.9945 rand)

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Airtel's Kenyan unit abandons plan to merge with Telkom: sources

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Kenyan unit of Bharti Airtel has abandoned plans to
merge with Telkom Kenya to take on the market leading operator Safaricom,
industry and government sources said on Monday.

Sources said in April that Airtel and Telkom Kenya were planning to merge to
create a stronger challenger to Safaricom, which has 72 percent of
subscribers, or around 30 million subscriptions.

“Airtel developed cold feet,” said an industry source who declined to be
named.

Airtel, owned by India’s Bharti Airtel, did not respond to a request for
comment.

Joe Mucheru, the minister for information and communication, said he was
aware of the walkout by Airtel.

The proposed merger broke down over a number of issues, particularly Airtel
resisting making a commitment to significant future investments in the
company, the industry source said.

The sector regulator, Communications Authority of Kenya, said neither Telkom
nor Airtel had formally communicated with it about the deal.

Telkom Kenya, which is controlled by Africa-focused, London-based Helios
Investment declined to comment.

Telkom and Airtel have a combined 23 percent of Kenya’s 41 million mobile
subscribers.

Data from the regulator showed Airtel had increased its users by more than a
million in the last quarter of last year, benefiting from a call by the
opposition for its supporters to boycott Safaricom.

South Africa's Vodacom to increase black ownership

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Vodacom Group said on Monday it will
increase the stake held by black shareholders by up to 6.25 percent in a
17.5 billion rand ($1.34 billion) black empowerment transaction.

Vodacom said current black shareholders in Vodacom South Africa and a newly
formed staff scheme will exchange their current shareholding for a stake of
between 5.8 percent and 6.25 percent in Vodacom Group.

The new YeboYethu empowerment structure would acquire a 6.25 percent
shareholding in Vodacom Group based on an illustrative price of 152.50 rand
per Vodacom Group share.

Under black economic empowerment rules, South African companies are
encouraged to meet quotas on black ownership, employment and procurement as
part of a drive to reverse decades of exclusion under apartheid.

Meeting government rules on black ownership makes a company more likely to
qualify for government tenders.

The existing scheme, that is due to unwind in October and will increase
Vodacom Group’s black ownership to 20 percent, delivered a return of 7.5
billion rand ($575 million), the firm said.

“This amounts to 6.7 times the original capital that was invested into the
deal in 2008 and therefore has been one of the most profitable and
successful transactions concluded in South Africa,” said Vodacom Group Chief
Executive Shameel Joosub.

Petrochemicals and energy firm Sasol last year said it would cover costs and
pay bank debt related to a share sale from its Inzalo black economic
empowerment scheme after the share price slumped, leaving investors unable
to fully repay their debts.

Companies in Africa’s most advanced economy are required to help increase
black ownership, often using vendor financing deals to sell shares to groups
who were excluded before 1994 under apartheid’s white minority rule.

($1 = 13.0399 rand)

War-torn South Sudan issues higher denomination banknotes amid soaring
inflation

JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan’s central bank said on Monday it will issue
higher denomination banknotes, enabling citizens to carry fewer notes as
rampant inflation continues to devalue the local currency.

The bank said it would introduce a 500 pound bill, worth $1.5 U.S. dollars,
into circulation this month. Currently the largest note in circulation is a
100 pound bill.

South Sudan’s economy is close to collapse after a 2015 peace deal with
Sudan failed to stick and fighting between rival soldiers has continued. The
conflict has hurt the country’s crude oil output, which is at less than half
of its pre-war level of 245,000 barrels per day.

“The Bank of South Sudan would like to inform the general public that it is
introducing a new banknote of five hundred South Sudanese pounds as legal
tender in the Republic of South Sudan,” central bank Governor Dier Tong Ngor
said in a statement.

Dier said the measure was meant to help reduce the amount of bills people
carry.

Soaring inflation has persisted for several years, due in part to a
depreciating South Sudan pound, which has lost more than halve its value
against the dollar since December 2016 in the black market. In March,
year-on-year inflation stood at 161.20 percent, according to the National
Bureau of Statistics.

It has averaged 89 percent over the past 10 years, racing to a peak of
835.70 percent in October 2016.

South Sudan secured independence from Sudan in 2011 but in December 2013
slid into civil war after a dispute between President Salva Kiir and his
former deputy Riek Machar. As the conflict continues, many of South Sudan’s
12 million people are struggling to find enough to eat.

Morocco, Nigeria agree on next steps for offshore/onshore gas pipeline

RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco and Nigeria on Sunday signed a joint declaration
in Rabat laying out the next steps for the completion of a gas pipeline deal
that will be built onshore and offshore, Moroccan state news agency MAP
said.

The two countries agreed to the pipeline in December 2016 and launched
feasibility studies ending with a plan to build the pipeline onshore and
offshore, it said.  

“For economic, political, legal and security reasons, the choice was made on
a combined onshore and offshore route,” Morocco’s National Office of
Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) and the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), the two authorities supervising the project said in the
joint declaration.

“The pipeline will be 5,660 kilometres (3,516.96 miles) long and its CAPEX
has been defined,” the declaration said, adding that construction will be in
phases covering 25 years.

As a next step, Morocco and Nigeria will launch a front-end engineering
design (Feed) to involve countries that will be crossed by the pipeline in
the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and to determine the
amount of gas available for export to European off-takers.

This phase also provides for assessing the financial cost and seeking
funding from development banks, the joint declaration said.

The project is conducive to economic integration in the region and will help
West African countries meet their energy needs as well as boost Nigeria’s
export potential to Europe, ONHYM and NNPC said.

The declaration was signed at a ceremony chaired by King Mohammed VI and
visiting Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

During the same event, Morocco’s phosphates giant, OCP, signed an agreement
with Nigerian’s Sovereign Investment Authority to build an industrial
platform for the production of ammonia and derivatives.

The two countries also signed a cooperation agreement on agricultural
vocational training.

Seaboard Corp confident of sealing deal for Kenya's Unga

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Seaboard Corporation is confident of buying out three
quarters of minority shareholders in Kenyan agro-processor Unga Group to
allow it to eventually take the company private, Seaboard said on Monday.

The U.S. firm offered in February to buy the 46.15 percent of Unga’s shares
that are held by minority shareholders and listed on the Nairobi bourse. It
needs to purchase three quarters of that total to be able to take Unga
private.

The rest of the shares are owned by a local group of investors via a vehicle
called Victus Ltd, which supports Seaboard’s goal of buying out the minority
shareholders and eventually delisting the firm.

Market participants said Unga, whose businesses range from wheat and maize
milling to baking and animal nutrition products, faced growing competition
from unlisted companies, hence the desire to also take it private and
operate on a similar footing.

Seaboard has offered to pay 40 shillings ($0.3970) per share, representing a
31.75 percent premium on the shares’ 250-day weighted average price. Unga’s
current market capitalisation is around 3 billion shillings ($30 million),
according to Reuters data.

The offer closes on June 13.

“Our interest in Unga Plc is an effort to deepen our presence across
targeted markets in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Hennie Combrink, Seaboard’s
vice president of international business development and finance.

“Africa is part of Seaboard’s core business model. We have been here since
the 60’s and the continent remains an important part of our business
portfolio.”

($1 = 100.7500 Kenyan shillings)

Total signs deal to extend TFT gas field license in Algeria

PARIS (Reuters) - French oil and gas major Total said on Monday that it had
signed a new concession agreement with Algeria’s Sonatrach, Repsol and
Alnaft for a 25-year extension of their Tin Fouyé Tabankort (TFT) gas and
condensate field license.

It said the agreement would give Total a 26.4 percent stake in the project.
Sonatrach will hold 51 percent and Repsol 22.6 percent.

The partners will carry out the drilling and development investments
required to develop additional reserves estimated at more than 250 million
barrels of oil equivalent, Total said in a statement.

“These investments will allow them to maintain production of the field,
which is currently over 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for 6
years,” it said.

South Africa's finance minister warns of challenges as rand tumbles

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The South African government is concerned by the
rand’s plunge to its lowest this year and will step up a “defence
mechanism”, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said, but he fell short of
calling the currency’s dip a crisis.

The rand dropped to 13.2875 against the dollar on Friday, its weakest since
Dec. 18, Thomson Reuters data showed, as the country’s economy and slowed
and global investors shied away from riskier assets.

“Call it very challenging times. It then depends when you begin to call it a
crisis,” Nene told the Sunday Times.

“But these are very challenging times, and it’s for this reason that we
can’t be complacent about it. We actually just need to step up our defence
mechanism.”

He did not say what measures South Africa could take.

South Africa’s rand suffered last week when data showed the economy shrank
by 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2018, with the most significant falls
in agriculture, manufacturing and mining.

At the same time, risk appetite among investors has eroded on speculation
Europe’s massive monetary stimulus is nearing an end, compounded by
uncertainty over trade relations before a meeting of G7 leaders.

The rand had rallied when Cyril Ramaphosa seemed set to be elected leader of
the ruling African National Congress in December. His election as state
President in February, days after Jacob Zuma was forced out as leader by the
ruling party, gave the currency even further momentum.

Ramaphosa pledged to clean up governance, deal with high unemployment and
improve basic services, igniting a wave of optimism. But the recent poor
economic data has eroded some of the enthusiasm in Africa’s most
industrialised economy.

Car insurers warn on 'autonomous' vehicles

The motor insurance industry is warning carmakers against the use of the
word "autonomous" in their marketing.

A report for the Association of British Insurers says the way some advanced
vehicles are described can convince motorists that they have self-driving
cars when that is not the case.

There are no fully autonomous cars on British roads.

However, manufacturers such as Tesla, BMW and Nissan offer features that can
partially automate the driving process.

These include systems that keep the car within its lane, control its speed
and keep it at a safe distance from the vehicle in front.

Thatcham Research, which conducts safety tests for the motor insurers, says
the manufacturers need to be far clearer about the difference between these
assisted-driving systems and autonomous cars.

The organisation says misleading names such as "Autopilot" and "ProPilot"
give drivers the impression their cars can drive themselves in all
circumstances.

"There's a problem with the manufacturers trying to introduce technology and
consumers not being ready for it, not being sure if it's automated or 'Do I
need to keep watching?'" says Matthew Avery, of Thatcham Research.

"We want it very clear. Either you are driving - assisted - or you're not
driving - automated."

To demonstrate the dangers of partial automation, Thatcham took a Tesla out
on its test track at Upper Heyford, in Oxfordshire.

Tesla Autopilot's name is deceptive, claim US groups

Jaguar self-drive car revealed in New York

Driverless cars on UK roads by 2021 - really?

With the Autopilot system switched on, the Model S kept in lane and slowed
to a halt when a car it was following encountered standing traffic.

But on a second run the car in front switched lanes at the last moment, and
the Tesla was unable to brake in time, running into a stationary vehicle.

"This is an example of what happens when the driver is over-reliant on the
system," says Matthew Avery.

In April, a British driver lost his licence after being filmed on the
motorway sitting in the passenger seat of his Tesla using its Autopilot
system.

A Tesla spokeswoman said: "Our communications are very clear about the
functionality of Autopilot and that it does not make the car self-driving.

"We've continuously educated customers on the proper use of Autopilot,
reminding them that they must remain alert and be prepared to take control
at all times".

Test time

Thatcham Research, which works for the Association of British Insurers, is
launching a testing programme to assess assisted-driving systems.

"Manufacturers must be responsible in how they describe and name what their
vehicles can do, and the insurance industry is ready to hold them to account
on this," said James Dalton, from the ABI.

The insurers are are also concerned about manufacturers' plans to introduce
cars with level-three automation, where the driver can take their hands off
the wheel for long periods.

They would like the carmakers to skip this step and wait until they are
ready to go straight to level four, where the vehicle is fully
automated.--BBC

Daimler forced to recall Mercedes with defeat devices

The German government has ordered car maker Daimler to recall 238,000
vehicles in Germany after they were found to be fitted with illegal software
that masks diesel emissions.

Across Europe a total of 774,000 diesel vehicles contain "defeat devices"
and Daimler said it would recall them all.

The diesel versions of the Mercedes C-Class, Vito and GLC models are the
main ones affected, the ministry said.

Daimler said it would refit the software but denied any wrongdoing.

It comes three years after VW admitted having fitted "cheat" devices in
vehicles that made their engines appear less polluting than they actually
were.

About eleven million cars worldwide were affected in that case.

German transport minister Andreas Scheuer said the ministry and Daimler had
"negotiated intensively for many hours" on Monday.

Afterwards he said the ministry had ordered the "immediate" recall of
Daimler models in Germany because they contained "illegal shutdown devices".

"Daimler states that it will, at maximum speed and with co-operative
transparency with the authorities, remove the applications in the engine
control system which the government objects to," he said.

The Transport Ministry only has authority to force the recall of vehicles
within Germany.

Legality questioned

Daimler refused to elaborate on where the other vehicles would be recalled.
It also said the legality of the software would still need to be clarified.

Earlier Daimler chairman, Dieter Zetsche, had said a technical solution had
been found to the software problems and that he did not expect the company
to be fined.

It is not the first time Daimler has faced problems with its emissions
software. Last year it retrofitted three million Mercedes diesel cars built
since 2011, but did not call the exercise a recall.

Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said the recall would not harm the
company.

"The criticised software is part of engine management and so called
auxiliary emissions control devices [which can turn off emissions controls
during driving for other reasons, such as to protect the engine].

"We don't see any evidence that Daimler was designing software to
deliberately cheat on emission testing."

Other car makers have been found to have fitted defeat devices.

BMW recalled 12,000 diesel cars over the issue in February, while Porsche
recalled 60,000 in May. Neither admitted wrongdoing.--BBC

Russia 2018: Chinese firms fill World Cup sponsorship gap

The value of World Cup sponsorship has dropped between the 2014 event in
Brazil and this year's in Russia, according to Nielsen Sports' research.

Fifa sponsor revenue fell from $1,629m (£1,214m) to $1,450m between events.

Global market research firm Nielsen says the 2015-18 sponsorship cycle had
been "a tougher sell" than for the previous two World Cups.

"But a new crop of sponsors, including several from China, helped Fifa
weather the storm," it said.

Yoghurt for fans

Chinese sponsors stepped into the breach after a number of long-term Fifa
backers, such as Johnson & Johnson, Castrol and Continental, ended their
association after the corruption scandal at football's world governing body
in May 2015.

China's largest commercial property company, the Wanda Group, is one of
Fifa's seven official partners, alongside Coca Cola, Adidas, Gazprom, Qatar
Airways, Visa and Hyundai/Kia.

One of the companies Wanda owns is InFront Media, a sports marketing firm
which owns the media rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups across 26 Asian
territories.

Meanwhile, three of the 2018 tournament's official five sponsors, namely TV
and fridge maker Hisense, smartphone developer Vivo, and dairy firm Mengniu,
are Chinese.

Mengniu has the exclusive rights to sell yoghurt drinks and ice cream in the
Russian World Cup stadiums.

Qatar 2022 boost?

In each four-year financial cycle, the World Cup accounts for the vast
majority of Fifa's sponsorship revenue. For example, in 2010 sponsorship
income from other events generated just $25m and in 2014 it generated just
$49m, according to Nielsen.

The value of World Cup sponsorship may have fluctuated recently, but overall
it has grown strongly in the past two decades with Fifa's 2015-2018 cycle
revenues more than twice the amount for the 1999-2002 period.

"Fifa will be hoping to return to growth in the cycle leading up to the 2022
World Cup in Qatar," said Nielsen Sports' managing director Glenn Lovett.

"It can probably look forward to support from Middle Eastern brands seeking
to capitalise on the region's first World Cup.

"The organisation will also be hoping for a positive response from sponsors
to the 'Fifa 2' modernising reforms introduced by president Gianni Infantino
in 2016."

These include investing in football development and increasing
participation, looking to introduce new standards for transparency and
governance, and aiming to double the number of female players worldwide to
60 million by 2026.

Chinese growth

The vast majority of World Cup sponsors are from Europe, North America and
Asia. African companies agreed deals during the 2010 South African World Cup
cycle, and South American companies did so around Brazil 2014.

"But neither region contributed a sponsor this year," said Mr Lovett.

"Asian sponsors are growing in prominence, and indeed are the most
significant at World Cup 2018, accounting for 39% of deals."

And it is those Chinese sponsors emerging for the first time that have been
the major factor in Asian growth.

Football has boomed in China, with strong encouragement from the government,
which is keen to host the World Cup as soon as possible.

"Fifa's Chinese deals can be seen as the country's corporations rowing
behind the national effort to develop the game and attract the World Cup,"
Mr Lovett said.

According to Nielsen, interest in football in China increased from 27% of
the urban population in 2013 to 32% in 2017, with three-quarters of those
who said they liked the sport being aged under 34.--BBC

Land Rover Discovery model moved to Slovakia from the UK

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will move production of its Land Rover
Discovery SUV from the West Midlands to Slovakia from next year.

The Solihull factory, where the Discovery is manufactured, will be used to
build a new generation of Range Rover models, the firm said.

The company warned that there may be some job losses in the UK as a result.

JLR - which is owned by the Indian group Tata Motors - said that it remained
"committed to the UK".

The company has previously said all its cars would be available in either an
electric, hybrid, petrol or diesel version from 2020.

It has not put an exact figure on the level of investment in the Solihull
plant, but it runs into hundreds of millions of pounds.

"The potential losses of some agency employed staff in the UK is a tough one
but forms part of our long-term manufacturing strategy as we transform our
business globally," JLR said in a statement.

There are 1,800 agency workers in the Solihull plant, out of a workforce of
10,000.

Previously, JLR had said the manufacture of the Discovery would be split
between Solihull and Slovakia.

Professor David Bailey, motor industry specialist at Aston Business School,
said if JLR was "really committed" to UK production and moving the Discovery
did "pave the way" for other models to be built in the West Midlands, then
that was a "good thing".

"But at the moment, JLR has not told us what other models this will open the
door to, and what level of investment they are pledging at Solihull."

He said given previous job losses at JLR and production cut backs at Castle
Bromwich this latest development was "arguably further negative news".

"We need to know how many jobs, what other models this will open the door to
and what level of investment they are talking about," he added.

'Truly devastating'

Steve McCabe, business expert at Birmingham City University, said the
"silver lining" to the latest announcement was that Tata had said it would
increase its production of electric cars in Solihull.

"But at the same time, we can talk about the statistics and the numbers of
jobs lost, but for many families this news will be truly devastating.

"Every day we seem to hear more about job losses and closures and as Brexit
moves closer and closer in the horizon, it'll be even more difficult to
predict where we will be in a year's time," he added.

JLR's latest annual results revealed that in the year to 31 March its
pre-tax profits fell to £1.5bn, down from £1.6bn the previous year, because
of slower sales growth and rising business investment.

And while overall annual sales grew 1.7%, helped by strong demand in China,
UK sales fell by 12.8%, and European sales also declined.

The company blamed the sharp fall in UK sales on "consumer uncertainty
surrounding diesel models, Brexit and vehicle taxation".

Car production leaving the UK for Slovakia looks like bad news.

Originally the Slovakia plant was meant to "complement" UK production of the
Discovery. Now it will replace it entirely - with the likely loss of
hundreds more agency workers at Solihull on top of the 1,000 layoffs
announced last month.

Jaguar Land Rover says this is merely clearing space at Solihull to produce
a new range of hybrid and electric powered Range Rovers - cars of the
future. In time more workers will be added as production ramps up.

The company described the decision as part of their long-term strategic
planning.

Company insiders say Brexit was not a factor - and added that most of the
new Range Rovers built in Solihull will be exported to non-EU countries
anyway.

Nevertheless, it also said it was a "tough" decision. Acknowledgement that
shuffling the pack of global car production is never without
casualties.--BBC

Indian gem billionaire Nirav Modi 'fled to London'

Nirav Modi, whose jewellery has been worn by Hollywood and Bollywood stars,
is seeking political asylum in London following fraud allegations, the
Financial Times has reported.

The Indian jeweller went missing in February after allegations emerged of a
$2bn fraud at the Punjab National Bank.

Indian police issued a warrant for the billionaire diamond trader's arrest.

His firm's Indian stores were closed, and assets were seized including bank
accounts and luxury cars.

Over the past eight years Mr Modi has established an international jewellery
brand with stores in London, New York and Hong Kong, selling diamond
encrusted necklaces and earrings.

Stars such as Kate Winslet, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Naomi Watts, have
been seen wearing his products. Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra advertises
the brand.

The success made him one of India's richest people, with a personal wealth
of $1.75bn, according to Forbes.

Nirav Modi: Who is India's scandal-linked billionaire?

Indian bank hit by $1.8bn fraud case

Earlier this year Punjab National Bank (PNB), India's second-largest
state-run bank, alleged Mr Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had defrauded it
of around $2.2bn.

The banks said they had used unapproved guarantees, issued by rogue PNB
staff, to borrow from other lenders.

Both Mr Modi and Mr Choksi have denied any wrongdoing.

The Financial Times said that Mr Modi is now in London and seeking asylum
from "political persecution". The report cites UK and Indian officials.

The Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases.--BBC

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

RioZim

AGM

Head Office, 1 Kenilworth Road, Highlands

21/06/2018 10:30am

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
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been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
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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
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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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