Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 14 June 2018

Thu Jun 14 09:35:19 CAT 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 14 June 2018

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*  South African power supply hit by protests at Eskom plants

*  South Africa's Q2 business confidence falls 6 points to 39

*  South Africa's retail sales up 0.5 percent y/y in April

*  Petra Diamonds shareholders back rights issue

*  Congo Republic to launch call for oil license tenders in September

*  Steinhoff's Dutch shareholders file lawsuit against Deloitte

*  Kenya's Centum to finalise power plant funding this year

*  Not all Eskom power stations operating at full strength: CEO

*  Rolls-Royce announces 4,600 job cuts

*  Sony faces growing Fortnite backlash at E3

*  Federal Reserve raises interest rates

*  Comcast bids for Murdoch's Fox assets in Disney challenge

*  Diesel emissions scandal: VW fined €1bn by German prosecutors

*  Unions in World Cup match plea to bosses

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South African power supply hit by protests at Eskom plants

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s cash-strapped state utility Eskom said some of its power stations were operating below full capacity on Wednesday, after union members blocked some staff from entering around 10 plants because of a wage dispute.

Two labour unions, angered by Eskom’s failure to raise salaries as it embarks on a cost-cutting drive, have warned that thousands of their members will march to Eskom’s headquarters on Thursday to keep up the pressure in the wage talks.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has made stabilising state-owned firms such as Eskom a priority since he replaced scandal-plagued Jacob Zuma in February, in an acknowledgment of the threat they pose to the country’s strained public finances.

Eskom, which produces more than 90 percent of South Africa’s power, has so far refused to cede to demands by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) to raise salaries by 15 percent.

A third union, Solidarity, is also unhappy with Eskom’s decision to keep salaries flat but did not protest on Wednesday.

“We have activated our contingency plans. All power stations are operating, some of them not at full strength,” Eskom CEO Phakamani Hadebe told a news conference.

He added that a dispute-resolution body would try to broker a wage deal between Eskom and the disgruntled unions.

Thava Govender, an Eskom executive responsible for generation, said shift workers had been intimidated as they arrived for work on Wednesday and that around 10 power plants were operating with reduced operating and maintenance staff.

Govender said Eskom was not able to quantify how severely power supplies had been affected but that it would become clear when demand peaked later in the day.

Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said police were at several power stations to protect staff and Eskom equipment.

Power supplies could also be affected on Thursday as NUM energy coordinator Paris Mashego said unions could bring more than 20,000 out of a total of 47,000 Eskom employees to a picket at the utility’s headquarters in Johannesburg.

Eskom narrowly avoided a liquidity crunch early this year and was embroiled in corruption scandals involving the Gupta family, friends of former president Zuma.

Zuma and the Guptas have denied wrongdoing but their relationship will be the focus of a government corruption inquiry that is due to start in August.

Ramaphosa oversaw the appointment of Eskom’s Hadebe on an interim basis in January in a bid to clean up governance and set the firm on a firmer financial footing. Hadebe’s appointment was made permanent last month.

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South Africa's Q2 business confidence falls 6 points to 39

(Reuters) - A South African business confidence index fell in the second quarter by 6 points, a survey showed on Wednesday, a sign the economy was struggling amid hopes that President Cyril Ramaphosa would help revitalise the country and attract investment.

The Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) business confidence index compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research fell to 39 points in the second quarter from 45 points in the first quarter, falling further below the 50-mark separating the net positive and negative territories.

However, RMB’s chief economist, Ettienne Le Roux, said that the trend in business confidence remains upwards, even if only tentatively so, despite the second-quarter decline.

Le Roux said that it was important that the political and policy factors currently weighing down on confidence were resolved.

First-quarter business confidence jumped 11 points, mainly because of the change in the country’s political leadership in February, when Ramaphosa was elected, RMB said in a statement.

But South Africa suffered its worst quarterly contraction in nine years in the first quarter. Gross domestic product shrank 2.2 percent, led by a slowdown in agriculture and mining, after expanding 3.1 percent in the final quarter of last year, Statistics South Africa said.

Earlier this month, The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry reported its monthly business confidence index fell to 94 in May from 96 in April as trade declined and consumer inflation rose after an increase in Value Added Tax [nJ8N1OS02P].

South Africa's retail sales up 0.5 percent y/y in April

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African retail sales rose 0.5 percent year-on-year in April after increasing by a revised 4.6 percent in March, the statistics office said on Wednesday.

On a month-on-month basis, sales fell 1.2 percent. Sales rose 3.1 percent in the three months to the end of April compared with the same period last year, Statistics South Africa said.

Petra Diamonds shareholders back rights issue

LONDON (Reuters) - Shareholders in mining company Petra Diamonds on Wednesday approved a rights issue to raise about $170 million to help cut its debt burden, driving the share price around 5 percent higher.

The company, which has suffered setbacks in Tanzania as well as production delays and strikes, had said there was a risk it could run low on working capital and breach its debt covenants if shareholders did not back the rights issue.

The shareholders backed it by more than 99 percent at a special general meeting on Wednesday.

Chief Executive Johan Dippenaar said the focus was on reducing gearing, lowering interest payments and on consolidating progress.

He said in a telephone interview the results of the last three quarters were “very solid”, but the company still needs to resolve a dispute with the Tanzanian government.

Petra Diamonds’ shares lost around half of their value last year after the company suffered delays in expansion projects and in September the Tanzanian government seized a consignment of diamonds.

So far this year, the share price had lost another 1.5 percent, but by 1450 GMT it was 4.7 percent higher versus the previous day’s close.

While the seized diamond consignment is still in dispute, five shipments have been exported since and talks are ongoing, the chief executive said.

“We are full of hope we will achieve an amicable settlement,” Dippenaar said.

Petra, which was accused of under-declaring the value of the stones, is caught up in a wider crackdown on international miners by the Tanzanian government as it seeks a greater share of mineral revenue. Petra has denied the accusation.

Congo Republic to launch call for oil license tenders in September

DAKAR (Reuters) - Congo Republic will open a call for oil license tenders in September followed by a promotion campaign at an oil conference in South Africa in November, Congo’s hydrocarbons minister and conference organisers said on Wednesday.

The joint statement said that the license round would last until June 30, 2019. It follows a previous round in 2016, in which 30 international companies registered to participate.

Steinhoff's Dutch shareholders file lawsuit against Deloitte

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch shareholders on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Deloitte seeking damages for alleged failures in the accounting firm’s vetting of the books of retailer Steinhoff International NV , the Netherlands’ association of retail investors said.

Steinhoff, which expanded from a small local furniture retailer in South Africa into an international group, reported holes in its accounts six months ago, sending its shares tumbling and leaving it scrambling to pay its debts.

The association said it had filed a suit against Deloitte at the District Court of Rotterdam.

Deloitte was not immediately available to comment.

The case is the Dutch legal equivalent of a class action suit under which it will try to hold the company, its directors, accountants, and possibly the banks that assisted in its stock market listing responsible for damages.

Shares in Steinhoff lost more than 13 billion euros ($15.3 billion) in market value after the accounting irregularities surfaced in December.

On Tuesday, its creditors agreed to give it more time to restructure 9 billion euros ($11 billion) in debt. Holders of 2.7 billion euros in three convertible bonds backed a debt standstill agreement, the company said.

The South African retailer is listed in Johannesburg and Frankfurt but its parent is incorporated in the Netherlands.

The retail shareholders association, known as VEB, has 42,000 members.

($1 = 0.8512 euros)

Kenya's Centum to finalise power plant funding this year

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya’s Centum Investment Company said on Wednesday a $2 billion, 1,000 MW coal-fired power plant it has a stake in is expected to reach financial close this year.

The Amu Power consortium that includes Centum, won a contract to build the plant in Lamu. The project has attracted criticism from conservationists who say it will pollute the island, an ancient Swahili settlement on the coast that is a tourist destination and a U.N. World Heritage site.

“We have secured the debt. It is about $1.5 billion. The equity tranche is about $500 million, which is now fully funded,” Centum Chief Executive James Mworia told an investor briefing, adding that two additional steps were needed to get to financial close but did not specify what they were.

Amu Power signed an agreement last month with General Electric to design and build the plant, and the deal will also see GE, through its affiliates, acquire a stake in Amu.

Amu Power and Ministry of Energy officials say the technology General Electric will use is the most modern and will reduce the emissions from burning coal.

Centum said its pretax profit dropped 64 percent to 3.15 billion shillings ($31.16 million), hurt by lower property valuation gains, a delay in recognising proceeds from the sale of one of its businesses, and the broader economic downside pressures in Kenya last year.

Earnings from Centum’s sale of GenAfrica Asset Managers, whose transactions were signed in the year to end-March, had not been finalised by March 31 and will be reflected in the financial year to end-March 2019.

Its performance for the year was also affected by a prolonged election period in Kenya, slowing private sector credit growth and the impact of drought, it said in a statement.

The firm, which invests in listed firms and private companies from drinks makers to property developers, said net asset value per share, a key measure of performance for investment firms, rose to 73.2 shillings from 67.3 shillings the previous year.

Its shares were trading flat at 38.00 shillings on the Nairobi Securities Exchange at 1007 GMT, representing a discount when compared with its net asset value.

($1 = 101.1000 Kenyan shillings)

Not all Eskom power stations operating at full strength: CEO

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Not all of South African power utility Eskom’s power plants are operating at full strength because of protests relating to a wage dispute, Chief Executive Phakamani Hadebe said on Wednesday.

Members of the National Union of Mineworkers and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa protested at several Eskom power plants on Wednesday. Those unions want Eskom to award salary increases of around 15 percent, but the utility has said it will not increase wages at all this year as it seeks to cut staff costs.

Rolls-Royce announces 4,600 job cuts

Engineering firm Rolls-Royce is to cut 4,600 jobs over the next two years as part of a major reorganisation.

Middle managers and back-office staff are to bear the brunt of the cuts, which are expected to hit its Derby base hard.

The company is refocusing its business on civil aerospace, defence and power systems.

About a third of the job cuts are expected to happen by the end of this year, Rolls-Royce said.

The programme is expected to continue throughout 2019, with full implementation by mid-2020.

Rolls-Royce said that the programme would cost £500m to carry out, including redundancies, but would save it £400m a year by the end of 2020.

The firm also said it would continue to work on its problems with its Trent 1000 engine.

Parts in the engines have been wearing out faster than anticipated, causing some planes to be grounded. Rolls-Royce has said it will take years to modify all the engines in service.

'Remain competitive'

Chief executive Warren East told the BBC's Today programme that Rolls-Royce needed fewer layers of management: "We have too complex a management and support organisation and we need to simplify that so that we can remain competitive."

He said the cuts would be "most strongly felt" in Derby, since that was where most of those functions were based.

Mr East said it was "inevitable" that there would be some compulsory redundancies because of the timescale of the programme, although the firm would honour its commitments to unions.

Chris Williamson, Labour MP for Derby North, said the job cuts were "a damning indictment" of the government's hands-off industrial policy.

"Currently we have private shareholders directing the fate of some of Britain's most premier firms, with total disregard for the economic needs of the country. The government has to intervene," he said.

The firm's earnings for 2017 were better than expected, with profits before tax of £4.9bn.

That followed a £4.6bn loss in 2016 - the largest in Rolls-Royce's history - due to settling corruption cases and currency hedges going wrong, among other factors.

In June 2017, Rolls-Royce cut a deal with unions to safeguard 7,000 front-line engineering jobs in the East Midlands for five years and invest in UK aerospace facilities.--BBC

Sony faces growing Fortnite backlash at E3

Sony chiefs are under pressure to respond to complaints about "cross-play" restrictions imposed on Fortnite.

Gamers have discovered that if they had first played the title on a PlayStation console, they are unable to use the same Fortnite account with the newly released Nintendo Switch edition.

This prevents them from being able to make use of outfits and other in-game purchases and rewards they had accrued.

There is no such limitation when moving between the Xbox One and Switch.

Gamers were already unable to share a Fortnite account between Microsoft and Sony's platforms.

But the appeal of the Switch is that its portable nature allows owners to play when away from home, and so many have bought it as a second games machine.

Sony has yet to confirm it is responsible for the constraint, but it issued the following statement to the BBC.

"We're always open to hearing what the PlayStation community is interested in to enhance their gaming experience," it said.

"With... more than 80 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network, we've built a huge community of gamers who can play together on Fortnite and all online titles.

"We also offer Fortnite cross-play support with PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, expanding the opportunity for Fortnite fans on PS4 to play with even more gamers on other platforms."

"We have nothing further to add beyond this at this point," a spokeswoman added.

Both Microsoft and Fortnite publisher Epic Games have previously indicated that the Japanese company had chosen to prevent PlayStation gamers competing against other console owners in the title's multi-player fight-to-the-death Battle Royale mode.

Global hit

Sony has faced criticism for blocking cross-play in other titles in the past, including Minecraft and Rocket League.

But the sheer scale of Fortnite's success means the backlash has the potential to be more damaging this time round.

Epic said this week that the title has amassed 125 million players worldwide.

And Nintendo has announced that its free-to-play version of the game was downloaded more than two million times in the 24 hours after its release on the Switch on Tuesday.

Fortnite's World Cup to be 'open to all'

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PS4's Last of Us sequel kisses then kills

Complaints about the matter are already threatening to overshadow Sony's publicity efforts at the E3 video games show in Los Angeles.

Each time it posts news about its latest releases to Twitter and Facebook, people have responded by demanding that it allow them to share their Fortnite logins and permit cross-play.

How can @Sony PS’s motto be ‘For the players’ when they block cross compatibility with everyone... you ain’t for the players at all 😒 #PlayStationE3 #fortniteswitch

The PlayStation 4 is the strongest selling console of this generation by a large margin, but one industry watcher said that this did not make it immune to attack.

"Sony has got to be very careful about how it manages the situation," Samantha Loveridge, associate editor of GamesRadar+ told the BBC.

"Fortnite is absolutely massive and it's only going to get bigger - it's about to come to Android - so Sony has got to start thinking about its closed-garden ecosystem.

"One way or another, gamers deserve an explanation as to why this compatibility issue exists."

Nintendo is showing off its version of Fornite - which is limited to the Battle Royale Mode - at E3

Sony does allow compatibility with the PC and iOS versions of the game, indicating that the Xbox/Switch block it is a strategic choice rather than a technical impossibility.

While gamers await comment from the PlayStation firm, its rivals have piled on the pressure.

When asked about the matter, Nintendo's North America chief Reggie Fils-Aime told the IGN news site: "What competitors do is their decision to make. We believe being both developer-forward and fan-forward is in the best interest of the game."

And one of Microsoft's gaming chiefs as well as one of its corporate accounts have also tweeted about the issue.--BBC

Federal Reserve raises interest rates

The US Federal Reserve has voted to raise the target for its benchmark interest rate by 0.25%, citing solid economic expansion and job gains.

The widely-anticipated decision will lift the target for the central bank's benchmark rate to 1.75%-2%, the highest level since 2008.

A majority of Fed officials also forecast two more rate rises this year, one more than previously predicted.

The rise is part of the US recovery following the global financial crisis.

It is the seventh time the bank has raised rates since 2015.

The tighter policy reflects expectations that US growth and inflation will prove stronger than officials anticipated in March, while the unemployment rate continues to fall.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome "Jay" Powell said job gains are boosting income and confidence, while foreign expansion and tax cuts support additional growth.

"The main takeaway is that the economy is doing well," he said.

Why US rates have a global impact

Projections released after the Fed's two-day meeting in Washington show policymakers expect the US economy will grow 2.8% this year, while unemployment falls to 3.6%.

They expect the core inflation rate to rise to roughly 2% this year.

Mr Powell said concerns about trade are rising and the bank has received anecdotal reports that the uncertainties are leading companies to hold off on investment and hiring.

But, he added, "We really don't see it in the numbers."

Analysis: BBC economics correspondent Andrew Walker

This is another step on the road back to normal after the emergency measures taken following the financial crisis of 2008.

The US has gone further down this path than the other largest developed economies. The central banks in Japan and the Eurozone still have their main rates at or close to zero. Both are still actively undertaking quantitative easing, a policy of creating new money to buy financial assets in an effort to boost economic activity.

The Fed stopped that in 2014 and has made a start on reducing its holdings of trillions of dollars' worth of assets. That reflects the fact that the US recovery after the crisis has been stronger, and inflation is getting closer to the Fed's target.

All three central banks (and the Bank of England) aim for inflation of about 2%, but in Japan and the Eurozone prices are rising substantially more slowly. In the UK, the Bank has stopped actively buying financial assets and interest rates are up a little from their lows.

The British position has however been complicated by the referendum on membership of the European Union and a spike in inflation that followed the decline in the pound after the vote.

Declaring victory?

The decision to raise rates comes as the US unemployment rate hovers at 3.8% - the lowest rate in nearly two decades - and inflation, which lagged the Fed's 2% target for years, shows signs of starting to pick up.

The bank's preferred indicator of inflation, consumer spending figures, showed annual inflation rose 2% in April or 1.8% if energy and food were excluded.

Mr Powell called the figures "encouraging" but said the bank wants to see the economy sustain that rate of inflation before it declares victory.

Overall, he noted, the economy is in a much improved position than it was just a few years ago, as the US slowly emerged from the financial crisis and recession.

"The decision you see today is another sign that the US economy is in great shape," he said, adding that the bank continues to favour a gradual approach to raising rates.

Consumer impact

The higher rates should be a boon for savers, but they will increase borrowing costs for households and businesses throughout the economy.

Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for the interest rate website Bankrate.com, said that could "squeeze" families if wage growth remains sluggish.

Analysts say the higher rates have also contributed to turmoil in some emerging markets. Low rates had prompted investors to pour money into riskier overseas markets in recent years in search of returns.--BBC

Comcast bids for Murdoch's Fox assets in Disney challenge

Comcast already has a large entertainment business, including Jurassic World.

Comcast, the US media conglomerate, has launched a bid for parts of 21st Century Fox, after getting rebuffed last year in favour of Disney.

Comcast said it has offered $65bn (£48.6bn) in cash for assets that include Fox's film and television studios and international businesses.

The bid sets up a fight with Disney, which announced its own plan to acquire those businesses last year.

The two firms are also vying for ownership of Sky in the UK.

Comcast said its proposal is "at least as favourable" to shareholders as Disney's plan.

The firm is offering Fox $35 per share in cash, which it says provides more shareholder certainty and is 19% higher than Disney's proposal, which involves exchanging shares.

Fox said it would "carefully review and consider" the offer.

It said it remains subject to the terms of its deal with Disney, a stock transaction valued at $52.4bn, or more than $66bn including debt, when it was announced in December.

That transaction, described by the two companies as a merger, was set to give Fox shareholders a roughly 25% stake in Disney.

As part of the deal, Disney pledged to seek full ownership of Sky.

Under both the Disney and Comcast proposals, Fox would create a new company to hold onto its news and sports businesses, including Fox News.

Global competition

The showdown over Fox is happening as the growth of online streaming and competitors such as Netflix reshape the entertainment industry.

Comcast and Disney say Fox would bring original material and international reach that can help them compete.

They are fighting over assets that include Fox's film and television studios, cable entertainment networks, and international properties, including Star India and Sky. The firm's properties include the original Star Wars movies, the X-Men franchise, and TV hits like The Simpsons.

If Comcast succeeds in its bid, it would become a massive media conglomerate with few rivals in America.

The firm, one of the largest providers of internet and pay TV in the US, already has a large television and film business, with subsidiaries such as NBC, Telemundo, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation.

Fox, which is led by Rupert Murdoch and his sons, rejected an offer from Comcast last year, citing concerns that antitrust officials would oppose a deal.

But a court ruling this week on a similar merger may have alleviated those worries.

On Tuesday, a federal judge cleared the AT&T's takeover of Time Warner, rejecting regulator concerns that the tie-up would stifle competition and lead to higher consumer prices.

Comcast said it is confident it will win regulatory approval and that its new offer "fully addresses" the stated concerns.

The firm's promises include a $2.5bn fee for Fox if it decides against the takeover. Comcast also said it would reimburse the money Fox would owe Disney for terminating that deal.

Regulators are currently reviewing the Disney transaction. Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general for antitrust, recently signalled that regulators were open to the combination.

The tie-up with Disney would also carry a lower tax bill.

Analysis, Paul Blake, US Business Reporter, New York

Comcast's proposal is the latest attempt to merge content production with content distribution.

Traditional telecommunications companies see these deals as vital to their survival in the cord-cutting era - an entertainment epoch in which streaming services like Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime have already gained a strong foothold.

While Comcast had floated the deal for some time, it was waiting to see the outcome of an antitrust case brought by the Trump administration that was seeking to block America's largest pay-TV provider, AT&T, from buying Time Warner - the home of franchises like Game of Thrones, Wonder Woman and CNN.

That case was dismissed on Tuesday, giving new impetus to Comcast's proposal and perhaps many more deals like it in the not-too-distant future.--BBC

Diesel emissions scandal: VW fined €1bn by German prosecutors

Car giant Volkswagen has been fined €1bn (£880m) by German prosecutors over its diesel emissions scandal.

The Braunschweig public prosecutor found VW had sold more than 10 million cars between mid-2007 and 2015 that had emissions-test-cheating software installed.

The car firm said it did not plan to appeal against the fine.

VW said it had admitted "its responsibility for the diesel crisis".

The fine is one of the highest ever imposed by German authorities against a company.

VW chief executive Herbert Diess said by accepting the fine "Volkswagen takes responsibility for the diesel crisis,"

"Further steps are necessary to restore trust in the company and the auto industry," he added.

The fine in Germany follows a US plea agreement last year, when VW agreed to pay a criminal fine of $4.3bn to resolve criminal and civil penalties.

Analysis: By Theo Leggett, business correspondent

How serious is this for Volkswagen?

Well, it's a big fine - €1bn is not a small sum. But it pales into insignificance compared with the fines and compensation the group has had to pay out in the US - which add up to well over €20bn

If this puts an end to criminal proceedings in Europe, VW may well think it's a relatively small price to pay. The company has consistently denied that the software fitted to its cars was actually illegal under European law. Nevertheless, it will welcome the disappearance of that particular legal threat.

VW does still face a number of civil lawsuits, brought by disgruntled car owners and shareholders. It's not clear yet what impact VW's admission of "responsibility for the diesel crisis" will have on those proceedings.

But for the moment, it's possible to imagine suits in Wolfsburg breathing a heavy sigh of relief. It could have been worse.

The total cost of the scandal has been much higher. VW has set aside $30bn to pay for its US bill, which includes fixing cars, buying back cars, clean air fines, penalties and compensation.

The Volkswagen scandal erupted in September 2015, when the company admitted that nearly 600,000 cars sold in the US were fitted with "defeat devices" designed to circumvent emissions tests.

Since then it has emerged that VW installed emissions-cheating software in nearly 11 million vehicles worldwide.--BBC

Unions in World Cup match plea to bosses

As the World Cup gets under way in Russia, the UK's trade unions have urged bosses to be flexible with staff who want to follow the football action.

The TUC says workplaces that operate flexible working can allow staff to put their hours in while still getting the chance to see all the crucial games.

"It's important employers do not score an own goal by acting like killjoys," said general secretary Frances O'Grady.

And if they can watch at work, so much the better, the TUC says.

The tournament kicks off on Thursday, with hosts Russia taking on Saudi Arabia in Moscow's Luzhniki stadium.

England's first match comes in Volgograd on Monday, when they face Tunisia at 19:00 UK time.

2018 Fifa World Cup: BBC Coverage

The TUC suggests various steps that employers can take to make life easier for football fans:

*         Talk to staff in advance about arrangements for key matches

*         Arrange for them to watch them on the company's premises if appropriate

*         Allow staff to work from home

*         Allow them to come in earlier or later

*         Be as flexible as possible with annual leave requests

*         The Labour Party has backed the TUC's call. Shadow sports minister Rosena Allin-Khan said: "As a nation, we're proud to cheer on England in the World Cup and we believe that employers should be flexible with fans supporting our national team in the coming weeks."

Conciliation service Acas also puts out guidance to employers every time there is a World Cup, and 2018 is no exception.

Its advice includes a word to bosses about the risk of high levels of absence, either due to staff skipping work to watch the football or because they are hung over from "post-match celebrations".

Other countries are taking a lenient approach. Public sector employees in Brazil will have their working hours officially altered on 22 and 27 June for their national team's matches against Costa Rica and Serbia respectively.--BBC

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

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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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