Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 16 October 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 16 October 2018

 


 

 


 <http://www.nedbank.co.zw/> 

 


 

 


 

 

*  South Africa's Nedbank to buy back shares from minority shareholders

*  South Africa's rand steady as dollar struggles, stocks to open lower

*  Pick n Pay H1 profit jumps 19 pct as price cuts lure buyers

*  Famous Brands sees $60 mln impairment as UK burger business struggles

*  Kenya's Safaricom loses 1.6 pct users' market share in Q2

*  Tunisia will not impose new taxes in 2019 - draft budget

*  Steinhoff asks creditors for restructuring extension

*  Kenya's KenGen says new geothermal plant nearly ready

*  Ford boss warns on 'disastrous' no-deal Brexit

*  Paul Allen: Microsoft co-founder and billionaire dies aged 65

*  Amazon's Bezos: US needs to be defended

*  Sundar Pichai: Google 'exploring' censored China search app

*  Scottish Power to use 100% wind power after Drax sale

*  Reality Check: What business does the UK do with Saudi Arabia?

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

                                      

South Africa's Nedbank to buy back shares from minority shareholders

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Nedbank Group Ltd said on Monday it
will buy back its stock from shareholders who hold less than 100 Nedbank
shares as a result of a spin-off by its biggest shareholder Old Mutual.

 

Old Mutual, which holds 52 percent of Nedbank, has been dismantling its
conglomerate structure, created after a series of acquisitions, since it
moved its headquarters and primary listing to London in 1999.

 

As part of the plan, it spun-off a majority stake in Nedbank on Monday and
now holds around 19.9 percent.

 

Nedbank, whose businesses include retail banking and asset management, said
in September it had estimated that after the spin-off, it will have a large
number of shareholders, increasing from about 20,000 to 500,000.

 

“For Nedbank Group it will, inter alia, reduce the complexity and ongoing
administration costs associated with a significantly larger shareholder base
including a sizeable number of Odd-lot holders,” it said in a statement.

 

Odd-lot holders are shareholders who hold less than 100 Nedbank shares,
estimated to be 1.5 percent of its ordinary shares in issue.

 

Nedbank’s offer price will be at a 5 percent premium to the 10-day volume
weighted average price of a Nedbank share at the close of business on Dec.
3, it said. The deal is subject to shareholder approval.

 

 

The minority shareholders will be given an opportunity to decide whether to
sell their holding or retain it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

South Africa's rand steady as dollar struggles, stocks to open lower

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand inched lower early on Tuesday
due to profit-taking as the dollar regained some ground after sliding on
poor retail sales data.

 

At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.07 percent weaker at 14.3750 per dollar, down
from an overnight best of 14.3250 as its three-session rally ran out of
steam.

 

The rally was sparked by the decision by Moody’s to delay its review on
South Africa’s sovereign debt, already seen as a low risk event by
investors, and was helped by the greenback’s recent wobbles.

 

With breathing room building between the 15.00 top and a close below the
14.50 technical barrier in the face of continued uncertainty over the impact
of the trade war between Washington and Beijing, traders said the rand could
soon test 14.00 mark.

 

“The technical picture remains biased toward more rand strength especially
after yesterday’s break and close below the 14.42 support level and 55-day
moving average,” Standard Bank’s chief trader Warrick Butler said in a note.

 

Government bonds were flat in early trade, with the yield on the benchmark
2026 issue up 0.5 basis points to 9.225 percent.

 

Stocks are due open flat at 0700 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange’s
Top-40 futures index down 0.3 percent.

 

Supermarket chain Pick n Pay said on Tuesday half-year profit before tax
jumped 19.1 percent as price cuts attracted more shoppers to its stores,
yielding a 670.2 million rand profit before tax.

 

 

 

Pick n Pay H1 profit jumps 19 pct as price cuts lure buyers

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African supermarket chain Pick n Pay Stores
on Tuesday said half-year profit before tax jumped 19.1 percent as price
cuts attracted more shoppers to its stores.

 

The country’s second-biggest grocery store chain reported profit before tax
of 670.2 million rand ($46.70 million) for the six months ended August,
compared with 562.8 million rand same period last year on a normalised
basis.

 

South African shoppers are feeling the impact of low growth in disposable
income, little to no job creation and tight credit conditions.

 

To keep attracting struggling consumers, Pick n Pay reduced prices across
2,500 every day grocery lines.

 

“We have invested heavily in our customers, just when they need it most,”
Chief Executive Richard Brasher said in a statement.

 

“We’ve reduced prices of key grocery lines, delivered a more compelling
fresh meat and produce offer, and given our customers simpler and more
personalised promotions.”

 

Like-for-like sales climbed 3.8 percent, more than double the previous
half-year’s growth. Total sales rose to 41.2 billion rand, up 6.4 percent.

 

A voluntary redundancy programme to cut costs and create a leaner group also
helped its performance.

 

Normalised headline earnings per share climbed 17 percent to 100.18 cents,
the retailer said.

 

It declared an interim dividend of 39.10 cents per share, up 17.1 percent.

 

($1 = 14.3500 rand)

 

 

 

Famous Brands sees $60 mln impairment as UK burger business struggles

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African fast-food chain owner Famous Brands,
which owns Wimpy, Steers and Debonairs pizza said on Monday it will take a
pre-tax impairment charge of 874 million rand ($60 million), sending its
shares down 7 percent.

 

The company blamed the impairment on the difficult trading conditions and
sustained underperformance of its UK Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) business.

 

For the six-months ended August 31, the company expects GBK to record an
operating loss of 2.6 million pounds ($3.42 million) compared to a loss of
872,000 pounds in the corresponding period last year.

 

The company said basic headline earnings per share — which strips out
certain one-off items and is the most widely watched profit gauge in South
Africa — are expected to increase between 175 cents and 194 cents versus 170
cents a year earlier.

 

Basic earnings will however turn into a loss of between 566 cents and 623
cents, the company said.

 

Famous Brand bought Britain’s GBK in 2016 but its contribution to group
profitability has taken longer than the company initially anticipated,
hampered by lower consumer spending in the context of Brexit as disposable
incomes come under pressure.

 

At the same time, higher property rates in Britain and increased input
costs, declining foot traffic in malls, exacerbated by the oversupply of
restaurants as landlords continue to replace failing retailers with more
food offerings has contributed to GBK’s estimated larger operating loss.

 

At 1023 GMT, shares in Famous Brands were down 4.41 percent to 97.50 rand
after having weakened 7.2 percent, its lowest since September 21.

 

The company will announce its results on Oct. 29.

 

($1 = 14.4594 rand)

 

($1 = 0.7610 pounds)

 

 

Kenya's Safaricom loses 1.6 pct users' market share in Q2

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya’s Safaricom lost 1.6 percent of its telecom
subscribers’ market share in the quarter ended June, the industry regulator
said, marking the third straight quarterly drop for the country’s biggest
operator.

 

The firm, part-owned by South Africa’s Vodacom and Britain’s Vodafone, had
29.7 million subscribers during the period, data from the regulator
Communications Authority (CA) seen by Reuters on Monday showed.

 

While the users’ base was up 0.7 percent from the previous quarter,
Safaricom’s rivals, including Bharti Airtel’s Kenyan unit added more
subscribers, resulting in the company’s reduced market share.

 

Airtel’s subscribers rose 11.9 percent to secure a market share of 21.4
percent. Safaricom subscribers’ market share has plunged to 65.4 percent
from 72.6 percent in June last year.

 

Investors were unlikely to be concerned by the market share drop as
Safaricom grew its user base, and it commands a big lead in revenue, said
Eric Musau, a research analyst who covers the company at Nairobi-based
Standard Investment Bank.

 

Safaricom and the regulator have been tussling over a report on competition
in the industry, which among other things calls for price controls on
Safaricom to help smaller operators.

 

According to regulator data in 2015, Safaricom had enjoyed the lion’s share
of revenue, with more than 90 percent in key categories such as voice calls.
The latest revenue data was not available.

 

The fall in Safaricom’s market share comes in the backdrop of a nine-month
absence by its Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore for medical treatment.

 

Collymore returned to Kenya in August and attended at least two public
events soon after he resumed work.

 

“Safaricom is one of the companies which you are quite confident that the
CEO isn’t the only person who can run the business. He was ably represented
and the organisation generally is quite well-structured,” Musau added.

 

 

 

Tunisia will not impose new taxes in 2019 - draft budget

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia will not impose new taxes on citizens next year
and will cut the tax burden for some sectors to boost growth, according to a
draft budget, after years of tax hikes that have stoked public anger and
sometimes violent protests.

 

The draft, seen by Reuters on Monday, also showed Tunisia’s economy growing
in 2019 by 3.1 percent, up from an estimated 2.6 percent this year. It
expanded by 1.9 percent last year.

 

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed has said 2018 will be the last difficult year
for Tunisians, but his government is under pressure from the International
Monetary Fund to trim the budget deficit by cutting subsidies and reforming
the public sector.

 

However, the draft showed the 2019 budget would be 8 percent bigger than
this year, totalling some 40.6 billion Tunisian dinars ($14.21 billion). It
did not say how the expansion would be funded.

 

It also showed the budget deficit falling to 3.9 percent of gross domestic
product in 2019, from about 5 percent expected this year.

 

Tunisia has financing needs worth 10 billion dinars next year, including 7
billion dinars of external borrowing - almost the same level as this year,
an official told Reuters last month.

 

Tunisia, praised as the only democratic success among the nations which
experienced “Arab spring” revolts, has relied much on foreign loans in
recent years.

 

The government will halve tax for companies operating in various sectors
including technology, textiles, engineering and pharmaceuticals to 13.5
percent from 25 percent, the draft showed.

 

This year’s budget raised taxes on cars, alcohol, telephone calls, the
internet, hotel accommodation and other items in an effort to help balance
the books.

 

Taxes on bank profits were raised to 40 percent from 35 percent. Ihe
government also raised this year by 1 percentage point the value-added tax
and imposed a new 1 percent social security tax on employees and companies.

 

($1 = 2.8580 Tunisian dinars)

 

 

Steinhoff asks creditors for restructuring extension

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African retailer Steinhoff, has asked
creditors for a one-month extension relating to its debt restructuring as it
negotiates documents required to implement the plan, it said on Monday.

 

An accounting scandal wiped more than 90 percent off Steinhoff’s market
value and forced it to sell assets to generate working capital.

 

Creditors agreed in July to hold off on their debt claims for three years,
throwing the company a lifeline.

 

As part of the deal, all parties sought to start restructuring within three
months of the lock-up agreement date of July 20.

 

The retailer now wants a one-month extension, it said in a statement, adding
that “it remains the objective of the group to complete the restructuring as
soon as possible.”

 

“Negotiations on the implementation documentation are now well advanced and
the one-month extension to the long stop date will give us the necessary
time to complete that process ahead of any necessary restructuring processes
being launched,” acting group Chief Executive Danie van de Merwe said.

 

 

Kenya's KenGen says new geothermal plant nearly ready

NAIROBI (Reuters) - KenGen’s new 165.4-megawatt (MW) capacity plant powered
by geothermal steam is three quarters complete and on schedule for
commissioning next July, Kenya’s main electricity producer said on Friday.

 

Geothermal steam, hot underground steam found in the Rift Valley which is
used to drive turbines for electricity production, is the second biggest
source of Kenya’s annual power generation of 2,336 MW, accounting for 26.84
percent of the total.

 

Construction of the Olkaria V plant started last year, with contractors
including Mitsubishi Corporation.

 

“Two generator units, each weighing 130 metric tonnes, departed the Port of
Mombasa yesterday, signalling the beginning of the final process towards the
completion of the plant,” the company said in a statement.

 

KenGen has an installed capacity of 1,631 MW and it plans to add an
additional 720 MW by 2020 to cater for growing electricity demand, it said.

 

 

Ford boss warns on 'disastrous' no-deal Brexit

Ford's European boss has said a no-deal Brexit "would be pretty disastrous"
for British industry and could affect the company's future in the UK.

 

Steven Armstrong said he was "still confident" a tariff-free frictionless
trade deal would be done.

 

But he told the BBC that a no-deal outcome would "force us to think about
what our future investment strategy for the UK would be".

 

Mr Armstrong said a deal based on the EU-Canada deal would not work for
Ford.

 

Although a similar UK-Canada arrangement "would allow tariff-free trade, it
would still involve border checks - and would upset the just-in-time
delivery model used by the company in Europe", he said.

 

In the UK, Ford makes engines at its plants in Dagenham and Bridgend. It
also has a joint venture making gearboxes in Halewood on Merseyside.

 

His comments come as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares for a crucial
Brexit summit on Wednesday amid fears that talks have hit a "real problem"
over the Northern Ireland border.

 

Extra costs

Mr Armstrong said he would not like to see a Brexit that meant the UK would
default to World Trade Organization rules and tariffs. "That would put a
significant amount of cost in our business," he said, adding that any
additional costs would make the UK less competitive.

 

"It would certainly make us think long and hard about our future investment
strategy."

 

Car company bosses really don't like the idea of a no-deal Brexit. Steven
Armstrong's warning follows a series of other foreboding statements from
leaders whose firms have factories in the UK. They've been increasingly
blunt recently, warning of potentially serious short-term disruption -
production lines being halted - and a long-term loss of investment.

 

Mr Armstrong has made it clear he thinks a "Canada-style deal" with the EU
will not cut the mustard either. This is a proposal favoured by many
opponents of the prime minister's plans - a free trade deal modelled on the
one the EU already has with Canada, with some extra benefits added on.

 

The concern for Ford is that while such a deal might allow products to cross
borders without tariffs being applied, it would still involve customs
checks. That's not a major problem when you're sending cars and parts across
the Atlantic - immediacy isn't necessary.

 

But within Europe, manufacturers rely on "just-in-time" delivery, with
fleets of lorries carrying parts from across the continent exactly when they
are needed. Even minor delays at customs would upset this model. The
industry wants "frictionless" trade, with no border checks at all.

 

Yet the compromises needed to guarantee frictionless borders seem to be
politically indigestible.

 

Ford's Bridgend plant is losing its contract to supply engines for Jaguar
Land Rover (JLR) in 2020, and the plant is seen as vulnerable.

 

Mr Armstrong said there was an investment strategy for Bridgend for the
near-term future, and that plan would continue.

 

But beyond that, "it very much depends on what happens post-Brexit", he
added.

 

"If we have a deal that allows us to be competitive in the UK then we will
continue with the investment strategy. But it's too early to be specific
about Bridgend at this point."

 

He dismissed suggestions that Brexit could be a convenient excuse to shrink
the Bridgend plant after the JLR contract ends: "We have to look at what's
happening within our broader business. We have been very clear since [JLR]
decided to put their business elsewhere that we would continue to look for
options for Bridgend."--BBC

 

 

 

Paul Allen: Microsoft co-founder and billionaire dies aged 65

Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft, has died aged 65 from complications of
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

 

He had revealed the disease's return only two weeks ago, after previously
being treated for it in 2009.

 

He had said he and his doctors were "optimistic" about treatment.

 

His Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said: "I am heartbroken by the passing
of one of my oldest and dearest friends... Personal computing would not have
existed without him."

 

In a statement confirming his death on Monday afternoon, his sister Jody
described the businessman as a "remarkable individual on every level".

 

"Paul's family and friends were blessed to experience his wit, warmth, his
generosity and deep concern. For all the demands on his schedule, there was
always time for family and friends," the statement said.

 

"At this time of loss and grief for us - and so many others - we are
profoundly grateful for the care and concern he demonstrated every day."

 

The businessman made his fortune alongside school friend Bill Gates, after
they co-founded technology giant Microsoft in 1975.

 

"From our early days together at Lakeside School, through our partnership in
the creation of Microsoft, to some of our joint philanthropic projects over
the years, Paul was a true partner and dear friend," said Mr Gates.

 

"He deserved much more time, but his contributions to the world of
technology and philanthropy will live on for generations to come. I will
miss him tremendously."

 

He left the company in 1983 following his first diagnosis of the blood
cancer Hodgkin's disease, but recovered to become a successful venture
capitalist with his media and communications investment firm, Vulcan that he
set up in 1986.

 

I've spent Monday at the 25th anniversary of technology magazine Wired, an
event celebrating the history of not just the magazine, but technology
itself.

 

Paul Allen, who will be deeply missed by those here, was one of the
industry's giants. His name would have been on Wired's pages many, many
times.

 

Mr Allen had beaten cancer before, and he had appeared confident that he
could beat it again. Those close to him said he was active, on emails at
least, until the very end - offering advice, strategy and insight to the
many, many people who looked to him for support.

 

Mr Allen didn't always have a great relationship with his co-founder, Bill
Gates. The pair had a well-publicised row over stock ownership. But they
shared an awful lot in common, first as children learning programming, and
then as adults donating billions to philanthropic efforts.

 

Mr Allen's investment firm confirmed news of his death on Monday evening.

 

"Millions of people were touched by his generosity, his persistence in
pursuit of a better world, and his drive to accomplish as much as he could
with the time and resources at his disposal," Vulcan CEO Bill Hilf said in a
statement.

 

He is estimated to have donated more than $2bn to philanthropy throughout
his life including science, education and wildlife conservation causes, the
Associated Press report.

 

He was also an avid sports fan, owning both the Portland Trail Blazers
basketball team and Seattle Seahawks NFL team, who won the US Superbowl in
2013.

 

In 2010 he pledged to give the majority of his fortune to charitable causes
after his death.--BBC

 

 

Amazon's Bezos: US needs to be defended

Amazon will work enthusiastically with the US military, its founder and
chief executive Jeff Bezos has said.

 

His unequivocal position comes as other firms, such as Google, pulled out of
defence work after employee pressure.

 

"If big tech companies are going to turn their back on the US Department of
Defense, this country is going to be in trouble,” Mr Bezos said.

 

His firm is in the process of bidding for a major contract with the US
Department of Defense.

 

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project - known as Jedi - is a
10-year deal to offer cloud computing services, worth as much as $10bn
(£7.6bn).

 

A number of technology firms have been involved in pitching for the work,
drawing anger from employees, who have protested via petitions and
resignations.

 

'Great country'

But speaking at an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of technology
magazine Wired, Mr Bezos expressed his strong enthusiasm for Amazon to take
on military duties.

 

“We are going to continue to support the DoD, and I think we should,” he
said.

 

“One of the jobs of the senior leadership team is to make the right
decision, even when it’s unpopular.”

 

He later added: “This is a great country - it needs to be defended.”

 

Last week, Google said it would not be taking its bid for Jedi forward, as
the project went against its “AI principles”, published earlier this year,
which said the firm would not engage in work that, by design, could spy on,
injure or kill people.

 

Meanwhile, an open letter, said to be written by employees at Microsoft, was
published on Monday. It read: "Many Microsoft employees don’t believe that
what we build should be used for waging war."--BBC

 

 

Sundar Pichai: Google 'exploring' censored China search app

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai has said a censored search app in China
could serve over "99% of queries," in rare public comments about the
controversial proposal.

 

Mr Pichai told a conference in San Francisco the plan was in the "very
early" stages and may not progress.

 

Google's possible return to China - a market it abandoned over censorship
concerns - was first leaked in August.

 

The proposal has drawn criticism from employees and human rights advocates.

 

On Monday, Mr Pichai did not commit to the launch, saying that the plan was
still in an exploratory stage.

 

"We wanted to learn what it would look like if Google were in China, so
that's what we built internally," Mr Pichai said at the Wired conference in
San Francisco.

 

"It's very early, we don't know whether we would or could do this in China
but we felt like it was important for us to explore. I think it's important
for us given how important the market is and how many users there are," he
said.

 

Through internal tests, he said Google found it would be able serve "well
over 99% of queries".

 

The firm, which is owned by Alphabet, quit China eight years ago in protest
at the country's censorship laws and alleged government hacks.

 

However, reports in August claimed it had been secretively working on a new
Chinese search service, referred to internally as Dragonfly.

 

Google 'plans censored search engine in China'

Hiding from China's all-seeing state

Google employees criticise 'censored China app'

The platform, which still requires Chinese government approval, would
reportedly block certain websites and search terms related to human rights
and religion.

 

This has angered some employees who fear they have been unwittingly working
on technology that will help China suppress free expression.

 

Google staff attack 'China search engine'

Earlier this month, US Vice-President Mike Pence called for Google to
immediately halt work on Dragonfly, saying in a speech that it would
"strengthen Communist Party censorship and compromise the privacy of Chinese
customers".--BBC

 

 

 

Scottish Power to use 100% wind power after Drax sale

Scottish Power will become the first major UK energy company to generate all
its electricity from wind power instead of coal and gas, after selling its
final gas and hydro stations to Drax.

 

Power company Drax has paid £702m for the rest of Scottish Power's
conventional generation business.

 

Scottish Power plans to invest £5.2bn over four years to more than double
its renewables capacity.

 

Chief executive Keith Anderson said it was a "pivotal shift" for the firm.

 

"We are leaving carbon generation behind for a renewable future powered by
cheaper green energy. We have closed coal, sold gas and built enough wind to
power 1.2 million homes," he said.

 

Scottish Power to raise energy prices

Scottish Power loses 100,000 domestic customers

Scottish Power has closed all of its coal plants in the past decade and has
2,700 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity operating or under construction
in the UK.

 

It also has projects planned that can generate more than 3,000 MW. Its
four-year plan aims to make electricity "cleaner and cheaper for Britain".

 

Ignacio Galan, chairman of Scottish Power's Spanish owner, Iberdrola, said
energy companies needed to be part of the solution to climate change.

 

"Iberdrola is acting now to cut carbon emissions 30% by 2020 and be carbon
neutral by 2050. The sale of these generation assets is consistent with our
strategy," he said.

 

Drax chief executive Will Gardiner said: "We believe there is a compelling
logic in our move to add further flexible sources of power to our offering."

 

Drax runs the UK's biggest power plant near Selby in North Yorkshire and is
moving away from coal ahead of a government deadline for an emissions limit
on coal plants from 2025.

 

It has already converted four of its six generating units to burn wood
pellets.

 

The Selby plant is believed to be the first bioenergy carbon capture storage
(Beccs) project of its type in Europe.

 

The power station has previously been criticised for the levels of air
pollution it produces by campaigners, who claim it produces "dangerous"
levels of air pollution.

 

Drax said its emissions were "well within statutory limits".

 

In May, it announced a £400,000 pilot scheme to capture the carbon dioxide
produced from burning the wood pellets.

 

It said that if this pilot were to lead to a full roll-out, it would achieve
what it called the "holy grail" of power generation.

 

It planned to work with energy firm C-Capture, which is connected to the
chemistry department at the University of Leeds.--BBC

 

 

 

Reality Check: What business does the UK do with Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Theresa May in March
this year.

The disappearance of the Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi has raised
the possibility of sanctions.

 

US President Donald Trump threatened "severe punishment" if Saudi Arabia is
found responsible.

 

There has been widespread speculation about what has happened to Mr
Khashoggi. Turkish officials believe he may have been murdered when he
visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia denies the allegation
and says it would respond to any sanctions.

 

So what's at stake?

 

Total goods exports from the UK to Saudi Arabia in 2017 were worth about
£4.2 billion, an increase of 120% compared with ten years earlier. Goods
imports from Saudi Arabia were worth £2.4 billion (also more than double the
figure for ten years earlier). So the UK had a surplus of £1.8 billion in
goods trade.

 

The top UK export categories were various types of machinery, aircraft, arms
and vehicles, including £280 million of cars.

 

Oil accounted for more than half of the imports from Saudi Arabia, including
crude and refined products. Other goods included machinery and electrical
equipment, and photographic, cinematographic and medical equipment.

 

Although the UK produces crude oil from the North Sea and to a limited
extent on land as well, it's more than a decade since the UK was
self-sufficient. Saudi Arabia accounted for about 3% of British oil imports
last year.

 

Did Apple Watch record Khashoggi killing?

What we know about Saudi journalist's disappearance

The journalist who vanished into a consulate

Why Khashoggi case alarms Saudi activists

The UK's dependence on Saudi Arabia for oil is significant, but it's worth
remembering that any sanctions action which disrupted Saudi Arabia's place
in the global market would lead to all oil - wherever it is from - becoming
more expensive, probably by a large amount.

 

UK exports of services to Saudi Arabia in 2017 were £2 billion. Imports of
services were worth about a quarter of that amount. The UK had a surplus of
about £1.5 billion in services.

 

Travel services were the biggest category of trade in both directions. For
UK exports, financial services came in second.

 

The arms trade

There has been public debate about the supply of weapons to Saudi Arabia,
particularly in light of the Saudi involvement in the conflict in Yemen.

 

Research by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think
tank which monitors the global weapons industry, puts Britain in second
place as a supplier of "major arms" to Saudi Arabia, behind the United
States and ahead of France.

 

Saudi Arabia's total imports of major arms more than tripled in the period
to 2012-2017 compared with the previous five years.

 

Global trade

Saudi Arabia's biggest single supplier of imports is China, followed closely
by the United States. The UK comes in ninth. The main types of goods include
machinery, vehicles and medicines.

 

Its exports are dominated by oil and gas, including the products of its
refineries (such as diesel, petrol, jet fuel and raw materials for the
petrochemical industry).

 

Two-thirds of crude oil exports went to Asia in 2016. Out of the refined
products, 45% of exports went to Asia, with 40% going to Europe. Saudi
Arabia is the second largest foreign supplier to the United States of oil,
after Canada.

 

The overall trade balance varies widely due to the dominance of oil in Saudi
exports. This year the IMF projects a surplus in what is called the current
account (which is trade in goods and services and some financial
transactions) of $65 billion or 8.4% of annual economic activity or GDP. The
equivalent figures for 2015 (when the oil price was falling) were a deficit
of $56.7 billion or 8.7% of GDP.-=-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


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