Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 07 August 2019

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 07 August 2019

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


 

 

*  South Africa's Eskom urgently needs turnaround plan: Moody's

*  Nedbank demands action on ecomomy as South African profit stagnates

*  Uganda's Stanbic says pretax up 37% as credit demand grows

*  Saudi Arabia deposits $250 million in Sudan central bank

*  On cusp of pan-African trade deal, giant Nigeria clings to protection

*  Guinea delays deadline in Simandou iron ore deposit tender

*  Egypt receives final $2 bln tranche of IMF loan - state TV

*  Ghana to raise cocoa farmers’ prices by 5.2% -sources

*  CNOOC to take majority interest in West African petroleum licences

*  Royal Bafokeng Platinum posts wider H1 loss

*  The real price of buying cheap clothes

*  Walmart faces backlash over gun sales after shootings

*  Disney disappoints despite a string of movie hits

*  Barneys New York store chain files for bankruptcy

*  Hyundai releases car with solar panel roof

*  Tencent set to buy 10% stake in Universal Music

 

 

 

 


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South Africa's Eskom urgently needs turnaround plan: Moody's

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s state power utility Eskom urgently needs a turnaround plan as its capital structure is unsustainable, credit ratings agency Moody’s said on Tuesday in a report which sent the rand to a two-month low.

 

A week ago Eskom reported a mammoth 20.7 billion rand ($1.39 billion) annual loss, and its outgoing chief executive said the firm needs to change its outdated business model to escape a “death spiral”.

 

“The company’s operational and financial performance has deteriorated, indicating the extent of the challenges facing Eskom in meeting its debt obligations absent government support,” Moody’s said in a note.

 

“The current capital structure is not sustainable... indicating a strong and urgent need for a longer term strategic turnaround plan.”

 

The rand gave up its gains against the dollar and sharply reversed course after the report was published to hit its lowest since June 7. It traded down 0.4% at 14.9725 rand per dollar by 1519 GMT.

 

Struggling Eskom, which supplies more than 90% of the power in Africa’s most industrialised economy but is dependent on government bailouts, is deep in crisis as its sales decline while debt-servicing costs soar.

 

It is regularly cited by ratings agencies as one of the main threats to South Africa’s creditworthiness and economic growth.

 

Eskom’s financial woes stem from a steep run-up in its salary, fuel and debt-servicing costs over the past decade, and it has also been hampered by mismanagement and corruption scandals under previous executives.

 

Last month the government proposed an extra 59 billion rand of support for Eskom over the next two years, in addition to 230 billion rand in bailouts spread over the next decade.

 

Moody’s said the cash injections from the state were credit positive for Eskom but would do no more than stabilise the company’s debt burden, and a long-term solution would still be needed.

 

($1 = 14.9451 rand)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Nedbank demands action on ecomomy as South African profit stagnates

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nedbank called for more urgent government action to fix South Africa’s struggling economy on Tuesday after first-half earnings at its main domestic operations flatlined.

 

More of Nedbank’s corporate and retail clients defaulted on their debts or swerved riskier investments due to a tough economic environment as unemployment rose to an 11-year high and South Africa had its worst quarterly contraction in a decade.

 

Initial optimism around President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ability to revive the economy, dubbed ‘Ramaphoria’, has faded and left South Africa’s business community increasingly frustrated.

 

Nedbank said headline earnings at its retail and business bank and corporate and investment bank, the engines of its operation, rose by just 0.3% and 0.1% respectively.

 

The bank said the South African economy had performed worse than expected in the period and halved its economic growth forecast for 2019 from 1.3% to 0.5%. The latest Reuters poll gave a median growth forecast of 0.7%.

 

“Unfortunately we currently seem to be in an environment where infighting is dominating the national discourse and as a consequence we are seeing very little action on delivering structural reform,” Nedbank Chief Executive Mike Brown said.

 

Brown highlighted ailing state power firm Eskom, which has had to implement rolling blackouts and take multiple state bailouts to stay afloat, saying projects could not get off the ground while it was impossible to accurately forecast the availability or price of electricity.

 

He also said a debate around reforming South Africa’s central bank was an “unnecessary distraction” and that more clarity was needed on proposed land reforms.

 

Nedbank also said it had cut its guidance for full-year diluted headline earnings per share to around nominal GDP growth, rather than greater than or equal to nominal GDP growth.

 

AFRICA RISING

Nedbank’s performance was bolstered by its businesses elsewhere in Africa, which grew headline earnings by 19.6%, helping to lift headline earnings per share - the main profit gauge in South Africa - by 3.5% to 1,435 cents ($0.9687).

 

Many South African lenders have looked elsewhere in Africa for growth after their home market has in recent years become characterised by stagnant growth, job losses and high personal debt levels, hitting spending and investment.

 

Nedbank has benefited from a turnaround at its west African associate Ecobank, which contributed 264 million rand to headline earnings.

 

It holds a 21% in the Togo-based lender, however its growing profits were dampened by a 21.4% decline in Ecobank’s shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

 

($1 = 14.8132 rand)

 

 

 

Uganda's Stanbic says pretax up 37% as credit demand grows

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda’s largest bank Stanbic posted a 37.5% jump in profit before tax for the first half of the year, driven by a surge in credit growth on the back of a strong economy.

 

Profit before tax rose to 182.8 billion Ugandan shillings ($50 million), the unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank said on Tuesday. Interest and related income grew 23.4%.

 

“The growth has been largely due to improved economic activity as credit growth across all customer segments improved,” Chief Executive Patrick Mweheire said in a statement.

 

Uganda’s economy, according to the central Bank of Uganda (BoU), expanded 6.1% in the year through June as an accommodative monetary policy boosted household consumption.

 

In June the BoU held its benchmark rate at 10 percent and projected faster economic expansion for the current fiscal year through July 2010.

 

($1 = 3,688.0000 Ugandan shillings)

 

 

 

Saudi Arabia deposits $250 million in Sudan central bank

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has deposited $250 million into the central bank of Sudan to support its financial position, the Saudi Finance Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

The deposit is part of a package with the United Arab Emirates worth $500 million announced in April. Both countries pledged an overall $3 billion in aid, with the rest going towards fuel, wheat and medicine.

 

The deposit is not a grant to Sudan but rather a loan, a Saudi finance ministry official told Reuters later.

 

It is aimed at alleviating pressure on the Sudanese pound and achieving stability in its exchange rate, the ministry said.

 

In April, mass protests led the Sudanese army to topple longtime President Omar al Bashir. But Sudan’s economy is still haunted by Bashir’s legacy - the penalties imposed for his support of militant groups and for the offensive he launched to crush rebels in the western region of Darfur.

 

Since Sudan is still listed by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism and has $1.3 billion of IMF arrears, it is unable to tap the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for support. Sudanese banks have struggled to re-establish correspondent relationships with foreign banks.

 

 

 

On cusp of pan-African trade deal, giant Nigeria clings to protection

LAGOS (Reuters) - Adeleke Adeleye stands in front of a bank of whirring printers spinning out dozens of envelopes a minute in Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos.

 

His stationery company, FAE Ltd, is thriving and will move into a larger factory nearby by the end of next year.

 

But he sees trouble on the horizon in the form of a new African free trade agreement aiming to unlock a market of 1.3 billion consumers - but which many in Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy, view as a threat.

 

“It’s definitely not a level playing field,” he says.

 

Africa is forging ahead with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) - a project to create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc - even as world powers such as the United States and Britain back away from multilateral trade pacts.

 

Its champions - South Africa and Kenya among them - say the deal will provide a shot in the arm to trade between African nations, which accounted for just 17% of exports in 2017, and give their companies access to millions of new customers.

 

But Nigeria is worried it could be flooded with cheap goods from more competitive neighbours, undermining its efforts to revive local manufacturing and expand farming to reduce dependence on crude oil exports.

 

It was one of the last of 54 nations to back the agreement, only signing on last month. Just Eritrea, which did not participate in the negotiations, has not approved the deal.

 

Now that Nigeria is in, however, some trade experts fear its long history of economic protectionism and tepid support for the AfCFTA will undermine the bloc.

 

“If Nigeria, after signing, decides not to implement, there will be a problem. There are so many administrative ways in which Nigeria can frustrate this agreement,” said Bismarck Rewane, CEO of Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives Company (FDC).

 

GIANT UNDERDOG?

The size of Nigeria’s economy - a gross domestic product of nearly $400 billion and a population of some 190 million - belies major weaknesses.

 

Reliance on crude oil sales for around 90% of foreign exchange earnings led to neglect of other sectors. Once thriving automobile, textile and agricultural industries atrophied.

 

While nations including Ethiopia and Kenya are investing heavily in railways, highways and power projects with a view to becoming manufacturing hubs, Nigeria’s infrastructure remains antiquated.

 

With a population less than a third its size, South Africa, the continent’s second largest economy, produces roughly 10 times more electricity than Nigeria. South African brands, including supermarkets and telecommunication firms, are already conquering Africa.

 

Nigeria garnered just 23 points out of 100 in the World Bank’s “trading across borders” scoring due to its jam-packed ports and pot-holed roads, which add significant costs and delays to trade. Kenya, by comparison, scored 68.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is working to catch up. But those efforts in many cases run counter to the spirit of free trade the AfCFTA embodies.

 

Nigeria has placed import controls on a broad range of items, from rice, cocoa and tomatoes to furniture and footwear. Total duties - tariffs, fees and other taxes - on some imports can top 70%.

 

The central bank has also restricted access to foreign exchange for imports of more than 40 items it says Nigeria should produce itself.

 

 

 

Guinea delays deadline in Simandou iron ore deposit tender

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea has pushed back its deadline to withdraw tender documents for blocks 1 and 2 of Simandou in an effort to boost competition for the world’s largest undeveloped iron ore deposit, a senior mining official told Reuters on Tuesday.

 

It launched the international tender in mid-July, giving companies until Aug. 2 to outline their bids, after strong iron ore prices and the resolution of some legal problems raised hopes for the site’s development.

 

“Given the complexity of the case, we have decide to allow more time for companies to prepare. This will allow increased competition between them,” said the mine ministry’s secretary-General, Sadou Nimaga.

 

The tender documents will be available for an additional two weeks until Aug. 19, he said. “Several companies have already taken the file. Very big groups are interested.”

 

The deadline for submission of bids has been adjusted accordingly, a source familiar with the matter said.

 

Simandou contains high grade iron ore, which commands a premium and has become sought after by countries, including China, because processing it creates less pollution than lower grade ore.

 

Blocks 1 and 2 have become available following the resolution of one of the legal cases that have embroiled Simandou. Billionaire Beny Steinmetz’s BSG Resources (BSGR) said it would walk away from the Simandou project, but retain the right to mine the smaller Zogota deposit.

 

The Guinean government has said ore mined from Simandou must be shipped from its own ports, presenting a challenge for prospective developers as its location is 650 km (404 miles) from Guinea’s coast.

 

Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto holds a 45.05% stake in Simandou’s remaining blocks 3 and 4 which it has been trying to sell.

 

 

 

Egypt receives final $2 bln tranche of IMF loan - state TV

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has received the final $2 billion tranche of its IMF loan, state television said on Monday.

 

Last month, the IMF said Egypt could draw the sixth and final tranche of the $12 billion, three-year loan program that began in 2016 after concluding its fifth and final review of Egypt’s economic reforms last month.

 

As part of the IMF deal, Egypt has been pushing ahead with tough economic reforms including the latest round of fuel subsidy cuts in early July, which raised domestic prices by between 16% and 30%.

 

“Egypt has successfully completed the three-year arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility and achieved its main objectives,” IMF Acting Managing Director David Lipton said in a statement after the final review in July.

 

Reforms have included the introduction of a value-added tax, deep cuts to energy subsidies and a currency devaluation, putting the budgets of tens of millions of Egyptians under strain.

 

The changes are aimed at luring back investors who withdrew funds from Egypt during the 2011 uprising that overthrew former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

 

 

 

Ghana to raise cocoa farmers’ prices by 5.2% -sources

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ghana will raise cocoa farmgate prices by 5.2% for the 2019/20 season, the first increase in four years, following strong sales of export contracts to chocolate makers and cocoa houses, industry sources told Reuters.

 

The farmgate price will rise to 8,000 Ghanaian cedi($1,523.81) per tonne in the season starting in October, from 7,600 cedi per tonne last season, the sources at industry body Cocobod and its marketing arm Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) said on Tuesday.

 

The price has been unchanged for the past three seasons in Ghana, the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer.

 

“The price will be around 8,000 GHS per tonne next season. That’ll be 500 GHS per bag and it’s something that cocoa farmers deserve,” a CMC source said.

 

Ivory Coast, the biggest producer, will also raise its farmgate price, sources said last month.

 

Ghana’s Producer Price Review Committee which sets the farmgate price meets annually in September to decide a price and the official announcement is made in early October before the start of the cocoa season, sources said.

 

“Inflation and interest rates are now low in Ghana at the moment and aside the election (in December 2020), another possible reason for a hike will be the positive gains cocoa made this year,” another source at Cocobod said.

 

Ghana produced 794,000 tonnes of cocoa this season, down 11.7% from the last season.

 

Ghana and Ivory Coast joined forces in June to impose a floor price for cocoa of $2,600 per tonne and a live income differential (LID) of $400 per tonne. They have also been in talks for two years about simultaneously announcing their farmgate prices.

 

The two countries are also working together to set prices close enough to avoid cocoa smuggling on their border.

 

($1 = 5.2500 Ghanaian cedi)

 

 

 

CNOOC to take majority interest in West African petroleum licences

(Reuters) - Australian oil and gas explorer FAR Ltd, which holds a stake in licences for oil drilling off the coast of West Africa’s Guinea-Bissau, said a unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp will take a majority stake in the projects.

 

CNOOC will get a 55.6% stake in the Sinapa and Esperanca licences from Sweden’s Svenska Petroleum Exploration AB, whose interest will be reduced to 23.03%, FAR said in a statement on Tuesday. It did not disclose financial details.

 

The Chinese oil producer can opt to become the operator of the joint venture after an upcoming offshore drilling campaign is completed.

 

CNOOC’s interest will be converted to a 50% stake if there is a commercial discovery, FAR said.

 

FAR will continue to hold a 21.42% stake in each of the licences.

 

Svenska Petroleum Exploration GB is a unit of Petroswede AB, which is indirectly owned by Saudi Billionaire Sheikh Mohammed H. Al-Amoudi.

 

 

 

Royal Bafokeng Platinum posts wider H1 loss

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African platinum producer Royal Bafokeng Platinum said on Tuesday its half-year loss rose but was better than expected, due to high costs of improvements at its Styldrif Mine as well as high borrowing costs.

 

The miner, which is now the sole owner of its operations after being sold Platinum Group Metals’ Maseve plant last year for around $74 million, said last month that it expected its loss to widen by as much as 75 cents per share.

 

“Styldrift’s ramp-up progressed steadily, albeit at lower-than-planned production levels,” the firm said.

 

It said improvements to Styldrift’s ramp-up to 20,000 tonnes per month had been delayed by challenges including recruiting experienced workers.

 

The mid-tier producer reported a headline loss per share (HLPS) of 70.4 cents for the six months ended June 30, compared with a loss per share of 6 cents a year earlier.

 

HEPS is the main profit gauge in South Africa and strips out one-off items.

 

EBITDA, however, increased to 525.6 million from 222.5 million rand.

 

The company said production for the full-year is expected at between 430,000 -440,000 ounces.

 

 

 

 

The real price of buying cheap clothes

The French or Italians might like to think of themselves as the most fashionable people in Europe - but it is the Brits that are the most dedicated shoppers.

 

The British buy more clothes than their neighbours and five times as many items as they did in the 1980s.

 

What was once a monthly payday treat, is now something for every weekend - or perhaps more often than that. And who can blame us?

 

A quick trawl around the high street reveals dresses aplenty for under a tenner, and you can get a bikini for as little as £1.

 

Globalisation means things can be produced in far-off lands at low cost, meaning more choice and lower prices.

 

But how is that even possible? And what of the environmental cost of our shopping habits? The relationship between shopper and fashion industry may have become dysfunctional.

 

A BBC Radio 4 investigation for the Today programme took us from Spain to Ethiopia as we examined whether the planet, and some of its poorest inhabitants, are footing the bill for our unquenchable thirst for fashion - and how we should tackle that.

 

How do they do it?

The pressure on brands to get trends from catwalks to our backs cheaply, and deliver profits for investors, can lead to an unseemly bunfight to secure the cheapest source - a phenomenon critics refer to as "chasing the needle" around the world.

 

In April, on the sixth anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse disaster, activists campaigned for safe workplaces for garments workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The plight of some of those who make our clothes came into shocking relief in 2014, when 1,138 garment workers lost their lives in the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Bangladesh.

 

The scrutiny and pressure to improve terms and conditions there was immense, and yielded results. Some big retailers - such as H&M and Converse - have started publishing lists of their suppliers, and sometimes, subcontractors - which can run into their thousands - in response to calls for greater transparency.

 

Is the age of the sweatshop in the past?

But there have been unforeseen consequences of recent trends. As wages rose in Bangladesh, companies looked elsewhere to keep costs down.

 

In Ethiopia, for example, wages average just a third of the rates paid in Bangladesh. Rates of less than $7 (£5.75) per week are typical. Speaking on condition of anonymity, workers at a factory near Addis Ababa told us was this insufficient to live on.

 

They also said that conditions - from unsanitary toilets to verbal abuse - were intolerable.

 

This situation was brought to international attention by the Workers Rights Consortium campaigning group. Penelope Kyritsis, who wrote the report, told me of workers who had overtime payments withheld, and women who had their abdomens felt by hiring managers to check if they were pregnant. She claimed that there had been little improvement since the report came out some months ago.

 

In order to head off stiff competition, the Ethiopian government has made almost a virtue out of its low labour costs.

 

But Ms Kyritsis says that the country's garment industry can't use the excuse that at least it is providing a livelihood where none else might be available.

 

She highlighted the "extremely high turnover, with workers leaving government jobs for other jobs to resume positions in other informal sectors or in agriculture".

 

Orsola de Castro, co-founded campaigning group Fashion Revolution in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster. Her organisation is encouraging customers to ask tougher questions of their favourite brands, via a postcard campaign.

 

"There are two great misconceptions when it comes to sustainability and ethics - one is that the culprit is fast fashion, and this lets the luxury sector off scot-free, when in fact it is the entire Ethiopian fashion industry that needs to be called into question," she told the BBC.

 

"And the other is that locally-made is ethical and sustainable. It isn't."

 

What about the environmental costs?

Textile production, it's claimed, contributes more to climate change than aviation and shipping combined. And there's consequences at every stage of a clothing item's life cycle - sourcing, production, transport, retail, use and disposal.

 

To start with the basic fabrics used, it's not as simple as cotton versus synthetic. Cotton is an extraordinarily thirsty crop.

 

As the UK House of Commons' Environmental Audit Committee highlighted in a recent report, a single shirt and a pair of jeans can take up to 20,0000 litres of water to produce. It concluded that "we are unwittingly wearing the fresh water supply of central Asia".

 

Yet, a polyester shirt made out of virgin plastics has a far larger carbon footprint. Transporting items increases that further and dying fabrics can introduce more pollutants.

 

Microplastic fibres shedding into waterways is becoming an increasing problem - a single washing machine load can release hundreds of thousands of fibres.

 

Plus, a million tonnes of clothes are disposed of every year in the UK, and 20% of that ends up as landfill.

 

That impulse purchase or two quickly mounts up. But whose responsibility is it to tackle this?

 

What is the government doing?

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has made 18 recommendations - from taxing a penny on the price of an item to fund recycling centres, to reducing the rate of VAT on clothing repair services, to introducing more sewing lessons in schools. As yet, none of these measures have been adopted.

 

Critics say if we're serious about sustainable fashion, the objective of policy should be to persuade us to buy less. That might need more drastic action, with perhaps an environmental tax on clothing. But given the fragile state of the High Street, and the importance of consumer spending to the economy, it's hard to see any politician entertaining that.

 

At present, the government favours a voluntary approach, encouraging retailers to sign up to the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan - but the number signing up accounts for less than half of the UK market.

 

How much is business actually doing?

As pressure from consumers grow, retailers are taking things into their own hands.

 

 

Just outside the Spanish coastal city of A Coruna lies the global headquarters of Inditex. It's hardly a household name - but its main fashion brand, Zara, is.

 

What started as a small manufacturing outfit is now one of the biggest retailers on the planet. Moreover, Zara changed the way we shop - by bringing looks from the catwalk to the high street in just three weeks at affordable prices.

 

The chain recently pledged to switch to 100% sustainable fabrics by 2025. It is, of course, not just Inditex - from H&M to M&S, retailers are looking to improve how they source and their processes.

 

Greenwash? Well, some big retailers do at least seem to be engaging and taking action. But at the heart of their business model is newness, convincing us to keep on buying - that is, if we needed convincing. Is it retailers' responsibility to convince us to buy less?

 

Zara's Pablo Isla argues not - that the retailer simply responding to consumer's wishes, and that those customers should have the freedom of choice.

 

What about customers?

With Extinction Rebellion climate change protests taking place outside their windows, emerging designers at London College of Fashion told us that they were going on fashion strikes - taking a vow not to spend for several months or even a year. Such action is growing in popularity, and there's an increasing focus on buying better clothing - and making do and mending torn garments.

 

One of the designers we met even focused on making clothes out of the multitude of tents discarded at music festivals.

 

 

But it may not be enough. As the popularity of social media influencers has soared, so too have concerns about the impact they may have on our attitude towards shopping.

 

One in six influencers admit to not wearing an outfit again once it's been on social media.

 

Eco-activist Livia Firth has been using red carpet appearances alongside her husband Colin to showcase sustainable fabrics, including fish skin "leather" handbags. She even persuaded him to wear a tuxedo made out of recycled bottles. She says influencers need to change their approach, saying "if Kim Kardashian were to promote sustainable fashion, I could retire".

 

She likens our relationship with fashion to an addiction. With clothing demand forecast to rise by the equivalent of 500 billion t-shirts over the next decade, she may have a point.

 

But no one as yet has found the cure.--BBC

 

 

 

Walmart faces backlash over gun sales after shootings

Walmart, scene of two recent gun horrors, is under pressure to use its corporate power to help crack down on the sale of weapons in the US.

 

The country's biggest retailer, often cited as its biggest gun seller, has faced criticism before over arms sales.

 

But after a multiple shooting at a Texas store, and the death of two staff at a Mississippi branch, critics say Walmart has a responsibility to act.

 

The killings are in addition to another mass shooting, in Ohio, at the weekend.

 

Igor Volsky, founder and executive director of Guns Down America, said the killings at Walmart put the retailer under an obligation to take a lead.

 

"The El Paso [Texas] shooting happened in their store. They have a responsibility to go further," he said. Walmart could use its political and lobbying clout to force change, he added.

 

Previously, Guns Down led a successful campaign calling on logistics giant FedEx to stop offering discounts to National Rifle Association (NRA) members.

 

Another organisation, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said Walmart must stop letting shoppers walk into stores with guns. A number of retailers have such policies, including Target and Starbucks.

 

Backlash

Kroger-owned Fred Meyer stopped selling guns in 2018, and the same year, Dick's Sporting Goods ended the sale of assault weapons and raised the minimum age to 21 for gun purchases.

 

Other pressure groups called on Walmart to use its vast resources to invest more in security, training, and education. These groups have been joined by high profile individuals. Actor and activist Alyssa Milano said it was time for Walmart to show leadership.

 

And one of America's leading business journalists, the co-creator of the hit TV series Billions, Andrew Ross Sorkin, issued an open letter to Doug McMillon, Walmart's chief executive.

 

"In the depths of this crisis lies an opportunity: for you to help end this violence

 

"You, singularly, have a greater chance to use your role as the chief executive of the country's largest retailer and largest seller of guns — with greater sway over the entire ecosystem that controls gun sales in the United States than any other individual in corporate America."

 

He said Mr McMillon should join forces with powerful chief executives who have expressed dismay at America's gun violence, including Apple's Tim Cook.

 

Walmart has also faced a huge social media backlash from people using such hashtags as #walmartshooting," "#boycottwalmart," and "#guncontrolnow."

 

It is not the first time that gun-control campaigners have called on Walmart to act. In 2013, a month after a gunman in Connecticut shot dead more than 20 people at a school, nearly 300,000 people signed a petition urging Walmart to stop selling assault weapons.

 

It was another two years before Walmart ended such sales.

 

The retailer has yet to respond to a BBC request for comment.

 

But according to a spokesman quoted in the Washington Post, Walmart has no plans to change its policies on gun sales and in-store carrying.--BBC

 

 

 

 

Disney disappoints despite a string of movie hits

Walt Disney's latest profit has failed to impress Wall Street, despite producing blockbuster movie hits including Avengers: Endgame and Toy Story 4.

 

Disney's shares fell 5% in after-hours trading when the firm posted figures that missed analysts' forecasts.

 

Profits at the entertainment giant fell 51% to $1.4bn in the last three months, despite revenues rising 33% to $20.2bn.

 

Avengers has become the biggest grossing movie ever, beating Avatar.

 

But profits from a string of movie hits, including Aladdin, failed to offset other costs at the company.

 

In March, Disney bought the TV and film assets of 21st Century Fox for $71bn.

 

Disney chairman and chief executive Robert Iger said the third quarter results "reflect our efforts to effectively integrate the 21st Century Fox".

 

The company is also gearing up for a new digital streaming service, Disney+, which it is launching in November to challenge Netflix.

 

Costs to build online services will weigh on profits for several years, the company has said.

 

Streaming competitors from AT&T's Warner Media and Comcast's NBC Universal are expected next year.

 

Disney's direct-to-consumer and international unit reported an operating loss of $553m, up from $168m a year earlier, from consolidation of Hulu and spending on Disney+ and the ESPN streaming service.

 

At the theme parks unit, overall operating income rose 4% to $1.7bn but fell at Disney's US parks. The company attributed the drop to expenses for an ambitious Star Wars-themed expansion in late May at California's Disneyland and lower attendance.

 

Media networks, which includes ESPN, the Disney Channels and FX, reported a 7% increase in operating income to $2.1bn.--BBC

 

 

 

Barneys New York store chain files for bankruptcy

US luxury department store chain Barneys New York has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and put itself on sale.

 

The firm has faced soaring rents and was unsuccessful in its earlier attempts to find a buyer.

 

Barneys has secured $75m (£61m) in new financing from Hilco Global and the Gordon Brothers Group to stay afloat.

 

It will close stores in Chicago, Las Vegas and Seattle, along with five smaller concept stores and seven Barneys Warehouse locations.

 

Barneys has faced a steep rise in rent at its Manhattan flagship store on Madison Avenue, New York, to $30m from $16m.

 

Chapter 11 postpones a US company's obligations to its creditors, giving it time to reorganise its debts or sell parts of the business.

 

Chief executive Daniella Vitale said: "Like many in our industry, Barneys New York's financial position has been dramatically impacted by the challenging retail environment and rent structures that are excessively high relative to market demand.

 

"In response to these obstacles, the Barneys New York board and management team have taken decisive action by entering into a court-supervised process, which will provide the company the necessary tools to conduct a sale process, review our current leases and optimise our operations."

 

The firm will keep open five flagship locations: Madison Avenue, Downtown NYC, Beverly Hills, San Francisco and Copley Place in Boston, as well as two Barneys Warehouse locations. It will also keep open its websites.

 

It says it expects to pay trade vendors, manufacturing partners and suppliers in full for goods and services provided.

 

The company was founded in 1923 when Barney Pressman pawned his wife's engagement ring and used the cash to open a 500-square-feet men's discount clothing store on Seventh Avenue and 17th Street in New York, with the slogan: "No Bunk, No Junk, No Imitations."

 

In the 1960s his son Fred was responsible for the transition from discount store to luxury destination.--BBC

 

 

 

Hyundai releases car with solar panel roof

Hyundai has released a version of its Sonata hybrid that has solar panels to help charge its battery.

 

The Korean car maker said up to 60% of the power for the car's battery could be supplied if the solar roof was used for six hours a day.

 

The panels would provide enough power to propel the Sonata for 1,300km (800miles) a year, it added.

 

Hyundai said it planned to offer the roof as an optional extra on other models in its range.

 

No benefits?

Fitting hybrids with panels that can harvest solar energy would boost fuel efficiency and lower carbon dioxide emissions, said Hyundai.

 

It added that the mid-sized passenger car had an improved engine control system to ensure energy use was as efficient as possible.

 

Writing on the Digital Trends news site Stephen Edelstein said: "Hybrids like the Sonata have smaller battery packs than all-electric cars, so a solar roof can make a bigger difference in charging.

 

"Solar cells add cost and weight to cars, and it's unclear how effective they can be in the real world."

 

Hyundai is working on a second-generation solar roof that would be semi-transparent to help light the car's cabin.

 

The solar-roof equipped Sonata will be on sale in North America and Korea. Hyundai said it had no plans to sell it in other regions.

 

No price for the hybrid passenger car equipped with a solar roof has been given by Hyundai.

 

In the UK sales of low emission vehicles, including hybrids, fell for the first time in more than two years, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), released last month.

 

The SMMT blamed confusing policies and "premature" removal of subsidies for such hybrids, as factors in the drop of sales.

 

Hyundai is not the first car manufacturer to use solar panels on a vehicle. The sun-powered charging systems are available as an option on the Toyota Prius, and the luxury Karma Revero is also available with one.

 

In addition, Dutch start-up Lightyear is working on an electric car that uses solar panels on its bonnet and roof to help charge the vehicle's batteries.

 

The Lightyear One car is expected to cost about €149,000 (£137,000) when it goes on sale in 2021.--BBC

 

 

 

Tencent set to buy 10% stake in Universal Music

Vivendi is set to sell a 10% stake in the Universal Music Group (UMG) to Chinese tech group Tencent.

 

Universal - the world's biggest music company - already has its content streamed by Tencent in China as the result of a deal struck in 2017.

 

Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Drake and Kendrick Lamar are among the artists on the Universal label.

 

In a statement, Vivendi said that, with Tencent, it "hopes to improve the promotion of UMG's artists".

 

It added that it also aims to "identify and promote new talents in new markets".

 

The deal would give UMG a preliminary equity valuation of €30bn (£27.6bn; $33.6bn), said Vivendi, which is the group's parent company. Tencent would also have an option to buy a further 10% of UMG within a year.

 

Vivendi is controlled by billionaire Vincent Bolloré.

 

In a note to UMG staff, chairman Sir Lucian Grainge called the proposed deal "an exciting development" and confirmed the group would remain "part of the Vivendi family".

 

He added: "I can assure you that Vivendi's supervisory and management boards, as well as the Bolloré family, continue to be steadfast supporters of our strategy, our work and our teams.

 

"And it goes without saying that our commitment to recording artists and songwriters will continue unchanged."

 

Just over a year ago, Vivendi first recommended a sale of up to 50% of UMG and said it hoped to complete a deal by the start of 2020.

 

Investment banks have estimated the business to be worth anything between €17bn and €44bn.

 

Vivendi is hoping to cash in on the popularity of subscription and ad-based music streaming services, which have helped to boost UMG's profits over the last four years.

 

In April 2017, UMG announced a long-term deal with streaming service Spotify. This allows Universal artists to offer new albums on Spotify's paid-for premium service before appearing on its free version.--BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2019

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


Bindura Nickel Corporation

 

 

 


Padenga Holdings

 

 

 


Delta Corporation

 

 

 


Meikles Limited

 

 

 


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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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