Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 08 October 2019

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 08 October 2019

 


 

 


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*  Uganda Airlines receives two Bombardier passenger planes

*  South Africa's Tongaat mulls sale of assets, rights issue

*  Mozambique says US gas giant Exxon to finalise LNG investment next week

*  Uganda central bank cuts main lending rate to 9.0%

*  South Africa's net foreign reserves fall to $44.058 bln in September

*  Morocco's trade deficit widens 2.4% year on year in Jan-August

*  Mali says cotton output to reach 1 mln tonnes, eyes new varieties

*  Tripoli gov't gives Libya's NOC $1 billion in funding

*  Australia's Fortescue confirms bid to develop Guinea iron ore

*  Daryl Morey backtracks after Hong Kong tweet causes Chinese backlash

*  Pizza Express set for talks over £1bn debt pile

*  Unilever to cut plastic use to appeal to Gen Z

*  Drax: Block on power station development overruled

*  Thomas Cook refund website sees 60,000 claims on day one

 


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Uganda Airlines receives two Bombardier passenger planes

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda’s national carrier Uganda Airlines received two
passenger planes on Monday, doubling the size of the fledgling airline’s
fleet.

 

The airline received two CRJ900 planes from Canadian manufacturer
Bombardier, the airline said on its Twitter handle. Each plane can seat 72
passengers.

 

The airline is considering expanding its destinations to include Kinshasa,
Zanzibar, Lusaka, Asmara, Hargeisa, Djibouti and Addis Ababa, it said.

 

Uganda Airlines was relaunched in August, with the country eager to take a
slice of the region’s growing aviation business that is currently dominated
by Ethiopian Airlines.

 

Uganda Airlines expects to receive two Airbus A330 Neo planes soon. The
first will arrive by the end of the year, and the second a few months later.

 

The state carrier was founded in 1976 by former dictator Idi Amin but
liquidated in 2001 during a broader push to sell off struggling state-owned
firms.

 

The airline started flying again last month, banking on passengers from the
Uganda’s emerging oil industry and the traditional tourism sector.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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South Africa's Tongaat mulls sale of assets, rights issue

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African sugar producer Tongaat Hulett said on
Monday it is considering the possible sale of assets, a possible equity
capital raise or a combination thereof in order to reduce the group’s debt.

 

Tongaat, which said in April it would restate financial information after a
formal review revealed certain accounting practices that needed to be
re-examined, also said debt restructuring talks with South African and
Mozambican debt providers are progressing well.

 

 

 

Mozambique says US gas giant Exxon to finalise LNG investment next week

MAPUTO (Reuters) - U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil will finalise its
investment in Mozambique’s lucrative liquefied natural gas fields in a
signing ceremony on Tuesday, the African country’s government said via state
television.

 

Exxon’s Rovuma LNG project, jointly operated with Italian firm Eni, will
produce, liquefy and sell natural gas from three reservoirs located in the
Area 4 block offshore Mozambique’s northern coast.

 

Exxon estimates the fields, which are due to come on line in 2024, will cost
$30 billion to develop.

 

State television news channel TVM on Sunday said the Ministry of Mineral
Resources and Energy would host a signing ceremony with Exxon and other
firms in the capital Maputo on Tuesday.

 

Exxon has said it expects 17,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per
year during the production phase, with the signing of an initial investment
decision paving the way for the massive infrastructure project to begin.

 

The gas fields are located off the coast of the northern Cabo Delgado
province, which for the last two years has seen intensifying attacks on
surrounding communities and government buildings by an extreme Islamist
militant group.

 

In February Texas-based petroleum firm Anadarko said one worker was killed
and several others injured in two related attacks in the Cabo Delgado area
where it is building a 17,000-acre liquefaction complex.

 

 

 

Uganda central bank cuts main lending rate to 9.0%

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda’s central bank cut its key lending rate by 100
basis points to 9.0% on Monday, saying the reduction would revive economic
growth in the eastern African country, a prospective crude oil producer.

 

It is the first time the Bank of Uganda has changed its main rate since
October last year.

 

Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, the bank’s governor, said a benign outlook for
inflation had also provided room for the policy easing move. The pace of
growth, he said, slowed in the first half of 2019 compared with the second
half of 2018.

 

“The BoU believes that the benign inflation outlook provides room for a
reduction in the policy rate to support economic growth,” Tumusiime-Mutebile
said.

 

Uganda’s year-on-year headline inflation declined to 1.9% in September from
2.1% in August, driven by lower food prices, a stronger local currency and
subdued consumer demand.

 

A widening current account deficit and public sector financing needs, he
said, were likely exert upward pressure on interest rates and potentially
further depress growth.

 

“The economy still has spare capacity and lower interest rates will help
reduce output gap,” the governor said.

 

 

 

South Africa's net foreign reserves fall to $44.058 bln in September

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s net foreign reserves fell to $44.058
billion in September from $44.226 billion in August, Reserve Bank data on
Monday.

 

But gross reserves jumped to $54.856 billion at the end of September from
$49.948 billion the previous month, mainly reflecting the proceeds from
foreign debt issuance by National Treasury, central bank data showed.

 

The forward position representing the central bank’s unsettled, or swap,
transactions showed a negative balance of $78 million in September from a
positive balance of $231 million in August.

 

 

 

Morocco's trade deficit widens 2.4% year on year in Jan-August

RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco’s trade deficit widened by 2.4% to 140 billion
dirhams ($14.5 billion) in the first eight months of 2019 compared with the
same period last year, the country’s foreign exchange regulator said in
figures published on its website.

 

Imports rose 2.9% to 328 billion dirhams, while exports, composed mainly of
agricultural products, cars and phosphates, stood at 188 billion dirhams, up
3.2%.

 

Remittances from Moroccans living abroad, key to Morocco’s hard currency
flow, dropped 1.3% to 44.6 billion dirhams, while foreign direct investment
fell 30.4% to 12.3 billion dirhams, the regulator said.

 

 

 

 

Mali says cotton output to reach 1 mln tonnes, eyes new varieties

GENEVA (Reuters) - Major African cotton producer Mali expects to increase
output to 1 million tonnes annually within two to three years as it mulls
new cotton varieties to boost yields, its agriculture minister said in an
interview on Monday.

 

Mali is targeting a record 2019/20 cotton crop of 800,000 tonnes this year
which is expected to make it the top producer in Africa, edging out rival
Burkina Faso.

 

“We are currently projecting 1 million tonnes in the next two to three
years,” Agriculture Minister Moulaye Ahmed Boubacar said on the sidelines of
a cotton conference at Geneva’s World Trade Organization (WTO). He said Mali
had no plans to consider genetically modified cotton varieties, citing
difficulties with the quality faced by neighbour Burkina Faso.

 

“We have options to increase our yields without resorting to genetically
modified cotton,” he added. “We are currently Africa’s top producer and we
intend to stay that way.”

 

Another member of the Malian delegation specified that research was underway
on new varieties, without giving further details about them or when they
would be introduced.

 

The so-called “Cotton 4” African producers - Mali, Chad, Benin and Burkina
Faso - are meeting with other member states at the World Trade Organization
in Geneva this week to discuss measures to promote trade.

 

One of the key topics they hope to address is the reduction or removal of
billions of dollars of state subsidies which they say create an uneven
playing field for exporters.

 

The United States and Brazil are the world’s top exporters of cotton, with
C4 countries together ranking in fifth position with about 1 million tonnes
in annual exports, a WTO document showed.

 

But proportionally cotton is a bigger contributor to African producers’
budgets and they are also taking steps to encourage more investment in
creating African textiles, rather than just exporting raw cotton.

 

 

 

Tripoli gov't gives Libya's NOC $1 billion in funding

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya’s internationally recognised government said it
had allocated 1.5 billion Libyan dinars ($1.06 billion) for the National Oil
Corporation (NOC) to maintain oil production in 2019-2020, according to a
resolution shared with journalists on Saturday. 

 

The resolution said 1.2 billion dinars was allocated “for projects that
contribute in maintenance of current production rates and increase the
productive capacity of the oil and gas sector”. A further 300 million was
allocated for pay the NOC’s obligations to other companies. 

 

The resolution stated that the Central Bank deposit the sum in “an emergency
account” for the NOC to spend as planned.

 

It also said the money would be drawn from fees imposed since 2018 on sales
of foreign exchange, in a bid to end the gap between the official and
parallel foreign exchange markets. 

 

Libya’s current oil production is around 1.3 million barrels per day.

 

The NOC has frequently complained in the past that it was not receiving
sufficient funding from the Tripoli based Government of National Accord
(GNA).

 

Last week it said in a statement that production was expected to be severely
affected if it did not get the budget funding it needed from the government.

 

The NOC also said the government “reduced the approved budget of the
Corporation and its companies twice” this year without prior notice.

 

OPEC member Libya’s oil production has fluctuated sharply in recent years
due to attacks, protests and political conflict in the turmoil following the
country’s 2011 uprising.

 

The country has been split since 2014 between rival camps based in Tripoli
and the east, though the NOC in Tripoli has continued to control oil
production, with revenues flowing through the central bank in the capital.

 

($1 = 1.4120 Libyan dinars)

 

 

 

 

Australia's Fortescue confirms bid to develop Guinea iron ore

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group confirmed on Monday
that it has submitted a bid to develop two blocks in the giant Simandou iron
ore deposit in Guinea.

 

Reuters reported on Friday that Fortescue and Guinea’s biggest bauxite
exporter SMB-Winning were the last two bidders in the running for the rights
to develop the two blocks.

 

A Guinea government commission in charge of the international tender for
Simandou blocks 1 and 2 should come to a final decision in around a month,
the sources close to the commission said last week.

 

“Consistent with our active business development program, Fortescue is
interested in global opportunities in iron ore and other commodities which
align with our strategy and expertise,” Fortescue Chief Executive Elizabeth
Gaines said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

 

“Following the release of information at a public meeting held in Guinea
last week, Fortescue confirms that it is participating in the tender for
Simandou Blocks 1 and 2. Details of Fortescue’s bid are confidential and
there is no guarantee that any bid submitted will be successful.”

 

Speculation emerged in July that Fortescue may be interested in the deposit
after chairman Andrew Forrest was pictured on social media among a group of
potential investors in a Liberian rail line.

 

Guinea has struggled for decades to develop the Simandou deposit which is
among the world’s biggest and contains billions of tonnes of high-grade iron
ore, increasingly in demand as steel mills try to lower carbon emssions.

 

Simandou has been mired in protracted legal disputes, while the high cost of
infrastructure to transport the ore out of the remote southeastern corner of
Guinea has also put a dampener on potential developers’ enthusiasm.

 

The government insists that ore from Simandou must be exported through
Guinea, requiring the developer to build a 650 km (400 mile) railway to
Guinea’s coast as well as a deep-water port, taking the overall cost of
developing the deposit to an estimated $23 billion.

 

Simandou blocks 3 and 4 are owned by a joint venture of Rio Tinto, China
Aluminium Corp (Chinalco), and the Guinean government.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daryl Morey backtracks after Hong Kong tweet causes Chinese backlash

A number of NBA teams, including the Rockets have worn uniforms with Chinese
characters to help promote the game in China

The general manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team has apologised
after a tweet in support of Hong Kong protesters led to a Chinese backlash.

 

Daryl Morey's original tweet included an image captioned: "Fight For
Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong."

 

But the coach backpedalled after a fierce criticism from Chinese fans,
sponsors and commercial partners.

 

Chinese broadcasters and streaming platforms said they would no longer
broadcast Rockets games.

 

NBA games draw huge viewership in China, with millions watching games
primarily through streaming platforms. The Rockets have been popular since
the team signed Chinese star Yao Ming in 2002.

 

The Rockets and the National Basketball Association in the US quickly
distanced themselves from Mr Morey's tweet.

 

 

The weekend saw riots over the mask ban, a second person shot, and tear gas
fired at protesters

And, in a follow-up statement, Mr Morey said he had reconsidered his
position. "I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of
one complicated event," he wrote.

 

"I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other
perspectives.

 

"I have always appreciated the significant support our Chinese fans and
sponsors...I would hope that those who are upset will know that offending or
misunderstanding them was not my intention.

 

"My tweets are my own and in no way represent the Rockets or the NBA."

 

Hong Kong has seen months of protests - sparked by an extradition law that
has since been withdrawn - that have grown increasingly violent.

 

What's the reaction?

Mr Morey's original tweet, sent on Friday, caused uproar in China.

 

On Sunday, the Chinese Basketball Association suspended cooperation with the
Houston Rockets, as did Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning.

 

Daryl Morey, who has a degree in computer science, is regarded as an
innovative figure in the NBA

The club's sponsor in China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, suspended
co-operation, too.

 

And Chinese state broadcaster CCTV and Tencent Holdings, which streams NBA
games in China, both said they would stop broadcasting Rockets matches.

 

Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta tweeted that Morey didn't speak for the team,
which he said was "not a political organisation". Rockets player James
Harden said: "We apologise. We love China."

 

The NBA described Mr Morey's comments as "regrettable" and acknowledged he
had "deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China".

 

"We have great respect for the history and culture of China and hope that
sports and the NBA can be used as a unifying force."

 

And, in a lengthy Facebook post, Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai criticised Mr
Morey for his "damaging" tweet, saying he misjudged how strongly many
Chinese people felt about Hong Kong.

 

The Canadian, who is also the vice-chairman of Chinese ecommerce giant
Alibaba, said he had "spent a good part of my professional life in China".

 

"There are certain topics that are third-rail issues [untouchable] in
certain countries, societies and communities," he went on.

 

"Supporting a separatist movement in a Chinese territory is one of those
third-rail issues, not only for the Chinese government, but also for all
citizens in China."

 

Mr Tsai said the damage from Mr Morey's tweet "will take a long time to
repair". He added that 1.4 billion Chinese citizens "stand united when it
comes to the territorial integrity of China" and the issue "is
non-negotiable".

 

Political backlash

The NBA zone defence over Mr Morey's tweet provoked accusations from
Democratic and Republican lawmakers that the league was bowing to Beijing
instead of supporting democracy.

 

Former US presidential hopeful - and Rockets fan - Ted Cruz accused the NBA
of "shamefully retreating" in pursuit of profit.

 

Mr Cruz said he was proud to see Mr Morey "call out the Chinese Communist
Party's repressive treatment of protestors in Hong Kong".

 

Fellow Republican Senator Ben Sasse called the NBA's response "shameful" in
a statement.

 

"The NBA wants money, and the Communist Party of China is asking them to
deny the most basic of human rights. In response, the NBA issued a statement
saying money is the most important thing."

 

Democratic presidential hopeful Julian Castro tweeted that the US must "not
allow American citizens to be bullied by an authoritarian government".

 

Other Democrats, including Mr Castro's 2020 rival Andrew Yang and
congressman Eric Swalwell also criticised the NBA's move.--BBC

 

 

 

Pizza Express set for talks over £1bn debt pile

Pizza Express has reportedly hired financial advisers ahead of a meeting
with lenders to review its debt situation.

 

The 470-store chain made losses for the last two years as its operating
profits were more than offset by high interest payments on its £1.1bn debt
pile.

 

Sales in the UK and in its 150 overseas restaurants both fell last year.

 

Founded in 1965, Pizza Express employs 14,000 people and is now owned by
Chinese private investment firm Hony.

 

The Chinese company bought it from UK private equity firm Cinven in 2014.
Few companies emerge from private equity deals without being laden with
borrowing.

 

Interestingly, Pizza Express uses exactly the same font and layout for its
financial statements as it does for its menus. Unlike the menu, however,
there are some quite unappetising items in its financials.

 

Most off-putting of all, of course, is the enormous debt number. The
interest on that £1.1bn is costing the company £93m a year, which wiped out
all its operating profit last year - and then some.

 

In fact, the debt payments have pushed Pizza Express into the red for the
last two years with a loss of £55m last year alone.

 

'No imminent danger'

The frustrating thing for the business is that it is making a reasonable
amount of cash. It's for that reason, its auditors were happy to conclude
the chain is a viable going concern when it signed off its accounts in April
this year despite the company's debts being worth more than its assets.

 

To be clear, Pizza Express is not in imminent danger of going bust. It has
until 2021 before it needs to start paying back £600m to its outside
creditors. (The other £500m is a loan from its Chinese owners).

 

But debt is a serial company killer - just ask Carillion or Thomas Cook. It
can suffocate a company, so the earlier you try and address the issue the
better.

 

Bonds in Pizza Express are selling for 84p for every £1 worth of loan. That
means that investors do not think those lenders will get all their money
back.

 

The casual dining sector is littered with names which have been through some
sort of insolvency process. Prezzo, Byron, Carluccio's needed to close
stores and ask creditors to agree to rent reductions, while Jamie's Italian
went bust.

 

If Pizza Express is going to last another 50 years some sort of debt
restructuring looks inevitable. Getting it done in a brutal high street
environment will not be straightforward.--BBC

 

 

 

Unilever to cut plastic use to appeal to Gen Z

Unilever, which owns brands such as Surf and PG Tips, says it plans to halve
the amount of new plastic it uses in a bid to appeal to younger shoppers.

 

The firm is responsible for producing 700,000 tonnes of new plastic a year.

 

But Unilever plans to slash that figure over the next five years by using
more recycled plastic and finding other alternative materials.

 

Nevertheless, Unilever boss, Alan Jope, holds that plastic is a "terrific
material".

 

And he maintains that many of the alternatives are worse, saying: "A
hysterical move to glass may be trendy but it would have a dreadful impact
on the carbon footprint of packaging."

 

Why is plastic a problem?

Plastic or paper: Which bag is greener?

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Jope said Unilever, the UK's biggest food
producer and which also own dozens of health, beauty and cleaning brands,
was trying to remain relevant to younger consumers who worry about plastic
use.

 

He said millennials - normally thought of as those born between 1980 and
1995 - and Generation Z, which is more poorly defined but generally
considered to be those born between the mid-1990s and 2010, cared about
"purpose and sustainability".

 

They also worry about "the conduct of the companies and the brands that
they're buying".

 

"This is part of responding to society but also remaining relevant for years
to come in the market."

 

He said there was "no paradox" between sustainable business and better
financial performance.

 

"We profoundly believe that sustainability leads to a better financial top
and bottom line."

 

200,000 bottles a minute

The move follows similar announcements by several other companies.

 

Procter & Gamble - which makes Fairy and Lenor - said in April that it
planned to halve the amount of plastic it used by 2030.

 

Meanwhile, Nestle announced that it would phase out all non-recyclable
plastics from its wrappers by 2025 and Coca Cola has said that it will
double the amount of recycled plastic it uses in the 200,000 bottles it
makes every single minute by next year.

 

Now, Unilever has added its name to the list of firms promising to cut back
on plastic with a pledge to recycle as much plastic as it makes by 2025.

 

But Mr Jope said responsibility for reducing plastic could not fall to
industry alone.

 

He called on UK councils to harmonise recycling policies so that
manufacturers can make instructions clearer to consumers.

 

"If there was a standardised approach to collecting, sorting and processing,
I think it would allow industry to standardise labelling and make it easier
for people to segment their waste," he said.

 

Unilever, which is one of the largest companies in the UK, has insisted that
changing its packaging would not push up prices.

 

Richard Kirkman, the chief technology officer for waste management giant
Veolia, said plants had seen an increase in the amount of packaging that was
"really hard" to recycle.

 

"Now we need to work with manufacturers to change the way they design things
in the first place," he said.--BBC

 

 

 

 

Drax: Block on power station development overruled

Four new gas-fired turbines at Drax power station have been approved by the
UK government – against a ruling from its Planning Inspectorate.

 

The turbines are to replace coal-fired units, but the inspectorate said they
should be blocked because of their impact on climate change.

 

Environmentalists argued that emissions from the turbines would contribute
to breaching climate targets.

 

But the government said fossil fuel generation will still be needed.

 

It said the planning system shouldn’t make decisions on the issue.

 

Environmentalists say the announcement suggests the government is not
serious in its pledge to become a zero carbon economy.

 

The original decision from the inspectorate took into account climate change
concerns for the first time.

 

It heard that the new gas plant would produce as much as 75% of all the
emissions projected for the electricity sector.

 

The inspectors concluded this would undermine UK climate policies. They also
noted that several other gas generation projects had been approved already.

 

But in a letter, Andrea Leadsom, Secretary for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy, said the other projects might not go ahead.

 

She said she took into account energy security and affordability, as well as
carbon emissions.

 

Some fossil fuels would be needed, especially to balance out intermittent
power from renewables, she said. The secretary also noted that Drax would
have substantial battery storage.

 

And the new gas plant would be engineered to allow carbon capture equipment
to be fitted in the future.

 

'Carbon budget blowout'

Environmentalists point out that carbon capture technology has been
available for decades, but barely used.

 

The green legal group ClientEarth said the approval of Drax would take the
industry’s carbon emissions way over their projected limit.

 

The group's lawyer, Sam Hunter Jones, said: “The UK has already (approved)
more gas capacity than the government’s own forecasts estimate will be
required through to 2035.

 

“Approving Drax’s plant risks a carbon budget blowout, a huge stranded asset
requiring propping up by the taxpayer, or a combination of the two.”

 

The decision comes as Extinction Rebellion protestors are blockading streets
demanding tougher action on climate change.

 

The government is meeting current climate targets but veering away from
medium-term goals.

 

Last week, the energy regulator, Ofgem, confirmed that the rate of
decarbonisation slowed last year, when it’s supposed to be
accelerating.--BBC

 

 

 

 

Thomas Cook refund website sees 60,000 claims on day one

Thomas Cook customers who had booked holidays with the firm have submitted
60,000 refund forms in the first hours of operation since a special website
for the process was launched.

 

The Civil Aviation Authority said the process was now running smoothly after
initial delays caused by high demand.

 

Customers had complained they had tried to submit the claim form several
times, but kept receiving error messages.

 

The CAA blamed "unprecedented demand" and urged users to try later.

 

In total, the aviation regulator has to refund some 360,000 customers.

 

It will take 60 days for people to get their money back, the CAA said.

 

"We would like to thank Thomas Cook customers for their patience during the
peak claims period earlier today," the CAA said in a tweet.

 

Several people told the BBC earlier on Monday that they had completed the
form, but when they tried to submit it they received a message telling them
"an unhandled fault occurred while processing this flow. Please contact your
administrator".

 

Joly Shapley told the BBC he had tried to put in his claim at 08:16 BST, but
with no success.

 

"At 8:20 am I called their helpline and after 10 minutes I got through to a
call handler who... suggested I try later. She assured me [there was] no
problem making multiple attempts but told me that she was not allowed to
take my claim over the phone.

 

"Since then I have made seven further attempts to complete this online form.
Sadly, although the CAA had extra time to prepare this process it appears to
be too fragile for its purpose," he said.

 

Sue Nicolson said she had tried to submit her claim a dozen times.

 

"The 60-day timescale for refunds only starts once they have received the
claim, so how much longer are we going to have to wait for the thousands of
pounds we are owed for a holiday we were supposed to depart for this
Friday?," she said.

 

The CAA said people who had paid by direct debit would get their money back
by 14 October.

 

Anyone who bought a package holiday with Thomas Cook will be covered by the
Air Travel Organiser's Licence scheme (Atol). Customers would have received
an Atol certificate when they booked. This means the cost of any holiday
booked with the collapsed firm will be refunded.

 

The CAA launched the refund website as the final flight bringing
holidaymakers back by emergency repatriation landed on Monday morning.

 

The few remaining passengers who did not return on a CAA-organised flight
will have to make their own plans, although those covered by the Atol scheme
will be refunded.

 

CAA chair Dame Deirdre Hutton said she was "deeply relieved" that "Operation
Matterhorn", the two-week operation to return 150,000 passengers to the UK
after the package tour company collapsed last month, was over.

 

"Staff worked like Trojans 24 hours a day to help everyone, but that was
only task one, now it's task two," she said, referring to the refund
process.

 

Staff left without pay

Meanwhile, staff of the collapsed firm have not been paid for September and
have to apply for their salary and redundancy related payments to the
Insolvency Service's Redundancy Payment Service (RPS).

 

About 9,000 staff in the UK were left jobless when the business failed to
secure a last-ditch rescue deal.

 

The travel firm collapsed in the early hours of 23 September, after failing
to obtain rescue funds from its banks.

 

An inquiry has been launched by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Committee, with MPs focussing on the directors' stewardship of the company.

 

The Financial Reporting Council, the accounting watchdog, will also
investigate the auditing of the company.--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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Telephone:    <tel:%2B263%204%202927658> +263 4 2927658

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 719 441 674

Alt. Email:              <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw 

Website:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AF
QjCNH8LYgdY55h-XKseuM8Kpr-JKdfhQ> www.bulls.co.zw

Blog:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw%2Fblog&sa=D&sntz=1
&usg=AFQjCNFoIy6F9IXAiYnSoPSgWDYsr8Sqtw> www.bulls.co.zw/blog

Twitter:                 @bullsbears2010

LinkedIn:              Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

Facebook:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimba
bwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA>
www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:                  Bulls.Bears 

Whatsapp Group:   <https://chat.whatsapp.com/CF6wllAfScU9Wr6dXxoQnO> Click
Here to Join

 



 

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