Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 27 August 2020

Thu Aug 27 05:42:43 CAT 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 27 August 2020

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ü  Nigeria says Q3 and Q4 GDP to reflect further economic slowdown -presidency

ü  S.Africa approves AngloGold's Harmony sale but with conditions

ü  Botswana sees risk of no De Beers sales deal by end-2020

ü  ArcelorMittal South Africa declares force majeure after blast furnace breakdown

ü  Wage talks with Kumba Iron Ore hit deadlock, union says

ü  South Africa consumer inflation rises to 3.2% y/y in July

ü  Market doubts as S.Africa's Nedbank hopes worst is over

ü  Drugmaker Adcock Ingram full-year HEPS falls marginally

ü  South Africa's rand nearly flat after two-day rally

ü  Food service group Bidcorp's FY profit falls 48.6%

ü  Coronavirus: UK worst hit among major economies

ü  Germany extends coronavirus pay top-up scheme

ü  Gatwick Airport plans to cut 600 jobs due to coronavirus

ü  Ant IPO: China's mighty financial group heads for a mega market debut

ü  No plan for a return to the office for millions of staff

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Nigeria says Q3 and Q4 GDP to reflect further economic slowdown -presidency

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria expects the third and fourth quarters to reflect the continued effects of a slowdown, after the economy contracted by 6.1% in the second quarter, the presidency said on Wednesday.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and top oil producer, faces its worst crisis in four decades due to low crude prices, and the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which hurt demand for its main export commodity.

“It is anticipated that while the third and fourth quarters will reflect continued effects of the slowdown, the fiscal and monetary policy initiatives being deployed by government in a phased process will be a robust response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said a statement issued by the presidency.

Policymakers face a raft of challenges. Inflation rose to 12.82% in July, its highest level in more than two years, and the unemployment rate stood at 27.1% in the second quarter.

Nigeria’s economy was already grappling with sluggish growth before the pandemic following a 2016 recession. The International Monetary Fund has said it sees Nigeria’s GDP falling 5.4% this year, while the government has said the economy may shrink by as much as 8.9%.

S.Africa approves AngloGold's Harmony sale but with conditions

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s mines ministry has given the green light for the sale of AngloGold Ashanti’s last remaining assets in the country to Harmony Gold on condition that it does not delist from the Johannesburg stock Exchange.

Harmony agreed in February to buy rival AngloGold Ashanti’s assets in South Africa, including Mponeng, the world’s deepest gold mine, for about $300 million.

Every sale in the mining industry in South Africa must be approved by the ministry under mineral resources rules in accordance with Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development regulations.

“The Department can confirm that an application in terms of Section 11 of the MPRDA has been received and was approved on 24 July,” the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) said via email.

The ministry said the granting of the application was based on a understanding between AngloGold Ashanti and the department that the company would not disinvest from the South African economy by delisting from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) or relocate its headquarters.

AngloGold had said in February it would consider moving its primary listing on the JSE as it streamlines its portfolio. But in August the company said moving its listing was no longer a priority amid the pandemic.

AngloGold said on Wednesday it had not yet received all necessary approvals and was still in talks with government.

“We remain in dialogue with the DMRE in relation to these, and will make the necessary disclosures once those engagements are concluded,” AngloGold Ashanti said.

Harmony Gold said: “We are continuing to engage with the DMRE and hope to conclude the transaction as soon as possible”.

Botswana sees risk of no De Beers sales deal by end-2020

GABORONE, Botswana (Reuters) - Botswana’s government said there is a risk it will be unable to renew a 10-year sales agreement with De Beers before the end of December, when the current one expires, as the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed negotiations.

“The ideal situation would be to end the talks by December but there are no guarantees that will happen,” Mmetla Masire, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Minerals, told Reuters in an interview late on Monday.

He said the government had resumed negotiations, but travel restrictions have slowed progress.

Leading diamond producer De Beers, part of Anglo American, said it could continue to operate under the existing agreement temporarily in the event of a delay.

“We remain focused on working with government regarding the next agreement and seeking to finalise it,” De Beers spokeswoman Kesego Okie said in an emailed response.

A deal is necessary for the Debswana Mining Company, jointly held by De Beers and Botswana’s government, as it provides the country with around two-thirds of its foreign exchange and makes up a fifth of its GDP.

For De Beers, a deal would provide another 10 years of clarity on the terms of its revenue from the source of 70% of its diamonds and 90% of its sales.

Any delay would set back President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s efforts to create jobs in a country with high unemployment by boosting a fledgling diamond polishing and cutting industry.

In 2011, De Beers agreed to transfer its global sightholder sales, which account for 90% of its total sales, from London to Gaborone, generating investment and thousands of jobs in the southern African country.

Neither De Beers nor Masire would give details of the current negotiations.

Avi Krawitz, an analyst from Israel-based diamond information provider Rapaport, said a sticking point was likely to be the government’s wish to increase its share of diamonds produced by Debswana from the 15% agreed in 2011, or to get a larger share of bigger stones.

ArcelorMittal South Africa declares force majeure after blast furnace breakdown

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa has declared force majeure after a breakdown of a blast furnace at its Newcastle Works in KwaZulu-Natal province, it said on Wednesday.

The clause of force majeure, loosely translated as superior force, allows certain terms of an otherwise legally binding agreement to be ignored due to unavoidable circumstances.

Africa’s biggest steel producer, which is majority-owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal SA, said the blast furnace had suffered thermal damage and had been shut down for an estimated three weeks for repairs.

“The company has communicated with customers and has declared a force majeure in respect of the specific impact of this breakdown,” it said in a emailed response to Reuters.

ArcelorMittal, also the biggest steelmaker on the continent, produces close to 4.4 million tonnes of finished steel products in South Africa via four main steel plants.

Its Newcastle plant makes long steel products which are used in the construction industry and has a capacity of 1.9 million tonnes, or just over 150,000 tonnes monthly.

Its long products, produced from Newcastle and Vereeniging Works, contributed up to a third of its operating profit in 2019, according to the company’s annual report.

The company said it was unable to predict production losses due to the uncertainty around when it will be fixed.

“Every effort is being made to resolve the problem quickly and to restart production as soon as possible to limit the impact on customers,” it said.

A part of the production has been shifted to the Vaal Melt Shop at its Vereeniging Works plant, ArcelorMittal said.

Wage talks with Kumba Iron Ore hit deadlock, union says

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Wednesday said that wage negotiations with Kumba Iron Ore, owned by Anglo American, were deadlocked and the union had declared a dispute, a move that is one step short of a strike.

NUM, the majority union at Kumba, said the company had agreed a wage increase of 8% for the lowest-paid workers and 6.5% for the highest-paid, but the two parties had disagreed over sick leave.

“The company policy on sick leave provides workers with 120 days. To our dismay, in a round of negotiations, the company wants to do away with the benefit,” the NUM said in a statement.

The union’s declaration of a dispute means that a protected strike could go ahead if conciliation talks between the parties mediated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration fail to break the impasse.

Kumba, which has mining operations in the Northern Cape province and a port operation in Saldanha Bay, said it was continuing negotiations with NUM.

“We trust that we will be able to reach an amicable solution soon, which will be in the best interest of both the employees and the company,” Kumba Iron Ore said in an emailed statement.

Negotiations with the two other unions, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and Solidarity, which are representated at Kumba’s operations, have been concluded.

South Africa consumer inflation rises to 3.2% y/y in July

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s headline consumer inflation quickened to 3.2% year-on-year in July from 2.2% in June, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Wednesday.

On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price index was at 1.3% in July from 0.5% in the previous month.

Core inflation, which excludes prices of food, non-alcoholic beverages, fuel and energy, was also 3.2% year-on-year in July compared with a rate of 3.0% in June. On a month-on-month basis core inflation rose, to 0.7% from 0.3% previously.

Market doubts as S.Africa's Nedbank hopes worst is over

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Nedbank said on Wednesday it hoped the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were over after half-year profits fell almost 70%, but its shares fell as traders tended towards a more pessimistic view.

The lender, which last week flagged a hit to its interim profits from bad debt charges, said on Wednesday its full-year profits would be at least 20% lower.

But its results statement said it hoped the “worst impacts of COVID-19 and the (Great Lockdown Crisis) are behind us” and Nedbank Chief Executive Mike Brown said data showed some activities returning towards pre-lockdown levels.

“We expect H2 credit losses to be lower than H1,” he said, adding a provision taken for potential future loan losses should not recur, although any forecasts were subject to uncertainty.

Nedbank’s credit impairment charge increased 202% to almost 7.7 billion rand ($458 million) during the six months to June 30.

This lowered its headline earnings per share - the main profit measure in South Africa - to 438 cents, versus 1,435 cents a year earlier.

Last week, it warned of a HEPS fall to between 402 and 472 cents.

Around 3 billion rand of the charge was a provision for future possible losses, less than made by some peers, such as Absa, which took a heftier hit upfront.

While investors cheered Absa’s approach, Nedbank’s shares closed almost 5.7% lower on Wednesday.

“Banks are finding market support for taking an extra conservative approach,” Stuart Theobald, chairman at research house Intellidex, said.

Brown said Nedbank would consider dividends when guidance changed from the central bank, which has asked lenders to halt payouts to preserve capital during the COVID-19 crisis.

He added during the lender’s results presentation that as long as the guidance on dividends is removed, Nedbank’s economic forecasts play out and key performance metrics are within guided ranges, the lender anticipated returning to dividends by the first half of 2021.

($1 = 16.7955 rand)

Drugmaker Adcock Ingram full-year HEPS falls marginally

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd on Wednesday posted a marginal decrease of 1% in annual headline earnings per share (HEPS) and scrapped its dividend for the year.

HEPS, the main profit measure for companies in South Africa, came in at 417.5 South African cents ($0.2483) for the year to June 30.

The drugmaker was declared essential service during the lockdown imposed in South Africa from March-end to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

South Africa's rand nearly flat after two-day rally

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand was mostly unchanged in early trade on Wednesday, after two days of gains driven by bumper risk appetite on global markets.

At 0650 GMT, the rand traded at 16.8550 versus the U.S. dollar, 0.1% weaker than its previous close.

Traders awaited local inflation data around 0800 GMT for clues about price dynamics in Africa’s most industrialised economy.

Economists polled by Reuters predict the consumer price index likely rose to 3.1% in July from 2.2% a month earlier, moving further away from a more than 15-year low struck in May.

South Africa’s central bank has cut interest rates by 300 basis points since the start of the year in response to fading price pressures and a weak economic outlook because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But many economists now expect rates to remain on hold at their current level of 3.5% into next year.

NKC Research analysts said in a note that favourable global market sentiment was shielding the rand from “a brittle fiscal position and worsening debt burden”.

Government bonds were little changed, with the yield on the 2030 instrument 0.5 basis point higher at 9.295%.

Food service group Bidcorp's FY profit falls 48.6%

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Food services firm Bid Corporation Ltd (Bidcorp) reported a 48.6% decline in full-year earnings on Wednesday, as hotels, restaurants and pubs closed during lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The South African company, spun off from Bidvest in 2016, said headline earnings per share (HEPS) from continuing operations fell to 741.3 cents from 1,443.6 cents in 2019.

HEPS is a widely used profit measure that excludes one-off items to give a better indication of the underlying performance of a business.

Coronavirus: UK worst hit among major economies

The UK was the hardest hit by Covid-19 among major economies from April to June, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has said.

Its economy suffered its biggest slump on record over the three-month period as coronavirus lockdown measures pushed the country officially into recession.

Its 20.4% contraction was well above the 9.8% drop for the 37 OECD nations as a whole, the think tank said.

Spain was the next worst hit, with a decline of 18.5%.

The decline for the OECD area was its largest on record, far outstripping the 2.3% drop recorded in the first three months of 2009, at the height of the financial crisis.

At the same time, the G7 group of industrialised nations suffered a contraction of 10.9%, while the eurozone saw a 12.1% fall.

Among other G7 nations, second-quarter GDP declined by 13.8% in France, while Italy, Canada and Germany suffered falls of 12.4%, 12% and 9.7% respectively.

When the UK published its second-quarter GDP figures earlier this month, Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the BBC that the government was "grappling with something that is unprecedented" and that it was "a very difficult and uncertain time".

He said the UK economy had performed worse than its EU counterparts because it was focused on services, hospitality and consumer spending.

But shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds blamed Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the scale of the economic decline, saying: "A downturn was inevitable after lockdown - but Johnson's jobs crisis wasn't."

>From Madrid to Manchester, the empty streets at the height of spring laid bare the economic impact of measures to halt the spread of the virus.

And now the OECD has put numbers to the bigger picture; it thinks the wealthiest nations, those accounting for the bulk of global trade, shrank four times faster between April and June than during the darkest period of the financial crisis.

And with its reliance on the worst hit sectors - shopping, services and hospitality - the UK suffered one the biggest drops.

But that was then. As restrictions have been eased, shutters lifted, attention has turned to the strength of the recovery.

In the UK, the evidence is mixed: retail spending is back to pre-crisis levels (albeit with some winners and losers) but other sectors continue to struggle. Economists expect it may take a couple of years for the economy to get fully back on track, some fear unemployment could spike to 10% , or even higher, in the meantime.

And we may not be alone: the OECD reckons the convalescence of many other nations could be just as drawn out.--BBC

Germany extends coronavirus pay top-up scheme

Germany has agreed to extend a scheme that tops up pay for workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic by another year.

As well as prolonging short-term work subsidies, coalition parties also agreed to continue financial help for small and medium-sized companies.

It was announced on Tuesday that the German economy contracted by a record 9.7% in the April-to-June quarter.

The figure was revised from an earlier estimate of a 10.1% contraction.

The decision to extend the support measures came after seven hours of talks between politicians of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and their centre-left coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD).

Short-time work subsidies had been due to expire in March 2021, but were extended until the end of next year.

These protect jobs by allowing employers to reduce employees' hours while keeping them in work. The state helps to cushion the economic blow for affected workers.

This scheme, known in German as Kurzarbeit, has often been credited with helping limit the rise in unemployment in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008-09.

Bridging aid for small and medium-sized firms had been due to end this month, but will now run until the end of this year.

How are other economies dealing with the downturn?

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told German television the extensions could cost up to €10bn (£9bn).

Other countries are faced with similar challenges as they count the cost of coping with the coronavirus crisis, but some have chosen different approaches.

In the UK, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has repeatedly insisted that there will be no extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which allows firms to put workers on furlough without making them redundant.

The scheme, which cost £6.9bn to operate in July, is being wound down ahead of its closure at the end of October.

Under the scheme, workers get 80% of their salaries paid for by the government - up to £2,500 a month.

But since the start of this month, firms have had to start contributing to the scheme by paying employees' national insurance and pension contributions.--BBC

Gatwick Airport plans to cut 600 jobs due to coronavirus

Gatwick Airport has revealed plans to cut a quarter of its workforce due to the impact of coronavirus.

About 600 jobs could be lost following an 80% reduction in the number of passengers.

The airport is running at about 20% its usual capacity for August, with only the North Terminal open.

Chief Executive Stewart Wingate said the cuts were a result of the "devastating impacts" coronavirus had on the airline and travel industries.

In March, the airport announced 200 jobs would be lost and it later took out a £300m bank loan. With the collapse in passenger numbers, the company said it was looking to further reduce costs.

About 75% of staff are currently on the government's furlough scheme, which is due to end in October.

Employees will be formally consulted on the restructuring plans before any jobs are lost.

'Left reeling'

Regional manager of the union Unite, Jamie Major, said 600 jobs amounted to roughly a quarter of the workforce directly employed at Gatwick.

He said: "This is a bitter blow for the workers and once again highlights the chronic failure of the government to support the aviation sector, despite promises way back in March that it would do so.

"Unite will be entering into formal negotiations with Gatwick Airport to ensure that redundancies are minimised and that all redundancy procedures are fair and fully transparent."

He said the workforce had been left reeling and the scale of job losses was having a devastating effect on the local community and economy.

The company, which is owned by VINCI Airports and Global Infrastructure Partners, was talking to the government about support for the aviation industry and a new system to give passengers "greater certainty on where and when they can safely travel abroad," Mr Wingate said.

Airport bosses said: "The proposed organisation redesign will reshape the company so it is best placed to respond quickly to future growth."

Gatwick's announcement follows the news that British Airways will make hundreds of job cuts at the airport in West Sussex.

'Economic devastation'

Crawley council leader Peter Lamb said support was needed to stop the decline of the aviation industry - a major employer in the town.

He called on the government to continue the furlough scheme for industries which are affected by ongoing coronavirus restrictions.

Thousands of job losses had already been announced at the airport, with many more to come "unless the government provides us with the targeted deal for aviation we have repeatedly requested".

A large number of redundancies at the airport would have a knock-on effect for any local business that "relies upon consumer spending," he warned.

"We are talking about a generation of the town's young people having their economic future devastated," he added.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We understand this will be distressing news for Gatwick Airport's employees and their families, and we will do everything we can to support them at this difficult time.

"If people need financial support quickly they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Jobseekers Allowance.

"The government recognises the impact that the coronavirus is having on the economy and workers, and we have put together an extensive package of financial support."

The government also said it had supported the aerospace and aviation sectors with over £8.5 billion in grants, loans and export guarantees.--BBC

Ant IPO: China's mighty financial group heads for a mega market debut

Chinese financial technology group Ant has unveiled plans for a stock market debut that may raise a record $30bn (£23bn).

The company, affiliated with online retail giant Alibaba, says it will sell shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The announcement comes amid rising tensions as the Trump administration cracks down on Chinese firms.

While many in the West won't have heard of Ant, it is best known in China for the mobile payments powerhouse Alipay.

What is Ant Group?

Headquartered in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, Ant was launched in 2004 by e-commerce giant Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma.

Since then Alipay has become China's dominant mobile payments business.

Along with mobile payments, more than 700m people a month and 80m businesses use the service to pay bills, buy insurance and invest in mutual funds.

Meanwhile Alibaba, which owns a 33% stake in Ant, is increasingly folding its services into the Alipay app.

David Dai, senior analyst at asset managers Bernstein in Hong Kong, told the BBC why the company is such a major player in China's digital payments industry.

"Together with Tencent, Ant processes some 200 trillion RMB (£22.5tn; $28.8tn) of payment and transfers annually. That's more volume than Visa and Mastercard combined."

But, according to the company's own online profile, it's not size that matters but longevity: "We do not pursue size or power; we aspire to be a good company that will last for 102 years."

How big could the share sale be?

While Ant's announcement didn't reveal its valuation of the company or how much it plans to raise in its stock market debut, analysts see the firm being worth as much as $300bn. That would give it a valuation higher than many of America's biggest banks.

"I expect Ant to get to a $250bn to $300bn market capitalisation. Compare that with Citigroup which I believe is a little above $100bn. The world's largest financial Institutions are now in China," Shaun Rein from China Market Research Group told the BBC.

With the company expected to sell shares equating to a stake of between 10% and 15%, it could be the biggest Initial Public Offering (IPO) in history.

"Ant will raise around $30bn and I think will be the world's largest IPO ever, beating out Saudi Arabia's Aramco from last year that went public just north of $29bn," Mr Rein added.

Why is the location of the IPO important?

Ant Group plans to make its market debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Star board, which is seen as the Chinese equivalent of America's Nasdaq, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

While the company has not said why it picked those stock exchanges, it is notable that it did not choose to list in the US or one of the major European financial centres.

The announcement came at a time of rising tensions between Beijing and Washington over a range of issues including China's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the Hong Kong security law and their ongoing trade dispute.

The Trump administration has recently increased its attacks on Chinese technology companies in the US as the president signed two executive orders to ban video-sharing app TikTok and messaging platform WeChat.

Bao Vu, investment director at RE Lee Capital, told the BBC why Ant choosing Shanghai and Hong Kong is a major win for China's financial services industry: "The location of the listing is very important to China's ambition to have an alternative to the US exchanges."

"If the listing is successful, it would pave the way for other technology firms to list outside the US, which is the only real alternative at the moment," he added.--BBC

No plan for a return to the office for millions of staff

Fifty of the biggest UK employers questioned by BBC have said they have no plans to return all staff to the office full-time in the near future.

Some 24 firms said that they did not have any plans in place to return workers to the office.

However, 20 have opened their offices for staff unable to work from home.

It comes as many employees return to work from the summer holidays with the reality of a prolonged period of home working becoming increasingly likely.

The BBC questioned 50 big employers ranging from banks to retailers to get a sense of when they expected to ask employees to return to the office.

One of the main reasons given for the lack of a substantial return was that firms could not see a way of accommodating large numbers of staff while social distancing regulations were still in place.

Many companies said they were offering choice and flexibility to those who want to return, particularly in the banking and finance sectors.

A few firms have already announced they have no plans to return to the office until late autumn, and Facebook has said it does not plan a return of employees until July 2021.

Some smaller businesses are deciding to abandon their offices altogether. Tara Tomes runs a PR agency with an office in the heart of Birmingham's business district.

Her team of eight cannot fit in the space they have if they are to obey social distancing guidelines and she will not be renewing the office lease in September.

"I personally don't want to force my team back onto public transport," she told the BBC.

"Not having four walls around us won't change the dynamic or culture of the team. If anything it will make us more pioneering in the way the world of work is going."

She said that the money saved on rent and utilities and the time spent not commuting were other benefits to giving up the office.

Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street acknowledged that the challenges facing city centre businesses were grave but said he was hopeful the climate would gradually improve.

"This is undeniably a very difficult situation for businesses that thrive on the back of the big office occupiers being there. What we are trying to do is steadily build confidence that it is safe to return to the city centre."

He said Birmingham's transport system was currently carrying about 20% of pre-covid numbers but that he hoped this would rise to 50% over the autumn.

Still, that means that city centre footfall - which is the lifeblood of businesses that rely on office workers and commuters - would in the best case scenario be half of what it is in normal times.

That may be cold comfort to Naomi and her brother James who opened up a new coffee shop in the heart of Birmingham's business district earlier this year. They are now getting less than a fifth of the trade they were banking on.

"It's been devastating really," Naomi told the BBC. "Office workers are absolutely critical to us. We are hoping things improve in September but if they don't we will have to rethink the whole business."

It is, however, too soon to announce the death of the office, according to Rob Groves from office developer Argent, which has just completed the construction of 120,000 feet of office space in Birmingham's Chamberlain Square.

While he admitted that some would-be tenants were pressing the pause button, he also insisted there would always be a need for a workplace where people could congregate and collaborate.

"I'd like to challenge people saying they will never need an office and ask them in 12-18 months time whether that was the right decision or just a reaction to what's happening now."

One of Argent's blue chip tenants agrees. Accounting and consultancy firm PwC has just moved into the property next door. It is supposed to house 2,000 people but is currently catering to just 150 each day.

Nevertheless, Matthew Hammond, chairman of the Midlands region for PwC, said that the office was a must have, particularly for younger workers.

"We have colleagues who may be working at the end of their bed or on a return unit in their kitchen. That is not sustainable or healthy for the longer term. As employers we invest a huge amount in providing the right environment, the right seating, the right technology so people can be at their most productive."

Not everyone has deep enough pockets to afford such flexible working spaces. While many employees want the option of coming to the office, many now see home working as a right, according to Midlands recruitment specialist Kam Vara.

"For many candidates it's now a deal-breaker if there isn't an option for home working, and some are saying they want 100% home working with no physical contact with the office whatsoever."

The knock-on effects of these changes to the world of work could be enormous and long lasting. If people don't need to be in the office, they can be anywhere. And the cost of commuter season tickets and expensive suburban housing within commuting distance of big cities is an expense employers could deduct.

Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street is optimistic that what we are witnessing is simply an age old tale of urban evolution, with Covid-19 holding down the fast forward button.

"The calling of the death of the office is very premature. Cities have repurposed themselves before over decades... the coronavirus has just speeded it up."

That may be so, but the short term shock to the city business model feels more like a cardiac arrest than a gentle evolution. And the reluctance on the part of both workers and employers to return to the office poses a grave economic threat to the future of city centres.-BBC

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INVESTORS DIARY 2020

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

SeedCo International

AGM

Virtual (https://eagm.creg.co.zw/eagmzim/Login.aspx#)

26 August 2020 | 9am

SeedCo

AGM

Virtual (https://eagm.creg.co.zw/eagmzim/Login.aspx#)

28 August 2020 | 9am

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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