Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 28 December 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 28 December 2020

 


 

 

	
 


 

 


ü  Global shares edge up as Trump signs $2.3 trillion aid bill

ü  With just days to go, Britain urges business to prepare for end of Brexit
transition

ü  Big tech bets and cryptocurrencies power 2020's top U.S. funds

ü  China pushes Ant Group overhaul in latest crackdown on Ma

ü  Chinese banks to feel fund-raising pain as investors fear bad loans

ü  Alibaba increases share repurchase programme to $10 bln, shares fall

ü  BMW aims for 20% of its vehicles to be electric by 2023 -paper

ü  KFC launches game console with built-in chicken warmer

ü  Nigeria Loses N22.2bn to Gas, Others' Constraints in Power Sector

ü  Nigeria: Covid-19 - Don't Shut Businesses Over Surge in Cases, Group
Urges Nigerian Govt

ü  South Korean regulators put brakes on $4bn food delivery merger

ü  S.Africa's rand inches lower as local virus cases cross 1-mln mark

ü  China Online Education Startup Draws Alibaba in $1.6 Billion Funding
Round

ü  Nokia enters 5G deal with Thai mobile operator

 


 

 


Global shares edge up as Trump signs $2.3 trillion aid bill

TOKYO (Reuters) - Global shares climbed on Monday after U.S. President
Donald Trump signed into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending
package, backing down from his earlier threat to block the bipartisan bill.

 

Markets cheered the move as it will restore unemployment benefits to
millions of Americans and avert a federal government shutdown in the world’s
largest economy.

 

“As the coronavirus pandemic has shown little sign of abating, the emergency
aid was needed to avoid a sharp slowdown in the economy during the first
quarter,” said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, market strategist at Mizuho Securities.
“It would have been unsettling if we hadn’t had it by the end of year.”

 

U.S. S&P futures rose 0.62% in their first trade after Christmas holiday,
edging near a record touched last week.

 

The futures had earlier reversed losses after a cryptic tweet by Trump -
“Good news on Covid Relief Bill. Information to follow” - helped offset
worries about further delay in stimulus spendings.

 

European shares are expected to follow suit, with Euro Stoxx 50 futures
rising 0.42%, though many markets including London will be closed on Monday.

 

Japan’s Nikkei inched up 0.74%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan rose 0.20%, but trade is slow with many markets still closed.

 

“It is positive for markets that we no longer have a chaos over stimulus,
considering there was a chance of a partial government shutdown,” said
Masahiro Ichikawa, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.

 

“But on the other hand, markets have talked about that stimulus for a long
time and I would say most of it has been already priced in.”

 

U.S. bond yields edged up, with the 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield up 1.5
basis point at 0.945%.

 

The rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines are also bolstering hopes of more economic
normalisation next year, with Europe launching a mass vaccination drive on
Sunday.

 

That for now has offset alarms over a new highly infectious variant of the
virus that has been raging in the south-east of England and was confirmed in
many other countries, including Japan, France and Canada, over the weekend.

 

CURRENCIES AND COMMODITIES

Major currencies were little changed.

 

The dollar is widely expected to stay under pressure against other riskier
currencies as investors bet on continued recovery in the global economy and
a prolonged period of loose U.S. monetary policy.

 

The euro traded at $1.2221, a tad below its 2-1/2-year high of $1.22735,
while the yen changed hands at 103.42 per dollar.

 

The British pound changed hands at $1.3571, not far from a 2-1/2-year high
of $1.3625 hit earlier this month after Britain and the European Union
reached an agreement on trade framework after Brexit.

 

Precious metals were livelier as gold jumped more than 1% to $1,899.7 per
ounce and silver gained about 3% to $26.62 per ounce. [GOL/]

 

“The U.S. stimulus package will boost the economy and lead to risk-on trades
and a weaker dollar, which should support gold,” said Tatsufumi Okoshi, a
senior commodity strategist at Nomura Securities.

 

Bitcoin also extended gains over the weekend to reach a new high of
$28,377.94 before stepping back to $27,068, bringing the total value of the
cryptocurrency in circulation to over $500 billion.

 

Oil prices edged down a tad, with U.S. crude futures down 0.3% at $48.09 per
barrel. [O/R]

 

 

 

With just days to go, Britain urges business to prepare for end of Brexit
transition

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Monday urged businesses to prepare for Brexit,
just days before a transition period designed to smooth the UK’s departure
from the European Union comes to an end.

 

Britain and the EU clinched a trade deal on Thursday - one which preserves
zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the bloc’s single market but which will
still cause disruption.

 

The transition period, under which Britain stayed aligned to the EU’s
trading and regulatory rules, ends at 2300 GMT on Dec. 31.

 

“The deal is done, but with big change comes challenge and opportunity,”
cabinet office minister Michael Gove said in a statement, adding that
businesses need to adjust to Britain’s departure from the EU Single Market
and Customs Union.

 

“There are practical and procedural changes that businesses and citizens
need to get ready for, and time to make these final preparations is very
short.”

 

The transition period was initially agreed to keep existing trade ties
unchanged for 21 months after the original planned Brexit date of March 29,
2019.

 

But the period was not extended after Brexit was delayed until Jan. 31,
2020, and, with over 1,000 pages of trade agreement published in full on
Saturday, businesses have less than a week to adjust to the new rules.

 

Britain had urged businesses to make preparations for the end of the
transition period prior to the end of trade negotiations, saying many of the
changes they needed to make would apply regardless of the outcome of the
talks.

 

The government said that businesses needed to understand new rules on
importing and exporting goods between the EU and Great Britain, and the
different rules that apply to trade with Northern Ireland.

 

Businesses will also need to make customs declarations on EU trade, while
hauliers need a permit to go to ports in the county of Kent or risk a fine.

 

 

 

Big tech bets and cryptocurrencies power 2020's top U.S. funds

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Outsized bets on large U.S. technology companies and
emerging cryptocurrencies fueled the year’s top-performing U.S. mutual fund
and exchange-traded funds as the coronavirus pandemic upended global
markets, while funds that bet on oil and gas companies fell nearly 100%,
according to data from fund-tracker Morningstar.

 

The year was a challenge like few others for the $21.3 trillion mutual fund
and $4.4 trillion ETF industry. U.S. stocks plunged in March before staging
a more than 60% comeback, while bond yields hung near record lows for much
of the year after unprecedented moves by the Federal Reserve to backstop the
financial markets and keep interest rates low.

 

Overall, those who played risk assets were rewarded. The year’s best fund,
Grayscale Ethereum Trust, which holds ethereum, the world’s second-largest
cryptocurrency after bitcoin, soared 333.7% for the year through Dec. 9,
according to Morningstar.

 

The fund’s gains came during a retail-investor led rally in cryptocurrencies
that pushed total assets invested in crypto funds to a record $15 billion,
up from $2.57 billion at the end of 2019, according to digital asset manager
CoinShares.

 

Tech was another clear winner from the pandemic as people moved from offices
to work-from-home and conducted business by video call while ordering goods
online. The Bank of Montreal MicroSectors FANG+ 3X Leveraged ETN and the
Bank of Montreal MicroSectors FANG+ 2X Leveraged ETN - both of which use
leverage to invest in so-called FANG technology stocks such as Facebook Inc
and Netflix Inc - posted returns of 301.9% and 201.9% respectively, making
them the second- and third-best performing funds for the year through Dec.
9.

 

Among actively managed funds that do not use leverage, the ARK Innovation
ETF posted the best overall returns with a gain of 143.8%, followed by a
141.4% gain in the American Beacon ARK Transformational Innovation fund and
a 139.7% gain in the Morgan Stanley Institutional Discovery fund.

 

Nearly all of the top 10 performing U.S. stock funds run concentrated
portfolios that hold less than 50 stocks and in some cases have more than
10% of their assets in the shares of a single company, according to
Morningstar.

 

Those big bets helped pay off during a broad market rally that has pushed
several asset classes near all-time highs and brought the S&P 500 up more
than 65% since the lows it hit in mid-March when much of the U.S. economy
shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

 

“When fund management swings for the fences with big bets on a handful of
growth names they will hit home runs, but they might also strike out,” said
Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA.

 

The worst-performing funds, meanwhile, were those that took a long bet on
oil and gas stocks which plummeted this year from a collapse in demand which
briefly turned oil futures negative in April for the first time in history.

 

The Direxion Daily S&P Oil&Gas E&P 2X ETF fell 97.3% for the year, followed
by the Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Bear 2X ETF, which tumbled 95.5%
for the year.

 

Among actively managed equity funds, the Highland Small Cap Equity fund
posted the year’s worst return with a 51.1% decline.

 

The year’s top-performing intermediate core bond fund, meanwhile, was the
American Funds Strategic Bond fund with a 17.7% gain. The fund has roughly
43% of its portfolio in Treasuries, double the weight if its benchmark
index, according to Morningstar. Its performance was roughly 18 percentage
points ahead of the year’s worst performer in the category, the Putnam
Mortgage Securities A fund, which has roughly half of its portfolio in cash
and less than 1% of its assets in Treasuries.

 

 

 

China pushes Ant Group overhaul in latest crackdown on Ma

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s central bank disclosed on Sunday it had asked
the country’s payments giant Ant Group Co Ltd to shake up its lending and
other consumer finance operations, the latest blow to its billionaire
founder and controlling shareholder Jack Ma.

 

The announcement came more than a month after Chinese regulators abruptly
suspended Ant’s blockbuster $37 billion initial public offering in Shanghai
and Hong Kong, and only days after the country’s antitrust authorities said
they had launched a probe into Ma’s e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group
Holding Ltd.

 

Chinese regulators and Communist Party officials have set about reining in
Ma’s sprawling financial empire after he publicly criticized the country’s
regulatory system in October for stifling innovation.

 

Regulators have urged Ant to rectify financial regulatory violations,
including in its credit, insurance and wealth management businesses, and
overhaul its credit rating business to protect personal information,
People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Vice Governor Pan Gongsheng said on Sunday.

 

 

Pan’s comments stopped short of calling for a breakup of Ant, yet pointed to
a significant operational restructuring. Ant should set up a separate
holding company to ensure capital adequacy and regulatory compliance, Pan
said.

 

Ant should also be fully licensed to operate its personal credit business,
and be more transparent about its third-party payment transactions and not
engage in unfair competition, Pan added.

 

Ant said in a statement it would establish a “rectification” working group
and fully implement regulatory requirements.

 

 

Ant Group says it will establish working party to meet China regulator
demands

Ma was advised by the Chinese government to stay in the country, Bloomberg
News has reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Ma could not be
reached for comment.

 

Pan said Ant representatives met on Saturday with officials from the PBOC
and other Chinese banking, securities and foreign exchange regulators.

 

During the meeting, regulators pointed out Ant’s issues including its poor
corporate governance, defiance of regulatory demands, illegal regulatory
arbitrage, the use of its market advantage to squeeze out competitors, and
harming consumers’ legal interests, according to Pan.

 

 

Ant traces its beginnings to Alipay, which was launched in 2004 as a payment
service, and is 33% owned by Alibaba. Its Alipay app dominates digital
payments in China, with more than 730 million monthly users. The
Hangzhou-based company also built an empire connecting China’s borrowers and
lenders, securing short-term loans within minutes. It was poised to be
valued at more than $300 billion in its stock market debut.

 

Last month, China issued draft rules aimed at preventing monopolistic
behaviour by internet firms, and the Politburo this month vowed to
strengthen anti-monopoly efforts in 2021 and rein in “disorderly capital
expansion.”

 

China also warned internet giants this month to brace for increased
scrutiny, as it slapped fines and announced probes into mergers involving
Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd.

 

 

 

Chinese banks to feel fund-raising pain as investors fear bad loans

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese banks are expected to face headwinds raising
funds next year as profit-conscious investors cling to the sidelines,
expecting a wave of bad loans to hammer the sector and erode already
slimming margins.

 

The sector is ending its worst annual performance in years after putting
aside record provisions due to COVID-19 while Beijing urged banks to
sacrifice profits to help the economy.

 

Next year as lenders end pandemic-related loan forbearance - which let
borrowers suspend repayments or pay less in interest - banks must bolster
their capital against loans previously not classified as nonperforming.

 

Big and medium-sized lenders also need to improve their capital adequacy as
demanded by global and domestic watchdogs.

 

China’s banks raised 1.2 trillion yuan ($18 billion) in the first 11 months
of the year, off the pace of 1.5 trillion yuan for all of 2019, data from
Fitch Ratings shows.

 

The 26 listed banks may need to replenish at least 1.25 trillion yuan of
capital in 2021, Shenzhen-based brokerage Guosheng Securities estimates.

 

“The pressure of capital-raising for the whole banking industry is still
pretty big,” said Vivian Xue, Fitch’s director of Asia-Pacific financial
institutions. “China’s largest banks will need to raise substantial capital
or loss-absorbing debt over the next few years.”

 

The four largest - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China
Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China - face a
shortfall in this loss-absorbing debt of 4.7 trillion yuan by the end of
2024 to meet requirements set by the Basel-based Financial Stability Board,
according to Fitch.

 

In the scenario, Fitch assumes risk-weighted assets including loans will
grow 8% annually.

 

The Group of 20 big economies adopted “total loss-absorbing capacity” in
2015 as a standard to help ensure the world’s largest financial institutions
have the resources for any restructuring while minimising support from
public funds.

 

SMALLER BANKS

But China’s more than 4,000 smaller and unlisted banks have more acute
funding needs, analysts say, despite 200 billion yuan of local government
special bonds this year aimed at helping recapitalise regional banks.

 

“Smaller banks will have a bigger gap,” said analyst Wang Jian at Guosen
Securities.

 

Fund-raising tools include tier-two bonds, perpetual bonds for bigger banks,
public share offerings, strategic capital injections and government-led
investments for smaller lenders.

 

Despite the array of options, banks face challenges in gaining investors’
interest.

 

“Small banks will have trouble winning recognition from investors,” said
analyst Wang Yifeng at Everbright Securities.

 

Investors have been lukewarm to bank IPOs due to their poor share
performance, said Dai Zhifeng, an analyst with Zhongtai Securities.

 

Mainland banking shares have fallen 6.5% this year, even as China’s broader
market surged 22%.

 

Concern about credit risks at smaller lenders, following the seizure of
Baoshang Bank, has also chilled confidence in capital instruments issued by
regional banks, Dai said.

 

On the retail end of fund-raising, mainly via deposit products, big lenders
will be favoured over regional ones.

 

Urban and rural commercial banks will have a harder time attracting deposits
due to a weak client base and regulatory crackdowns on high-yield deposits.

 

($1 = 6.5302 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 

 

 

Alibaba increases share repurchase programme to $10 bln, shares fall

(Reuters) -Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd listed in Hong Kong fell on
Monday over 7% to HK$212.20 ($27.37) after the company raised its share
repurchase programme to $10 billion from $6 billion.

 

"This Share Repurchase Program will be effective for a two-year period
through the end of 2022," Alibaba said in a statement bwnews.pr/38IF0r7 late
on Sunday.

 

China’s market regulator launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba
last week, part of an accelerating crackdown on anticompetitive behaviour in
China’s booming internet space.

 

Financial regulators on Sunday also urged Ant Group Co, an Alibaba
affiliate, to rectify financial regulatory violations, after Chinese
regulators abruptly suspended Ant’s blockbuster $37 billion initial public
offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

 

Alibaba rival internet companies Meituan fell over 5% and JD.com dropped
more than 2%.

 

($1 = 7.7521 Hong Kong dollars)

 

 

 

BMW aims for 20% of its vehicles to be electric by 2023 -paper

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German luxury carmaker BMW is planning to step up its
production of electric vehicles, Chief Executive Oliver Zipse told German
daily Augsburger Allgemeine.

 

“We are significantly increasing the number of electric vehicles. Between
2021 and 2023, we will build a quarter of a million more electric cars than
originally planned”, Zipse told the newspaper’s Monday edition according to
a pre-released version.

 

BMW wants roughly every fifth car it sells to be powered by an electric
engine by 2023, Zipse said, compared to about 8% this year.

 

The manager also reiterated his call to speed up the expansion of charging
infrastructure.

 

“15,000 private and about 1,300 public charging points would have to be put
into operation every week as of today. Unfortunately, we are a long way from
that”, he told the paper.

 

 

 

KFC launches game console with built-in chicken warmer

Fast food chain KFC is launching a gaming console that warms up chicken.

 

"The chicken chamber will keep its contents hot, ready for consumption
during intense gaming sessions," KFC said.

 

The company said the console was designed by a global hardware maker and
could play top-level games like other gaming machines.

 

Many people thought the gaming console was a spoof marketing campaign when
it was revealed in June.

 

KFC said its new console had a custom-built cooling system that uses heat
produced by its components to warm the chicken chamber.

 

"This machine is capable of running games at top-level specs, all on top of
keeping your meal warm for you to enjoy during your gaming experience...
what's not to like?" KFC spokesman Mark Cheevers told the BBC.

 

"If Sony or Microsoft want any tips on how to engineer a chicken chamber for
their efforts next time, they'd be welcome to get in touch."

 

The fast food chain said it currently had no details on the expected price
of the gaming console or a release date.

 

In February, KFC and Crocs announced a limited edition shoe covered in a
fried chicken print.

 

'Our flagship entry'

The KFConsole advertising campaign began in June and gained more than 11
million views on the KFC Gaming Twitter page. Many people thought it was a
spoof.

 

But KFC confirmed its partnership with global hardware manufacturer Cooler
Master to develop the console.

 

It said it had gone through multiple stages of development which included
custom-built casing, creating the unique cooling system and integrating the
signature chicken chamber.

 

"We all know the console war is vicious, but we're very confident in the
KFConsole as our flagship entry," added Mr Cheevers.

 

In August KFC said it was halting its "Finger Lickin' Good" slogan given the
current hygiene advice around the coronavirus pandemic.--BBC

 

 

 

Nigeria Loses N22.2bn to Gas, Others' Constraints in Power Sector

Abuja — The Nigerian power sector has continued to suffer severe loss of
revenue due to gas as well as transmission and distribution constraints in
the electricity value chain, with the losses hitting N22.294 billion on
Christmas day, a 30-day review has showed.

 

The largely negative figures for the last 30 days from the Advisory Power
Team, which is resident in the office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo, also showed that with declining generation and distribution, many
Nigerian homes did not enjoy stable power supply during the ongoing
festivities.

 

According to latest data, with revenue leakages owing to constraints within
the system, including poor infrastructure, the country lost 1.548 megawatts
per hour of the 4.482 megawatts average energy generated from November 26 to
December 25, while the peak for the 30 days stood at 5.504mw, declining by
16 per cent compared to the previous month.

Insufficient gas supply, weak distribution and transmission infrastructure
accounted for the limited performance of the sector, the report from the
advisory power team stated.

 

Like in previous months, some of the power generating plants nationwide,
such as the Alaoji NIPP, Ihovbor NIPP, ASCO and AES, did not produce any
power. But Egbin, the largest power generation plant in the country,
performed the most, followed by Azura-Edo, Kainji, Jebba and Odukpani in
that order.

 

The data also indicated that Afam, Geregu, Omotosho, Trans-Amadi, Sapele
NIPP as well Omoku suffered limited performance due to limitation of gas
supply.

However, from December 19-25, the country lost N5.029 billion, with average
power generated for the week standing at 4,421 megawatts per hour, falling
by about 90.05 megawatts, compared to the previous week.

 

The huge gap in supply and demand of electricity in the country, however,
contrasted with comments by the Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman, who told
journalists a few days ago that since he assumed duties, power supply had
improved tremendously.

 

He stated that the Buhari administration had generated the highest power in
the history of Nigeria to the tune of over 115,065.78 MW, adding that the
country had also attained over 5,520.40 MW peak in the last few months.

 

The minister said in the power sector, 2020 was the year the nation's power
system had experienced the least system collapses which he said, would soon
undergo stability with the plan put in place by the federal government.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has
attempted to explain why the "eligible customer" policy of the federal
government, which gives high consuming entities to buy power directly from
Generation Companies (Gencos), rather than through the Distribution
Companies (Discos), appears to be failing.

 

In May 2017, the federal government had declared four categories of eligible
customers in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), as permitted
to buy power directly from the generation companies in line with the
provisions of Section 27 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005.

 

The policy was expected to bring into play new and stranded generation
capacities, which may be contracted between generation companies and
eligible customers.

 

However, NERC which made the clarification on the policy meant to bypass
some bottlenecks in supply, noted that since then, only two or three parties
had been cleared for the purpose.

 

Speaking during an online interactive session organised by the "Electricity
Hub" and monitored by THISDAY, Commissioner for Legal, Licensing and
Compliance, NERC, Mr Dafe Akpeneye, stated that progress in that direction
had been limited by some factors.

 

He explained that many of those who applied had failed the minimum
requirements, as they merely wanted to dump the Discos for the sake of it,
rather than as a way of improving the supply of electricity.

 

Akpeneye said: "The decision as to where customers take power from is a
commercial decision. But grid power all over the world tend to be the
cheapest source of power; but if it's not reliable, they are going to look
for alternatives. It will be more expensive, but it meets the business
needs.

 

"It's not something we can do by compulsion, but by performance. The minute
the grid has quality, they will naturally transit to the grid.

 

"We have only approved two or three applications because many of them have
not complied with the specific requirements in the regulations. The idea is
to ensure that the stranded capacity can be taken and moved on to certain
dedicated customers who meet certain requirements.

 

"In doing that, moves are being made to improve bottlenecks in the system.
So, what we have seen is that most of the applications were not on the
investment being made to improve the system but with the intent of moving
away from having the Discos as the provider of electricity for the customer
to dedicated Gencos.

 

"If all the applicants are able to comply with the regulation like a few
have done, that transition will be done, but the preference is to see that
bottlenecks that exist are being improved upon."

 

According to him, data loggers are being installed in electricity feeders to
ensure adequate monitoring of the number of hours supplied customers while
more enlightenment work needed to be done on the current state of the
sector, especially on the obligations of consumers to suppliers of
power.-This Day.

 

 

 

Nigeria: Covid-19 - Don't Shut Businesses Over Surge in Cases, Group Urges
Nigerian Govt

The group believes it is necessary for the government at all levels to adopt
a smart crisis management plan to address the second wave of COVID-19.

 

A group, Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank, has advised the Nigerian
government against shutting down businesses amidst the second wave of the
COVID-19 pandemic.

 

In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, the Vice-Chairperson of the group,
Abubakar Mohammed, said the government should consider the country's
realities before making any decision.

 

He said it is necessary for the government at all levels to adopt a smart
crisis management plan to address the second wave of the pandemic.

 

"Our response must take into consideration Nigeria's realities: recession,
high unemployment and rising insecurity; we cannot shut down small
businesses," he said.

"We therefore call on all stakeholders, led by the Federal and State
Governments, to come up with a smart crisis management plan to address this
second wave."

 

Nigeria is currently battling its worst phase of the COVID-19 pandemic with
the recent surge in new infections. Last week, federal officials declared
that the country has entered the second wave of the pandemic.

 

Health experts believe the non-adherence to safety protocols and the weak
enforcement of protocols by officials, especially in the country's major
airports in Abuja and Lagos, could be responsible for the recent spread,
noting that the situation could get worse if citizens keep violating safety
protocols.

 

Active cases in the country have risen from about 3,000 some weeks ago to
over 11,000 due to a rise in new infections.

 

Of the over 83,000 cases so far in Nigeria, 70,495 patients have been
discharged from hospitals after treatment.

 

The Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank was established on March 22 2020, to
respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and has 18 members drawn from across the
six geopolitical zones and the diaspora (Germany & USA).

 

Recommendations

 

The group urges the federal government to look to countries with similar
realities such as Ethiopia and Senegal before arriving at a decision.

 

It said the country should encourage people to work from home to avoid
overcrowding in workplaces.

 

"One, businesses stay open across the country on the condition that all
Nigerians self-regulate and 'celebrate responsibly' by wearing face
coverings, maintaining physical distance from others, avoiding indoor crowds
and washing hands frequently.

"Two, the intensification of campaigns on public health policy behavioral
change with firm and humane oversight by applicable agencies and society
leaders.

 

"Three, those who can, should be encouraged to work from home," it said.

 

The group also said Nigeria need not join the reactive ban on flights to and
from the United Kingdom due to existing robust travel protocols requiring
tests before boarding, seven days isolation on arrival, and a second test.

 

"However, closer monitoring of the post-arrival COVID quarantine of
travellers into Nigeria will help limit the risk of imported infections".

 

The group said the effective implementation of these measures along with
adherence can help ease the hardship on citizens whilst curbing the spread
of COVID-19.

 

The group also commended the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control for its
diligent tracking of COVID-19 cases and the ongoing efforts of the federal
government to recognise that the second wave of the pandemic is upon
us.-Premium Times.

 

 

South Korean regulators put brakes on $4bn food delivery merger

SEOUL -- Attempts to create a South Korean food delivery juggernaut hit a
roadblock on Monday when regulators said Berlin-based Delivery Hero must
sell its local operations before it can proceed with the acquisition of
domestic leader Woowa Brothers.

 

Delivery Hero operates Delivery Hero Korea, the No. 2 player in the market,
and agreed last year to acquire Woowa Brothers for $4 billion.

 

The nine-member board of the Fair Trade Commission led by Chair Joh
Sung-wook approved the deal but only if the German company sells its 100%
stake in Delivery Hero Korea, which runs food delivery app Yogiyo.
Otherwise, authorities concluded that the acquisition would violate
competition regulations, as the merged companies would almost entirely
dominate the nation's food delivery market.

 

"The sale of Yogiyo will resolve worries about the deal limiting competition
among various players in the delivery app platform while helping the
companies create synergy through cooperation," FTC Chair Joh said in a press
briefing.

 

The decision comes amid rising regulatory unease over the power of tech and
internet companies, particularly in China, where authorities have accused
Alibaba and financial affiliate Ant Group of monopolistic practices.

 

Delivery Hero inked the deal to buy Woowa Brothers last year. As part of the
transaction, the two sides agreed to establish a joint venture in Singapore
and to let Woowa founder and CEO Kim Bong-jin manage Delivery Hero's
operations in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Woowa runs Baebal Minjok, or Baemin, the country's largest food delivery
app, while Delivery Hero operates Yogiyo and Baedaltong, the No. 2 and No. 4
players in the market. Their combined market share reached 97.4% in August
by monthly active users, according to IGA Works, a mobile data analysis
company.

 

Delivery Hero did not immediately respond to Nikkei Asia's request for
comment. The company operates in more than 40 countries and territories
across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia under multiple
brands. It reported a gross merchandise value of 5.1 billion euros ($6
billion) and handled 519 million orders in the first half of the year,
making it one of the world's major food delivery platforms.

 

A lawyer at Kim & Chang representing Delivery Hero said in a hearing last
week that the market is changing quickly as Coupang Eats, the third-largest
player, is using aggressive promotions to narrow the gap between it and the
market leaders. Kim & Chang also suggested that Naver, the country's largest
internet company, could use its wide customer base to jump into the market.
Naver already offers a service connecting restaurants with customers.

 

The FTC rejected such arguments, however, saying Coupang is not strong
enough to threaten either Baemin or Yogiyo because the company only operates
in the greater Seoul area and its success has been limited to the capital's
upscale Gangnam district.

 

"There's no evidences that Coupang Eats can pressure the companies in the
market, even though it is growing quickly in some regions," FTC head Joh
said.

 

A lawyer representing Woowa said the company had no choice but to accept
Delivery Hero's $4 billion offer, as its own growth had slowed and it was
facing challenge from Coupang, which is funded by SoftBank. Coupang, a South
Korean e-commerce giant, raised $3 billion from SoftBank after Chairman
Masayoshi Son bet on the company's growth potential.

 

The FTC board is the agency's highest decision-making organization, dealing
with cases having major economic impacts. It consists of nine members, with
five from the agency and four from outside.

 

Delivery Hero has 30 days to appeal the FTC ruling or file a complaint with
the Seoul High Court.-nikkei

 

 

S.Africa's rand inches lower as local virus cases cross 1-mln mark

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) - South Africa's rand opened slightly weaker on
Monday, as concerns over domestic coronavirus cases crossing the one million
mark overshadowed optimism around the approval of a $2.3 trillion pandemic
aid and spending package in the U.S.

 

At 0636 GMT, the rand ZAR= was trading 0.55% weaker against the U.S. dollar
at 14.5800, but continued to flit between positions of strength and weakness
as investors tried to make sense of the prospects of the currency amid
rising infections in the second wave.

 

South Africa's total cumulative coronavirus cases crossed the one million
mark on Dec. 27 with 26,735 deaths, its health ministry said on Sunday.

 

In the last few weeks, the rand has shown resilience against a second wave
of coronavirus in the country, as hopes of a vaccine boosted riskier
currencies globally, and has been hovering around January levels before the
pandemic struck the country.

 

It has gained nearly 33% since its crash in early April.

 

 

China Online Education Startup Draws Alibaba in $1.6 Billion Funding Round

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese online education startup Zuoyebang raised $1.6
billion in a funding round that attracted Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba
Group Holding Ltd. as its latest investor, underscoring how the Covid-19
pandemic has turned distance learning into a red-hot business.

 

Existing backers Tiger Global Management LLC, Softbank Vision Fund, Sequoia
Capital China and FountainVest Partners also participated in the funding,
Zuoyebang said in a statement. The latest round comes months after
Zuoyebang, which also counts Goldman Sachs and GGV Capital among its
investors, raised $750 million in June.

 

Investors have poured into the sector this year as more students embraced
e-learning, a trend that has been accelerated by school closures amid the
pandemic. China’s online learning market is expected to reach 315 billion
yuan ($48 billion) in 2020, almost tripled from five years ago, according to
global market data tracker Statista.

 

Loosely translated as “homework assistant,” Zuoyebang is a spinoff of
China’s search engine titan Baidu Inc. Founded by former Baidu executive Hou
Jianbin, the five-year-old startup offers live-steaming classes as well as
other remote study services to more than 170 million monthly active users
across the country. On any given day, at least 50 million students -- the
equivalent of the entire population of Spain -- are using its platform, the
company has claimed.

 

The fresh funding will help Zuoyebang level the playing field with major
rival Yuanfudao. The online tutoring startup backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd.
and Hillhouse Capital said in October it’s hit a $15.5 billion valuation
after closing two funding rounds worth $2.2 billion.

 

Nationwide, Chinese education startups have attracted at least 47.6 billion
yuan in investment in the year till Dec. 18, according to market research
firm Zero2IPO Group.-Bloomberg L.P.

 

 

Nokia enters 5G deal with Thai mobile operator

Nokia Corp. said Monday that it has entered into a deal in Thailand with
mobile operator dtac to provide 5G services in the north and northeast of
the country.

 

The telecom-equipment maker said that as part of the deal, which is an
extension of Nokia's partnership with Thailand's dtac, it will ensure that
the operator's network performance is 5G ready and enable a faster rollout
of 5G services.

 

The deal is set to last three years and service deployment is expected to be
completed in 2022, the company said.

 

Nokia will also provide dtac with its AirScale Radio Access solutions for 4G
and 5G networks, which is meant to improve overall network performance, it
said.

 

As part of the deal, the Thai telecommunications company will also make use
of Nokia's network management system, the company said.-marketwatch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2020

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

Christmas Day

 

25/12/2020

 


 

Boxing Day

 

26/12/2020

 


 

New Year’s Day

 

01/01/2021

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


ART

Seed co Int.

Dairibord

 


Starafrica

Medtech

Turnall

 


Seed co

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
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.

 


 

 


(c) 2020 Web: <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com>  www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell: +263 77
344 1674

 


 

 

 

 

 

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