Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 14 February 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 14 February 2020

 


 

 


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ü  Nigeria offers longer-term naira contracts to lure investors, shore up FX
reserves

ü  Mozambique's economy grew 2.03% in Q4 - statistics office

ü  Sudan inflation jumps to 64.3% in January

ü  South African rand falls as virus death toll knocks risk appetite

ü  South African inflation to slow in 2020, cenbank to cut rates again

ü  Oil demand set for first fall in a decade as virus takes toll -IEA

ü  SA Express under bankruptcy protection

ü  South Africa's indebted Tongaat in talks to sell starch business

ü  Uganda central bank holds its key lending rate at 9.0%

ü  Kenyan shilling stable, expected to trade in narrow range

ü  Amazon wins injunction in US 'Jedi' contract fight

ü  Huawei: US issues new charges of racketeering and theft

ü  JCB cuts production because of coronavirus

ü  Google ordered to reveal author of Australian dentist's bad review

ü   China's phone industry urged to 'get back to work'

ü  Nestle axes low sugar chocolate due to weak sales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Nigeria offers longer-term naira contracts to lure investors, shore up FX
reserves

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria’s central bank has introduced longer-term
contracts on the naira in a move to attract more foreign inflows, shore up
its dwindling dollar reserves and stave off a currency devaluation, traders
said on Thursday.

 

Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele last month said that no adjustment of
the naira was planned and that the bank would continue to sustain the value
of the currency, even though its dollar reserve was shrinking.

 

He has kept the naira stable even as oil prices drop and foreign investors
book profits on local bonds in response to falling yields. The bank operates
a multiple exchange rate regime that it has used to manage pressure on the
naira.

 

The central bank on Thursday offered naira-futures contracts for five-year
settlement for the first time, priced at 379.81 naira to the U.S. dollar,
traders said. The longest tenor prior to this was a 13-month contract, which
the central bank has offered for more than a year.

 

The naira has come under pressure this year as importers demand dollars to
feed Nigeria’s consumers and as market sentiment worsen by fears that the
coronavirus outbreak would hit Chinese demand, one of Nigeria’s major
trading partners, and dampen growth.

 

Nigeria’s currency market has seen little dollar supply for a while as
foreign investors stay on the sidelines owing to lower yields in the debt
market, traders said.

 

Analysts welcomed the move as providing opportunities to hedge currency risk
and develop the futures market but said that further reforms were needed to
boost secondary market trading on the futures.

 

RISK OF NEW CAPITAL CONTROLS

“The longer futures curve may not necessarily result in renewed portfolio
inflows at this point. Government bond yields are too low for foreign
investors to get involved in longer-dated debt, hedged or non-hedged,” said
Samir Gadio, head of Africa strategy at Standard Chartered Bank.

 

The central bank now has sixty futures contracts outstanding from 13
earlier, traders said, underscoring the pressure to attract inflows and to
boost reserves. The contracts trade on the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.

 

Nigeria’s forex reserves declined to $36.68 billion as of Feb. 10, down
12.4% from a year earlier, central bank data showed on Thursday, as the bank
burns through its dollar savings to support the naira.

 

The West African nation has been selling debt to shore up reserves. It has
floated the idea of tapping the Eurobond market this year to raise up to $3
billion after staying away last year.

 

Cobus de Hart, senior economist at South Africa’s NKC African Economics said
Nigerian reserves could remain under pressure if oil prices stay low and
imports continue to rise, raising the risk of new capital controls being
imposed.

 

On the official currency market supported by the central bank, the naira was
quoted at 306.95 while on the over-the-counter spot market it was quoted
weaker at around 364.

 

The forwards market on Thursday priced a much weaker naira at 399.73 to the
dollar in a year’ time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Mozambique's economy grew 2.03% in Q4 - statistics office

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Mozambique’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew
2.03% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2019, versus 2.01% growth in the
previous quarter, data from the national statistics office showed.

 

The economy of the southern African nation grew 2.2% last year, the
statistics office said.

 

 

 

Sudan inflation jumps to 64.3% in January

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan’s annual inflation rate hit 64.28% in January,
from 57.01% in December, due to rising food and drink prices, the state
statistics agency said on Thursday.

 

Sudan’s economy was hit hard when the south of the country seceded in 2011,
costing it three-quarters of its oil output, a crucial source of foreign
currency.

 

Inflation soared in recent years, driven by food, beverages and a black
market for U.S. dollars.

 

Shortages of bread and fuel, both subsidized by the government, coupled with
hefty price rises sparked protests that led to the ouster of then President
Omar al-Bashir’s last April.

 

 

South African rand falls as virus death toll knocks risk appetite

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand weakened against the dollar in
early trade on Thursday as a surge in the number of new coronavirus cases in
China dashed hopes that the epidemic was slowing, denting risk appetite.

 

At 0640 GMT, the rand traded at 14.9500 per dollar, 0.67% weaker than its
previous close.

 

“Emerging markets and risk assets are trading weaker as indications from
China are of a spike in both the infection rate and the number of deaths
reported as a result of the coronavirus,” analysts at Nedbank wrote in a
note.

 

“This has seen the rand trade back above the 14.9000 level.”

 

Investors sought safe havens after China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of
a coronavirus outbreak, reported a sharp jump in the number of new cases,
provided a grim reminder of the threat to the global economy that has shaken
markets in recent weeks.

 

In South Africa, investors await President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the
nation address scheduled to start at 1700 GMT.

 

He is expected to give details on government plans for ailing state-owned
enterprises, including power utility Eskom’s battle to keep lights on, as
well as growth boosting and job-creation measures.

 

Power cuts in recent months and a string of dismal economic data this week
have underscored the weakness in the South African economy.

 

Data on Wednesday showed retail sales in December fell 0.4% year-on-year,
lagging market expectations for an increase of 1.5%. The followed data on
Tuesday showing unemployment remained at an 11-year peak in the fourth
quarter and manufacturing output for December shrank 5.9% on-year.

 

In fixed income, the yield on the instrument due in 2030 was up 1.5 basis
points at 8.895% in early trade.

 

 

 

South African inflation to slow in 2020, cenbank to cut rates again

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African inflation is expected to be lower in
2020 than previously forecast and the eventual reading could be lower still,
a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, opening the door for the central bank to
cut interest rates again during the year.

 

Inflation will average 4.4% this year - 0.4 percentage points lower than in
last month’s survey - and 4.7% next year, medians from the poll of around 30
economists taken in the past week showed.

 

“We see the risks to the inflation forecasts as decidedly biased to the
downside given weak global inflation and subdued local demand. Food
inflation is also likely to remain tepid despite forecast below-average
rainfall,” said Elna Moolman, economist at Standard Bank in Johannesburg.

 

“Lower inflation could ultimately create room for the South African Reserve
Bank (SARB) to ease policy more than is currently forecast.”

 

In all, nine of 17 economists who responded to an extra question said risks
to inflation forecasts were skewed more to the downside for 2020. The
remaining eight were split between more to the upside or even and gave a 45%
probability inflation would surprise slower.

 

Still, the poll suggested the repo rate would be cut only once more this
year - by 25 basis points to 6.0% - in July or September, after the bank
surprised with a cut last month. It had been expected to hold off until May,
after a Moody’s ratings review scheduled for March and a government budget
in February.

 

Inflation has generally been trending downwards globally and more so
recently in South Africa, where prices have been sticky in the past decade.

 

The Reserve Bank aims to keep inflation in its 3-6% comfort zone. In recent
quarters it has trended towards the lower end of that range.

 

Goldman Sachs had the most benign projection for this year’s average at 3.9%
and argues that the country’s monetary policy stance is restricting economic
growth.

 

The poll expects GDP growth at 0.8% this year and 1.3% next, suggesting very
minimal economic activity for South Africans eager to join the world of
work. Unemployment held at a near 17-year high of 29% in the last quarter of
2019.

 

Paribas economist Jeffrey Schultz said the spread between the gross domestic
product (GDP) deflator and headline consumer price index had been negative
for five straight quarters for the first time since 2008.

 

“This supports our call for persistent benign inflation,” he said. “As such,
we continue to see strong downside risks to the SARB’s 4.7% CPI estimate for
2020, opening up room for more rate cuts this year.”

 

 

 

Oil demand set for first fall in a decade as virus takes toll -IEA

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil demand is set to fall this quarter for the first time
since the financial crisis in 2009 due to the coronavirus outbreak in China,
the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday.

 

“The consequences of Covid-19 for global oil demand will be significant,”
the Paris-based IEA said in a monthly report, using the new scientific name
for the virus.

 

Demand in the first quarter of 2020 is expected to fall by 435,000 barrels
per day (bpd) compared with a year earlier, it said, noted it would be “the
first quarterly decrease in more than a decade”.

 

“For 2020 as a whole, we have reduced our global growth forecast by 365,000
bpd to 825,000 bpd, the lowest since 2011,” the IEA said, adding that it
assumed economic activity from the second quarter would return progressively
to normal.

 

In the second quarter it said it expected oil demand to grow 1.2 million
barrels per day before normalising in the third quarter with growth of 1.5
million bpd on likely economic stimulus measures in China.

 

“China was responsible for around three-quarters of last year’s global oil
demand growth. Before the outbreak of Covid-19, it was expected to drive
over a third of oil consumption growth in 2020, but now we think it will be
less than a fifth,” the IEA said.

 

It forecast a fall in demand for oil produced by OPEC while output growth by
U.S. companies might not be impacted until later in the year.

 

OPEC output in January sank to its lowest level since the 2009 global
recession, the IEA said, as a blockade reduced Libyan exports and the UAE
reined in production.

 

“With Covid-19 potentially hitting demand hard in H1, producers are under
pressure to make further cuts,” it said.

 

OPEC, Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, have agreed to cut
output by 1.7 million bpd until the end of March to support the market.

 

OPEC+ is considering holding an extraordinary policy meeting to consider
deeper cuts, sources said.

 

The IEA said Chinese refiners were set to slash runs by 1.1 million bpd in
the first quarter, with throughput in 2020 contracting by 500,000 bpd year
on year.

 

Global runs are set to expand by just 700,000 bpd in 2020, it said.

 

 

 

SA Express under bankruptcy protection

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African state airline SA Express is under a
form of bankruptcy protection known as business rescue, a spokeswoman for
the airline said on Thursday.

 

Her comments come after SA Express lost a court battle with a contractor,
logistics firm Ziegler, earlier this month.

 

SA Express, which flies to domestic and regional destinations, is a separate
business from much larger state carrier South African Airways (SAA), which
entered business rescue in December.

 

Under business rescue, a restructuring expert takes over the management of a
distressed company to try to salvage the business or at least deliver a
better return to creditors than a formal liquidation.

 

“The business rescue process is well-coordinated with no disruptions to
customers and employees,” SA Express said in a statement.

 

On Feb. 6, a South African court ordered that SA Express be placed in
business rescue after Ziegler argued that the airline was unable to pay its
debts.

 

SA Express said at the time that it would appeal the court order. It was not
clear whether SA Express had decided against lodging the appeal and SA
Express spokeswoman Mpho Majatladi declined to elaborate.

 

Ailing state companies are one of the biggest challenges facing President
Cyril Ramaphosa, who will deliver an annual state of the nation address on
Thursday.

 

SAA’s restructuring team plans to cut some domestic and international
routes, renegotiate contracts with suppliers and consider asset sales as
part of efforts to rescue the airline.

 

 

 

South Africa's indebted Tongaat in talks to sell starch business

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s heavily indebted sugar producer
Tongaat Hulett Ltd has entered negotiations on the potential sale of Tongaat
Hulett Starch, it said on Thursday, without providing details on the talks.

 

The agriculture and agri-processing company is seeking to cut debts through
selling assets, cutting jobs, raising equity and other measures aimed at
boosting cash flow.

 

Tongaat said in January it had already met its first debt reduction
milestone of 500 million rand ($33.5 million) as defined in its refinancing
agreements with funders and assets disposal assessments were at an advanced
stage.

 

At 0738 GMT, shares in Tongaat, which were voluntarily suspended from trade
in June until earlier this month as it prepared to restate its financial
results, were up 3.6% at 4.02 rand.

 

Tongaat Hulett Starch is Africa’s largest producer of starch, glucose and
related products, according to Tongaat’s website. Its five mills make
ingredients for alcoholic drinks, baking, jams, canned food and other
products.

 

In the six-months ended Sept.30, the starch and glucose operations reported
a flat operating profit of 306 million rand and grew sales volumes by 4.5%
to 254,000 tons, benefiting from increased demand in the alcoholic beverages
sector and continuing growth in the coffee creamer sector.

 

($1 = 14.9409 rand)

 

 

 

Uganda central bank holds its key lending rate at 9.0%

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda’s central bank held its key lending rate at 9.0%
on Thursday, saying an accommodative monetary policy stance was still needed
to support economic growth, whose performance may suffer from weak exports.

 

Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile told a news conference
that the recent outbreak of coronavirus in China, and an invasion of desert
locusts and uncertain weather patterns could also undermine economic growth.

 

 

 

Kenyan shilling stable, expected to trade in narrow range

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling was stable on Thursday and was
forecast to trade in a narrow range amid some dollar demand from the energy
sector, traders said.

 

At 0807 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 100.50/70 per dollar,
compared with 100.55/75 at Wednesday’s close.

 

 

 

 

Amazon wins injunction in US 'Jedi' contract fight

A judge has hit pause on a major US government contract in a win for Amazon,
which had challenged the award.

 

The tech giant, which had been favoured to win the cloud computing deal,
sued last year after the US Defense Department gave the opportunity to
arch-rival Microsoft instead.

 

Amazon has accused officials of bowing to pressure from Donald Trump.

 

The US president has often attacked Amazon and boss Jeff Bezos, who also
owns the Washington Post newspaper.

 

Amazon had asked the court to block the Joint Enterprise Defense
Infrastructure contract, known as Jedi, which is worth up to $10bn over 10
years. The company is also seeking to question Mr Trump as part of the
lawsuit.

 

On Thursday, Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith of the US Federal Claims Court
agreed to the first demand, ordering the US to halt its Jedi activities,
which are aimed at making the US Defence Department more technologically
agile.

 

She also ordered Amazon to set aside $42m for costs if future proceedings
found she was wrong to have issued the injunction.

 

Amazon’s fight with Trump is about much more than $10bn

Amazon declined to comment. In seeking the injunction the firm had said it
was "important that the numerous evaluation errors and blatant political
interference that impacted the Jedi award decision be reviewed".

 

Microsoft said it was "disappointed with the additional delay".

 

"We have confidence in the Department of Defense, and we believe the facts
will show they ran a detailed, thorough and fair process," it said.

 

The contract in question, for cloud computing services for the military, is
among the Defense Department's biggest and it drew legal challenges over the
procurement terms even before it was awarded.

 

Among other things it is intended to improve the military's remote access to
data and technology, and help it host classified military secrets.

 

Amazon and Microsoft are industry leaders among cloud services providers.

 

Last year, Mr Trump told reporters that the US was looking closely at the
contract, noting that he had been getting "tremendous complaints" from
several companies about it.

 

The Defense Department has denied claims of bias.

 

It is not the first time a company has accused Mr Trump of improperly
swaying the federal government's decision-making due to his objections to
media coverage.

 

Telecoms operator AT&T made similar claims after the US took action to block
its takeover of Time-Warner, which owns CNN. The court blocked the firm from
pursuing White House records, but ultimately approved that deal on other
grounds.--BBC

 

 

 

Huawei: US issues new charges of racketeering and theft

The US has expanded its lawsuit against Huawei, accusing the Chinese
telecoms giant of a "decades-long" plan to steal technology from US firms.

 

Prosecutors said Huawei had violated the terms of partnerships with US
companies and stolen trade secrets such as source code and robot technology.

 

It adds to a list of other charges brought by the US last year.

 

Those accused Huawei of violating US sanctions and stealing technology from
T-Mobile. Huawei has denied the claims.

 

The firm, one of the world's biggest smartphone makers, said the US is
targeting it because its expansion is a threat to American business
interests.

 

Meng Wanzhou, its chief financial officer and the daughter of the company's
founder, is still being held in Canada where she is fighting extradition to
the US.

 

She is wanted there on charges of fraud and sanctions violations - claims
she denies.

 

"This new indictment is part of the Justice Department's attempt to
irrevocably damage Huawei's reputation and its business for reasons related
to competition rather than law enforcement," the company said.

 

In the updated indictment, the US accuses Huawei of racketeering and trade
secret theft, and gives more detail about the firm's efforts to evade US
rules on doing business with Iran and North Korea.

 

Prosecutors also said Huawei offered bonuses to staff who obtained
"confidential information" from its competitors.

 

"As a consequence of its campaign to steal this technology and intellectual
property, Huawei was able to drastically cut its research and development
costs and associated delays, giving the company a significant and unfair
competitive advantage," prosecutors said.

 

Huawei said the new charges are a "contrived repackaging" of claims that
have already been litigated in civil court.

 

"The government will not prevail on these charges which we will prove to be
both unfounded and unfair," the company said.

 

The new charges, filed in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday, suggest the
US is not backing away from its fight over Huawei, which has added to
tensions between the US and China, and complicated American relationships
with allies.

 

The US has pushed partners such as the UK to ban Huawei technology from
their networks, maintaining the company's equipment could be used for spying
by China.

 

Despite the pressure, the UK last month announced it would continue using
Huawei technology in its growing 5G networks, but with restrictions.--BBC

 

 

 

JCB cuts production because of coronavirus

Digger manufacturer JCB is cutting production and working hours as it faces
a shortage of components from China due to the coronavirus outbreak.

 

It is thought to be the first time a major UK manufacturer has warned about
the epidemic's impact on its output.

 

There will be reduced working hours for the 4,000 staff from Monday and an
immediate suspension of overtime.

 

More than 25% of JCB's suppliers in China are closed, while others are
working at reduced capacity.

 

"The disruption to the component supply chain in the UK comes at a time when
demand for JCB products is very strong, so while this course of action is
very unfortunate, it is absolutely necessary to protect the business and our
skill base," JCB chief operating officer Mark Turner said.

 

"We are keeping the situation under review and we anticipate a surge in
production levels once this period of supply disruption has passed."

 

Coronavirus cancellations

The move will mean the working week at the Staffordshire-based company will
be cut from 39 to 34 hours. JCB, known for its distinctive yellow machinery,
said workers will still be paid for 39 hours, but will have to work the
extra hours later in the year.

 

This week, Nissan was the latest car maker to temporarily shut one of its
factories as it can't get parts from China. The firm will halt production
for two days at a plant in Japan making the Serena and X-Trail models.

 

Last week, Fiat Chrysler said the impact of the coronavirus epidemic could
halt production at one of its European car plants within four weeks.

 

Car firms are on alert over possible disruption to Chinese factories and
suppliers, but Fiat's warning was the first to highlight an impact in
Europe.

 

The world's largest mobile phone showcase, Mobile World Congress (MWC), has
been cancelled over coronavirus concerns, organisers have confirmed. The GSM
Association (GSMA) said it had become "impossible" for the event to go ahead
as planned in Barcelona.

 

BT, Facebook, LG, Nokia, Sony and Vodafone were among the high-profile
exhibitors to have pulled out of the annual event, citing coronavirus
fears.--BBC

 

 

 

 

Google ordered to reveal author of Australian dentist's bad review

An Australian court has ordered Google to identify the person behind an
anonymous bad review of a dentist.

 

Dr Matthew Kabbabe, a teeth-whitening specialist in Melbourne, sought the
order so he could sue for defamation.

 

He claimed user CBsm 23 had damaged his business by telling others to "STAY
AWAY" from a procedure criticised as "extremely awkward and uncomfortable".

 

The ruling forces the hand of the tech giant, which has previously defended
allowing negative reviews on its site.

 

Under the order, Google will be required to pass to Dr Kabbabe any personal
details such as any names, phone numbers, location metadata and IP addresses
linked to the account.

 

International law allows for people to seek documents from overseas parties
that they need for their case.

 

'Groundbreaking' case

Google had previously rejected the dentist's requests for the review to be
removed, or to share information about its author.

 

According to his affidavit, Google had told Dr Kabbabe: "[W]e do not have
any means to investigate where and when the ID was created."

 

However, Justice Bernard Murphy ruled that Dr Kabbabe had grounds to pursue
a defamation case and that Google was "likely to have or have had control of
a document or thing that would help ascertain that description of the
prospective respondent".

 

Mr Kabbabe's lawyer described the ruling as a "groundbreaking" win for small
businesses, and argued Google had a duty of care in providing a platform for
potentially defamatory postings.

 

"If you're out there trying to hide by anonymity, even via VPN, I think the
court system's catching up now and there are ways and means of obtaining
that information," Mark Stanarevic told the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation.

 

Google is yet to reply to queries about the ruling. The firm has previously
been reluctant to remove bad reviews, but has done so in several instances
following court orders.

 

Last year, it told Australian law reform experts that defamation cases over
online reviews could lead to the suppression of consumer rights and free
speech.

 

 

 

China's phone industry urged to 'get back to work'

The founder of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi has urged the country's smartphone
industry to return to work.

 

Analysts predict smartphone shipments within China will drop by around 40%
in the first quarter as the coronavirus disrupts the country's supply chain.

 

Numerous factories across China have suspended production as the country
continues to cope with the outbreak.

 

Lei Jun, who is from the Hubei province where the virus originated, said he
was concerned for his home region.

 

"I'm from Hubei and spent four years in Wuhan in college, so my feelings for
Wuhan are quite deep," said Lei, while donning a facemask at the launch of
the company's new flagship Mi 10 phone series.

 

Xiaomi was the world's fourth-biggest smartphone maker in 2018, according to
market research firm IDC - after Samsung, Apple and Huawei - and opened a
second headquarters in Wuhan in December.

 

He added: "I believe Wuhan is a glorious city, and I believe even more that
the brave and optimistic people of Wuhan can definitely fight this virus."

 

The economic fallout from the outbreak of the virus, named Covid-19, is
spreading far and wide, moving across China's manufacturing sector, major
airlines and global supply chains.

 

Although Chinese workers were due back at work this week after an extended
New Year holiday, many factories and offices have remained closed.

 

Google temporarily closed its offices in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan amid
the outbreak, and other tech giants, including Amazon and Microsoft, quickly
followed suit.

 

It has led to some analysts estimating that global smartphone shipments
could fall by as much as 10% this year, and cause a shortage of iPhones, and
the new iPhone 11 in particular.

 

China's President, Xi Jinping, was reported on Monday by media in the Far
East to have pledged to prevent large-scale layoffs of workers in the wake
of the virus's continuing economic impact.--BBC

 

 

 

Nestle axes low sugar chocolate due to weak sales

Nestle has axed its range of chocolate that used a new low-sugar technique,
less than two years after it was launched.

 

The Swiss food giant said demand for its Milkybar Wowsomes had been
"underwhelming".

 

The bars used what Nestle described as "hollow" sugar crystals to cut the
amount of sugar by almost a third.

 

Confectionery makers have come under pressure from health authorities to cut
the amount of sugar in their products.

 

Nestle's Milkybar Wowsomes was the first product to use technology developed
by the company that creates sugar with a more porous structure, which it
likened to hollowing out the sugar crystals.

 

Some industry experts had seen the discovery as a breakthrough that would
help Nestle take a leading position in a growing market for low-sugar
products.

 

At the time of the launch Stefano Agostini, Nestle's chief executive for UK
and Ireland, said: "A new product like Milkybar Wowsomes introduces greater
choice and allows parents to treat their children with chocolate that tastes
great but has less sugar.

 

"We are demonstrating how we can, and will, contribute to a healthier future
and that we take our public health responsibilities very seriously," he
added.

 

Last year, reduced sugar versions of Mars and Snickers were launched by Mars
Wrigley UK, while Mondelez ­followed suit with low-sugar Cadbury Dairy Milk.

 

Nestle said it is now working on new sugar reduction technology that it aims
to introduce next year.

 

The announcement highlights a major issue facing the world's big processed
food producers. While governments and many consumers have called for
lower-sugar products, most people have yet to warm to less sweet
alternatives.

 

Attempts to cut obesity rates have seen processed food giant Unilever this
week promise to stop marketing its products to children. The maker of
Twister ice cream and Popsicle ice lollies, said it would limit the use of
cartoon characters in its advertising.--BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2020

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


Bindura Nickel Corporation

 

 

 


Padenga Holdings

 

 

 


Delta Corporation

 

 

 


Meikles Limited

 

 

 


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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 



 

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