Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 24 June 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 24 June 2020

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


 

 

ü  South Africa's unemployment rate hit record high before virus

ü  South Africa receives unsolicited proposals for new national airline

ü  S.Africa's Comair gets cash offer, needs a week to secure funding, say
administrators

ü  Majority of Edcon creditors approve rescue plan

ü  Canadian miner Banro agrees sale of Namoya mine in Congo

ü  British supreme court hears Nigerians' case in Shell oil spill claim

ü  Rent day arrives for struggling retailers

ü  Still shuttered - the shops that won't be opening

ü  'We went from 30 customers to one in 18 hours'

ü  Ex-Googler becomes China’s second-richest person

ü  Twitter apologises for business data breach

ü  Virgin Australia bondholders lodge rival proposal, says source

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


South Africa's unemployment rate hit record high before virus

PRETORIA/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s unemployment rate hit a
record high in the first quarter of this year as key sectors including
agriculture shed jobs, data showed on Tuesday, highlighting weakness in the
economy even before it was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Africa’s most advanced economy was already in recession before the pandemic
hit. Authorities imposed a strict lockdown at the end of March, further
squeezing businesses and consumers.

 

The unemployment rate of 30.1% was up from 29.1% in the final quarter of
last year, Statistics South Africa said in its quarterly labour force
survey.

 

“This is the first (time) ever that we have hit the 30% mark,” Statistician
General Risenga Maluleke said.

 

There were 7.1 million people without jobs in the first quarter, up from 6.7
million in the previous quarter, Statistics South Africa said.

 

Under the expanded definition of unemployment, which includes people who
have stopped looking for work, the rate was 39.7% compared with 38.7% in the
previous quarter.

 

The outlook for the labour market remains gloomy, with some of the country’s
big firms such as steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd, food
producer Tiger Brands and third-biggest telecom operator Cell C already
announcing plans to cut jobs.[nL4N2DV3NO][nL8N2D70KY][nL8N2DZ4GX]

 

SEVERE IMPACT

With no significant government support offered during the lockdown to the
informal, or unregulated, sector — which according to the World Bank
provides employment to 25-30% of South African workers — the impact has been
severe for many.

 

President Cyril Ramaphosa last week announced a further easing of lockdown
restrictions, allowing businesses such as cinemas, casinos, theatres, hair
salons and spas to operate under strict social distancing rules.
[nL8N2DU61J]

 

But some small businesses fear recovery will take longer.

 

“Looking at the fact that we’ve cut down on staff coming in and looking at
shifts, I think... our revenue is also going to be cut by half in the long
run,” Candi & Co salon owner Cola Mthembu said on Tuesday as she opened her
salon for the first time since late March.

 

“We’re just being hopeful that we still keep our doors opened.”

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

South Africa receives unsolicited proposals for new national airline

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The South African government said on Tuesday it had
received unsolicited proposals from private sector funders, private equity
investors and potential partners for a new national airline based on
struggling South African Airways (SAA).

 

State-owned SAA has been under a form of bankruptcy protection since
December, and its administrators last week proposed a restructuring plan for
which the government had to find at least 10 billion rand ($580 million) of
new funds. [nL8N2DT678]

 

Creditors are due to vote on the restructuring plan on Thursday, but one of
SAA’s creditors - private airline Airlink - has launched an urgent court
application to try to prevent the vote from happening. [nL8N2DZ427]

 

The Department of Public Enterprises, which is responsible for SAA, said in
a statement: “Government is intent on pursuing credible proposals for
investment and strategic partnerships with the private sector, as well as
equity participation for employees”.

 

It did not name any of the funders, investors or partners who had expressed
an interest in the new airline to emerge from the wreckage of SAA.

 

The state carrier has not made a profit since 2011 and has been a drain on
the public purse at a time of weak economic growth.

 

If the restructuring plan is approved by creditors, the administrators say
they need government to provide a commitment on funding by July 15.

 

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is due to deliver an emergency coronavirus
budget on Wednesday, when any new government funding for SAA could be
revealed.

 

($1 = 17.2386 rand)

 

 

 

S.Africa's Comair gets cash offer, needs a week to secure funding, say
administrators

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Administrators in charge of South African airline
Comair said on Tuesday they have received a cash offer for the carrier from
a company and they would require a week to secure the funding.

 

The administrators, who had been expected to present a restructuring plan
for the airline on Tuesday, asked creditors for another week - until June 30
- to finalise the offer before presenting the plan.

 

Comair had to file for business rescue, a form of bankruptcy protection, in
May after a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus forced the
airlines to suspend all commercial flights. It said last month that it was
unable to meet its debt obligations as it was not generating any cash.

 

The administrators said in a statement that they have “received a
non-binding expression of interest for cash funding in the form of debt,
equity and post-commencement funding.”

 

“The practitioners (administrators) require that this interested group make
a binding offer, that can be set out with reasonably sufficient detail in
the business rescue plan,” the statement added.

 

Comair, which operates the local British Airways franchise and budget
airline kulula.com, has a debt of 3.4 billion rand ($197 million) and a
fleet of 27 aircraft, of which 16 are owned, according to its annual report
published last year.

 

($1 = 17.2386 rand)

 

 

 

Majority of Edcon creditors approve rescue plan

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Edcon on Monday said that more that
75% of its creditors have approved a proposed rescue plan that will see the
retailer sold in parts or whole after it entered a form of bankruptcy
protection in April.

 

The approval paves the way for the administrators to finalise the sale
process by the end of June to allow time for supplier negotiations and for
summer stock to be purchased.

 

About 15 parties have shown interest in the sale, with the selection of the
offer expected in early July. Edcon entered business rescue after sales were
hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Creditors voted during a virtual meeting that started on Monday afternoon.

 

“We will now proceed with implementing the adopted Business Rescue Plan,
keeping all stakeholders updated as the plan progresses,” the business
rescue practitioners, Piers Marsden and Lance Schapiro of Matuson
Associates, said.

 

The business rescue plan proposes an accelerated sale of Edcon’s divisions,
which include budget retailer Jet and department store chain operator Edgars
and the closure of stores or brands that remain unsold.

 

The administrators have already served retrenchment notices to 22,000
workers of Edcon, which employs 17,292 permanent employees and about 5,000
seasonal casual workers.

 

The retailer, which opened its first Edgars store in Johannesburg in 1929,
had already been struggling due to falling demand and slow economic growth
in South Africa.

 

Earlier on Monday, an application brought by a group of Edcon creditors to
stop the adoption of the proposed restructuring plan was rejected by a court
as non-admissible, according to the administrators.

 

The creditor group - Durban-based Kingsgate Clothing and Clematis Trading -
filed the application with a high court in Pretoria on Friday, documents on
Edcon’s administrators’ website showed.

 

In the application, the creditors said Kingsgate and its associate companies
were owed 24 million rand ($1.39 million), and Clematis about 18.5 million
rand.

 

The total amount owed to Edcon’s creditors is about 8.1 billion rand.

 

($1 = 17.2944 rand)

 

 

 

Canadian miner Banro agrees sale of Namoya mine in Congo

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Canadian miner Banro Corporation has agreed to sell
its Namoya Mining gold mine in Democratic Republic of Congo to a consortium
of investors including Baiyin International Investment Ltd and Shomka
Resources Limited, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

Banro will receive a perpetual royalty for all production from the Namoya
property in eastern Congo, it said. The deal is subject to final approval
from Congo’s government.

 

Banro told Reuters in February it was looking to sell Namoya at a
significant discount, after repeated attacks by militia forced the company
to suspend operations at several mine sites.

 

 

 

British supreme court hears Nigerians' case in Shell oil spill claim

ABUJA (Reuters) - Britain’s supreme court will on Tuesday hear Nigerian
farmers and fishermen appeal to pursue claims against oil major Shell over
spills in the Niger Delta.

 

The appeal re-opens the possibility for British multinationals to be held
liable at home for their subsidiaries’ actions abroad. It comes after a
setback in 2018 when a London court ruled that the claim could not be
pursued in England.

 

The Ogale and Bille communities allege that Shell’s oil operations have
polluted their land and waters. They are seeking justice through British
courts because cases heard in Nigeria can take decades to resolve, said
Leigh Day, the law firm representing the farmers and fishermen.

 

The main question for the courts is whether they have jurisdiction over
claims against Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development
Company, which is jointly operated with the Nigerian government.

 

Shell’s subsidiary has said “claims by Nigerian communities against a
Nigerian company about events in Nigeria should be heard in Nigeria and not
the UK”.

 

The Nigerian unit says the spills are chiefly due to oil theft, sabotage and
illegal refining. The communities maintain they cannot seek redress locally.

 

 

 

Rent day arrives for struggling retailers

"We're almost 90% open with most of our retailers trading. It's a return to
almost normality," says James Roberts the boss of Grosvenor Shopping centre
in Northampton.

 

But there's one big question. How many of the 50 or so retailers and food
outlets will be paying any rent this week.

 

He laughs nervously when asked.

 

"Hopefully some, but we've only collected 56% in the last quarter," he says.

 

UK landlords should be collecting at least £2.5bn on Wednesday for shop
rents.

 

Retail landlords traditionally get paid four times a year.

 

On the last rent day in March, no more than half the total rent was handed
over and landlords will be lucky to get a quarter of what they're owed
today.

 

Most high street shops, along with pubs and restaurants, have seen sales
evaporate and have either been unable or refusing to pay rent.

 

Bill Hughes says unless there's an appeal for long term investors like
pension funds to invest in UK real estate, infrastructure won't get funded.

Businesses are hoarding cash to survive. But the crisis is starving
landlords of much needed income, too.

 

The Grosvenor Shopping Centre is the kind of everyday mall you'd find in
many of our towns and city centres.

 

It's owned by Legal & General which invests in property to fund thousands of
pensions.

 

"It's not well known, or particularly transparent to people, but most retail
properties are effectively owned by the normal person on the street in the
UK," said Bill Hughes, Legal and General's head of real assets.

 

Income 'at risk'

Recent research by Estates Gazette, a commercial property weekly, showed
that as much as 60% of all UK retail space is owned either directly or
indirectly by the public, including pension funds, the public sector and
individual shareholders.

 

It's been a secure form of income until now.

 

"The risk of loss of income is really important. The pension fund owners of
the built environment of the UK, they rely upon the income being produced by
what hitherto have been seen as being very stable assets. And that is at
risk in a way that's never been there to the extent before." said Mr Hughes.

 

Landlords have enjoyed the good times over the decades with long leases and
upward-only rent reviews.

 

And rapidly expanding retailers were happy to sign up. But in recent years
with sales shifting online, it's become far harder for shops to make a
profit.

 

The pandemic has accelerated this trend. The Government extended its ban on
evictions for non-payment of rent until the autumn.

 

Occupiers are now frantically trying to secure better deals or turning to
insolvency proceedings to renegotiate their debts, including owed rent.

 

Mark Burlton, the founder of Cross Over retail, said landlords may have to
get used to the fact their properties are worth less

The traditional business model of how retail property is leased is now well
and truly broken.

 

"It's a mess, but it's not a mess that we can't tidy up" said Mark Burlton,
the founder of Cross Over retail, a real estate business which advises
landlords and retailers.

 

"I do feel sorry for them (landlords) . Absolutely. They are entitled to
receive income, but I don't believe they're entitled to receive the same
income as they were. I think they have to understand the value of their
asset. And the value of their asset is what someone is prepared to pay for
it. There isn't a queue of retailers coming up behind them," he said.

 

He believes upward only rent reviews should be abolished along with the
Landlord and Tenant Act of 1954, the law which still underpins the leasehold
system in the UK.

 

Sales-based rent?

"It's inflexible. We need something which is much cheaper and quicker to
negotiate. We should have a system of rents based on turnover, allowing
retailers to pay a rent they can afford. But in order to do that, tenants
have to play their part. They have to declare what they are turning over,"
said Mr Burlton.

 

Bill Hughes thinks the Government's new code of practice on rental
agreements should ease the tensions.

 

"We're having an active conversation with tenants about can they pay, and if
they can't pay, we're working hard to restructure things.

 

"Because it's in our interest to find a way of helping cash flow to
companies that would survive beyond this very difficult, unusual crisis that
Covid presents."

 

Who pays?

Legal & General's Bill Hughes thinks the Government should take a careful
look at providing some financial support to help bridge the likely shortfall
in income otherwise the "dynamic between landlords and tenants is likely to
be challenging and deteriorate".

 

The future prosperity of our high streets and town centres could ultimately
be at stake if this crisis doesn't end well.

 

Regeneration requires private sector investment as well as Government
funding.

 

Mr Hughes says unless there's an appeal for long term investors like pension
funds to invest in UK real estate, infrastructure won't get funded.

 

"They need a sensible and stable environment within which they can get some
sort of return," he explains.

 

Mr Burlton says he's receiving phone calls from US private equity and
venture capitalists sniffing around for opportunities to snap up some retail
assets on the cheap.

 

"Ultimately if landlords and tenants can't agree what the actual rent should
be, then a number of landlords face the very real prospect of going bust.
And then we have to be careful what we wish for because the purchasers of
these assets in my opinion will likely have much shorter goals than the
landlords they currently have. "

 

The fate of heavily indebted shopping centre owner, Intu, will be decided by
Friday. It owns some of the UK's biggest and most popular malls, including
the Trafford Centre and the Metrocentre in Gateshead.

 

If it can't secure a last minute agreement with its lenders, it will go into
administration which could mean the temporary closure of its sites.--BBC

 

 

 

Still shuttered - the shops that won't be opening

While pubs and hairdressers have been given the all clear by government to
reopen on 4 July, many business owners were disappointed to learn they must
keep their doors closed for now.

 

"It was a shock. I can understand the logical argument but personally it
feels very irritating and disappointing," said Adam Grant, a tattoo artist
and studio manager at Tattoo UK in Uxbridge, west London.

 

He says it was frustrating to hear that hairdressers can open on 4 July,
while tattoo parlours must remain closed.

 

It was especially irritating since tattoo parlours already have measures in
place to prevent-cross contamination he says, such as the disposable gloves
and aprons which artists must wear.

 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament on Tuesday that the
government's public health experts will work with sectors which remain
closed, to help them become "Covid secure" and open "as soon as possible".

 

In the hope of a 4 July opening, Mr Grant had already made changes to the
way the studio operated, including mandating face masks and asking future
customers to come to appointments alone.

 

Now he says he has no date for reopening and no guidance on what safety
measures will need to be in place.

 

"We've been left in limbo really, until further notice," he says.

 

As a self-employed tattoo artist Adam was able to claim financial support
from the government during lockdown, but he says that only covered him for
2-3 months.

 

"We may have to see if we can get another self-employment scheme because if
we're not allowed to open, we need to be compensated," he says.

 

The ten businesses still not allowed to reopen:

 

·         Nightclubs

·         Casinos

·         Bowling alleys and indoor skating rinks

·         Indoor play areas including soft-play

·         Spas

·         Nail bars and beauty salons

·         Massage, tattoo and piercing parlours

·         Gyms and dance studios

·         Swimming pools and water parks

·         Exhibition and conference centres

Beautician Tara Williamson is also frustrated by what she sees as a double
standard from government, with hairdressers allowed to reopen but beauty
salons staying closed.

 

She runs The Beauty, Skin and Eyelash Lounge in Epping and had planned to
open on 4 July.

 

"I don't really get it. I don't see a reason why we couldn't open and it
will obviously be a big blow," she says.

 

'Seems crazy'

Tara had already made a number of changes at the salon, following safety
guidelines that were issued to salons reopening overseas, in the absence of
any clear guidelines in the UK.

 

"We've put screens in place, we've done a one-way system in the salon, we've
prepared everything for the two metre distancing, we've staggered
appointments, we've got sanitising stations," she says.

 

"It just seems crazy that we have no guidelines of when we can open and what
is going to be happening."

 

Gym manager Rob Ward has socially distanced workout areas in preparation for
reopening

"We need a date. That's the main thing."

 

Rob Ward, who runs YourGym, an independent fitness centre in Lytham,
Lancashire, says he was also hoping to reopen on 4 July.

 

The gym received a government grant of £25,000 during lockdown and Rob was
able to enrol his staff on the state-paid furlough scheme.

 

But he says closing for three months has inflicted a huge financial hit.

 

"You start a year with projected figures but they've all been knocked," he
says.

 

'Positives' from members

"We've had some amazing support from local members, who were able to support
us financially even when they couldn't come in.

 

"A lot of our personal trainers taught free online classes to keep the gym
going. It's been a crazy time but there are such positives that come out of
it."

 

Rob had been putting in place social distancing measures for when the gym
can welcome back its members.

 

"Every other treadmill is out of order now, so you've got space. In our spin
studio we've taken lots of bikes out," he says

 

He's also used tape to ensure space between floor workout stations, bought a
fogging machine for overnight disinfecting, and introduced a new online
booking system.

 

Even though the government has now reduced social distancing guidelines from
2m to 1m+, Rob says he'll keep the current measures in place as he counts
the cost of the lockdown.

 

Mark Sesnan's organisation GLL is responsile for 200 swimming pools in the
UK.

"Basically we've been surviving on fresh air for the last 13 weeks. We feel
extremely disappointed and let down."

 

'Sad for everybody'

Mark Sesnan, managing director of GLL, says he'd also like a date to open
his 200 swimming pools, with 11,000 staff across the UK.

 

"As an industry we submitted documents to government on 7 May. Those
documents have all been accepted and we'd been led to believe they provided
a good enough framework for re-opening," he says.

 

Mark says GLL was able to furlough most of its staff, but the organisation
has also had to dig into its cash reserves. With pools geared toward a 4
July opening, GLL has also incurred costs from recent preparations such as
water testing.

 

He says the worst thing about Boris Johnson's announcement on Tuesday was
the lack of a firm opening date for businesses that must remain closed. He's
called on the government to "come off the fence".

 

"I was down at Charlton Lido yesterday in the blazing sunshine with a
massive bright blue, empty swimming pool. It's sad for everybody," he
says--BBC

 

 

 

'We went from 30 customers to one in 18 hours'

Liam and Louise Parkinson's cleaning business was just a few weeks old when
the coronavirus outbreak forced them to stop working.

 

The husband-and-wife team based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, launched their
company Abode and Beyond in January and soon began hiring extra staff to
meet the demand from new clients.

 

But then - as news of the coronavirus spread - business quickly dropped
away.

 

"Within 18 hours we'd gone from 30 customers down to one or two," Liam says.

 

When the country went into lockdown on 23 March, Liam and Louise had to tell
their clients they were suspending all services.

 

In early June, the couple began working again, but only a quarter of their
previous clients have booked home cleaning.

 

"Lots of people say now they can't afford to have a cleaner because they're
struggling financially," Liam says.

 

Other customers have told them cleaning would be too much of a disruption
while they're working and educating children from home. And some clients are
shielding or worried about the risk of catching Covid-19 from workers coming
into their home.

 

Those concerns mean cleaners all over the country are facing huge financial
challenges, especially as those who work cash-in-hand aren't eligible for
government support.

 

'I need the extra money'

Martyna, not her real name, works part-time as a domestic cleaner to
supplement her main job as a housekeeper at a London hotel.

 

She's been furloughed - or put on state-paid leave - by the hotel but is
struggling to get by without the added income cleaning would normally
provide.

 

"For more than two months, I didn't do any cleaning work," she says. Now
she's waiting for her clients to call. "It's boring and also I need the
extra money. The [furlough] money is only for the rent and food. It's
nothing."

 

Cleaning staff are permitted to work in people's homes, but industry leaders
say there hasn't been clear guidance from the government advising cleaners
how to keep themselves and their clients safe.

 

"There's nothing that we can adhere to, we've just got to decide for
ourselves what's appropriate, it's a huge worry," says Stephen Munton,
director of the trade body the Domestic Cleaning Alliance.

 

"We're reliant now on people telling us what they want us to do in their
home, what they want us to wear. Should we be taking equipment in, because
we don't know whether we should be using what's in the house?"

 

The British Cleaning Council (BCC), which represents 20 trade groups across
the cleaning industry, has written to the Small Business Minister Paul
Scully, asking for a meeting to clarify some of those issues, but no such
meeting has been arranged.

 

The BCC says that's left cleaning businesses to come up with safety
protocols for themselves.

 

A spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy pointed to the government's general coronavirus guidelines for all
people who work in private homes.

 

"We have worked closely with businesses, unions and medical experts to
develop practical guidelines specifically for those working in other
people's homes. These are aimed at making workplaces as safe as possible and
giving staff confidence to return to work," she said.

 

"We regularly review the science behind the guidance and will continue to
work closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including the British
Cleaning Council, as we continue to reopen the economy."

 

Chris Wootton runs the domestic cleaning business Poppies, which has 22
franchises across England and usually provides 6,000 cleaning services a
month.

 

All 450 Poppies staff have been furloughed during the lockdown, but now each
of the franchises is back up and running.

 

"In simple terms, we've assumed that any of our clients or our staff may be
pre-Covid or asymptomatic," he says. "So we've protected one another by
practising social distancing, providing gloves, shoe covers, masks and
aprons for all our staff."

 

Chris has also introduced new protocols for when cleaning staff arrive at
their clients' homes.

 

Staff cannot hug or shake hands with their clients. They have also been
instructed to wear a mask on arrival, then take two steps back after
knocking on the door. "We do our best to smile with our eyes. That very
moment gives our clients confidence," he says.

 

Is coronavirus changing the world of cleaning?

'We could end up with no business or savings'

Chris, who also manages his own Poppies franchise, says older clients make
up about a third of the domestic cleaning market.

 

Barbara and Jim Jackson are in their 80s and are self-isolating because of
the virus. They're among those who have put their regular cleaning service
on hold.

 

"When we feel it's safe to have people come into the house, we will go back
to a cleaner because they've been wonderful for us over the years," says
Barbara. "At the moment we have to share the chores between us."

 

Once the coronavirus is no longer a risk, Chris Wootton is optimistic he'll
see an upturn in elderly customers.

 

"I think they will be a growth area for us because those people will want to
stay longer in their own home and not go into a care home," he says.

 

'Zero income'

Meanwhile, back in Chippenham, Liam and Louise Parkinson are hoping more
clients will soon start booking their cleaning service again.

 

The couple have been living off their savings since March, since they chose
not to apply for government support.

 

"We were a new company and we were really unsure whether we would qualify.
We didn't think 10 weeks later we would still not be working," says Liam.

 

"We have had literally zero income from that day so it has been really
tough. We're between £5,000-£7,000 out of pocket in lost company earnings.
It's pretty worrying. It's wiped out all of our personal savings."--BBC

 

 

 

Ex-Googler becomes China’s second-richest person

A former Google employee was briefly ranked the second richest person in
China, following a surge in sales at his e-commerce business, Pinduoduo.

 

Colin Huang was valued at $45.4bn (£36.4bn) by Forbes, on Sunday, ahead of
Alibaba's Jack Ma but behind Tencent's Pony Ma.

 

Mr Huang was previously an intern at Microsoft and then spent three years as
an engineer at Google.

 

“These three years were incredibly valuable to me,” he blogged in 2016.

 

“Google gave me far more than I contributed.”

 

According to Forbes, a slip in Pinduoduo's value has since given Mr Ma back
the second spot.

 

Shopping games

Mr Huang founded Pinduoduo in 2015.

 

And the company became particularly popular in China during the Covid-19
pandemic, with orders increasing from 50 million to nearly 65 million per
day.

 

Its novel features include team buying, where customers come together to
purchase more units at a lower price.

 

Customers can also play games on the site and are sometimes rewarded with
free gifts.

 

In his 2016 blog, Mr Huang said some early Google employees had been
adversely affected by quickly becoming wealthy.

 

“They suddenly got too much money, lost incentives to work and started to
look for fun and new careers,” he wrote.

 

“Many years passed and they wasted their most precious time, when they were
most likely to have other outstanding achievements.”

 

Mr Huang still has some way to go to catch up with the world's richest
technology billionaire, Jeff Bezos.

 

Forbes currently estimates the Amazon founder is worth $162.2bn.--BBC

 

 

 

Twitter apologises for business data breach

Twitter has emailed its business clients to tell them that personal
information may have been compromised.

 

Unbeknownst to users, billing information of some clients was stored in the
browser's cache, it said.

 

In an email to its clients, Twitter said it was "possible" others could have
accessed personal information.

 

The personal data includes email addresses, phone numbers and the last four
digits of clients' credit card numbers.

 

The tech company says that there is no evidence that clients' billing
information was compromised.

 

'Very sorry'

The breach affects businesses which use Twitter's advertising and analytics
platforms.

 

It's not yet clear how many businesses have been affected.

 

The company said it became aware of the issue on 20 May, and has since fixed
the problem.

 

In an email to affected users, the firm said: "We're very sorry this
happened. We recognise and appreciate the trust you place in us, and are
committed to earning that trust every day."

 

It is not believed that non-business Twitter users are affected.

 

It's not the first time Twitter has been exposed to a data breach.

 

In 2018, the company asked its users to change passwords after an internal
leak.--BBC

 

 

 

Virgin Australia bondholders lodge rival proposal, says source

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd (VAH.AX) bondholders lodged
a recapitalisation proposal with the airline’s administrator on Wednesday,
rivalling bids from Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners, according to a
person with knowledge of the matter.

 

The proposal involves a debt-to-equity swap among bondholders owed around
A$2 billion ($1.39 billion) plus a fresh capital injection of around A$1
billion, said the person, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

 

Virgin Australia would remain a listed entity as part of the plan, which
would allow bondholders to recoup around 70 cents on the dollar of their
investment, the person added.

 

The proposal would back the existing management team, honour full employee
entitlements, customer travel credits and frequent flyer points, according
to the source.

 

Australia’s second largest airline entered voluntary administration in April
owing nearly A$7 billion to creditors, having struggled financially even
before the coronavirus pandemic crushed travel demand.

 

Virgin Australia’s administrator, Deloitte, declined to comment.

 

Deloitte had said on Monday after receiving final offers from Bain and Cyrus
that it hoped to select a preferred bidder by June 30.

 

Deloitte did not release financial details of those offers but said both
planned to operate the airline as a smaller, single-branded domestic and
short-haul international carrier with growth potential.

 

Virgin Australia competes against larger rival Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX)
in the domestic aviation market, which is an effective duopoly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2020

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


Bindura Nickel Corporation

 

 

 


Padenga Holdings

 

 

 


Delta Corporation

 

 

 


Meikles Limited

 

 

 


 <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.

 


 

 


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