Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 17 March 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 17 March 2020

 


 

 


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ü  Nigeria's central bank to create fund to fight coronavirus

ü  South African cenbank: rates decision announcement scheduled for Thursday

ü  South Africa's Taste Holdings to liquidate food business, hitting 770 jobs

ü  AngloGold Ashanti worker in Ghana tests positive for coronavirus

ü  Endeavour Mining employee in Burkina Faso tests positive for coronavirus

ü  Tunisair to lose $24.6 million this month, CEO says

ü  Conferences, events cancelled at S.Africa's Sun International over virus fears

ü  Kenya's Safaricom waives fees for small M-Pesa transfers amid virus outbreak

ü  U.S. prosecutors believe Credit Suisse is culpable in Mozambique scandal-sources

ü  S.Africa's Old Mutual wants new CEO within months; shares drop after earnings

ü  Vauxhall factories to shut down over pandemic

ü  Climate change: The rich are to blame, international study finds

ü  Apple hit with record €1.1bn fine in France

ü  More flights cancelled by Virgin, Ryanair and others

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


Nigeria's central bank to create fund to fight coronavirus

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria’s central bank will create a 50 billion naira ($163 million) fund to combat the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Africa’s biggest economy and allow banks to give their customers more time to repay Godwin Emefiele announced the support package at a press conference in the capital, Abuja. Africa’s top oil producer, which has had two confirmed cases of the virus, has been hit hard by low crude prices caused by lower demand from China and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.loans, its governor said on Monday.

 

He said credit support for the health sector aimed to meet “potential increase in demand”. It was intended for loans to pharmaceutical companies planning to expand or establish drug manufacturing plants in Nigeria and to health companies that wanted to build hospitals and clinics.

 

Other measures announced include cutting interest rates on some central bank loans to 5% per annum, down from 9%, for one year.

 

“The CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) stands ready to provide liquidity back stops as and when required in view of its role as banker to the federal government and lender of last resort,” said Emefiele. The bank on Thursday reacted to speculation about a possible devaluation of the naira by saying “market fundamentals” did not support such a move.

 

The finance ministry last week said Nigeria would cut the size of its record 10.6 trillion naira ($34.6 billion) budget for 2020 due to low oil prices. The spending plan was calculated assuming a price of $57 per barrel, but Brent crude has hovered around $33 a barrel in recent days.

 

($1 = 306.0000 naira)

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

South African cenbank: rates decision announcement scheduled for Thursday

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said on Monday that it would announce its latest interest rate decision as scheduled at 15:00 local time (1300 GMT) on Thursday, but that reporters would dial into the news conference because of restrictions linked to the coronavirus outbreak.

 

Some analysts had speculated that the SARB would announce its interest rate decision ahead of schedule, given the expected economic impact of the coronavirus and an interest rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

 

 

 

South Africa's Taste Holdings to liquidate food business, hitting 770 jobs

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Taste Holdings is in the process of placing its food businesses into voluntary liquidation after a failed attempt to offload its Domino’s Pizza franchise.

 

A Domino's Pizza restaurant is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 18, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Taste’s move to liquidate the business comes after South Africa entered its second recession in two years in the final quarter of last year.

 

It will see 770 employees lose their jobs, while 55 stores owned by the company have closed, said Taste, whose food businesses own and license Domino’s Pizza franchises in South Africa.

 

In February last year Taste, which has been facing poor retail sales, estimated it required more than 700 million rand ($42 million) to achieve a positive cash flow and expand its food businesses which also included Starbucks store franchises.

 

But despite raising 132 million rand via a rights offer, it failed to secure the required investment. In November it said it would sell its Starbucks and Domino’s Pizza franchises in South Africa, retreating from a food industry that has been hit hard by the sluggish local economy, whose woes have been compounded by the global coronavirus outbreak.

 

However, Taste on Monday said a deal to dispose of its Domino’s franchise business could not be concluded on terms acceptable to all parties.

 

“Domino’s Pizza LLC was extensively involved in finding a buyer for our licence and approached other franchisees in their global network as potential suitors,” Taste Holdings Chief Executive Duncan Crosson said.

 

“However, discussions with three master franchise partners, as well as various global suitors, finally collapsed this week, triggering the voluntary liquidation decision.”

 

It added that it has received no communication on the date of cancellation of the franchising licence, “the group retains the regional franchising licence until further notice”.

 

Following the liquidation of Taste’s food businesses - Taste Food Franchising Proprietary, Taste Commissary Proprietary and Taste Food Trading 1 Proprietary Ltd - the company will have to fully impair the remaining intercompany loans, with the units valued at about 450 million rand ($27.38 million).

 

Taste Food Franchising Proprietary owns and licenses Domino’s Pizza franchises in South Africa.

 

($1 = 16.6449 rand)

 

 

 

AngloGold Ashanti worker in Ghana tests positive for coronavirus

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A worker at AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi gold mine in Ghana tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, the mining company said, the second known case of the new virus at a mine site in Africa.

 

AngloGold Ashanti said operations at the Obuasi mine, where gold production is ramping up, would continue.

 

The infected employee - a Ghanaian recently returned from travel abroad - is in self-isolation at his home and the company is working with Ghana’s ministry of health to trace all contacts, AngloGold Ashanti said in a statement.

 

Ghana has so far reported six cases of the novel coronavirus. On Monday, Tanzania, Liberia, Benin, and Somalia confirmed their first cases of the virus which has now spread to 30 African countries.

 

 

 

Endeavour Mining employee in Burkina Faso tests positive for coronavirus

(Reuters) - Gold producer Endeavour Mining said on Monday an employee at its Houndé mine in Burkina Faso tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday and was placed under quarantine but mining and exploration activities were not disrupted.

 

The employee experienced mild symptoms hours after arriving at the site from Britain, the company said, and the few people who were in contact with the employee have been identified and placed in quarantine.

 

Because the employee did not show symptoms on arrival and passed the company’s mandatory health screening, Endeavour said it was increasing its preventive measures by introducing a mandatory 14-day quarantine period for any employees or contractors arriving in Ivory Coast or Burkina Faso.

 

“Endeavour has not witnessed any impact to production or operations at any of its mines or exploration activities,” the company said in a statement.

 

Endeavour also said it has enough supplies and equipment, and suppliers have confirmed placed and forecast orders are intact.

 

The first confirmed case of the coronavirus at a mine site in Africa highlights the challenges mining companies face in managing large numbers of employees working together in often close quarters, as the virus spreads across the continent.

 

Burkina Faso reported its first two cases of coronavirus on March 9, and had 15 cases of the virus at last count.

 

Endeavour Mining shares were down 20.3% in early trading as stocks worldwide sank in a broad-based selloff.

 

 

 

Tunisair to lose $24.6 million this month, CEO says

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia’s national carrier Tunisair is expected to lose 70 million dinars ($24.6 million) in March and 80 million dinars in April due to the coronavirus, Chief Executive Elyes Mankbi told Reuters on Monday.

 

Tunisia has already announced many restrictions on air travel to regions affected by the coronavirus, including some of Tunisair’s busiest destinations in Europe and North Africa.

 

State-owned Tunisair has already been losing money every year since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, prompting urgent demands in parliament for it to be restructured.

 

Its loss in 2017, the last year for which there is official data, was 226 million dinars, and its loss in 2016 was 165 million dinars.

 

Mankbi has previously said the company needs more planes, less onerous state regulation of its procurement processes, a big staff reduction and other measures. Restructuring would cost 1.3 billion dinars ($456 million), he has said.

 

Tunisia’s state-owned enterprises took on very large numbers of new employees after the revolution but their performance has declined, leading to big losses and adding to the growing public debt.

 

International lenders are seeking big reforms to the state-owned companies, including Tunisair, but job losses are opposed by the country’s powerful labour union.

 

 

 

Conferences, events cancelled at S.Africa's Sun International over virus fears

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African hotel and casino operator Sun International is already handling cancellation of conference bookings and events by clients, CEO Anthony Leeming said on Monday, as companies rush to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Late on Sunday, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster as he announced a range of measures to contain the outbreak that has so far infected 61 and showed the first signs of internal transmission.

 

Measures to be taken include travel bans from countries such as Italy, Germany, China and the United States. The government will also prohibit gatherings of more than 100 people and cancel large events and celebrations, Ramaphosa said.

 

Even before the declaration, Sun International had started seeing the impact of travel restrictions, Leeming told Reuters over the phone.

 

“With travel restrictions we’ve definitely lost all international business and conference group bookings are cancelling left right and centre,” he said.

 

“With the President’s announcement, we’re going to have all conferencing cancelled for the next couple of months. So that’s the real impact on the hospitality side.”

 

Events such as music concerts that are usually held at its Times Square arena and Sun City resort have also been called off. Leeming said this will not be a huge loss for the operator.

 

On the casino side, Sun International has not yet seen a significant slow down in foot traffic but Leeming expects “a little bit of slowdown” as people avoid going out.

 

ONLINE SPORTS BETTING

In line with exploring new growth opportunities, Sun International will launch an online sports betting platform in the next month or two in Peru, Leeming told Reuters.

 

“Then that will quickly roll-out in Panama where we have an online sports betting license and then we can roll it out quite quickly if we can secure a license in Brazil and Argentina,” he said.

 

Sun International reported a 91% jump in adjusted headline earnings per share, the main profit measure in South Africa, for the year ended Dec. 31, to 605 cents per share from 316 cents per share a year ago due to lower interest and depreciation and a significantly lower tax rate.

 

Total income rose by 4% to 17.2 billion rand ($1.05 billion), primarily driven by above-market organic growth from key operations in South Africa and the impact of acquisitions made in Latin America during the prior year.

 

($1 = 16.4071 rand)

 

 

 

Kenya's Safaricom waives fees for small M-Pesa transfers amid virus outbreak

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya’s biggest telecoms operator Safaricom said on Monday it will waive transaction costs on mobile money transfers under 1,000 shillings ($10) after the government said cashless payments can curb the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta encouraged people to use the service because it would cut down on the handling of cash. Kenya has three cases of the virus so far.

 

Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile money platform is widely used, with more than 20 million subscribers in a population of 47 million.

 

The Central Bank of Kenya has also approved an increase of the daily transaction limit to 300,000 shillings per person from the current 140,000 shillings, Safaricom said in a statement.

 

User will be able to hold more money in their wallets under the new changes, the company added.

 

 

 

U.S. prosecutors believe Credit Suisse is culpable in Mozambique scandal-sources

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors are investigating Credit Suisse Group AG’s role in a $2 billion Mozambique corruption case and believe they have evidence of the Swiss lender’s culpability after three former bankers pleaded guilty last year, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

 

Prosecutors believe Credit Suisse can be held criminally liable for its employees’ crimes if they were committed in the scope of their role and at least partly benefited the bank, said one of the sources who is a U.S. law enforcement official. They believe a plea deal and testimonies from two former bankers at a subsequent trial give them evidence of the bank’s culpability, the sources said.

 

Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York contacted the bank in February and laid out their initial case against it, the second source said.

 

“Credit Suisse continues to cooperate with all investigating authorities,” a Credit Suisse spokesman said.

 

The prosecutor’s view on the bank’s culpability and the latest contact between prosecutors and the bank have not been previously reported.

 

It is not clear whether prosecutors will file any charges against the bank. The second source said talks between prosecutors and Credit Suisse could go on for as long as a year and the bank, which disputes that testimonies from its former bankers proved its guilt, may fight any charges in court.

 

The Justice Department declined to comment. The two sources declined to be named due to sensitivity of the matter.

 

The case stems from loans Credit Suisse helped arrange between 2013 and 2016 to develop Mozambique’s coastal defenses, shipping fleet and tuna fishing industry.

 

The three former Credit Suisse bankers, along with two middlemen and three Mozambican government officials, were charged in 2018 for money laundering and defrauding U.S. investors who had invested in the loans. U.S. prosecutors said at least $200 million of the loans had been diverted to the eight defendants. The former bankers pleaded guilty last year.

 

One of the former bankers, Andrew Pearse, who was a managing director, said during his plea hearing that he had accepted millions of dollars of unlawful kickbacks to enrich himself and Credit Suisse, according to a court transcript. The bank earned $24 million in fees on the loans, but is still waiting for Mozambique to repay a $270 million portion of the loan, one of the sources said.

 

A second former Credit Suisse banker who pleaded guilty testified at the trial of one of the middlemen that the bank was aware that the value of the ships financed through the loans were false, the sources familiar with the matter said.

 

The banker testified during a cross-examination that the bank failed to notify investors after learning that boats it had financed were worth about $250 million and $400 million less than it had originally indicated on the loan, said the law enforcement official.

 

However, the second source said such disclosures are usually made by the issuer, which in this case is the Mozambican government, and the bank is of the view that its former bankers were not senior enough to prove failure on the part of the lender.

 

 

 

S.Africa's Old Mutual wants new CEO within months; shares drop after earnings

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The board of South Africa’s Old Mutual likely wants to have appointed a new chief executive within a few months, interim CEO Iain Williamson said on Monday, when the insurer announced its full-year results and its shares dropped 8.5%.

 

Old Mutual said full-year adjusted profit rose 7%, versus the already flagged expected increase of up to 9% - which it attributed mostly to higher returns on invested capital due to an improved market, as opposed to performance.

 

The company’s share drop comes after the stock sunk in 2019 partly due to a spat with former boss Peter Moyo over his abrupt sacking in June following a dispute over a conflict of interest.

 

Williamson said that while the hunt for a new CEO was underway, he deferred questions on what stage the process was at and possible time frame to the board.

 

“I suspect they would like it done in the next few months,” he said

 

After initially winning a series of victories, Moyo’s case was dismissed in January - a decision he is appealing.

 

That marked a much-needed win for 175-year-old Old Mutual, whose handling of the matter was criticised by some shareholders and customers, denting the reputation of one of South Africa’s oldest companies.

 

Williamson said this had some impact on its ability to win new business, with the brand’s image hurt by the issue, though it was hard to isolate this from the much larger impact of a tough economy in South Africa.

 

Old Mutual’s results from operations - its measure of operating profit - fell 2%, verses a potential decline of as much as 5% flagged in a trading statement earlier in March.

 

The insurer pointed to economic deterioration in its home market, by far its largest and which tipped into recession this year. Many of its markets outside of South Africa also suffered.

 

Its adjusted headline earnings per share for the year to Dec. 31 stood at 209.3 cents ($0.1283), versus 195.1 cents a year earlier. Headline earnings per share is the main profit measure in South Africa.

 

Old Mutual adjusts its figure to account for factors including the break up of its former conglomerate structure into four separate entities - a U.S. asset manager, British wealth manager, African financial services division and a bank - that executives said would fare better alone.

 

Its shares regained some ground after dropping 8.5% at market open, and were down 5.92% by 0722 GMT, slightly outperforming the local stock market which was down 6%.

 

($1 = 16.3118 rand)

 

 

Vauxhall factories to shut down over pandemic

Vauxhall's parent company will shut all of its European manufacturing plants due to fears over the coronavirus.

 

PSA Group said plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton will close this week and will remain shut until at least 27 March.

 

In a statement, the firm said it had seen a "significant" drop in demand and disruption to supply chains.

 

Other manufacturers such as Ford and Nissan have already suspended work at factories in Spain and Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak.

 

Fiat Chrysler has said it will suspend production at the majority of its European factories for the same period.

 

PSA Group, which also owns Peugeot, Citroen and Opel, said staff at its UK plants would continue to be paid during the shutdown.

 

Coronavirus crisis

The Vauxhall plant in Luton builds the Vivaro van and employs more than 1,000 people. Another 1,500 others work at Ellesmere Port building the Vauxhall Astra.

 

They are two of the 15 manufacturing sites currently operated by PSA Group across Europe. Other sites are located in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Slovakia.

 

The company has been badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected the supply of parts. It is also causing a significant drop in demand, particularly in Italy, which is one of the worst-hit areas in Europe.

 

The firm says it wants to protect its workers, with serious cases of the virus having been found close to some of its production sites.

 

The closures will be staggered, with plants in south east France and Madrid stopping work on Monday, with others following later this week.

 

Ellesmere Port is due to shut on Tuesday, while workers in Luton will down tools on Friday.

 

Fiat Chrysler, which is in the process of merging with PSA, is closing its plants in Italy, Serbia and Poland.

 

Elsewhere in the UK, Jaguar Land Rover says production is continuing as normal at its UK plants in Castle Bromwich, Halewood, Wolverhampton and Solihull.

 

BMW, which runs a large Mini assembly plant at Cowley, near Oxford, also says production is currently unaffected.

 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to hold a conference call on Monday with carmakers about potentially switching to producing ventilators and other medical equipment, as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise.--BBC

 

 

 

Climate change: The rich are to blame, international study finds

The rich are primarily to blame for the global climate crisis, a study by the University of Leeds of 86 countries claims.

 

The wealthiest tenth of people consume about 20 times more energy overall than the bottom ten, wherever they live.

 

The gulf is greatest in transport, where the top tenth gobble 187 times more fuel than the poorest tenth, the research says.

 

That’s because people on the lowest incomes can rarely afford to drive.

 

The researchers found that the richer people became, the more energy they typically use. And it was replicated across all countries.

 

And they warn that, unless there's a significant policy change, household energy consumption could double from 2011 levels by 2050. That's even if energy efficiency improves.

 

Transport gulf

 

The researchers combined European Union and World Bank data to calculate how different income groups spend their money. They say it’s the first study of its kind.

 

It found that in transport the richest tenth of consumers use more than half the energy. This reflects previous research showing that 15% of UK travellers take 70% of all flights.

 

The ultra-rich fly by far furthest, while 57% of the UK population does not fly abroad at all.

 

The study, published in Nature Energy, showed that energy for cooking and heating is more equitably consumed.

 

But even then, the top 10% of consumers used roughly one third of the total, presumably reflecting the size of their homes.

 

Solutions?

 

Co-author Professor Julia Steinberger, leader of the project at Leeds, asked: “How can we change the vastly unequal distribution of energy to provide a decent life for everyone while protecting the climate and ecosystems?”

 

The authors say governments could reduce transport demand through better public transport, higher taxes on bigger vehicles and frequent flyer levies for people who take most holidays.

 

They say another alternative is to electrify vehicles more quickly, although previous studies suggest even then demand for driving must be reduced in order to reduce the strain on resource use and electricity production and distribution.

 

Rich Brits

 

The research also examined the relative energy consumption of one nation against another.

 

It shows that a fifth of UK citizens are in the top 5% of global energy consumers, along with 40% of German citizens, and Luxembourg’s entire population.

 

Only 2% of Chinese people are in the top global 5% of users, and just 0.02% of people in India.

 

Even the poorest fifth of Britons consumes over five times as much energy per person as the bottom billion in India.

 

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

The study is likely to ignite future UN climate negotiations, where the issue of equity is always bitterly contentious.

 

In the USA, libertarian politicians have typically portrayed climate change as a harbinger of global socialism.

 

Normal lives?

 

But Professor Kevin Anderson, from the Tyndall Centre in Manchester, who was not involved in the study, told BBC News: “This study tells relatively wealthy people like us what we don’t want to hear.

 

“The climate issue is framed by us high emitters – the politicians, business people, journalists, academics. When we say there’s no appetite for higher taxes on flying, we mean WE don’t want to fly less

 

“The same is true about our cars and the size our homes. We have convinced ourselves that our lives are normal, yet the numbers tell a very different story,” he said.

 

The study says transport energy alone could increase 31% by 2050. “If transport continues to rely on fossil fuels, this increase would be disastrous for the climate,” the report says.

 

It suggests different remedies for different types of energy use. So, flying and driving big cars could face higher taxes, while energy from homes could be reduced by a housing retrofit.

 

The authors note that the recent Budget declined to increase fuel duty and promised 4,000 miles of new roads. It did not mention home insulation.

 

The Treasury was contacted to discuss the taxation issues raised in the research, but declined to comment.--BBC

 

 

 

Apple hit with record €1.1bn fine in France

France's competition authority has imposed a record €1.1bn (£1bn; $1.2bn) fine on US tech giant Apple for what it sees as anti-competitive practices.

 

It is the biggest fine ever imposed by the French regulator.

 

The firm and two of its wholesalers in France were found to have an unfair agreement to control prices.

 

The investigation began in 2012, following a complaint by eBizcuss, which sells Apple products as an Apple Premium Reseller.

 

The authority's chief Isabelle de Silva said "Apple abusively exploited the economic dependence of these premium resellers on it and imposed unfair economic conditions on them that were worse than those for its integrated network of retailers".

 

Apple says it profoundly disagrees with the ruling and is appealing against it.--BBC

 

 

 

 

More flights cancelled by Virgin, Ryanair and others

Travel restrictions and a slump in demand due to the coronavirus have forced airlines to cancel most flights and temporarily reduce staff.

 

Virgin Atlantic will cut four-fifths of its flights and has asked staff to take eight weeks of unpaid leave.

 

Ryanair and EasyJet are grounding most of their fleets, while BA owner IAG is to cut capacity by 75%.

 

Norwegian Air has cancelled thousands of flights and will temporarily lay off more than 7,500 staff.

 

Holiday company Tui has said it will suspend the "majority" of its operations, affecting "package travel, cruises and hotel" bookings.

 

Passenger numbers and bookings have plummeted in recent weeks as countries closed their borders and holiday makers cancelled trips.

 

Forecasts by the research firm Centre for Aviation now predict that most airlines in the world will be bankrupt by the end of May unless they receive financial support.

 

"Coordinated government and industry action is needed - now - if catastrophe is to be avoided," the firm said in a statement. "Demand is drying up in ways that are completely unprecedented. Normality is not yet on the horizon."

 

In the US, airlines are in talks with the government about rescue funding, after announcing dramatic cuts to flight schedules and other measures. They are seeking up to $50bn in aid, according to the Wall Street Journal.

 

In the UK, Virgin Atlantic has asked the government for support for the sector, including emergency credit of up to £7.5bn.

 

EasyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren also called for government intervention to support the aviation industry. "European aviation faces a precarious future and it is clear that co-ordinated government backing will be required to ensure the industry survives and is able to continue to operate when the crisis is over," he said.

 

Airline cuts

Virgin said that it was going to reduce its services to focus on "core routes". Its London Heathrow-Newark route will be cut immediately.

 

The airline will also ask staff to take eight weeks unpaid leave over the next three months, with the cost spread over six months' salary.

 

Virgin said it was doing this to avoid job losses, although it is also offering a voluntary redundancy package to all employees.

 

Norwegian Air's temporary reduction in staff numbers will affect pilots, cabin crew and maintenance workers, roughly equalling 90% of its workforce.

 

Over the weekend, Scandinavian airline SAS said it would temporarily halt most of its flights until conditions for commercial aviation improved.

 

As a result, the airline said it would temporarily lay off up to 10,000 employees, or 90% of its workforce.

 

IAG, which owns British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, said it had suspended flights to China, reduced capacity on Asian routes, cancelled all flights to, from and within Italy as well as making other changes to its network.

 

"There is no cash whatsoever coming in the doors," said aviation analyst John Strickland, who warned that airlines could lose money very quickly, despite such drastic measures.

 

Mr Strickland described the reduction in airlines' operations as "stunning", warning that airlines can lose money "very, very quickly".

 

Stemming the loss by cancelling flights and parking aircraft is one thing, he said, "but airlines are both capital and labour intensive so there has to be support of the costs that cannot be avoided even if an airline is grounded".

 

Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, said he expects demand to remain weak well into the summer. BA's boss sent a memo to staff last week questioning the airline's survival if it did not make urgent changes.

 

EasyJet said it had cancelled a "further significant" number of flights. "These actions will continue on a rolling basis for the foreseeable future and could result in the grounding of the majority of the EasyJet fleet," it said.

 

What happens if your flight is cancelled?

Mass cancellations of flights in an unprecedented situation may leave passengers unsure of their rights.

 

For those yet to fly out, it is relatively straightforward - you should be given a refund or, in some cases, the option to rebook for another date.

 

If this is part of a package holiday, then the entire cost of the holiday will be refunded. A separate hotel booking will require a call to the hotel, asking for leeway, or perhaps a travel insurance claim if the policy covers you.

 

For those trying to get home, an airline has a duty of care to get you back if they have cancelled your flight. This may mean flying with another airline or putting you on a different mode of transport. If an extra overnight stay is required, the airline should pay for that as well as the food you need.

 

However, for those who accept a refund for a cancelled return flight, the airline's duty of care ends at that point. You would then have to get yourself home, which could be difficult given the current restrictions.

 

Consumer organisation Which? has called on airlines and holiday firms to give clear, fast advice to customers as the situation changes.--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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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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