Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 30 October 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 30 October 2020

 


 

 


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ü  For Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google business is booming

ü  US growth surged in summer but recovery is slowing

ü  SpiceJet: Indian airline turns to seaplanes to boost travel

ü  LVMH and Tiffany kiss and make up over takeover dispute

ü  Government support 'essential' for UK economy, says IMF

ü  Apple's late iPhone launch temporarily wiped $100 billion off its stock
value

ü  Delta Air Lines, pilot union reach preliminary deal to avoid furloughs

ü  Asian shares falter again, poised for first weekly loss since late-Sept

ü  Canada judge sides with Huawei CFO on some claims but does not dismiss
U.S. extradition case

ü  Amazon sees pandemic boosting holiday sales and investment in delivery

ü  Nigeria: FAAN Disrupts Airlines' Operations Over Debts

ü  Namibia: Fuel Prices Remain Unchanged for November

ü  Malawi: Government Says ICT Sector Needs Audit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

For Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google business is booming

Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google reported sales and profits figures on
Thursday covering the three months to 30 September - and there was a common
thread: growth shows no sign of slowing.

 

1. Amazon is king

The cardboard boxes and delivery trucks were an early sign - and now we've
got more proof: Amazon continues to be one of the biggest winners from the
pandemic.

 

Sales at the internet giant shot to $96.1bn in the three months to 30
September - up 37% from the same period in 2019. And profits hit a record
$6.3bn, nearly three times last year's total.

 

The rise was driven by its e-commerce business in North America, as families
increasingly turned to online shopping. But the company's advertising and
cloud computing business also saw significant gains.

 

The growth has not come without cost. Amazon said it had $2.5bn in
Covid-related expenses and its reputation has also taken a hit, with
protests against the firm's working conditions and other policies.

 

2. On social media, the Covid surge is fading

 

Facebook, owner of Instagram and WhatsApp, reported a whopping 2.5 billion
daily users on average in September across its platforms. That's up 15% from
September a year ago - but only a 3% rise from June, when people
stuck-at-home turned to social media, generating a flood of activity.

 

The company warned that the number of Facebook users even declined in the US
and Canada - its most profitable market - and told investors they expected
the trend to continue.

 

Twitter reported a similar story, claiming 187 million daily active users in
the July-September quarter, up just 1 million from the prior period.

 

3. The dip in users doesn't seem to be deterring advertisers, however

Amid the shutdowns earlier this year, many businesses cut advertising
spending. The move led sales to slow at Facebook and pushed Alphabet, the
parent company of Google and YouTube, to its first year-on-year decline in
quarterly revenue since becoming a publicly-listed company in 2004.

 

But spending from those businesses has returned.

 

At Google, revenue was up 14% year-on-year - far better than analysts had
expected. The rise helped profits jump an eye-popping 59% year-on-year to
more than $11bn, sending the firm's shares up more than 6% in after-hours
trading.

 

Twitter also saw revenue rise 14%, while at Facebook it jumped 22% and the
firm said it expected that growth to accelerate.

 

4. The next iPhone better be big

 

Apple sales hit $64.7bn, up slightly from a year ago - handily beating most
analyst expectations, as sales of laptops and iPads surged.

 

But shares in the firm sank in after-hours trading anyway, as investors
digested a more than 20% drop in iPhone revenue.

 

The hit was especially evident in Apple's Greater China region - where it
typically generates about 20% of its sales and sales dropped almost 30%.

 

Apple expressed confidence that buyers were simply holding out for its
latest phone, which went on sale later than in prior years.

 

"Despite the ongoing impacts of Covid-19, Apple is in the midst of our most
prolific product introduction period ever, and the early response to all our
new products, led by our first 5G-enabled iPhone line-up, has been
tremendously positive," chief executive Tim Cook said.

 

5. They celebrated the success - but will others?

As is typical, discussions from the companies focused on sales and profits -
and not the controversies swirling around them as calls for tougher
regulation gain traction in the US and elsewhere.

 

In its prepared comments, Facebook stood out with its brief nod to the
issue, warning of "headwinds
 from the evolving regulatory landscape".

 

But the companies' financial success will only make them more of a target
for complaints, warned Paolo Pescatore, analyst at PP Foresight.

 

"Tech dominance will continue to raise eyebrows given the antitrust
concerns," he said. "There will be further calls from rivals to regulate
tech companies."-BBC

 

 

 

US growth surged in summer but recovery is slowing

The US economy emerged quickly from the depths of the crisis triggered by
coronavirus lockdowns this spring, but full recovery remains out of reach.

 

Official figures show the economy grew at a record 7.4% in the three months
to 30 September from the prior quarter, when it suffered a severe decline.

 

But output remained 2.9% lower compared to the same period a year ago.

 

The data comes as analysts warn the rebound may be running out of steam.

 

"Overall, the initial recovery in GDP after the first wave of lockdowns were
lifted was stronger than we originally anticipated," said Paul Ashworth,
chief US economist at Capital Economics.

 

"But, with coronavirus infections hitting a record high in recent days and
any additional fiscal stimulus unlikely to arrive until, at the earliest,
the start of next year, further progress will be much slower."

 

Coronavirus: US poverty rises as aid winds down

'Are we going to be another lost generation?'

The US was not hit as badly as many places this spring, when countries
around the world went into lockdown. The economy shrank 9% in the second
quarter, compared to a roughly 20% contraction in the UK, 13.8% decline in
France and 9.7% fall in Germany.

 

The initial US slump has been partially offset by the growth between June
and September, which came as businesses reopened, employers recalled workers
and shoppers returned to restaurants and stores - helped by trillions of
dollars in government aid.

 

On an annual basis - the way the US prefers to measure growth, which assumes
such rates would continue for 12 months - the economy grew by some 33% in
the third quarter, following a record 31% contraction in the second.

 

But after the initial burst of activity, jobs growth has slowed and
employers have yet to restore more than 10 million positions cut during the
spring.

 

Stimulus stalemate

The unemployment rate stood at 7.9% last month, down from the 14.7% high
recorded in April but still more than double the jobless rate in February.

 

In recent weeks, major companies, including plane-maker Boeing, financial
firm Charles Schwab, and media giant Walt Disney, have announced new job
cuts. Oil giant Exxon on Thursday said it was slashing 1,900 jobs in the US.

 

More than 750,00 people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week
and more than 22 million continue to collect some form of benefits, the US
Labor Department said separately.

 

"As we move beyond the confinement and re-opening dynamics that drove
violent swings in activity between March and September, the sober realities
of the economic situation will become more apparent," said Brian Coulton,
chief economist at Fitch.

 

"Growth is set to slow sharply, we are still a long way from normalisation
and the surge in the virus cases means social distancing and all its related
economic implications are here to stay."

 

Election politics

The gross domestic product (GDP) figures - the broadest measure of economic
activity - come less than a week before the US presidential election and as
the debate in Washington about the need to fund additional coronavirus
relief remains at an impasse.

 

Republicans have pointed to the faster than expected recovery as a sign that
more limited aid is appropriate for an economy on the mend.

 

On Twitter, US President Donald Trump celebrated the growth, calling the
third quarter gains the "Biggest and Best in the History of our Country, and
not even close".

 

"Next year will be FANTASTIC!!!" he added, while warning that a win by his
challenger Joe Biden next week would "kill it all".

 

But Democrats have called for more than $3tn in additional spending, saying
Republican resistance to such a large relief package will hurt the economic
rebound.

 

"Our nation still has a long way to go before we overcome this public health
crisis and our economy fully recovers," New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who
leads Democrats in the Senate, said on Thursday after the figures were
announced. "Much more needs to be done."--BBC

 

 

 

 

SpiceJet: Indian airline turns to seaplanes to boost travel

Indian airline SpiceJet is turning to seaplanes to boost travel during the
pandemic downturn.

 

The country's biggest regional airline has approval for 18 seaplane routes.

 

One of these routes is to Kevadia, the site of the world's tallest statue -
an 182-metre tribute to the country's first home minister, Vallabhbhai
Patel.

 

During the pandemic, SpiceJet is focusing on new sources of revenue,
including transporting cargo and regional flights using smaller planes.

 

Airlines have struggled during the coronavirus to remain profitable and many
have gone bust, including the UK's Flybe and Virgin Australia. Many others
are on the brink of survival and have made severe job cuts.

 

Some airlines have been looking at alternative ways of generating revenue.
These include flights to nowhere and airplane meal delivery.

 

SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh said the seaplanes would help improve regional
connectivity - an initiative being encourage by the Indian government -
"without the high cost of building airports and runways", thanks to the
planes being able to take-off and land both on small water bodies and short
airstrips.

 

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to join the first flights
from Ahmedabad to Kevadia on Saturday, the 145th anniversary of Vallabhbhai
Patel's birth.

 

The landmark built in his honour, referred to as the Statue of Unity, sits
in the state of Gujarat and is double the height of the Statue of Liberty.

 

The 30-minute flights will operate through its subsidiary Spice Shuttle and
start from 1,500 rupees (£15.40) one-way.

 

Twin Otters

SpiceJet will be using Twin Otter 300 seaplanes, built by the former British
plane maker de Havilland, which is now owned by Canada-based Viking Air.
They can seat up to 19 people, including passengers and crew.

 

"The Twin Otter is very popular among smaller operators, and is frequently
used as a seaplane, most notably in the Maldives," said Greg Waldron at
FlightGlobal magazine.

 

"Its small size allows it to reach locations that would not be accessible or
practical for larger aircraft."

 

SpiceJet started conducting seaplane trials in India in 2017 in Nagpur,
Guwahati and Mumbai. It has been exploring air connectivity through water
bodies such as rivers or inland waterways.

 

During national lockdowns in India, SpiceJet remained active flying
repatriation flights for more than 1m Indians.--BBC

 

 

 

LVMH and Tiffany kiss and make up over takeover dispute

Luxury brand LVMH has ended a bitter dispute with Tiffany over its deal to
buy the US jeweller.

 

The French brand will pay about $425m (£326m) less to acquire Tiffany and
salvage the deal.

 

The dispute was triggered after LVMH got cold feet, claiming Tiffany was no
longer the business it agreed to buy last November before the pandemic.

 

Tiffany then sued the luxury goods giant to try to force the deal to go
forward.

 

The new deal brings to an end an acrimonious war of words between the two
luxury firms.

 

The initial deal ran into trouble last month when Louis Vuitton owner LVMH
said it could no longer complete the transaction by a 24 November deadline,
and would therefore not be buying Tiffany.

 

The jeweller then sued, saying LVMH had "unclean hands".

 

In return LVMH counter-sued, saying the jeweller had a "dismal" performance
during the coronavirus crisis, and also cited a request by the French
government to delay the deal until 6 January due to a threat of new US
tariffs on French products.

 

However, the two firms struck a more conciliatory tone on Thursday, having
reached a rapprochement.

 

Tiffany chairman Roger N. Farah said "it was in the best interests of all of
our stakeholders to achieve certainty of closing".

 

LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault said: "We are as convinced as ever of
the formidable potential of the Tiffany brand and believe that LVMH is the
right home for Tiffany and its employees during this exciting next chapter."

 

The new takeover price was set at $131.5 a share, down from $135 in the
original deal, the companies said, bringing the total price tag to about
$15.8bn.

 

"Tiffany and LVMH have also agreed to settle their pending litigation in the
Delaware Chancery Court," the firms added.

 

 

The Tiffany brand name hit global fame following the 1961 Audrey Hepburn
film Breakfast at Tiffany's.

 

Billionaire Mr Arnault had wanted to snap it up for a long time.

 

In November 2019, he agreed to pay $135 a share, promising to polish up the
jeweller's brand, which had been losing lustre for younger buyers.

 

But questions about the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis - which
has severely hit revenue in the luxury sector and prompted a 36% drop in
Tiffany sales in the first half of the year - had made the deal look shaky.

 

But with the deal back on, both sides now will be "licking their wounds",
said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves
Lansdown.

 

"What was meant to be a crowning achievement ended up more like handbags at
dawn in a Delaware courtroom but now both sides have agreed to settle all
pending legal action," she said.

 

"Although LVHM still has an unrivalled wardrobe of brands and a loyal
customer base, the collapse of the international travel market continues to
depress sales and with any benefit of the Tiffany acquisition uncertain for
now, the group is still in a state of flux," she said.--BBC

 

 

 

Government support 'essential' for UK economy, says IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said continuing government support
is "essential" for the struggling UK economy to recover.

 

The UK can afford it, and support is needed to see it through the
coronavirus pandemic and the Brexit transition, the IMF said.

 

Coronavirus infections are climbing rapidly again in the UK and elsewhere.

 

The IMF said the coronavirus recession is likely to be more severe than it
had predicted just a few weeks ago.

 

It said the second wave of coronavirus, Brexit uncertainty, rising
unemployment and stress on firms' balance sheets would make for a more
"muted" recovery than it forecast earlier this month.

 

Coronavirus recession

The IMF predicted that the UK economy would shrink by 10.4% in 2020, and
partially recover in 2021, with growth at 5.7%. This was a downward revision
from just a few weeks ago when it upgraded its forecast.

 

Britain can afford to ramp up its already massive spending push to counter
the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the IMF's managing director
Kristalina Georgieva said.

 

Invigorating growth as the pandemic subsides will take more spending, the
IMF said.

 

The UK government should increase public investment and bolster welfare
support for people who lose their jobs because of the crisis, she said.

 

The government has been supporting the UK through a number of initiatives,
including the jobs furlough scheme that ends on Friday, to and be replaced
by a different scheme.

 

"My main message today is that continued policy support is essential to
address the pandemic and to sustain and invigorate a recovery," Ms Georgieva
said in an online presentation alongside Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

 

"We welcome that the authorities have committed to deliver it as long as
necessary to boost expectations and confidence. The policy space exists to
do this," she said.

 

Mr Sunak welcomed the IMF report, which he said endorsed his economic
policies and his warnings that there would need to be action in future to
reduce borrowing.

 

"Let me be clear on what the Fund is saying today. It's right to support the
economy in the short term, but over time - and in line with other major
economies - we must get our public finances back on a sustainable path," he
said.

 

The IMF said the government's "aggressive" policy response to the pandemic
was one of the "best examples of coordinated action globally", and had
helped to hold down unemployment and the number of firms going bust.

 

Nevertheless, economic output has "dropped dramatically", it said, and
public and private debt levels are set to rise significantly.

 

The IMF has estimated that Britain is on course to rack up a budget deficit
of 16.5% of gross domestic product this year, dwarfing the damage wrought on
the country's public finances by the global financial crisis.

 

Ms Georgieva said fixing the public finances could not be ignored but should
only happen "once the private sector has durably picked up steam".

 

IMF staff said increases in the rate and scope of major taxes would be
almost inevitable.

 

The Treasury declined to comment.--BBC

 

 

 

Apple's late iPhone launch temporarily wiped $100 billion off its stock
value

(Reuters) - The late launch of new 5G phones caused Apple Inc's AAPL.O
customers to put off buying new devices, leading the company on Thursday to
report the steepest quarterly drop in iPhone sales in two years.

 

 

Apple fell over 5% at one point in after-hours trade, wiping $100 billion
from its stock market value.

 

Since 2013, Apple has delivered new iPhones each September like clockwork.
But pandemic-induced delays pushed the announcement back a month, with some
devices still yet to ship.

 

Even as booming sales of Macs and AirPods boosted overall revenue and profit
above what analysts had expected, iPhone sales dropped 20.7% to $26.4
billion. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/3ecmgCG)

 

Investors anticipated lower sales from the Cupertino, California company’s
bestselling product, but the hold-back was worse than expected, especially
in China, where more consumers have access to 5G than in the United States
or Europe.

 

Apple has mostly beaten sales expectations this year and released a slew of
new products and services that its customers have embraced while largely
homebound during the pandemic.

 

Apple said revenue and profits for the fiscal fourth quarter ended on Sept.
26 was $64.7 billion and 73 cents per share, compared with analyst estimates
of $63.7 billion and 70 cents per share, according to IBES data from
Refinitiv.

 

But the flagship iPhone 12’s announcement was delayed until Oct. 13, several
weeks later than usual, meaning no opening-weekend iPhone sales are included
in the fourth-quarter results.

 

In an interview with Reuters, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said that he
was “optimistic” about the iPhone 12 cycle based on the first five days of
shipping data.

 

“5G is a once-in-a-decade kind of opportunity. And we could not be more
excited to hit the market exactly when we did,” Cook said. “At least in the
U.S., the carriers are being very aggressive.”

 

The iPhone 12 release timing drove down sales in Greater China by 28.5% to
$7.95 billion. Cook said he expects the new 5G devices to help iPhone sales
recover in China.

 

 

“What we’re seeing in the early going in the first five days gives us a lot
of confidence that China will return to growth in our fiscal Q1,” Cook told
Reuters.

 

Apple did not provide a revenue growth forecast, but Chief Financial Officer
Luca Maestri said revenue from services and non-iPhone products would grow
by double-digit percentages in the fiscal first quarter, in line with
analyst expectations. He said iPhone revenue would also grow, implying the
rate would be in the single digits. Analysts expect iPhone revenue to rise
6.45% to $59.56 billion in the first quarter, according to Refinitiv data.

 

Logan Purk, an analyst with Edward Jones, said that “while iPhone sales will
grow this cycle, it will be disappointing compared to elevated expectations,
as we do not believe the 5G presents a compelling reason for a wave of
upgrades.”

 

Apple has offset volatile iPhone sales in recent years with steady growth in
its services segment, which includes streaming music and television.
Services revenue rose 16.3% to $14.5 billion, compared with analyst
estimates of $14 billion. Cook told Reuters that Apple One, a bundle of
Apple’s paid services, will launch on Friday.

 

Cook told Reuters that Apple has 585 million paying subscribers across its
platforms, up from 550 million the previous quarter and closer to the goal
of 600 million subscribers that the company set out for the end of calendar
2020.

 

Apple’s shares have soared in the past two years as it has diversified its
revenue streams to lessen its dependence on the iPhone. The share tumble on
Thursday raises the question of whether Apple is still more dependent on
iPhone sales than some investors had hoped.

 

“Apple needs to be able to keep the upgrade cycle going or the share price
will wobble because there’s no real room for forgiveness in the current
valuation,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, an equity analyst at Hargreaves
Lansdown.

 

Apple said revenue from its accessories segment was up 20.8% to $7.9
billion, compared with analyst estimates of a 13.5% rise to $7.4 billion,
according to Refinitiv data. Mac and iPad sales rose to $9.0 billion and
$6.8 billion, compared with estimates of $7.92 billion and $6.12 billion,
according to Refinitiv data.

 

 

 

Delta Air Lines, pilot union reach preliminary deal to avoid furloughs

(Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N and the union that represents its
pilots have reached a preliminary cost-cutting deal that will prevent
furloughs until Jan. 1, 2022, the union said late on Thursday.

 

Delta MEC, a unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, said the agreement -
which still needs approval from Delta’s nearly 13,000 pilots - will cut
monthly minimum guaranteed hours by 5%.

 

In September, Delta reached a tentative agreement with the negotiating
committee of its pilots’ union to reduce the number of furloughs by 220,
bringing the new total number of job reductions to 1,721.

 

The airline industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak as travel
has been restricted amid the pandemic, with Delta and other airlines
focusing on cutting costs, boosting liquidity and restoring customer
confidence.

 

 

 

Asian shares falter again, poised for first weekly loss since late-Sept

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A gauge of Asian shares fell for a third straight session
on Friday as jitters over upcoming U.S. presidential elections and fears
that the global economic downturn will persist enveloped markets, though the
index was still set to end the month higher.

 

 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS
was last down 0.3%, on track to the end the week 1.3% lower after four
straight weeks of gains.

 

The index is up 3.7% in October so far. Analysts expect this broader
outperformance to extend further.

 

“For a crisis of this scale, Asian equities have performed remarkably well,”
Citi analysts wrote in a note.

 

“Within the region, markets with a higher weighting of technology stocks or
where the recovery has become more entrenched have outperformed,” they
added. “This solid performance can continue, in our view. Valuations are
reasonable for an early stage of a recovery while liquidity is generous.
There has also been a perceptible drop in volatility in recent months.”

 

The mood on Friday was less positive, though. Australia's ASX 200 .AXJO fell
0.2% and New Zealand's benchmark index faltered 0.6%. Japan's Nikkei .N225
slipped 0.8% as did South Korea's KOSPI index .KS11.

 

Chinese shares were marginally higher, with the blue-chip index .CSI300 up
0.07%.

 

 

E-Mini futures for S&P500 ESc1 stumbled 0.9% in early Asian trading, a
signal Wall Street would open in the red later in the day.

 

Record numbers of coronavirus cases worldwide and the Nov. 3 U.S.
presidential election remained the major factors looming ahead for
investors. On Wednesday, global coronavirus cases rose by over 500,000 for
the first time as France and Germany prepped fresh lockdowns.

 

The falls in Asia occurred despite a solid session on Wall Street overnight,
which was helped by a diet of strong quarterly reports from tech giants and
data showing the U.S. economy grew at a historic annualised pace of 33.1% in
the third quarter.

 

Google parent Alphabet GOOGL.O, Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O, Apple Inc AAPL.O and
Facebook Inc FB.O all beat analyst estimates for quarterly revenue, with
Amazon reporting a second straight quarter of record profits.

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI closed up 0.52%. The S&P 500 .SPX
gained 1.19% and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 1.64%.

 

“Even with the rebound, U.S. output remains 3.5% below its pre-COVID levels.
The path towards recovery is much less clear from here, especially as the
number of virus cases grows and there are near-term impediments to a fiscal
deal,” wrote ANZ analysts in a note.

 

The European Central Bank committed to further action in December to further
lend economic support as European nations grappled with a renewed
coronavirus outbreak.

 

Analysts expect an expansion and extension of the ECB’s Pandemic Emergency
Purchase Programme, a lower deposit facility rate, and even more generous
lending terms for banks in December.

 

The announcement sent the euro EUR= sliding to a four-week low of $0.1648 to
be last at $1.1678.

 

The dollar was weaker against the Japanese yen JPY= at 104.46 while the
risk-sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 rose 0.3% to $0.7050. [FRX/] [AUD/]

 

In commodities, oil picked up after hitting a five-month low on Thursday,
with Brent crude futures LCOc1 up 9 cents at $37.74 a barrel and U.S. crude
CLc1 adding 11 cents at $36.28.

 

Gold rose, with spot prices climbing 0.2% to $1,870.9 an ounce.

 

 

 

Canada judge sides with Huawei CFO on some claims but does not dismiss U.S.
extradition case

VANCOUVER/TORONTO (Reuters) - A judge has blocked an attempt by Canada’s
attorney general to get parts of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng
Wanzhou’s arguments dismissed in the case to extradite her to the United
States, according to a ruling released on Thursday.

 

However, the judge sided with the attorney general in agreeing that Meng’s
arguments were not strong enough to warrant an immediate dismissal of the
case.

 

The ruling comes as a week-long witness testimony is under way in the
British Columbia Supreme Court, in a different part of the same extradition
case.

 

Meng’s assertion that the United States misrepresented evidence of alleged
fraud in its formal request to Canada for her extradition has an “air of
reality,” Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes wrote in her decision,
dated Oct. 28. She also agreed that Meng was entitled to introduce some
additional evidence in the case record, “to a limited extent.”

 

“Some of that evidence is realistically capable of challenging the
reliability” of the U.S. request for extradition, Holmes said.

 

The office of Attorney General David Lametti did not immediately respond to
a request for comment.

 

Huawei Canada called the decision “a substantial victory,” in a statement to
Reuters.

 

Canada’s Department of Justice said it respects Holmes’ decision.

 

Meng, 48, was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018
while on a layover bound for Mexico. Meng's case turns on whether she misled
HSBC HSBA.L about Huawei's [HWT.UL] business dealings in Iran. The United
States has argued she is guilty of fraud for causing the bank to break
sanctions against Iran.

 

Meng has said she is innocent and is fighting the charges from Vancouver,
where she is under house arrest.

 

Her arrest caused diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Beijing to become
rocky. Soon after her detention, China arrested two Canadian citizens on
espionage charges.

 

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

A PowerPoint presentation that Meng gave to a HSBC banker in Hong Kong in
2013, showing Huawei’s relationship to Skycom Tech Co Ltd - a firm that
operated in Iran - has been cited by the United States as key evidence
against her.

 

Holmes agreed with Meng that the U.S. request for extradition should have
included certain statements from the PowerPoint that add “further precision”
to Meng’s statements about Huawei’s business relationship with Skycom in
Iran.

 

Holmes flagged one example of potential U.S. misrepresentation of evidence,
pointing out that it did not include the phrase “‘Huawei’[s] engagement with
Skycom is normal and controllable business cooperation, and this will not
change in the future’ (emphasis added).”

 

“A similar statement is included earlier in the summary, but that statement
omitted the word ‘controllable’, reading, ‘Huawei’s engagement with Skycom
is normal business cooperation,’” Holmes said.

 

Although Holmes agreed that Meng’s arguments were not strong enough to
warrant immediate dismissal of the case, she said they “may be capable of
doing so when considered together with allegations from the first or second
branches,” referring to other allegations of abuses of process Meng has put
forward.

 

Leo Adler, a Toronto-based extradition lawyer who is not involved in the
case, said the ruling represented “a good win” for Meng, but added that
Holmes “is a very cautious judge.”

 

RUSHED DISCUSSION

In Thursday’s witness testimony, a border officer told the court that the
impending arrival of Meng at a Canadian airport two years ago meant
discussions about the best way to apprehend her had to be cut short.

 

Scott Kirkland, an officer with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA),
had previously told the court he was worried about allegations of civil
rights violations if the agency intercepted and interviewed Meng before her
arrest by Canadian police.

 

But he did not bring this concern up with others, in part because they had
less than an hour before Meng’s flight landed to decide how to handle her
interception.

 

“It was a rushed discussion,” Kirkland said.

 

The afternoon’s testimony focused on the sequence of events during the
border agency’s inspection of Meng. The defense suggested that it was
improper for Kirkland to have written down her cell phone passcodes on a
piece of paper rather than only in his notebook, but he maintained that it
is standard procedure.

 

Meng’s lawyers have argued that abuses of process occurred in the nearly
three hours between when CBSA intercepted her and the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP) arrested her, during which she had no legal representation.

 

RCMP Constable Winston Yep, who arrested her, was the first witness in the
week-long testimony. Yep insisted the RCMP stayed in its lane and did not
direct the CBSA in its investigation of Meng.

 

Canadian government prosecutors have tried to prove that Meng’s arrest was
by the book, and any lapses in due process should not impact the validity of
her extradition.

 

Meng’s extradition hearings are scheduled to wrap up in April 2021, although
the potential for appeals means the case could drag on for years.

 

 

 

Amazon sees pandemic boosting holiday sales and investment in delivery

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O on Thursday forecast a jump in holiday
sales - and costs related to COVID-19 - as consumers continued to shop more
online during the pandemic.

 

A company executive added that heightened spending on delivery
infrastructure would likely continue over years, and shares fell 2% in
after-hours trading.

 

Since the start of the virus outbreak in the United States eight months ago,
consumers have turned increasingly to Amazon for delivery of groceries, home
goods and medical supplies. Brick-and-mortar shops closed their doors;
Amazon by contrast moved to recruit over 400,000 workers and earned $6.3
billion in the just-ended quarter, its second consecutive record profit.

 

That has kept the world’s largest online retailer at the center of workplace
and political tumult. Democratic politicians this month accused Amazon of
holding “monopoly power” over merchants on its platform, which the company
disputes. Meanwhile, more than 19,000 of Amazon’s U.S. employees contracted
COVID-19, and some staff protested for site closures.

 

Amazon’s response now includes an estimated $4 billion in costs related to
COVID-19 this holiday, up from $2.5 billion last quarter. It is testing
employees for the virus and getting protective gear for new hires. It also
is working less productively because of social distancing at its warehouses,
which accounts for a big part of its pandemic expense, Chief Financial
Officer Brian Olsavsky said on a call with reporters.

 

Amazon forecast operating profit to be between $1.0 billion and $4.5
billion, short of $5.8 billion analysts were looking for, according to
research firm FactSet.

 

Competition this holiday remains fierce for the company in retail - and in
the cloud. A traditional bright spot, cloud computing division Amazon Web
Services (AWS) is dueling with smaller rival Microsoft Corp MSFT.O for
business with a big potential during the pandemic, from remote work to
cloud-based gaming.

 

In the just-ended third quarter, AWS sales grew 29%, while Microsoft
reported a 48% rise in revenue for its Azure cloud.

 

‘TIGHT ON CAPACITY’

 

Still, Amazon’s sales are shaping up to hit a record level. Jeff Bezos,
Amazon’s chief executive and richest person in the world, said in a press
release, “We’re seeing more customers than ever shopping early for their
holiday gifts, which is just one of the signs that this is going to be an
unprecedented holiday season.”

 

The company reported that customers in its loyalty club Prime were shopping
more often, renewing their membership at higher rates and, internationally,
turning to Amazon much more for video entertainment. Merchants also expanded
their budgets for advertising on Amazon in the third quarter versus a
contraction during the pandemic’s spring peak.

 

The question for some analysts has been whether Amazon’s consumer division
can keep up with still-growing purchases during the pandemic.

 

The company has long worked to avoid a repeat of the 2013 season when delays
left some without presents on Christmas Day. Amazon now handles more
deliveries in house, and this year it moved its marketing event Prime Day -
usually in July - to October, letting customers place holiday orders early.

 

CFO Olsavsky told reporters that the company is “not totally insulated” from
challenges its delivery partners may be facing this quarter, though the
online retailer feels ready for the holiday season.

 

“We do think it will be tight on capacity industry-wide, and we’re no
exception to that,” he said. “It does behoove shoppers to shop early.”

 

Olsavsky said on a call with analysts that Amazon’s fulfillment and
logistics square footage would be 50% higher this year. He said the company
already has spent heavily on expanding its transport capability, part of
some $30 billion in capital expenditures and leases through the third
quarter. The heightened transportation investment will likely continue over
years to come, he said.

 

For the fourth quarter, Amazon said it expects net sales of $112 billion to
$121 billion. That would mark the company’s first over $100 billion and
follows a third-quarter revenue beat that analysts such as eMarketer’s
Andrew Lipsman did not expect.

 

“While it was clear that the pandemic-driven shift to e-commerce would keep
Amazon’s topline elevated, it surprised by easily surpassing an already high
bar,” Lipsman said.

 

 

 

Nigeria: FAAN Disrupts Airlines' Operations Over Debts

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) recently disrupted the
operations of airlines indebted to the agency by delaying the operations of
two airlines at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. FAAN
officials closed the counters of the two airlines during check in and it was
after prolonged pleading by the domestic carriers that the agency allowed
them to airlift their passengers for the flight.

 

Spokesman for FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu who confirmed the development
said, the agency was on a revenue drive at the Abuja airport. A FAAN
official said the agency had to recover its debts in order to sustain its
operations, pay its workers in order to continue to provide services to
airlines and other airport users.

 

THISDAY learnt that the agency intends to extend the disruption to other
airports until it is able to recover the debts owed it by the operators.

 

An industry observer told THISDAY that the airlines should have envisaged
that the agency must seek for their revenue and should have made provision
for that in their financials but also noted that FAAN and the airlines
should have negotiated for the payment part of the debts, knowing that it
has not been easy for the airlines and the airport managers due to economic
downturn occasioned by the COVID-19 lockdown and the aftermath.-This Day.

 

 

 

Namibia: Fuel Prices Remain Unchanged for November

The Ministry of Mines and Energy yesterday confirmed that fuel pump prices
for November 2020 will remain unchanged countrywide. A ministerial statement
from spokesperson Andreas Simon noted that even though minimal under and
over-recoveries were recorded in the fuel retail industry, the ministry will
strive to continue softening the burden on consumers and, at the same time,
keep the fuel pump prices stable to ensure the sustainability of the
National Energy Fund.

 

Andreas noted that, generally, a host of factors influence local fuel pump
prices. However, the ministry based this latest decision on international
prices of refined petroleum products, the exchange rate between the Namibian
Dollar against the US Dollar, and the cost of shipping petroleum products
from international markets to Namibia's shores.

 

During October 2020, international prices for refined petrol and diesel
remained relatively stable. In fact, refined petrol slightly decreased from
an average of US$47.21 in September to an average of US$46.75 in October
whereas diesel slightly increased from an average US$42.70 in September to
an average of US$43.83.

 

 

Furthermore, the exchange rate between the Namibia Dollar against the US
Dollar remained relatively stable with a slight strengthening from an
average of N$16.71 in September to an average of N$16.55 in October.

 

"This partly contributed to the reduction in the under-recovery recorded on
petrol, from -9.264 c/l, last month to -1 .270 c/l this month. In addition,
the diesel pump prices were reduced in October by 40 c/l while petrol prices
remained unchanged. Consequently, the previous reduction in diesel pump
prices caused an over-recovery, from 60.697 c/l in September to 1 1 .464 c/l
in October 2020," read the statement.

 

An under-recovery indicates that the pump prices were lower than the import
price and an over-recovery indicates that the pump price was higher than the
import price.

 

"In a normal circumstance, when an under-recovery occurs, it is passed onto
the consumer or alternatively, it is financed from the National Energy Fund
(NEF), in-order-to subsidise the consumer," the statement reads.

 

Simon added that the objective of the monthly fuel prices review exercise is
to ensure that fuel pump prices are at all times reflective of the import
price and to do so in an orderly manner.-New Era.

 

 

 

Malawi: Government Says ICT Sector Needs Audit

Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Gospel Kazako says
there is need for proper audit in the ICT sector for the government to know
investments and gaps within the sector.

 

He said this Wednesday in Blantyre where he visited Globe Internet to hold
discussions on several developments, among which was the tapping of power
from the fiber cable which is currently held by ESCOM.

 

Kazako noted that lack of audit in the sector as one of the big issues that
needs to be sorted out to ensure that the sector is efficient and effective,

 

 

"The big weakness in this sector has been lack of audit. Government needs to
know what it has, what it doesn't have, who is using what and how they are
using it.

 

"We believe in interaction and engagement. We came to literary find out what
was happening," said the Minister.

 

Kazako said government spent millions of dollars in the fiber that is being
held by ESCOM and yet was not sure of the terms of reference that are there.

 

"We want to understand what is happening as we are doing this thing on
behalf of people," he added.

 

The Minister recommended that the ICT sector needs a lot of audit, a lot of
recalibrating, a lot of changing the directions to ensure affordable and
well capacitated ICT.

 

"This government is looking at ICT as crucial in a sense that it is an
important tool to growing our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We are aware of
new GDP matric called GDP B that is motivated by the level of investments,"
he said.

 

Kazako expressed concern over the way ICT companies give senior positions to
foreigners which result into Malawians not developing the knowledge and
experience in the sector.

 

"The habit of employing people from other countries other than Malawian in
senior positions is also very evident here." the Minister noted.

 

He said of the need for Malawians to be given opportunity to acquire
adequate knowledge in the ICT sector.

 

"We reminded them that it is very important for them to ensure that there is
a process of imparting knowledge and experience to Malawians," Kazako said,
adding that ICT companies should believe that Malawians could equally
perform in senior positions the same way people from Bangladesh, India,
Uruguay or Paraguay can do.

 

"We have people that have been working in this company since 1999 and they
are always renewing their work permits and Malawians are down there," he
added.

 

Commenting on the issue of giving senior positions to foreigners, Globe
Internet Chief Commercial Officer, Elias Imaan said the company would look
and review the issue.

 

"We have taken note of the issue, obviously as an organisation it is
something that we are going to review," he said.

 

"This is something that we should be looking into and address immediately,"
Imaan said while acknowledging that some positions are critical in terms of
skill.-Malawi News Agency.

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2020

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


Afdis

AGM

virtual

13/11/2020 | 12:20pm

 


Zimbabwe

National Unity Day

Zimbabwe

22/12/2020

 


 

Christmas Day

 

25/12/2020

 


 

Boxing Day

 

26/12/2020

 


 

New Year’s Day

 

01/01/2021

 


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.

 


 

 


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

 


 

 

 

 

 

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