Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 21 April 2021

[Bulls n Bears]

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 21 April 2021

 


 

 


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ü  Netflix: Shares plunge as subscribers switch off

ü  Apple event: AirTag, iPad and iMac lead line-up

ü  Labour: Save Liberty Steel before it goes bust

ü  Under-35s bearing brunt of jobs crisis

ü  MI5 warns of spies using LinkedIn to trick staff into spilling secrets

ü  Asda takeover 'could lead to higher petrol prices'

ü  Is the Australia-NZ travel bubble the way ahead?

ü  Foxconn mostly abandons $10 billion Wisconsin project touted by Trump

ü  Apple packs iPad Pros with faster chips, slims iMacs and jumps into tracking tags

ü  In Japan Inc, activist investors come in from the cold

ü  SoftBank Vision Fund seen posting record earnings on Coupang

ü  Asian stocks fall as virus worries return to haunt markets

ü  Boeing extends CEO’s retirement age, a vote of confidence during crises

ü  Discord ends sale talks with Microsoft - sources

ü  Nigeria: Fuel Queues Resurface in Abuja As NNPC Speaks On Price Hike

ü  Nigeria: Inflation - Nigerians Groan As Food Prices Skyrocket

ü  Kenya: Why Are Kenyans Trolling the IMF?

ü  Namibia: Public Warned Against Inhaling Locust Pesticide

ü  South Africa: What Broke South African Rail - and Can It Be Fixed?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Netflix: Shares plunge as subscribers switch off

Video-streaming giant Netflix has reported a slowdown in subscriber growth, sending its shares tumbling.

 

About 3.98 million people signed up for Netflix between January and March, well short of the projected 6 million.

 

The company said a lack of new shows may have contributed to the fall, adding that it expected this to recover as sequels to hit shows are released.

 

Netflix shares fell 11% in after-hours trading to $489.28, wiping $25bn off the company's market capitalization.

 

The streaming service added 15.8 million new subscribers last year as Covid-19 forced people around the world to stay home.

 

Much of that growth came in Asia, where Netflix added 9.3 million new subscribers in 2020, an increase of about 65% over the previous year.

 

But the pandemic has proven a double-edged sword for Netflix, because it also disrupted its production pipeline.

 

"These dynamics are also contributing to a lighter content slate in the first half of 2021, and hence, we believe slower membership growth," the company said in its quarterly letter to shareholders.

 

The company projected poor customer growth ahead, with an additional 1 million new streaming customers in the second quarter, far short of the previously predicted 5 million.

 

Netflix also faces increasingly stiff competition from new streaming services entering the market.

 

Disney+, a much newer streaming service, already has 100 million subscribers, compared with Netflix's 207.6 million.

 

Disney Plus racks up 50m subscribers in five months

Even with sluggish customer growth, Netflix has reported revenues of $7.16bn and net income of $1.71bn.

 

Netflix predicted stronger growth in the second half of the year when it releases new seasons of "You," "Money Heist," "The Witcher" and action movie "Red Notice," among other titles.

 

"We had those ten years where we were growing smooth as silk," Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings said on a streamed earnings call, according to an AFP report.

 

"It is just a little wobbly right now."--BBC

 

 

 

Apple event: AirTag, iPad and iMac lead line-up

Apple has shown off its latest product line-up in its first big event of 2021.

 

The firm is increasing the number of products which will contain its own in-house developed M1 chip, as the sector struggles with a global semiconductor shortage.

 

It finally unveiled its much-anticipated tracker tile, the AirTag, which will launch at the end of April.

 

And it announced its first significant update to the iconic iMac desktop computer in recent years.

 

It also showcased a new iPad Pro, complete with M1 chip and 5G connectivity.

 

What was not discussed, but was later shared by Apple, was the roll-out of the latest version of its operating system, iOS 14.5, which will include a controversial update limiting what app owners can see about user activity outside of their own apps without permission.

 

It's a popular business model for "free" internet services, including Facebook, which use the data they gather on their members' online habits to target advertising.

 

AirTags have been highly-anticipated by Apple fans. They are small round disks which can be attached to anything, and transmit a Bluetooth signal to a home gadget - an iPad or iPhone - to alert the user to their location.

 

The original Tile tracker, a rival product, launched following a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2014.

 

AirTags will cost £29 ($29 in US) and are due to launch on April 30, said Apple engineering program manager Carolyn Wolfman-Estrada. They work with all devices containing the U1 chip, which includes the iPhone 11 (which launched in 2019) and later models.

 

She also said they were designed to "track items not people", with features such as rotating identifiers and audible alerts from unknown tags built in to protect privacy.

 

AirTags are official. Smart to make the tag customizable – Apple really understands mobile/wearable/personal products. Privacy will help this to appeal to those that would reject other tags #appleevent pic.twitter.com/u8mI9oiQMo

 

Colleen Novielli showed off new super-thin iMacs in seven different colours, built with Apple's new M1 chip, and a 24in, 11.3 million pixel screen, along with a revamped camera and other upgrades. One of Apple's older products, the iMac has not seen a significant revamp for years.

 

However, it only has a top RAM (the device's short-term memory) of 16GB, putting it on a par with the older Mac Mini.

 

"It is little surprise Apple has resisted updating the iMac over the last few years, given the transformational impact the M1 architecture has had on the overall design," commented Leo Gebbie from CCS insight.

 

"This is an endorsement of Apple's multi-year, multi-billion-dollar investment in creating its own silicon platforms which now power all its key devices."

 

5G comes to iPad

The M1 chip, an ultra-wide camera and 5G data connectivity are all coming to the new iPad Pro, said product manager Raja Bose.

 

The M1 chip will make the latest version's graphics performance 1,500 times faster than the original, he said, in a presentation which focused on the iPad's graphics and gaming benefits.

 

The new model will also feature up to 2 terabytes of storage.

 

According to analysts IDC, the tablet market overall grew in 2020 for the first time in seven years, with sales driven by consumers and education providers during the global pandemic.

 

"Tablets emerged as a reliable alternative for consumers to meet their needs for content consumption and provide access to remote schooling during the lockdown," said Daniel Goncalves from IDC.

 

Mr Goncalves added that many households had bought extra tablets in the last 12 months, in order to keep up with their increased use.

 

Apple also announced a new subscription podcast platform, in keeping with its move towards streaming services, first announced in 2019.

 

And it showed off a new 4K Apple TV, with a re-designed Siri remote and HDR (High Dynamic Range). HDR offers a greater range of colours, making pictures more vivid and realistic. Sky launched an HDR service last year for a selection of its nature documentaries - but only to customers with specific premium subscriptions.

 

This launch wasn't exactly chock-a-block with surprises.

 

The move to Apple's own silicon has so far been a success.

 

The new M1 chip Macbooks have had rave reviews - so it was only a matter of time before Apple switched its other products over to the new design.

 

The new iMacs and iPads will be the fastest and most powerful ever - though it would of course be preposterous if they weren't.

 

Interestingly Apple also announced it's much speculated AirTags.

 

You'll be able to attach it to your keys or your dog's collar, anything. If you lose them, you'll be able to find it using your phone.

 

This looks very much like a product already on the market, Tile - though AirTags appears at first view to have a different tracking system.

 

This is another example in the long line of Big Tech companies borrowing/copying ideas from smaller companies, and it's these kinds of moves that many US lawmakers don't like.

 

And this launch was interesting too for what wasn't discussed.

 

It was speculated that Apple might launch its new app tracking transparency feature - and we now know the latest version of its operating system, iOS 14.5, is due out next week.

 

Apple wants to limit how companies follow you on the internet on Apple devices. It says it wants to protect its customer's privacy.

 

Platforms like Facebook, that relies heavily on ad revenue, is against the move.

 

However this evening's event was all about the products.--BBC

 

 

 

Labour: Save Liberty Steel before it goes bust

The government should step in to save Liberty Steel before, not after, it collapses to save thousands of supply chain jobs and millions of pounds, the Labour Party has said.

 

Liberty Steel and its parent firm GFG Alliance have been in distress since its main financial backer Greensill Capital went bust in early March.

 

The government has pledged to preserve Liberty Steel in some form.

 

It said it was "closely monitoring developments" around the firm.

 

Labour drew parallels between Liberty Steel and British Steel, which collapsed before being bought by Chinese firm Jingye.

 

Liberty Steel nationalisation 'an option' to save jobs

Liberty Steel: Kwarteng defends rejecting request for £170m bailout

The government's decision to wait until British Steel was insolvent cost the company's supply chain £500m in unpaid bills, Labour said.

 

"Labour is calling on ministers to intervene early before liquidation to save workers jobs, terms and conditions, and give customers and suppliers confidence that orders will be fulfilled, bills paid, and domestic steelmaking capacity will be safeguarded," said shadow minister for business and consumers Lucy Powell.

 

British Steel was run on government life support by the Official Receiver for five months at an additional cost of £500m to the taxpayer before being sold to Jingye for £50m.

 

The government said that its intervention enabled British Steel to continue to trade, customers to receive orders, and key suppliers to maintain their services, safeguarding more than 3,000 jobs in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East.

 

Regarding Liberty Steel, the government said it "continues to engage closely with the company, the broader UK steel industry and trade unions".

 

This is not a straightforward situation. Greensill's spectacular and rapid disintegration, despite the controversial efforts of former Prime Minister David Cameron to lobby on its behalf, have left a complicated Greensill carcass for administrators to pick through.

 

Invoices issued by Liberty and GFG, which were bought by Greensill for a discount and then sold on to investors, have left many of them billions out of pocket.

 

Swiss bank Credit Suisse, whose customers indirectly bought the invoices, have issued claims for billions against companies in the GFG group for repayment.

 

The question for Labour may be, if you rescue Liberty before it goes bust - are you suggesting the taxpayer should pay off those debts?

 

The government is also keen not to be seen supporting steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, who was once known as the saviour of steel thanks to his rescue of many loss making steel plants across the UK. Mr Gupta bought a £42m house in London before asking the UK government for a £170m taxpayer bailout.

 

The lobbying efforts of Mr Cameron and the access of his banker boss Lex Greensill to Number 10, government departments and the senior ranks of the civil service has provoked widespread outrage and charges of cronyism.

 

That will not be uppermost in the minds of 5,000 workers at Liberty and other GFG companies who face a nail-biting wait to see if Mr Gupta can find another financier to replace Greensill - or see the company fall into some form of public ownership.

 

The government has pledged to preserve the company in some form. For the Labour Party, sooner is better to avoid the collateral damage of an insolvency - but this is a very tangled and potentially expensive web to untangle.--BBC

 

 

 

Under-35s bearing brunt of jobs crisis

Younger people continue to bear the brunt of the jobs crisis amid widespread cuts in sectors such as hospitality, official figures show.

 

In the year to March, 811,000 payroll jobs were lost in the UK, with under-35s accounting for 80% of these cuts.

 

The data also showed the unemployment rate dipped to 4.9% in the three months to February - down from 5% previously.

 

This was despite most of the UK being under strict lockdown rules for at least some of the period.

 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobs market "remains subdued", with five million people employed but still on furlough.

 

Head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, Suren Thiru, said:  "Unemployment remains on course to peak towards the end of 2021, once the furlough scheme expires and those who stopped job hunting during the pandemic look to return to the workforce as restrictions ease.

 

"Although the furlough scheme will limit the peak in job losses, the longer-term structural unemployment caused by Covid-19, particularly among young people, may mean that the road back to pre-pandemic levels lags behind the wider economic recovery."

 

'Finding work feels impossible for my generation'

Overall, some 1.67 million people were unemployed between December and February. That is down 50,000 on the previous quarter but still 311,000 higher than a year ago.

 

But the ONS said younger people were suffering disproportionately, as sectors such as retail and hospitality were hit hard by the crisis.

 

People aged under 35 accounted for 635,000 payroll jobs lost in the year to March, with 436,000 of those positions held by people under 25.

 

Gerwyn Davies, senior policy adviser at the Chartered Institute of Professional Development, said the number of young people in employment had hit a "post-pandemic low".

 

"This reinforces the urgent case for apprenticeship incentives to be made more generous and targeted specifically at 18-24 year-olds. It also underlines the need to improve employers' awareness of traineeships and the Kickstart [work placement] Scheme."

 

It would be wrong to get carried away with the pleasant surprise of a dip in the official unemployment rate below 5%. The real pandemic picture is in the tax data for March. 813,000 fewer payrolls on the PAYE system versus a year ago, and four fifths of those jobs were lost to under 35s.

 

But the fact that the numbers in the first few months have been broadly stable is definitely a source of relief. Employers were able to navigate the second lockdown without widespread further job losses, thanks to the extension of support schemes such as furlough.

 

This provides a more solid basis than might have been expected for the phased reopening of the economy. There will be strains, especially as support is phased out in late summer. But these figures offer hope of a lower peak to unemployment, perhaps at around 6%, than had been expected.

 

The ONS said the overall jobs market had been "broadly stable" in recent months after the major shock of last spring, when where the economy contracted sharply.

 

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said the labour market "remains subdued" but that there were positive signs.

 

"With the prospect of businesses reopening, there was a marked rise in job vacancies in March, especially in sectors such as hospitality."

 

The Bank of England expects an economic rebound this year, as lockdown measures are eased and government support for jobs continues. But it says the recovery still depends on the "evolution of the pandemic".

 

Hannah Audino, an economist at PwC, said the stabilisation of the jobs market during the third national lockdown boded well for the UK economy.

 

"We expect a gradual recovery in the labour market in the coming months with the reopening of hospitality and retail, provided the government's roadmap to reopening the economy continues to go to plan."--BBC

 

 

 

MI5 warns of spies using LinkedIn to trick staff into spilling secrets

At least 10,000 UK nationals have been approached by fake profiles linked to hostile states, on the professional social network LinkedIn, over the past five years, according to MI5.

 

It warned users who had accepted such connection requests might have then been lured into sharing secrets.

 

"Malicious profiles" are being used on "an industrial scale", the security agency's chief, Ken McCallum, said.

 

A campaign has been launched to educate government workers about the threat.

 

The effort - Think Before You Link - warns foreign spies are targeting those with access to sensitive information.

 

One concern is the victims' colleagues, in turn, become more willing to accept follow-up requests - because it looks as if they share a mutual acquaintance.

 

Travel opportunities

MI5 did not specifically name LinkedIn but BBC News has learned the Microsoft-owned service is indeed the platform involved.

 

The 10,000-plus figure includes staff in virtually every government departments as well as key industries, who might be offered speaking or business and travel opportunities that could lead to attempts to recruit them to provide confidential information.

 

And it is thought a large number of those approached engaged initially with the profiles that contacted them online.

 

"No-one is immune to being socially manipulated into wrongdoing through these approaches," the guidance given to government staff says.

 

LinkedIn has said it welcomes the initiative.

 

'Criminal organisations'

The campaign, run by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, which reports to MI5, asks government staff to focus on "the four Rs":

 

"Since the start of the pandemic, many of us have been working remotely and having to spend more time at home on our personal devices," government chief security officer Dominic Fortescue said.

 

"As a result, staff have become more vulnerable to malicious approaches from hostile security services and criminal organisations on social media."

 

The US and other countries have launched similar campaigns.

 

Former CIA officer Kevin Mallory was sentenced to 20 years in prison, after being convicted of giving secrets to China following an approach on LinkedIn.

 

And the UK's move is also being backed by the other members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.--BBC

 

 

Asda takeover 'could lead to higher petrol prices'

Asda's sale to forecourt tycoons the Issa brothers could raise petrol prices in some parts of the UK, the competition watchdog has warned.

 

The Competition and Markets Authority found "local competition concerns" regarding fuel in 37 areas in the UK.

 

Zuber and Mohsin Issa, and TDR Capital, agreed to buy Asda for £6.8bn last year. However, they also own 395 UK petrol stations while Asda owns 323.

 

The Issa brothers said they would work with the CMA to find a solution.

 

The deal to buy the UK's third-largest supermarket chain from its US owner Walmart was announced in October last year.

 

However, the CMA launched an initial inquiry into the takeover in December to see if it would lead to a "substantial lessening of competition".

 

Following the competition body's initial findings, the buyers now have five working days to address its concerns and avoid a more in-depth investigation.

 

Joel Bamford, CMA senior director of mergers, said: "Our job is to protect consumers by making sure there continues to be strong competition between petrol stations, which leads to lower prices at the pump.

 

Asda: How to buy a £6.8bn supermarket for £780m

"These are two key players in the market, and it's important that we thoroughly analyse the deal to make sure that people don't end up paying over the odds.

 

"Right now, we're concerned the merger could lead to higher prices for motorists in certain parts of the UK. However, if the companies can provide a clear-cut solution to address our concerns, we won't carry out an in-depth Phase 2 investigation."

 

A spokesperson for the Issa brothers and TDR Capital said: "We will be working constructively with the CMA over the course of the next 10 days in order to arrive at a satisfactory outcome for all parties within Phase 1.

 

"This would provide welcome certainty for our colleagues, suppliers and customers, and allow us to move forward with our exciting plans for investment and growth at Asda."--BBC

 

 

 

Is the Australia-NZ travel bubble the way ahead?

The reopening of quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand this week was a joyful occasion for the many families and friends who were finally reunited.

 

It was also a huge moment for the airlines, particularly Qantas and Air New Zealand.

 

Most airlines have muddled through a bruising pandemic year with a combination of private capital injections, government support and strong demand for freight services.

 

The industry's more optimistic voices hope that the bubble could foreshadow a much better year ahead for the Asia-Pacific region's battered airline sector.

 

For Australia's Qantas, which lost A$1.03bn ($800m ; £570m) and saw its revenues plummet by 75% in the second half of 2020, the bubble is a glimmer of the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

630 employees from Qantas and its budget carrier Jetstar have returned to work to help operate the roughly 200 flights each week planned between the two countries.

 

Monday's flights were full, and the two airlines expect to consistently fly at around 80% of capacity with those numbers increasing as the New Zealand ski season approaches.

 

Already, Qantas had started to bounce back domestically, and predicts that both of its carriers will exceed pre-Covid volumes within Australia next year.

 

Two women hugging next a sign that reads "hooray for bubbles"

 

It's also great news for Air New Zealand, which rehired 300 staff for the trans-Tasman flights, which make up around a third of its business.

 

"Pre-COVID, Australia was New Zealand's largest tourism market, with Air New Zealand bringing in roughly 400,000 Australians per year, so it's an incredibly important market for us and we're just thrilled to have the bubble up and running," said Air New Zealand's Chief Executive Greg Foran in an email.

 

In fact, the bubble has been encouraging enough for Air New Zealand to hit pause on a capital raise to reassess how much it might need.

 

The way forward

The bubble is a reason for hope for the aviation industry for the wider region, according Subhas Menon, the Director General of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

 

"It is the first bilateral travel bubble without any quarantine requirements. And of course it has been a long time coming but it is a model that can be emulated across the globe," he said.

 

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce agrees.

 

"There's clearly a lot of countries in the region, particularly the Asia-Pacific region, that have high control over Covid. Not to the extent of Australia and New Zealand, but they give us opportunities, markets like Singapore, markets like Japan, markets like Taiwan.

 

We're also actively looking at the Pacific Islands because there is real opportunity for places like Fiji, the Pacific Islands to open up which we think there is a huge demand for. So they all fall into that category," he said.

 

A burst bubble?

But reopening travel - even in a bubble - is clearly not easy.

 

Within a day of the travel bubble opening, a cleaner at Auckland airport who had been fully vaccinated tested positive for Covid-19.

 

Quickly, the New Zealand authorities pointed out that the case was not directly related to the bubble, adding that they expected a few cases, and it wouldn't end the new travel arrangements.

 

"When we opened, on both sides, we of course knew we would continue to have cases connected to our border," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

 

Still, if that case had been more difficult to trace or there were more unconnected cases, flights could have easily been suspended.

 

One airline, Virgin Australia, is so worried about the possibility of disruption that it plans to wait until October to join in the bubble.

 

It's not an idle concern - other bubbles have been deflated even before they began.

 

Last year, a proposed bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong was postponed just a few day before it opened due to a sudden spike in Hong Kong.

 

Even within Australia there have been more than 120 changes to state border restrictions since the beginning of the pandemic.

 

Digital solutions

Mr Menon said almost every country has taken a different approach to containing Covid, and there needs to be more consistency.

 

"This virus is too difficult to predict, but what is even more difficult to predict is the reaction of government" he said.

 

The AAPA has been urging governments to try to harmonise their travel requirements to facilitate airline travel, preferably using digital solutions.

 

A number of airlines, including Air New Zealand, have signed up to trial a new vaccine passport developed by the International Air Transport Association.

 

Mr Menon says the digital passport, and other solutions like it, could help to build trust so that governments are confident enough to reopen their borders.

 

The bubble ahead

If Qantas hopes more travel bubbles might help to reopen international travel, others aren't as optimistic.

 

Australia and New Zealand were both quite successful in containing the virus, but it required both both countries to close off their borders for more than a year, with international arrivals required to go through a two-week hotel quarantine at their own expense.

 

Australia has recorded just over 29,500 virus cases and 910 deaths since the pandemic began, while New Zealand has had just over 2,200 confirmed cases and 26 deaths.

 

"I'm not sure how many other countries are going to be able to do exactly what New Zealand and Australia have done with the bubble. That's because there aren't all that many other countries that have adopted an elimination strategy for COVID-19 - most have gone for containment," Mr Foran said.--BBC

 

 

 

Foxconn mostly abandons $10 billion Wisconsin project touted by Trump

Taiwan electronics manufacturer Foxconn is drastically scaling back a planned $10 billion factory in Wisconsin, confirming its retreat from a project that former U.S. President Donald Trump once called “the eighth wonder of the world.”

 

Under a deal with the state of Wisconsin announced on Tuesday, Foxconn will reduce its planned investment to $672 million from $10 billion and cut the number of new jobs to 1,454 from 13,000.

 

The Foxconn-Wisconsin deal was first announced to great fanfare at the White House in July 2017, with Trump boasting of it as an example of how his “America first” agenda could revive U.S. tech manufacturing.

 

For Foxconn, the investment promise was an opportunity for its charismatic founder and then-chairman, Terry Gou, to build goodwill at a moment when Trump’s trade policies threatened the company’s cash cow: building Apple Inc’s iPhones in China for export to America.

 

Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronic devices, proposed a 20-million-square-foot manufacturing campus in Wisconsin that would have been the largest investment in U.S. history for a new location by a foreign-based company.

 

It was supposed to build cutting-edge flat-panel display screens for TVs and other devices and instantly establish Wisconsin as a destination for tech firms.

 

But industry executives, including some at Foxconn, were highly skeptical of the plan from the start, pointing out that none of the crucial suppliers needed for flat-panel display production were located anywhere near Wisconsin.

 

The plan faced local opposition too, with critics denouncing a taxpayer giveaway to a foreign company and provisions of the deal that granted extensive water rights and allowed for the acquisition and demolition of houses through eminent domain.

 

As of 2019, the village where the plant is located had paid just over $152 million for 132 properties to make way for Foxconn, plus $7.9 million in relocation costs, according to village records obtained by Wisconsin Public Radio and analyzed by Wisconsin Watch.

 

Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said the new agreement gives it “flexibility to pursue business opportunities in response to changing global market conditions.” The company said “original projections used during negotiations in 2017 have at this time changed due to unanticipated market fluctuations.”

 

After abandoning its plans for advanced displays, Foxconn later said it would build smaller, earlier-generation displays in Wisconsin, but that plan never came to fruition either. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-foxconn-wisconsin-exclusive/exclusive-foxconn-reconsidering-plans-to-make-lcd-panels-at-wisconsin-plant-idUSKCN1PO0FV)

 

Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way told reporters in Taipei that the company currently makes servers, communications technology products and medical devices in Wisconsin, adding that electric vehicles (EVs) have a “promising future” there. He did not elaborate.

 

Liu had previously said the infrastructure was there in Wisconsin to make EVs because of its proximity to the traditional heartland of U.S. automaking, but the company could also could decide on Mexico.

 

Hon Hai shares fell as much as 1.6% on Wednesday morning, underperforming the broader Taiwan market which was down 0.7%.

 

INCENTIVES

 

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said the new agreement will save Wisconsin taxpayers “a total of $2.77 billion compared to the previous contract, maintain accountability measures requiring job creation to receive incentives, and protect hundreds of millions of dollars in local and state infrastructure investments made in support of the project.”

 

Evers said under the deal negotiated between the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and Foxconn, the Taiwan company is eligible to receive up to $80 million in performance-based tax credits over six years if it meets employment and capital investment targets. He stressed that the incentives were in line with those available to any company.

 

The state will reduce the tax credits authorized for the project to $80 million from $2.85 billion.

 

The original Wisconsin package also included local tax incentives and road and highway investments by state and local governments, which brought total taxpayer-funded subsidies to more than $4 billion.

 

Foxconn noted that since 2017, it has invested $900 million in Wisconsin, including several different facilities in the state.

 

The state has already spent more than $200 million on road improvements, tax exemptions and grants to local governments for worker training and employment, according to the records obtained by Wisconsin Public Radio.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Apple packs iPad Pros with faster chips, slims iMacs and jumps into tracking tags

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) announced on Tuesday a range of new computers, a paid podcasting service and devices for finding lost items, signaling the continued expansion of its once-simple product line into more and more corners of customers’ lives.

 

The new $30 AirTags, tiny devices that can be attached to items such as keys and wallets to locate them when they are lost, were applauded by analysts as a likely hot-seller that would also keep the company's more than 1 billion customers locked into its products.

 

A new iPad Pro tablet, featuring the same Apple-designed processor that powers the company's more recent Mac computers, has keyboard and trackpad options that help make it a full-blown alternative to traditional laptops and desktops.

 

And a refresh of the Mac desktop line boasts seven color options, harkening back to the famous candy-colored Macs that helped Steve Jobs revive the company in the 1990s.

 

The announcements show how the iPhone maker is accelerating the expansion of its product portfolio and working to keep customers committed to its family of devices even as government scrutiny of the power and reach of major technology firms intensifies.

 

Most of the product introductions had been telegraphed before the presentation, which had no major surprises. Shares of Apple were down 1.3%, slightly more than the 1% drop in the Nasdaq index.

 

The new iMacs, which start at $1,299, feature a higher quality front-facing camera and microphone, responding to complaints from consumers during the pandemic that the computer's cameras had not kept pace with iPhones and iPads during an era of pervasive video calls.

 

 

"Apple cameras in their computers have been terrible, frankly. They finally have a reasonable camera in the iMac," said Bob O'Donnell, head of TECHnalysis Research, who added that the new colors were likely to stand out in a market dominated by black, white and silver machines. "For right now, it feels fresh and new."

 

The new iPad Pros, starting at $799, use the same M1 chip as Apple's other computers, rather than the beefed-up version of iPhone chips found in previous models. The tablets also have additional ports for connecting monitors and 5G connectivity, while featuring a higher-quality display than the company's laptops. 

 

Analysts said that when combined with Apple's keyboard and trackpad accessories, the new iPad Pro models could be a compelling replacement for a laptop, especially for content creators or business travelers. But those accessories also push the price to nearly $1,100 - more than Apple's cheapest laptop, the $1,000 MacBook Air.

 

Ben Bajarin, principal analyst for consumer market intelligence at Creative Strategies, said the devices are not likely to be volume sellers but will target the niche of consumers who value versatility.

 

"If you want to go the gamut from mobile production, content consumption and or creativity, that’s the device that does it,” he said.

 

Apple also announced podcast subscription services that will compete with rival Spotify Technology SA (SPOT.N), a move to regain ground in a market it popularized years ago but never made money from.

 

Apple shares have risen nearly 95% over the past year, faster than the 63% rise in the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC), thanks to a record $274.5 billion in sales for fiscal 2020 as consumers stocked up on electronics during the pandemic.

 

The AirTags announcement could result in a new round of complaints to lawmakers that Apple is hurting smaller rivals. Tile, a private company that has sold a competing tracker for nearly a decade, last year testified before the U.S. House of Representatives that Apple’s App Store rules had made it harder to use Tile’s products and will be called before the U.S. Senate to testify on Wednesday.

 

Apple has said it subjects all apps, including its own, to the same App Store review rules, and recently allowed third-party developers to access the same systems as its AirTags.

 

In a research note, Raymond James analysts Chris Caso and Melissa Fairbanks said AirTags "could grow to become a $10 billion opportunity, similar to AirPods."

 

But Bajarin of Creative Strategies said that iPhone owners who come to rely the tags to help them keep track of everyday items are likely to stick with Apple's brand over a longer time.

 

"The more you buy into just one hardware product, the less likely it is you’ll ever leave," Bajarin said.- The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

In Japan Inc, activist investors come in from the cold

Yasuo Takeuchi remembers the horror he felt in 2017 when, as chief financial officer of Japan's Olympus Corp (7733.T), he was told an activist investor had taken a stake in the company: the barbarians were at the gate.

 

But as he listened to proposals from ValueAct Capital, Takeuchi began to see the San Francisco-based fund as a potential catalyst for change at Olympus, which was still reeling from an accounting scandal and, he believed, remained too domestic in its outlook.

 

Fast forward to 2021, a leaner Olympus is on track to double its operating profit margin to 20% by the next financial year.

 

Olympus is a notable example of how attitudes at some Japanese companies have quietly changed in recent years. The government's recent push for better governance has brought in a wave of seasoned global activists, such as Elliott Management and Third Point, to Japan; the number of activist funds operating in the country has also more than doubled in three years.

 

In 2019, Olympus brought a ValueAct partner, Robert Hale, onto its board. ValueAct owned more than 5% of Olympus, the fund's first investment in Japan, before selling some of that late last year.

 

"I was ready to turn all of our business as usual upside down," Takeuchi, now CEO, said of the time he brought Hale on board.

 

"Rob really watches the company closely and analyses it. He has often given us some great insight in how to execute," he told Reuters in an interview.

 

Olympus has since overhauled the traditional seniority-based pay and brought in more overseas executives to make management more global. Takeuchi credits ValueAct with helping him "think deeper" about governance, leading to the creation of nominating, audit and compensation committees.

 

 

Efforts to become a global medical-technology firm have accelerated. Olympus has bought several overseas medical-equipment firms and sold its digital camera business that had been a long-time money-loser.

 

Takeuchi said Hale never told Olympus to sell the camera business, only that he "pointed out issues, like other external directors".

 

Hale has also helped Olympus communicate its changes to the market, so as to have a greater impact, Takeuchi said.

 

Investors appear to be taking note. The company's shares have nearly trebled since early 2019, versus about a 30% gain in the TOPIX index (.TOPX).

 

 

ValueAct declined to comment on the story.

 

'MORE CONVINCING'

 

Investors, particularly foreign ones, have long argued that many Japanese companies are unresponsive to shareholders and need to improve governance. Issues around governance and management have come under the spotlight in accounting and other scandals at Toshiba Corp, Olympus and elsewhere.

 

Olympus' plan to boost efficiency "became more convincing around the time it decided to invite ValueAct to its board," said Takashi Akahane, senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center.

 

Japanese chip and display materials maker JSR Corp (4185.T), which is more than 7% owned by ValueAct, is also inviting Hale onto its board.

 

The company hopes the American's knowledge and expertise will boost its corporate value, said Director Hideki Miyazaki. It wants to speed up decision making and become more global, Miyazaki said.

 

Joe Bauernfreund, chief executive of London-based Asset Value Investors (AVI), says he sees clear changes at Japanese companies.

 

As a foreign investor focusing largely on smaller companies, his fund rarely got to meet directors of companies a few years ago, he said. "I think there definitely is a willingness on the part of companies now to work in a more constructive manner with so-called activists."

 

Activists themselves are also taking a different tack, moving away from hostile takeover threats seen decades ago to a focus on governance and long-term corporate value. That approach, experts say, is likely to have more success - and gain more support from conventional institutional investors.

 

Last month, a motion by Singapore-based activist investor Effissimo Capital Management in Toshiba Corp (6502.T) won approval at a shareholder vote, the first time at such a high profile company in Japan. read more

 

Still, experts note it is too early to say shareholder activism has taken full root in Japan.

 

Sony Group's (6758.T) rejection of Third Point's proposal to spin off its chip unit is a prominent recent example, and despite Effissimo's success at Toshiba's vote the firm's management is yet to fully embrace the activist investor.

 

"Companies like Olympus are a few exceptions, with most firms hoping to stay away from activists," Kazunori Suzuki, professor at Waseda Business School, said. "But if those early examples prove successful and receive public acclaim, others may follow suit."-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

SoftBank Vision Fund seen posting record earnings on Coupang

SoftBank Group Corp's (9984.T) $100 billion Vision Fund is widely seen reporting record earnings on May 12 after portfolio companies listed during the quarter, mostly driven by gain on its stake in South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang .

 

SoftBank's 37% stake in Coupang, which sources have said was acquired for about $3 billion, was worth around $30 billion at the end of the March quarter. Coupang shares have slipped 14% since March. read more

 

Gain on Coupang and investments like Uber Technologies (UBER.N) are seen delivering a third quarter of growing profit for the fund, which pushed the group to a record loss last year as valuations fell during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

In response to media reports that SoftBank's profit is to set a domestic record, the conglomerate said it would record gains but valuations were still being calculated.

 

Other big bets by Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, including ride-hailing firms Grab and Didi, are also heading to public markets although analysts warn returns may not match the supersized Coupang gain.

 

"Upside for SoftBank is not as high as it was with those earlier investments," said Kirk Boodry, an analyst at Redex Research, who sees the Vision Fund unit posting about $30 billion in quarterly gain.

 

The expected profit helps obscure Vision Fund missteps including investment in collapsed supply chain financier Greensill, and comes as companies like hotel chain Oyo grapple with a pandemic-induced downturn.

 

SoftBank's gains are mostly unrealised and some observers see Grab's record $40 billion merger with a blank-cheque company marking a peak for the investment vehicles amid concern over rich valuations for tech firms.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Asian stocks fall as virus worries return to haunt markets

Asian shares and U.S. stock futures fell on Wednesday as concern about a resurgence of coronavirus cases in some countries cast doubt on the strength of global growth and demand for crude oil.

 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 0.6%. Australian stocks (.AXJO) dropped 1.25% and shares in China (.CSI300) were down 0.46%.

 

Stocks in Tokyo (.N225) slumped by 1.79% due the growing likelihood that Tokyo, Osaka and surrounding areas will be put on lockdown due to a new wave of coronavirus infections.

 

S&P 500 e-mini stock futures also fell 0.18%.

 

Crude futures extended declines from a one-month high in Asian trading on speculation that coronavirus restrictions in India, the world's third-largest oil importer, will hurt energy demand. read more

 

Recent optimism about rising vaccination rates in the United States, Britain, and Europe is shifting to concern that record coronavirus infections in India and the reinforcement of travel restrictions will act as a brake on the global economy.

 

"Renewed concerns about the global economic recovery weighed on commodity prices and commodity currencies. Many countries around the world, such as India and Brazil, set new records for infections and deaths," analysts at Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a research note.

 

"As long as the virus persists, there is a risk virus mutants develop and spread to other countries."

 

Declines in Asian shares followed a downbeat day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 0.75%, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.68%, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) fell 0.92% on Tuesday as investors sold airlines and travel-related shares due to fear of a delayed recovery in global tourism.

 

Some tech shares and companies that benefited from stay-at-home demand could face further pressure after Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) reported disappointing subscriber growth for its movie streaming service, which sent its shares down 11% in after-hours trading. read more

 

U.S. crude dipped 0.4% to $62.42 a barrel, while Brent crude fell 0.26% to $66.40 per barrel.

 

India, the world's second most populous country and a major energy consumer, reported its worst daily death toll on Tuesday, with large parts of the country now under lockdown.

 

The Canadian dollar , the Mexican peso , and the Norwegian crown steadied during Asian trading after falling on Tuesday, but analysts say more declines the currencies of major oil exporters are likely if energy prices continue to fall.

 

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies traded near a seven-week low, hurt by a dip in U.S. Treasury yields as some investors sought the safety of holding government debt.

 

Investors are closely watching an auction of 20-year Treasuries later on Wednesday, which will be an important gauge of global demand for fixed income.

 

Ahead of the auction results, the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes traded at 1.5660%, near a six-week low. Yields on 20-year Treasuries stood at 2.1531%, close to a seven-week low.

 

In a sign of growing risk aversion, spot gold traded at $1,778.18 per ounce, close to a seven-week high reached on Monday.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Boeing extends CEO’s retirement age, a vote of confidence during crises

Boeing Co (BA.N) announced the retirement of its finance chief for the past decade, Greg Smith, and the crisis-hit jetmaker’s shares fell 4% even as it signaled stability by prolonging its chief executive.

 

Boeing extended its required retirement age of 65 to 70 to allow CEO Dave Calhoun to stay in the top job as the U.S. planemaker battles to recover from the coronavirus and 737 MAX crises, and manufacturing flaws on its aircraft programs.

 

But shares fell as investors were rattled by the surprise retirement of Smith, 54, Boeing's face to financial markets during one of the most turbulent periods in its history, marked by a safety crisis followed by rising debts during the pandemic.

 

Calhoun told shareholders at the annual meeting that Boeing would have positive cash flow in the near or medium term, and will prioritize paying down its debt as travel markets and plane demand rebound. Boeing has seen signs of recovery in the single-aisle market.

 

In midday trading, shares were down about 4% at $234.41.

 

Smith, a 30-year Boeing veteran set to retire in July, led the largest bond offering in company history and has been leading a business transformation with cost-cutting and shuffling resources to strengthen Boeing once the COVID-19 and 737 MAX crises ebb.

 

Many in the industry saw Smith as a future CEO when Boeing was riding high on record production and stock prices until 2019. But some in the company criticized his policy of carrying out regular share buybacks, saying it leftinsufficientresources to tackle the severe downturn.

 

European rival Airbus SE (AIR.PA), by contrast, has weathered the crisis comparatively well while maintaining higher research spending.

 

That said, Smith had to handle two unprecedented overlapping crises - the collapse of income surrounding the lengthy grounding of the 737 MAX after fatal crashes and the global pandemic that slammed aviation companies globally.

 

Smith decided on his own to retire, two people familiar with his thinking said.

 

Smith was appointed chief financial officer in 2011. He then served in additional roles as the executive vice president of Finance, Enterprise Performance and Strategy, and then executive vice president of Enterprise Operations, Finance and Sustainability.

 

Prior to becoming CFO, he was corporate controller and vice president of finance, Boeing's principal liaison with the board of directors' audit committee on regulatory compliance.

 

Calhoun, a former executive at Blackstone (BX.N) private equity group and experienced corporate crisis manager and a Boeing board member 2009, was named CEO in December after the board ousted Dennis Muilenburg.

 

That came after Calhoun was named chairman in October 2019. He gave up the chairmanship when he became CEO.

 

Calhoun told employees in January he sees "opportunities to be better. Much better."

 

In January, the board approved a $1.4 million annual salary for Calhoun and long-term compensation of $26.5 million if he achieves several milestones.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Discord ends sale talks with Microsoft - sources

Messaging platform Discord Inc has ended deal talks with Microsoft Inc (MSFT.O) and plans to focus on expanding the business as a standalone company, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

 

The company will focus on building the chat platform and making money from its user base that has grown quickly during the pandemic. A public listing is on the table but not imminent, the sources added.

 

Microsoft and Discord did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

Reuters had reported in March that Microsoft was in talks to buy Discord for more than $10 billion.

 

Social networking has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic as people increasingly goonline for activities from gaming to investment.

 

Discord, which allows public and private groups to gather and chat by text, audio and video, has expanded from a gamers club to all types of communities, including sports fans, music groups and cryptocurrency investors.

 

With over 140 million users, its business model stands out in the social network space where so many technology companies, such as Facebook Inc (FB.O)and Twitter Inc(TWTR.N), rely on advertising for the bulk of the revenue.

 

The San Francisco-based company's revenue grew to $130 million last year through its Nitro premium subscriptions, at $9.99 monthly or $99.99 annually, for features such as special emojis and enhanced video resolution.

 

In December, Discord raised $100 million in a private funding round that valued it at $7 billion, counting Greenoaks Capital and Index Ventures as investors.

 

Microsoft has been on an acquisition spree following its failed bid for TikTok last summer. This year, it has acquired gaming company Zenimax in a $7.5 billion acquisition and speech technology firm Nuance Communications Inc (NUAN.O) for about $16 billion.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Nigeria: Fuel Queues Resurface in Abuja As NNPC Speaks On Price Hike

The NNPC advises against panic buying, saying petrol will be available in all depots across the country

 

Barely two months after petrol scarcity hit major cities across Nigeria, fuel queues have resurfaced in petrol stations in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

 

A PREMIUM TIMES correspondent who visited petrol stations Monday evening found that some of the stations were shut while others were besieged by motorcyclists, tricycle owners, as well as private and commercial drivers.

 

This newspaper also found that some NNPC retail stations were equally shut.

As of Monday night, no fuel station sold petrol to motorists along Lugbe Airport Road and Kubwa expressway.

 

The development, said to have been triggered by the strike action announced by petrol transport drivers, has generated traffic gridlock across different locations in the capital city.

 

No Stock

 

A Mobil filling station located along the airport road, Lugbe, was shut Monday evening. The station manager told PREMIUM TIMES that they had exhausted their stock.

 

Similarly, a Forte Oil filling station at Life Camp junction was opened but commercial drives and other customers were not attended to. One of the pump attendants claimed that the petrol station also has no stock.

 

Danmarna petroleum limited, located along the airport road, was under lock and key Monday evening, just as the Conoil filling station located beside the NNPC fuel station in Lugbe did not open for business.

When PREMIUM TIMES arrived one of the NNPC outlets in Lugbe, the attendants had stopped dispensing to customers, but some of the motorists refused to leave the petrol station.

 

Many of the attendants who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES in some of the outlets explained that they declined to sell petrol in anticipation of a price hike Tuesday morning.

 

Ripple effect

 

A civil servant at NNPC station at Lugbe airport road, who identified himself as David, told PREMIUM TIMES that he heard of a proposed strike by NUPENG. He also lamented the ripple effect of scarcity.

 

"My office is very close to NNPC tower," he began, "I drove out and trying looking at Conoil and Total to get fuel but I found out that Conoil was not selling and Total was just selling partially and I decided to drive down to another major NNPC filling station where I am currently only for me to discover that the NNPC is not selling.

"My fear is this: I was just telling a couple of people at the station that some schools just resumed today, why some will resume next week. How do they want people to go to work and children to go to school?"

 

David said in many parts of the city, there is no electricity.

 

"I am looking at my house away from the station now, there is no light," he said.

 

"Most people are even here at the filling station trying to get fuel just to power their generator. The question is, is this oppression number two?"

 

He also wondered why the scarcity and the attendant chaos began immediately President Muhammadu Buhari returned from his medical trip in London.

 

"Yes, we know the oil price and everything is going up," he said. "We understand but the question is: they've been talking about deregulation and subsidy, we don't even know what's happening.

 

"Who is deregulating and who is subsidising? Who is doing what?" he asked. Nigerian's can't continue like this."

 

A commercial driver, Akeem Musa, lamented and appealed to the government to intervene as soon as possible in order to control the effect of the scarcity on the already high prices of goods and services.

 

Another driver, Moses Asani, said it is better to buy petrol at a costly price than being unable to buy the products due scarcity.

 

He said: "Look at my car there, I parked it there because I didn't see fuel all the way from Aco. All the fuel stations there are not selling.

 

"I checked almost four stations down there and I did not see fuel to buy.

 

"Now, I have to park my car because I don't have fuel inside. This thing is affecting us extremely is not easy at all. Even if they want to increase the fuel, they should increase it and let us see fuel to buy.

 

"You know if you come to buy fuel and you see it, that is better but if you don't see fuel to buy, what are you going to do?"

 

Usman Abdullah, another driver at the station, lamented that he spent more than an hour in the queue but still could not buy petrol.

 

"I have been here for the past one hour and NNPC is telling us that they don't have fuel," he said.

 

No Increase

 

But in its reaction to the scarcity and anticipated hike in price, the Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC) said it will not increase the ex- depot price of petrol in May.

 

The Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, made this known at the end of a closed door meeting with Petroleum Transport Drivers (PTD), National Association of Road Transporters Owners (NARTO) and oil marketers in Abuja on Monday.

 

Ex-depot price is the price marketers buy products from depot owners. It also determines the pump price at filling stations.

 

"We want to inform oil marketing companies that NNPC will not increase the pump price of PMS in May," the NNPC said.

 

"I am giving the assurance and I ask Nigerians to go about their normal businesses; we have over 20 billion litres of petrol in our custody. Many of you are aware of this and with the assurance with tanker drivers and NUPENG, there is no need for panic buying of the product.

 

"Petrol will be available in all the depots in the country including NNPC dispatched depot across the country, so nobody should panic in buying the product," he said.

 

Commenting on the strike by PTD, the NNPC said he said it was due to NARTO's inability to increase their compensation which was not resolved last week.

 

"We have given commitment to both NARTO and PTD that we will resolve the issue within a week and come back to the table to have a total closure on the issue," the NNPC boss was quoted as saying.

 

"We also have a robust engagement with our oil marketing partners in respect of increase in the volume product that is check in the Nigerian market. We have agreed to work jointly with all the security agencies to contain any possible infractions seen in our borders.

 

"We will work as a team to curtail this fraudulent practice with the help of the security agencies," he added.

 

He explained further that the meeting also discussed issues on payment by Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) to oil marketing companies.

 

He said that all stakeholders agreed in making PMS available to marketers.

 

in his reaction, Yusuf Orthman, NARTO President, commended the NNPC for the intervention and assured that within the next seven days, things will normalise in the adjustment of allowances of PTD.

 

"We have requested that they bring three persons so that we discuss the issues but that would not have been possible without this intervention,' he said.

 

"We hope that within the next seven days things will normalise and I want to assure Nigerians that we are committed to it.

 

The PTD president also said that the strike has been suspended until the next seven days

 

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that he commended the NNPC and all the stakeholders for their quick intervention.

 

"We believe that the condition of service of tanker drivers and others need to be improved and we believe that everything will be resolved as discussed," he said.-Premium Times.

 

 

 

Nigeria: Inflation - Nigerians Groan As Food Prices Skyrocket

Nigerians, especially low-ranking civil servants and other low-income earners are groaning over skyrocketing food prices, amidst employment crises and stagnation of payment structures.

 

This is coming on the heels of a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that the inflation rate had risen by 18.17 percent in March 2021, up from the 17.33 percent recorded in February 2021.

 

The NBS report had indicated that the food inflation rate rose by 22.95 per cent in March 2021 compared to 21.79 per cent in February 2021.

 

Food commodities rise in Abuja

 

Traders in Abuja told Daily Trust that there has been a price increase in food commodities since the last three months even though the price of rice has been stable to no increase since the last five months.

 

A provisions seller, Ahmadu Tijjani, told our correspondent that they were not given reasons for the hike in the price of some of the goods, stating that since food commodities are essential people would still buy even if they have to reduce their purchasing capacity.

According to Tijjani, there is a 20 per cent increase of a good formerly sold for N1, 000 while a 50cl pack of Coca Cola has increased to N1700 from N1600, adding that a local measure of beans that previously sold for N500, N450 is now selling for N800, N650.

 

“The price of rice has been stable for the past five months so there is no increase in it but a carton of 12 grams Peak milk that we sold for N6500 is now N950 while a 2.6 litre of Power Oil has moved to 2600 from 3,000,” he said.

 

Musa Kana, a meat seller, blamed the increase in meat in the market to the rise of insecurity in some parts of the country pointing out that a kilo of meat sold for 1500 three months ago is now 2000 to 2500 depending on the bargaining power of the customer.

 

“Anytime we go to the market, we come back with whatever we can afford. A cow that we used to buy for N300, 000 is now N600, 000 while that of 250,000 is now N500, 000 or N450,000.”

“The commodities are not scarce but the problem is going to the market to get them due to the security situation in some parts of the country. We can’t go to states like Katsina and Sokoto where cows are cheap; we now source them Kano, Bauchi or Gombe State,” he said.

 

Rising food price rattles consumers in Lagos

 

Daily Trust observed that at Mangoro market, a small sachet of Dangote granulated sugar, which was sold at N50 now sells at N150 while that of N100 before now sells at N300.

 

Also, the cost of Milo refill (1kg) has increased from N1, 700 to N2, 000 while a 1kg of tin Milo formerly sold at N2, 000 now sells at N2, 700. Tin Milo (500g) is now N1, 700 from N1, 200.

 

The price of Dano full cream milk (800kg) has risen to N2, 300 while a 360g now sells for N1, 200.

Peak milk refill (350g) now sells at N1, 200 while a 900g sells at N2, 700. The price of a small sachet of peak milk has risen from N50 to N60.

 

Baby food is not exempted as a tin of NAN 1 and NAN 2 now sell at N2,500 from N2,200 before now Similarly, a 50kg bag of Cap rice is sold at N25,500 and the half bag sold at N12,500 while 100kg of both iron and honey beans are sold at N60,000.

 

Mrs. Regina Oboh who runs a food canteen and buys from the Ketu market said: “The number of yams I buy for N1, 500 now previously sold for 1200 or 1300 last month. Oil is the only thing that came down. I bought it for N500 last month but now it is 450 naira for a litre.”

 

Civil servants groan

 

A civil servant with the Ministry of Information in Lagos State, Mr. Azeez Olatubosun described as a sorry situation, the rising prices of food items.

 

“The situation is mounting pressure on me as a civil servant and head of my family. Ramadan has also further aggravated the situation as prices of food items and beverages keep soaring.

 

“The family economy is shrinking because the salary is being used to buy items at exorbitant prices. Our salaries remain the same but prices of items keep increasing, which means that we now buy fewer items with the same money. If care is not taken, the situation is capable of causing rancour among couples,” he said.

 

Another civil servant, Mrs Lara Ade lamented that prices of food items and water have gone up.

 

According to her, a set of sachet water, which was sold at N1, 000 before, now sold at N1, 200 and that the price of bottled water has risen from N50 to N70.

 

“The situation is not palatable at all because we have too many things contending with our salary, including school fees, house rent and transportation and on top of it all, food and water are expensive to buy. Things have not remained the same after the COVID-19 lockdown and EndSARS protest,” she lamented.

 

Price hike slows sales in Kano

 

In Kano State, consumers and operators of agricultural commodity markets are lamenting either hike in price or poor sales even when the commodities are very much available in the markets.

 

At Singer market, 50kg of local rice is selling at N22, 500 to N23, 000 while 50kg of foreign rice is selling at N24, 500 to N25, 000. It was also gathered that 50kg of sugar at the Singer market is selling at N18, 300 to N18, 500 depending on the brand’s specification.

 

Also, a carton of 60cl coke drink is selling at N1, 800 while a carton of malt is selling at N1, 700 in the market while at the Dawanau International Grain Market a 100kg bag of locally produced rice is selling at N49, 500, a 100kg bag of maize at N21, 000, a 100kg bag of beans at N39, 000 even as a 100kg bag of wheat is selling at N34, 000.

 

Malam Sagir Bello, a civil servant with the Kano State government said the recent inflation has been one of the worst ever experienced by civil servants in the state for the fact that the state government had reverted to the old salary scale after months of new salary scale implementation.

 

Another worker, Malam Shehu Zangina revealed that the current inflation level has eaten deep down the financial capability of an average civil servant adding that it is currently an issue of availability of commodities but no buyers.

 

Insecurity hampers farming in Kaduna

 

In Kaduna, our correspondent reports that food items have been on the rise since early March with many attributing the increase in food prices to the anticipated bulk purchase during the Ramadan fast. Daily Trust reports that a 50kg bag of foreign rice is now sold at between N25, 000 and N27, 000 while local rice is sold at N22, 000.

 

A 25 litre of vegetable oil is sold at between N22,000 and N23,000 while a bag of 50kg of sugar is sold at N19,000. Our correspondent reports that a kilo of meat is now sold at between N1, 700 and N1, 800 and a bag of potatoes goes as high as N40,000.

 

Ibrahim Hassan, a civil servant in Kaduna said the hike in prices of foodstuff is biting harder this year adding the many families have not gotten out of the COVID-19 hardship. Hassan said a measure of local rice now costs N750, which is too high for families especially during Ramadan.

 

Jafaru Abdullahi, a farmer from Anaba village in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State whose village was sacked by bandits in February described as unfortunate  the soaring  prices of foodstuff  and lamented that they have been unable to farm grains due to banditry activities.

 

Food, beverage prices soar in Rivers

 

Prices of food items and beverages such as rice, beans, tomatoes, and onions, provisions such as milk, sugar, Milo, meat, semovita, bread and fish have skyrocketed beyond the rich of the ordinary man in Rivers State.

 

A survey carried out by our reporter showed that prices of some foodstuff rose by 100 per cent. For instance, a bag of local rice, which was sold at N20, 000 has gone up to N28,000 while the same bag of foreign rice goes for N38,000. The small size of yam tuber, which sold between N300 to N450 now sells at N1000 to N1500.

 

A custard bucket of tomatoes which sold for N700 now costs N1700 while the same custard bucket of potatoes which cost N500 now goes for N1200.

 

Daily Trust reports that the high increase in the prices of food items has affected so many families as well as salary earners. Some of the civil servants who spoke with our reporter said that they are finding it difficult to cope with the skyrocketing increase in the prices of food items.

 

MAN, NACCIMA seek urgent action

 

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) have expressed worry over the rising inflation in a country that is just recovering from recession.

 

The Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir in his comment said it is more so for the manufacturing sector that remained in recession, even after the technical exit of the country’s economy.

 

“The manufacturing sector posted a growth rate of -1.51 per cent in the Q4 2020 from -1.52 per cent in Q3 of the same year,” he said.

 

Also, the Director-General of NACCIMA, Ambassador Ayoola Olukanni who said the rising cost of food is not surprising; recalled that NACCIMA had on several occasions warned that the upward trajectory of inflation is what will happen if action is not taken to address underlining causes of the inflationary trends.

 

“Most significant in this regard is the issue of insecurity, which is spreading across the country and its consequences on agricultural production especially by the small farm holders across the food belt of the nation. Many of these farmers are either not able to engage in active farming or evacuate their farm produce. The shortage of forex, depreciation in the exchange rate and huge import bill has also all combined to produce the upward inflationary trend we are witnessing,” he said.

 

Dr. Bongo Adi, a Senior Lecturer at the Lagos Business School said insecurity and deficits in government financing are core in the rising inflationary trend.

 

 

 

Kenya: Why Are Kenyans Trolling the IMF?

Kenya's economy is struggling, but many believe another loan will only benefit corrupt officials and leave ordinary citizens to pay off the debt.

 

For lack of a better word, Kenyans are currently trolling the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In the past few weeks, the posts on the international financial institution's Facebook page have cumulatively received thousands of comments by Kenyans. A typical one reads: "Take back the US$2.4 billion loan. We don't want it!" Or better yet: "Give it as a personal loan to the President and his cronies as this is how it will be used." A petition demanding the IMF cancel the recently approved loan garnered 200,000 signatures in less than 48 hours.

 

The financing package in question, agreed in early-April, is meant to support the government's COVID-19 response by providing $2.4 billion in low-cost financing over the next three years. Like many countries, Kenya has struggled with the economic impact of the pandemic. Six months into the crisis, at least 1.7 million Kenyans had lost their jobs. Over a year on, and with another one-month lockdown imposed from 26 March, the situation is ever more worrying. A recent increase in fuel prices has pushed the cost of living up even higher.

The loan is designed to cushion these impacts. According to the IMF, "without this help, Kenya would have to aggressively cut spending on investment and social programs, making it more difficult to achieve a durable and inclusive recovery".

 

Why the outrage then?

 

In the past few years, Kenyans have watched as the government taken on billions of dollars in debt. In the past year alone, President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration has borrowed about KSh 1 trillion ($9.2 billion), according to economist Ken Gichinga. Many ordinary citizens claim that this debt does little to improve their living conditions. Moreover, Gichinga suggests, more and more people are getting wise to the effects of these loans.

"Over the past five years, I have noticed that the average Kenyan has a real understanding of debt cycles," he told African Arguments. "Mama mbogas [informal fruit and vegetable vendors] will tell you that the cost of living and taxes are rising because of all the loans the government has taken."

 

This perception has some truth to it. Debts must be repaid, and the IMF has emphasised that Kenya must reduce its fiscal deficit, including by raising taxes. Many people are worried about what this loan will mean for the economy and their livelihoods when it has to be paid back. Some have living memories of the widespread privatisation and job losses that accompanied the IMF's structural adjustment policies in the 1990s.

 

Added to all this is also the belief that Kenya won't see any benefits from the loan to begin with because of corruption. As some have pleaded: "Please do not lend anything to our corrupt government. We will not benefit in any way, but will bear the burden of rising debt."

This January, President Kenyatta said that the country loses KSh2 billion ($18.5 million) to corruption every day. That means that in the five minutes it takes you to read this article, about $64,000 will have been stolen from public coffers.

 

This is perhaps not surprising given Kenya's wide array of scandals. This roster includes the KSh7.8 billion ($72 million) awarded to companies, some barely months old, to supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), much of which never arrived last year. It includes the $2.75 billion Eurobond, launched in 2014, of which $1 billion has allegedly since been stolen. And it includes the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Nairobi to Mombasa, a project that attracted a $3.2 billion loan from China yet continues to make huge losses.

 

This, Kenyans fear, is what awaits them if Kenya takes on another loan even as the IMF says the country is at risk of debt distress. People recognise that the economy is struggling, but many believe that more debt will simply mean more money disappearing into the private bank accounts of officials, shortly after which the government will raise taxes and squeeze the ordinary Kenyan mwananchi to pay it back.

 

As the academic Wandia Njoya has written: "That is what IMF loans are. Those guys have printed dollars and created bank accounts with numbers. Those papers mean nothing. They can't eat papers, wear papers, drive papers, etc. So to convert those papers into tangible things, they go to countries and tell clueless presidents that they will give us colored papers (dollars), but in return we must give them our work and our property. "

 

It remains to be seen if popular pressure will have any effect. However, there is a precedence for a country cancelling IMF financing. This February, Bolivia returned a $350 million IMF loan that had been approved by an interim government the previous year. Its Central Bank stated: "This loan, in addition to being irregular and onerous due to financial conditions, generated... millions in costs to the Bolivian state."

 

Ciku Kimeria is a communication consultant at Speak up Africa, a policy and advocacy action tank focusing on various issues including sanitation, malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and immunisation among others.

 

 

Namibia: Public Warned Against Inhaling Locust Pesticide

Ongwediva — Communities in locust-infested areas are advised not to inhale the pesticide during spraying operations.

 

"The pesticide is harmful to animals and humans. Thus, the ministry is advising farmers to avoid inhaling the pesticides during the spraying operation," said agriculture ministry spokesperson Chrispin Matongela.

 

So far, the ministry has spent N$30 million in the fight against locusts.

 

Matongela said farmers are further advised to remove their animals from sprayed areas for at least 21 days to avoid possible losses.

The ministry has maintained it does not spray close to water ponds to ensure that water is not contaminated through the process.

 

The spokesperson said prior to the commencement of the spraying exercise, the public is normally notified through the regional and traditional authorities and through radio of the operations to be conducted so that they prepare themselves for the exercise.

 

Since the outbreak last year, the locusts have destroyed 705 278 hectares of grazing land and 883 hectares of crops in the two Kavango regions, Ohangwena, Zambezi and //Kharas.

 

The hardest hit is the destruction of 700 000 hectares of grazing land in //Kharas region followed by 5 000 hectares of grazing land in Zambezi region, while 560 hectares of crop was destroyed in Kavango East.

 

Matongela said the report for Omusati was at the end of last week not available as the ministry was still assessing the situation.

 

This weekend, the locusts were reported in some parts of Oshikoto and Oshana.

 

In Oshana, the communities outside Ongwediva resorted to lighting fires and making noise to ward off the swarm of locusts.

 

The ministry urged the public to report the swarms immediately to the authorities.

 

Meanwhile, the ministry has established a monitoring and surveillance team in each region to report on the presence of the locusts and also to control the locust outbreak.-New Era.

 

 

South Africa: What Broke South African Rail - and Can It Be Fixed?

We are now at the point where most of South Africa's railway network is likely to be written off and closed. Full or partial privatisation is the only way to save the railways.

 

It is early 2010.

 

We are standing on one of Johannesburg's old yellow mine dumps, looking south. In the middle distance is the magnificent FNB Stadium that will host the Fifa World Cup final. In the foreground is an elegantly arched concrete bridge carrying the shining rails, masts and overhead cables of the new 14km rail link between central Johannesburg and Nasrec. After 18 months of construction at a cost of R70-million (2020 value: R115-million), the new line is ready to ferry more than 20,000 peak-hour passengers.

 

Move on 10 years to January 2020.

 

The Nasrec station is closed. The steel of the rails is rusting; the overhead electrical equipment has vanished, apart from a few lengths of cable drooping uselessly from the masts; and the pillars of the concrete bridge are covered with graffiti and piled with litter. Many other stations have been wrecked by vandals and thieves.

 

The broken and deserted Nasrec rail link is an emblem of what has happened to the South African...Daily Maverick. 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2021

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

Independence Day

 

18/04/21

 


 

Public Holiday in lieu of Independence Day falling on a Sunday

 

19/04/21

 


 

Workers Day

 

01/05/21

 


FCB

AGM 

virtual

06/05/21 : 3pm

 


 

Africa Day

 

25/05/21

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


ART

PPC

Dairibord

 


Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

 


Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

 


 

 

 

 


 <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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