Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 30 April 2021
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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 30 April 2021
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ü Giants Tencent, Bytedance among companies reined in by China
ü Amazon hopes pandemic habits stick after profits triple
ü US economy accelerates as recovery continues
ü UK and Norway fail to reach fishing deal
ü Restaurants struggle to find staff ahead of reopening
ü BT confirms talks over the future of its sports business
ü NatWest says fewer customers defaulting on loans despite Covid
ü Vietnam’s answer to Tesla has U.S. in its electric sights
ü Bundesbank expects chip bottlenecks in German industry to worsen in Q2
ü Credit Suisse board member Gottschling to exit after Greensill, Archegos
losses
ü Barclays Q1 profit more than doubles as bad loans shrink
ü UK house prices jump by most since 2004 as tax break extended
ü BHP’s Mt. Arthur bind illustrates mining’s coal dilemma
ü Amazon’s sales and profit rise as retailer rides wave of pandemic
shopping
ü Nigeria: As Nigeria Continues to Miss Gas Flaring Deadlines, Huge Revenue
Is Lost
ü Nigeria: Senate Decries Foreign Dominance in Nigeria's Diving Sector
ü Kenya: Operations Test at New Lamu Port Starts Next Month
ü Kenya Railways to Refurbish 31 Locomotives
ü Malawi: Multichoice Malawi Introduces New Local Channel Mwabi TV - to Be
Showcasing Local Programs
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Giants Tencent, Bytedance among companies reined in by China
Chinese regulators have called on 13 online platforms to adhere to tighter
regulations in their financial divisions, as part of a wider push to rein in
China's tech giants.
They include Tencent and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
The authorities said the aim was to prevent monopolistic behaviour and the
"disorderly expansion of capital".
For many years, Beijing took a hands off approach to encourage the tech
platforms to grow.
But official scrutiny of their platforms has stepped up as they have
branched out into financial services.
"Internet platforms have played an important role in improving the
efficiency of financial services and broadening the access of financial
services to more people," the People's Bank of China said in a statement.
"At the same time, some financial services were running without licences,
and there are serious rule violations in areas such as regulatory arbitrage,
unfair competition and damaging consumers' interests," it said.
Fintech targeted
The meeting focused on the financial platforms of some of China's biggest
technology companies.
Platforms operated by e-commerce giant JD.com, handset maker Xiaomi,
ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing and food delivery firm Meituan were among
those to face the regulators.
They were ordered to set up financial holding companies, a move that
tightens capital requirements.
They were also asked to draft "business rectification" plans to comply with
regulations, cut "improper" links between their payment tools and other
financial products and break "monopolies" in holding data.
The regulators' wish list appears broadly similar to a list of demands they
made of Alibaba's affiliate financial company Ant Group earlier this month.
Ant Group's mega $37bn (£27bn) share market launch was derailed by
regulators in November over concerns about its finance model.
Beijing's crackdown on fintech began after an October speech by Ant founder
Jack Ma criticising the country's regulatory system.
Ant's affiliate company Alibaba was earlier this month hit with a record
fine of $2.8bn on Friday over monopoly concerns.
Analysts say the fine shows China intends to move against internet platforms
that it thinks are too big.--BBC
Amazon hopes pandemic habits stick after profits triple
Amazon continued to cash in on our new shop-work-relax-from-home habits in
the first three months of this year, reporting a huge rise in sales and a
tripling of profits.
Almost every aspect of the Covid-19 pandemic has served to boost the tech
giant's revenues, from video streaming to grocery delivery.
It said it expects the boom to continue over the next few months.
The pandemic could herald "a golden age" for Amazon, one analyst said.
Amazon's are the latest blow-out results from Big Tech this week. Apple,
Facebook, Microsoft and Google's parent firm Alphabet have all reported big
sales increases a year after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Amazon group has continued to spread its reach into automated grocery
stores, online healthcare services, even experimenting with a
bricks-and-mortar hair and beauty salon in London.
But its core offerings: online shopping with home delivery, media streaming
and cloud-based web-services all flourished during a year of upheaval for
other businesses.
Revenue rose from $75bn (£54bn) this time last year to $108.5bn for the
three months to the end of March.
Profit was $8.1bn, up from $2.5bn a year ago.
Chief executive Jeff Bezos highlighted the streaming service Prime Video and
AWS, the web-services division, and said he was "proud to have them in the
family".
"As Prime Video turns 10, over 175 million Prime members have streamed shows
and movies in the past year, and streaming hours are up more than 70% year
over year," he said.
He said AWS had grown in its first 15 years to deliver $54bn annual sales
"competing against the world's largest technology companies."
Mr Bezos is stepping down as chief executive this summer, though he will
remain in the less hands-on role of executive chairman. He will be succeeded
by AWS's chief executive Andy Jassy.
Nicholas Hyett, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said Amazon's results
were "stellar" particularly given the extra costs associated with doing
business during the pandemic.
"Amazon's modus operandi has always been to pour internally generated cash
into new investment opportunities wherever possible - but at present it
seems to be struggling to find homes for its embarrassment of riches," he
said.
"This could be a golden age for the group. With high streets shut, Amazon is
a natural home for consumers' spare cash, AWS services remote working, which
has suddenly become the norm, and tech wizardry is all the more useful when
we can't see friends and family in person."
Amazon said although the pandemic was receding in some markets it expected
its sales and profits to continue to grow, and it still expected a further
$1.5bn costs related to Covid-19.
The firm has announced it plans to raise pay for its half a million US
employees at a cost of more than $1bn. The firm has faced long-running
criticism over pay and working conditions, including claims that workers are
under so much pressure they can't take toilet breaks and that it was failing
to keep warehouse staff safe from coronavirus infection.
Amazon also announced a raft of measures to support employee health. It has
already rolled out vaccinations to 300,000 employees and contractors in the
US and "will soon expand to frontline employees in other countries".
The group will continue to extend its range of shopping services and
platforms, including Amazon Scout, a fully electric autonomous delivery
system that "rolls down the sidewalk at walking pace and delivers items
right to customers". Scout is already operating in four US states.
Other recent innovations include Amazon Pharmacy, which allows Amazon Prime
members to save money on prescriptions, Prime Wardrobe which offers personal
shopping services and Discover Rooms, which the company described as "an
immersive shopping experience that helps customers browse and shop from
thousands of home room designs".-BBC
US economy accelerates as recovery continues
The US economy continued to recover in the first three months of the year as
businesses reopened and the government spent heavily on Covid relief for
citizens.
The economy grew at an annualised rate of 6.4% in the quarter, up from 4.3%
in the final three months of 2020.
The US economy is rebounding faster than expected after contracting sharply
in 2020.
But it is several years away from fully recovering from the pandemic
recession.
Richard Flynn, UK managing director at financial services firm, Charles
Schwab, said: "The US economy is accelerating quickly and remains on solid
footing as we likely continue to move into a period of exceptional growth.
"We have experienced the sharpest economic 'V' in history - a deep recession
and rapid recovery within just five quarters."
US GDP since 2012
The strong growth was partly down to easing anxiety over the pandemic as
vaccines have been rolled out across the US, boosting domestic demand and
allowing businesses such as restaurants and bars to reopen.
The Biden administration has also ushered through two additional rounds of
Covid-19 relief money, the most recent of which saw unemployment subsidies
extended and qualified households being sent one-off cheques for $1,400
(£1,003).
It has lifted confidence and helped consumer spending to hit a 14-month high
in April. But there are questions over whether more moderate Democrats will
continue to support President Biden's ambitious economic agenda.
The US has spent about $6 trillion on Covid relief since last May, and Mr
Biden pitched some $4tn of new stimulus spending in his first joint speech
to Congress on Wednesday.
Republicans fiercely oppose more stimulus, worried about rising debt levels.
There are also concerns the economy could overheat causing inflation to
spike.
The US Federal Reserve has played down such a risk, and its main policy
making committee kept its target range for the benchmark interest rate
unchanged at between 0% and 0.25% on Wednesday, citing the need to continue
supporting growth.
Fed chairman Jerome Powell said there were clear signs of progress in the
economy but that the recovery is "uneven and far from complete".
"The ongoing public health crisis continues to weigh on the economy, and
risks to the economic outlook remain," added the Federal Open Market
Committee, which sets rates.
Falling jobless claims
In a separate report on Thursday, the Labor Department said initial claims
for state unemployment benefits fell 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 553,000
during the week ending 24 April.
Though claims have dropped from a record 6.149 million in early April 2020,
they remain way above normal levels.
There were 16.6 million people receiving unemployment benefits in the first
week of April.
"We're still probably a couple of years away from pre-pandemic employment
levels, but based on the powerful economic momentum built up in the first
quarter, we should return close to a fully-functioning economy in the second
quarter," said Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit
Union in Virginia.
The US economic recovery has gained some more momentum. It grew 1.6% in the
first quarter (that's the simple quarterly growth rather than the annualised
figure published by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis). In the previous
three months it grew 1.1%.
The US has experienced a stronger rebound than most developed economies.
That said the country is still suffering the economic effects of the health
crisis.
There are many individual stories that could illustrate that and it is also
apparent in the data. The economy is still behind the level of activity at
the end of 2019, the pre-pandemic peak, by 0.9%. It is even further adrift
of where it would have been had the health crisis not knocked it off its
growth path.
Employment (which is not covered in the GDP figures) has also rebounded from
its low but has not fully recovered. There will be an update on jobs on
Friday.-BBC
UK and Norway fail to reach fishing deal
The UK and Norway have failed to reach a fishing deal for this year, with
the industry warning that hundreds of crew members will be left out of work.
It means UK fleets will have no access to Norway's sub-Arctic waters, known
for their cod catches.
The government said its "fair offer" had been rejected in talks.
The firm UK Fisheries called it a "disgrace", saying fishermen in Hull would
be particularly badly affected by the lack of progress.
In 2018, UK fleets landed fish worth £32m in Norwegian waters, according to
the government.
With the UK no longer part of the European Common Fisheries Policy, it now
deals directly with Norway - which is not an EU member state - on fishing
matters.
The two countries agreed last year to a post-Brexit system of co-operation,
including annual negotiations on quotas and access to each other's waters.
But a deal for 2021 proved impossible, despite weeks of talks.
UK Fisheries chief executive Jane Sandell complained that the UK government
had failed "even to maintain the rights we have had to fish in Norwegian
waters for decades".
She added: "In consequence, there will be no British-caught Arctic cod sold
through chippies for our national dish.
"It will all be imported from the Norwegians, who will continue to sell
their fish products to the UK tariff-free, while we are excluded from these
waters. Quite simply, this is a disgrace and a national embarrassment."
UK Fisheries said it had invested approximately £180m in the last 20 years
in the Humberside fishing industry, and had planned to put in a further
£100m.
The company's giant vessel, the Kirkella, normally catches around 10% of all
the fish sold in the UK's chip shops.
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said it
had always been clear it would only strike agreements "if they are balanced
and in the interests of the UK fishing industry".
"We put forward a fair offer on access to UK waters and the exchange of
fishing quotas, but we have concluded that our positions remain too far
apart to reach an agreement this year," they added.
"Norway is a key partner and we will continue to work with them over the
course of the year."-BBC
Restaurants struggle to find staff ahead of reopening
Bars and restaurants are struggling to recruit enough staff and some may not
be able to fully reopen in May, after thousands of workers left the sector.
Venue owners say they are expecting huge demand from customers, but staff
shortages may mean they have to limit opening hours.
Figures suggest more than one in ten UK hospitality workers left the
industry in the last year.
Recruitment site Caterer.com said the pandemic and Brexit were to blame.
Some have managed to find alternative employment, but a high proportion may
have left the UK altogether, the recruiter said.
So, although many hospitality workers were laid off during the last 12
months, restaurateurs are now finding it hard to fill places.
Celebrity chef Michael Caines is one of those finding recruitment difficult.
He operates two restaurants on the Cornish coast and a hotel in Exmouth. A
beach bar and restaurant in Exmouth is also due to open.
He is currently trying to hire 20 new staff members across the group.
"Without question, recruitment is a challenge," he said.
"All of the businesses are extremely busy. For the next three, four months
our hotel is completely booked up, so we're desperately trying to recruit
enough staff."
Mr Caines said Brexit and the pandemic have led European workers to leave
and not return, but he said another problem is the number of workers still
on furlough.
While they are waiting to return to work they are less willing to switch
employers.
"A lot of people feel very concerned about leaving a job where they qualify
for furlough to take the new job where they wouldn't qualify for furlough if
there was another lockdown," he explained.
"So there's a bit of nervousness from an employee's point of view."
Mr Caines is hoping roles will be more easily filled when students break up
from college and university and start looking for summer work.
Restaurants and bars have been allowed to serve food and drink outdoors
since 12 April, while indoor dining is expected to restart from 17 May. And
many UK hospitality venues are hoping pent-up demand and a more UK-focused
holiday season to translate into a bumper summer.
As a result, recruitment was a "growing issue", said UK Hospitality chief
executive Kate Nicholls. It was more acute in some areas, such as London,
than others, she added, and could mean some venues struggle to reopen.
The trade association said chef vacancies are among the most difficult to
fill. But restaurant owners have reported staff shortages across all types
of roles.
Specialist recruiter, Caterer.com, said the number of vacancies on its
website had grown by more than 85% in the last few weeks, with 22,000 roles
now being advertised.
But it pointed to figures from the Office for National Statistics suggesting
355,000 fewer people were employed in hospitality than a year ago.
Pre-pandemic around 3.2 million were employed in the sector including bars,
restaurants and hotels.
"Many restaurants, pubs and bars have experienced a sudden surge in business
due to built-up customer demand and an increase in consumer confidence which
is great news for the hospitality industry," said Caterer.com director Neil
Pattison.
"However, the impact of the pandemic, combined with Brexit has the potential
to create a significant recruitment challenge for the sector and we are
likely to see the skills shortage it once faced starting to return."
Before Brexit a lot of the UK's hospitality workforce was made up of workers
from overseas, including from the EU, but hundreds of thousands of foreign
workers have left the UK over the last year and it is unclear whether they
will return.
Luke Garnsworthy, who owns Crockers Henley, a hotel and fine dining
restaurant in Oxfordshire, and Crockers Tring in Hertfordshire, said he is
struggling to recruit enough staff for when his restaurants open fully next
month.
As well as chefs, he is hoping to hire front-of-house staff and waiters.
"I've put adverts out and I thought I was putting the net out into a sea
full of fish but it's not been like that at all."
Mr Garnsworthy would like to employ between 45 and 50 staff at his Henley
venue where the headcount is currently only at 12.
He said senior team members will step in to fill roles where necessary, but
the restaurant was only likely to be able to open five days a week instead
of seven.
Recruitment in hospitality has always been a challenge, even before the
pandemic, but is "definitely worse now", according to Mr Garnsworthy.
"We are perceived as unskilled, so the country looks down their nose
and
young people are not interested."
He wants them to know that although it is hard work "the days of Gordon
Ramsey shouting" are over at least.
Restaurant owner and Masterchef The Professionals finalist Sven-Hanson Britt
also operates several venues.
He said staff turnover in hospitality is normally high, but he too said
furloughed staff are sticking with their existing employer.
"There's not that ebb and flow with talent because people are staying put.
"It's very difficult at the moment and finding anyone for senior positions
is hard."
Mr Britt is hoping to recruit pastry chefs, chocolatiers and a sommelier.
"We can't seem to find anyone in that arena," he added.
The business took on a number of staff in October but application rates this
time around are far lower.
"Some businesses closed or went bust and people felt let down by their
employer or the industry as a whole," he said.
"I know a lot of people who have moved on to something different."-BBC
BT confirms talks over the future of its sports business
BT has confirmed it is in talks with several companies about the future of
its sports broadcasting arm.
The group says it is exploring "ways to generate investment, strengthen our
sports business" to "help take it to the next stage in its growth".
BT said early talks were being held "with a number of select strategic
partners".
It is not clear if this means selling a stake in BT Sport or a full sale of
the division, which was launched in 2013.
BT added that the discussions were confidential and "may or may not lead to
an outcome".
The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that Amazon, Disney and Dazn were
in talks with BT, but that an unnamed British broadcaster might also be in
the running to buy the sports business.
The telecoms giant did not confirm which firms are involved.
Amazon and Dazn declined to comment, while Disney did not immediately
respond to the BBC's request.
Talks have emerged as the Premier League has held discussions with
broadcasters, including BT, Sky and Amazon, about scrapping its next
domestic media rights auction.
The government is now considering whether to approve a rollover of the
current £4.7bn deal, which was secured in 2018.
That sale represented a 10% drop in value and some clubs are concerned there
could be another fall if the usual open-market auction begins as planned
next month for the three-year cycle between 2022 and 2025.
Broadband push
Jerry Dellis, an analyst with stockbrokers Jefferies, said BT Sport costs
the company about £800m a year, mainly due to football rights, including
£400m for the Champions League.
He said that since its launch, BT Sport has struggled to define how it adds
value to the business.
"BT Sport was initially pivotal to stabilising the consumer retail
business... Sky was overwhelmingly the favourite destination for consumer
lines migrating away from BT.
"BT consumer retail line loss more than halved as soon as BT Sport launched,
and dropped to zero when the Champions League was added in 2015."
However, Mr Dellis suggested, that may no longer be needed as other BT
products improve.
The company has revamped its customer service, introducing face-to-face
support in stores, and is focusing on replacing copper telephone wires with
fibre-optic broadband lines across Britain.
BT's Openreach subsidiary lays down and maintains the cables for
"full-fibre" internet connections, as well as as operating the associated
telephone exchanges. It then sells use of these services to individual
internet service providers, who sell access to the public.
The business recently confirmed plans to build fibre-to-the-premises
connections to 20 million homes and offices by the mid-to late-2020s.
It currently reaches 4.6 million homes.
BT said it would "build like fury" after the UK's telecoms regulator Ofcom
decided not to impose price caps on full-fibre connections provided by
Openreach.
Last May, BT announced it would scrap its dividend payment to shareholders
until 2022, when it will be reduced by 50% from 2019 levels, to free up cash
for investing in broadband projects after the pandemic.-BBC
NatWest says fewer customers defaulting on loans despite Covid
Fewer people are defaulting on loans due to the pandemic than expected, two
major banks have said.
NatWest Group, which owns RBS, was able to release £102m it had set aside
for bad loans in the first quarter after "better than expected" repayments.
Standard Chartered meanwhile took a $20m hit from bad loans in the same
period - down by $354m from the previous quarter.
Earlier this week HSBC and Lloyds both reported a similar trend.
Last year, many big banks warned that business and personal banking
customers risked being unable to repay debts as coronavirus battered the UK
economy.
NatWest itself faced £802m in loan impairment costs in the first quarter of
2020.
But Alison Rose, chief executive of NatWest Group, said defaults had been
lower than feared in the first three months of 2021 as a result of
government support schemes such as furlough.
Partly due to this, the group, which is 60% taxpayer owned, reported profits
attributable to shareholders of £620m - more than double the figure for the
same period last year.
'Continuing uncertainty'
"There are reasons for optimism with the vaccine programmes progressing at
pace and restrictions being eased," Ms Rose said.
"However, there is continuing uncertainty for our economy and for many of
our customers as a result of Covid-19."
At the end of March, 12,000 mortgage customers and 16,000 people with
personal loans were still on repayment holidays with the bank.
Standard Chartered, Lloyds and HSBC have also reported seeing fewer defaults
than expected in the first quarter, while Barclays will report its results
on Friday.
Standard Chartered, which does a lot of its business in Asia, told the BBC's
Today programme that firms and households were emerging from the crisis in a
better state than expected.
"A year ago when Covid was becoming very mainstream, there were clearly
concerns right the way across the [banking] sector as to how long and how
deep this could last," said the bank's chief financial officer, Andy
Halford.
"The impairment charges we took last year were roughly double what we would
normally expect to take, so about a billion extra.
"I think for most people, if they had said a year into Covid would we start
to see credit impairment charges coming down to the $20m level in a quarter,
people would have bitten your hand off for that."
The comments from the banks come as experts predict the UK economy will
recover faster than expected this year, after contracting sharply in 2020.
This week the EY Item Club upgraded its 2021 growth forecast from 5% to
6.8%, which would mark the fastest rate since records began.
And research from Deloitte found consumer confidence increased at the
fastest rate in a decade in the first three months of 2021.-BBC
Vietnam’s answer to Tesla has U.S. in its electric sights
Move over Tesla, how about a VinFast?
That's the proposition being offered by the automobile arm of Vietnam's
largest conglomerate, Vingroup (VIC.HM). It's betting big on the U.S. market
with its VinFast line of cars and hoping that electric SUVs and a battery
leasing model will be enough to woo consumers away from homegrown market
leaders like Tesla (TSLA.O) and General Motors Co (GM.N).
A recent arrival on the automotive scene and the No. 5 car brand in Vietnam,
VinFast is not short on ambition, with its sights set on a U.S. listing and
a valuation of as much as $60 billion, according to two sources familiar
with its plans.
It will launch in North America and Europe in 2022, CEO Nguyen Thi Van Anh
told Reuters, joining a crowded field of players seeking to compete with
Elon Musk's Tesla, including a slew of loss-making upstarts fuelled by a
Wall Street fundraising craze.
"We are going to North America - U.S., Canada - and Europe at the same time.
In Europe, we're going to Germany, France and the Netherlands," Van Anh said
in an interview at the company's sprawling factory complex near the northern
port of Haiphong.
Standing behind VinFast is Vingroup, Vietnam's answer to a South Korean
chaebol or catch-all conglomerate. Founded as an instant noodle business in
post-Soviet Ukraine, the company's trajectory has mirrored that of Vietnam,
one of Asia's fastest-growing economies, with interests spanning real
estate, resorts, schools, hospitals and smartphones.
Even with such formidable local backing, VinFast has its work cut out as
industry giants such as General Motors, Toyota (7203.T) and Volkswagen
(VOWG_p.DE) spend tens of billions of dollars to develop electric and
driverless vehicles.
Founded in 2017 with a team led by former General Motors Co executives, the
company is aiming to compete on vehicle size and price – pitching an
electric SUV that Van Anh described as "more luxurious" than those currently
on offer.
VinFast cars will also come with a battery leasing scheme that means the
cost of the battery, one of the most expensive components of an electric
car, will not be included in the final price.
"I'm going to give you a better product. I'm giving you an SUV. I'm giving
you a more spacious car," said Van Anh, who will relocate next month from
Hanoi to Los Angeles to head VinFast's U.S. operations.
According to a presentation prepared by the company for potential investors,
VinFast cars will be cheaper compared to other electric-vehicle (EV) models.
A Tesla SUV sells for around $50,000, but Van Anh, who declined to discuss
potential competitors, would not be drawn on how much a VinFast SUV would
sell for. Two of the company's three electric models are destined for the
United States, where the company is targeting annual sales of 45,000 cars,
she said.
AN EDGE OVER THE COMPETITION?
There is precedent for Asian carmakers cracking the U.S. market. Toyota in
the 1970s and Hyundai (005380.KS) in the 1980s overcame initial scepticism
with products that eventually stole market share from U.S. manufacturers.
VinFast, which achieved annual sales of around 30,000 units last year in
Vietnam and has yet to make a profit, faces an uphill battle.
"Their biggest challenge is convincing consumers that they have a solid
product and a compelling value proposition," said Bill Russo, head of
Shanghai-based consultancy Automobility Ltd and a former Chrysler executive.
"The product itself looks to have the right appearance and features, but
this will only get you in the game. Winning requires a technology or
business model edge over the competition."
The company is betting its battery leasing scheme – where customers would
pay a monthly amount roughly equivalent to what the average consumer might
spend on petrol – will win over U.S. customers.
When the battery, which uses cells from South Korea's Samsung SDI
(006400.KS), is at 70% of its full lifespan, VinFast will replace it, Van
Anh said.
A similar scheme has already been rolled out in China by Tencent-backed
electric vehicle maker Nio (NIO.N), whose ES6 SUV has a starting price of
around 358,000 yuan ($55,272).
No EV maker can compete with Tesla in the near future, according to Michael
Dunne, chief executive of automotive consulting firm ZoZo Go, pointing to
the U.S. company's across-the-board strengths.
"But the good news is that companies like VinFast do not have to beat Tesla
to win. All they really need to do is convert a portion of the 65 million
consumers who bought gasoline-powered cars in 2020 to switch over the
electrics," said Dunne.
VinFast, whose manufacturing facility in Vietnam has the capacity to churn
out 250,000 cars a year, is planning on conducting most of its U.S. sales
online, removing the need for a costly dealership network. It has had 15,000
advance orders so far for its VF e34 electric car in Vietnam.
The company has hired Jeremy Snyder, a 10-year Tesla veteran, as its U.S.
Chief Growth Officer.
Snyder told Reuters he was VinFast's first employee on the ground in the
United States but, between full-time employees and consultants, the company
now has around 100 people working there.
"It's very exciting to bring Vietnam and the United States closer through
VinFast," he said.
TAPPING THE SPAC?
Vingroup's founder, Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietnam's richest man, has pledged to
invest $2 billion of his own money into the car division and Vingroup has
poured hundreds of millions of dollars into VinFast by issuing international
bonds and selling off stakes in other units.
But expansion over the years has pushed up Vingroup's debt and losses at
some of its ventures have squeezed its cashflow.
To turbocharge its growth, VinFast will need more cash. The company is
looking at tapping into a funding frenzy in the United States, where
investors, including some of the world's biggest money managers, have poured
billions into auto startups via blank-check companies known as
special-purpose acquisition companies or SPACs.
Three sources with direct knowledge of the plans said VinFast was leaning
towards a SPAC, although Van Anh declined to comment on when or how the
company would generate funding in the United States.
Officials from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will visit
Vietnam soon to meet with Vingroup executives about its efforts to list, two
separate sources said. If VinFast does list in the United States it will be
the first Vietnamese company to do so.
"When it happens, how it happens, whether by SPAC or by another method,
we'll make the right decision at the same time," said Van Anh.
There are hundreds of SPACs searching for companies to take public and
investors are desperate to identify the next Tesla, whose stratospheric
market rally has made Musk one of the world's richest men.
Nio, which made a net loss last year of $860 million, has a market cap of
around $67 billion, according to its New York stock listing and sold just
under 44,000 cars last year, close to what VinFast is targeting in the
United States.
A stream of EV-related startups notched up multi-billion dollar valuations
last year despite not having products ready to sell but their shares have
taken a knocking recently.
VinFast likes to distinguish itself from other EV startups.
"If you look at some of the SPAC deals that already happened, they do not
really have what we currently have," said Van Anh.
"Even if we don't have a product in the world market, we have the products
here."
($1 = 6.4771 Chinese yuan renminbi)-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Bundesbank expects chip bottlenecks in German industry to worsen in Q2
The chip supply bottlenecks in German industry will likely worsen in the
second quarter and lead to an overall weaker recovery of Europe's largest
economy this year, the Bundesbank's chief economist told Reuters on Friday.
Shortages of semiconductors and other industrial components have led to
production cuts in manufacturing, forcing executives and policymakers to
rethink supply lines and try to reduce reliance on a handful of Asian and
U.S. suppliers. read more
Automakers and electronics producers are being hit hard by delivery delays
of chips, caused by factory closures during the first COVID-19 wave last
year and a spike in demand for semiconductors in an increasingly digitised
world.
"We expect the problem with semiconductor shortages to worsen somewhat in
the second quarter. It could then normalize from the middle of the year,"
said Jens Ulbrich, chief economist of the German central bank, the
Bundesbank.
Asked how much growth the bottlenecks would cost the German economy as a
whole, Ulbrich said the negative impact was hard to quantify.
"We do see clear signs of slowing down in vehicle production in the first
quarter. However, it is not possible to isolate the semiconductor effect, as
various other factors also overlap with it," Ulbrich said.
He pointed to special factors related to Britain's exit from the European
Union which led to pull-forward effects and increased production in the
fourth quarter, which then resulted in a certain weakness at the beginning
of the year.
"The sales tax increase also played a similar role. Ultimately, only the
manufacturers can quantify the effect," Ulbrich said.
But there is no doubt that the chip bottlenecks and related production cuts
will lead to weaker growth this year.
"The recovery will probably be a little less strong than without this
specific semiconductor problem," Ulbrich said.
The Bundesbank expects nonetheless a relatively strong upswing from the
middle of the year which will then also be supported by private consumption,
he added.
The German government earlier this week lifted its economic growth forecast
for this year to 3.5% from 3% previously, counting on a rebound of household
spending once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted in the course of the
summer.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Credit Suisse board member Gottschling to exit after Greensill, Archegos
losses
Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) board member and risk committee chairman Andreas
Gottschling will not stand for re-election, the Swiss bank said on Friday,
as the crisis over Greensill and Archegos claims more members of the
lender's leadership.
Gottschling is leaving after proxy adviser Glass Lewis as well as some of
the bank's big investors opposed his re-election to the board at the
shareholders meeting due to be held on Friday, saying he needed to be held
accountable for investments made by the bank that imploded this year. read
more
Credit Suisse is raising capital, and has halted share buybacks, cut its
dividend and revamped management after losing at least $4.7 billion from the
collapse of family office Archegos, and after the bank suspended funds
linked to insolvent supply chain finance company Greensill.
"Andreas Gottschling has informed the Board that he will not stand for
re-election at the Credit Suisse 2021 Annual General Meeting of
Shareholders," Credit Suisse said in a short statement.
Chief Risk and Compliance Officer Lara Warner and investment banking head
Brian Chin, have both left the bank following the losses.
The annual shareholders meeting is due to start at 0830 GMT.- The Thomson
Reuters Trust Principles.
Barclays Q1 profit more than doubles as bad loans shrink
Barclays (BARC.L) reported first quarter profits more than doubled, despite
not releasing cash set aside to cover bad loans from the COVID-19 pandemic
as its British peers had done.
Barclays booked a profit before tax for the three months ended March 31 of
2.4 billion pounds ($3.34 billion), up from 923 million pounds a year ago
and above the 1.76 billion pound average of analysts' forecasts.
The lender took an impairment charge of 55 mln pounds for further bad loan
charges, much less than analysts had forecast and down from 2.1 billion
pounds in the same period a year ago.
The better than expected results followed similarly upbeat news from rivals
such as HSBC (HSBA.L) and Lloyds (LLOY.L) earlier in the week, as British
banks benefited from government job support schemes that have put back the
hit from the pandemic. read more
The British lenders however have been more cautious than U.S. peers such as
JPMorgan (JPM.N), which earlier this month released more than $5 billion it
had set aside to cover bad loans. read more
Barclays' strong results came despite a mixed performance from its
investment bank, where the usually standout fixed income, currencies and
commodities unit reported a 35% decline in income.
($1 = 0.7175 pounds)-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
UK house prices jump by most since 2004 as tax break extended
British house prices jumped by 2.1% in April, their biggest monthly rise in
more than 17 years, after finance minister Rishi Sunak unexpectedly extended
a tax break on property sales, figures from mortgage lender Nationwide
showed on Friday.
House prices are 7.1% above their level a year earlier and close to
December's growth rate of 7.3%, which was the highest in nearly six years
after COVID lockdowns boosted demand for more spacious housing.
"Just as expectations of the end of the stamp duty holiday led to a slowdown
in house price growth in March, so the extension of the stamp duty holiday
in the Budget prompted a reacceleration in April," Nationwide chief
economist Robert Gardner said.
Stamp duty, the main tax on property purchases, will not be payable on house
purchases up to 500,000 pounds ($696,650) made before the end of June, and
the first 250,000 pounds of property purchases will be tax-free until the
end of September.
The tax break had been due to expire at the end of March.
As well as a rise in property prices, the tax exemption contributed to a
sharp increase in the number of property sales last year.
Nationwide said there was scope for house prices to rise further in the
coming months due to a fairly fixed supply of housing and a continued desire
to move as a result of the COVID pandemic, which reduced demand for small
city-centre homes.
But Gardner said activity could slow later this year, perhaps sharply, if
unemployment picked up as most economists predict.
($1 = 0.7177 pounds)- The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
BHP’s Mt. Arthur bind illustrates mining’s coal dilemma
As BHP Group (BHP.AX) looks at options to spin off or sell its thermal coal
assets, the miner is facing pressure from climate conscious investors who
want divergent paths and that's even before getting to the tough task of
finding a buyer.
The world’s largest miner has been in talks with stakeholders on its plans
to divest the Mt. Arthur thermal coal mine, its stake in a steel-making coal
project with Japan's Mitsui (8031.T) and a stake in a thermal coal mine in
Colombia.
Some large shareholders are pushing the miner to exit immediately while
other investors want a slower exit, to ensure the mine is wound down
responsibly.
How BHP, which faces about $1 billion in clean up costs at Mt. Arthur alone,
divests could be a template for other miners, including Glencore Plc
(GLEN.L) and Anglo American (AAL.L) who are also mulling ways to offload
coal assets.
BHP spin-off South32 (S32.AX) agreed this month to pay up to A$250 million
($194.70 million) to smooth the sale of its South African thermal coal
business, partly funding environmental clean up costs over a decade.
"The best thing that BHP could do is set a global precedent about how to
exit responsibly," said Tim Buckley, director of Austrian think tank
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
BHP said that it had rehabilitated more than 1,211 hectares already at Mt.
Arthur and that transparency was “fundamentally important” to any mine
rehabilitation. It said it could not speculate on the outcome of any
potential divestment of the Mt. Arthur asset.
BHP's exit from thermal coal would satisfy investment criteria laid down by
Norway’s government pension fund, which owns about 5.58% of BHP’s
London-listed arm.
It put BHP under observation for possible exclusion if it did not address
its use or production of coal last year before raising its stake after BHP
announced divestment plans.
The Norwegian wealth fund declined comment.
MINING LICENCE SET TO EXPIRE
Shareholder proposals that press companies to exit from fossil fuels without
taking into account rehabilitation needs do not solve the problem, said
Alison George at investment advisor Regnan, part of the Pendal Group which
manages about A$97.4 billion.
"We have been concerned that (the proposals) really aren’t well targeted to
address the system risk nor are they really likely to get the company to
manage that risk better," she said.
BHP is considering smaller buyers and splitting the assets, with bids due in
the next few weeks, said a banker familiar with the matter who declined to
be identified as the information is not public.
While it would be a coup for a small company, BHP prefers a buyer that can
sustain long term responsibilities, the banker added.
In 2016, Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) sold its Blair Athol mine in Queensland to coal
junior Terracom (TER.AX) for A$1 along with providing a rehabilitation fund
of A$80 million.
The fund now stands at about A$50 million after the state government trimmed
its rehabilitation requirements at Terracom's request and allowed Terracom
to draw down A$27 million in exchange for an insurer's guarantee.
One stumbling block to a sale has been the expiration of BHP's mining
licence, set for June 2026. BHP said in March it will apply to extend
operations to 2045.
The miner wrote down its Mt. Arthur coal business by $1.2 billion this year
and took a smaller write-down on its Colombia coal asset, Cerrejon.
A listing may also not garner the value that BHP desires, with recent coal
IPOs attracting tepid demand in Australia. RBC recently valued any spin-off
at $2.7 billion.
As part of any spin off, think tank IEEFA has proposed BHP set up a $1
billion sinking fund to cover future rehabilitation liabilities.
That would see BHP maintain a controlling minority stake to prevent vulture
funds stripping the fund or cashflow and with capital invested to reward
shareholders with dividends and any land resale.
One institutional investor, who has been approached about the proposal via a
third party, said the model carried high risk because it was untested and
may not offer the security of returns his organization was looking for.
The competing shareholder pressures add to BHP's coal headaches for a
business that has become problematic for miners amid action by environmental
activists and with banks and insurers scaling back financing because of
global warming concerns.
"The question is, how do you ensure the clean up of the mess that you have
created in a socially responsible way?" said IEEFA director Buckley. ($1 =
1.2840 Australian dollars)-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Amazon’s sales and profit rise as retailer rides wave of pandemic shopping
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), one of the biggest winners of the pandemic, posted
record profits on Thursday and signaled that consumers would keep spending
in a growing U.S. economy and converts to online shopping are not likely to
leave.
Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, shoppers have relied
increasingly on Amazon for delivery of home staples, and the company sees
this trend continuing post-pandemic, particularly for groceries.
While brick-and-mortar stores closed, Amazon has now posted four consecutive
record quarterly profits, attracted more than 200 million Prime loyalty
subscribers, and recruited over 500,000 employees to keep up with surging
demand.
Amazon said it expects operating income for the current quarter to be
between $4.5 billion and $8 billion, which includes about $1.5 billion in
costs related to COVID-19.
Shares rose 4% in after-hours trade.
Throughout the pandemic, the world's largest online retailer has been at the
center of workplace tumult, with a failed attempt by organized labor to
unionize an Amazon warehouse in Alabama and litigation in New York over
whether it put profit ahead of employee safety. read more
Amazon's business has largely been unfazed by the developments. Michael
Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said a jump in Prime
subscriptions, consumers' embrace of grocery delivery amid COVID-19 and an
improving economy worked to Amazon's advantage.
"Habit. Good quality grocery. Stimulus checks," Pachter said. "They're going
to thrive."
Slower sales growth in the current period relative to the last quarter
reflected a tougher comparison to last year, when lockdowns were in full
swing, Pachter said.
CEO Jeff Bezos touted the results of the company's cloud computing unit
Amazon Web Services (AWS) in a press release, saying, "In just 15 years, AWS
has become a $54 billion annual sales run rate business competing against
the world's largest technology companies, and its growth is accelerating."
The plaudits were a nod to Andy Jassy, AWS's long-time cloud chief who will
succeed Bezos as Amazon's CEO this summer. Amazon announced a deal for Dish
Network Corp (DISH.O) to build its 5G network on AWS last week, and the
division increased revenue 32% to $13.5 billion, ahead of analysts' average
estimate of $13.2 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Brian Olsavsky, Amazon's chief financial officer, said businesses
increasingly wanted to outsource their technology infrastructure to AWS.
The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics centre in Boves, France,
August 8, 2018. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
"We expect this trend to continue as we move into the post-pandemic
recovery," he said.
Adding to Amazon's second-quarter revenue will be Prime Day, the company's
annual marketing blitz. Amazon disclosed the event will take place in June
rather than July, as is more typical, to reach customers before they head on
vacation.
Grocery sales anchored by Amazon's subsidiary Whole Foods Market remain a
bright spot, too. Olsavsky called grocery "a great revelation during the
post-pandemic period."
The company's first-quarter profit more than tripled to $8.1 billion from a
year ago, on sales of $108.5 billion, ahead of analysts' estimates.
AD SALES GROWTH
Amazon saw its stock price nearly double in the first part of 2020 as it
benefited from the pandemic. This year, however, it has underperformed the
S&P 500 <.SPX> market index. Its shares were up about 8.5% year to date
versus the index's 13% gain.
Spending on COVID-19 and logistics has chipped away at Amazon's bottom line.
The company has poured money into buying cargo planes and securing new
warehouses, aiming to place items closer to customers to speed up delivery.
It said Wednesday it planned to hike pay for over half a million employees,
costing more than $1 billion - and it is still hiring for tens of thousands
more positions.
Olsavsky said Amazon was still working to restore one-day package delivery
rates to pre-pandemic levels.
He told reporters the company intends to increase spending on video content
this year as well. Consumers have been watching content for more hours on
Amazon, Olsavsky said.
While far behind ad sales leaders Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Alphabet Inc's
(GOOGL.O) Google, Amazon is growing its ad business because brands'
placements often result directly in sales, reaching customers who are on
Amazon with an intention to shop.
Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com, said, "Outside of its core
retail and cloud units, advertising revenue is increasingly becoming another
substantial growth driver for Amazon."
Amazon said ad and other sales rose 77% to $6.9 billion, ahead of analysts'
estimate of $6.2 billion.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Nigeria: As Nigeria Continues to Miss Gas Flaring Deadlines, Huge Revenue Is
Lost
In 2020 alone, natural gas valued at $1.24 billion was burned by oil
companies, one which could generate the annual electricity use of 804
million Nigerian citizens.
Since 1979, Nigeria has missed out on ending gas flaring on at least seven
occasions. The country is now targetting 2025 to end the environmentally
unfriendly, health-damaging and resource-losing act.
Each time Nigeria misses out on the deadlines set to harness gas belching
from its oil fields, it loses revenue and an opportunity to ramp up power
generation.
Experts believe the gas Nigeria flares on its oil fields could be a huge
revenue trove worth billions of dollars if well harnessed for use as
liquefied natural gas or for plastics or fertilizers.
NOSDRA, a government-run satellite tracker, said that 1.8 billion standard
cubic feet (scf) per day of gas was flared in the last nine years, one that
should ordinarily attract about $3.6 billion in penalty, little of which was
paid.
The volume has generated 95.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. The flared
gas is valued at $6.3 billion and it could generate 179.9 thousand GWh, data
from NOSDRA showed.
In 2020 alone, natural gas valued at $1.24 billion was burned by oil
companies, one which could generate the annual electricity use of 804
million Nigerian citizens, according to the tracker.
The carbon dioxide, methane and soot released as a result of gas flaring can
cause health issues like cancer and lung damage, deformities in children,
asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, neurological and reproductive problems as
well as environmental challenges which stall agricultural productivity and
aquatic and wildlife lives.
Gas flaring
Gas flaring is the controlled combustion of associated gas, a large volume
of which make up Nigeria's gas reserves, generated during various processes
including oil and gas recovery, petrochemical process, and landfill gas
extraction, into open-air.
Oil-producing nations almost certainly flare some gas, and Nigeria remains a
global hotspot.
According to the World Bank's 2020 Global Gas Flaring Tracker, a leading
global and independent indicator of gas flaring, Nigeria is the
seventh-largest gas-flaring country globally. The country is surpassed only
by Russia, Iraq, Iran, the United States, Algeria and Venezuela.
All seven countries have continued to light up the global map for nine years
running.
While they have together produced some 40 per cent of the world's annual oil
production, they have also accounted for roughly two-thirds of global gas
flaring, the report showed.
The extraction of oil from onshore and offshore oil wells come with
components of natural gas in them. Nations either use the gas at source or
transport it elsewhere.
But when neither of these is possible, the gas is flared as a waste product,
a practice that has been condemned by environmental activists in the
country, especially because pledges made to end the practice has hardly been
fulfilled.
Were the gas harnessed, it could have been to feed the national grid and
used to generate power and electricity, which around 80 million Nigerians do
not have access to, according to the World Bank.
Yet, without revamped power infrastructure, friendly regulation,
gas-to-power investment that could help address Nigeria's power challenges
remains a far reach, experts say.
As an alternative, the government, in 2016, commissioned the Nigerian Gas
Flare Commercialization Programme with the mandate to eliminate gas flaring
and possibly boost the economic potential of gas by 2020.
The progress on the programme has been largely sluggish and the government
has repeatedly shifted the date to end the practice in the country.
Unmet deadlines
Nigeria first targeted to end gas flaring by 1979, and the move decades ago
proved potent as the country has been able to more than halve it since 2001.
The move to extinguish all flares by 1979 (under the Associated Gas
Re-injection Act of 1979) could not be met though, and 1984, when it became
illegal, was set. When the new date failed, 2004 became the next target and
then the Nigeria Gas Master plan of 2008.
By 2016, the federal government again extended the deadline to end gas
flaring to 2020. Another challenge greeted the country and the world over:
novel coronavirus.
Earlier this year, state petroleum minister Timipre Sylva said that the
government is now committed to eliminating gas flaring by 2025.
The country, he said, has "actually reduced gas flaring significantly to a
very minimal level of eight per cent. If you all recall, last year the
ministry of petroleum started what we call the National Gas Expansion
Programme and we declared 2020 as the year of gas.
"At the beginning of this year, we declared 2021, the beginning of the gas
decade. We believe that with all the programmes we have in place, we are on
course to achieve complete elimination of gas flaring by 2025."
Meanwhile, as a signatory to the World Bank's Global Gas Flare Reduction
Partnership, Nigeria also has the mandate to extinguish all flares by 2030.
Alternative regulation
In 2018, the country adopted the Flare Gas (Prevention of Waste and
Pollution) Regulation, which on one hand prohibits gas flaring, and on the
other allows it but with a caveat.
To flare gas, oil companies would need a permit to be obtained from the
president. Companies producing more than 10,000 bpd pay a fine of $2 per
1000 standard scf of gas flared. Companies producing less than 10,000 bpd
pays a fine of $0.5 per 1000 scf of gas flared. This was intended to
discourage the companies from flaring gas.
However, rights groups believe that the International Oil Companies (IOCs)
are comfortable paying the "meagre fines" imposed on them.
However, Chevron, Shell and Eni told Reuters last year that they have cut
flaring by some 90 per cent.
A flagship report by the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force in 2012 found
that the companies often do not pay the fines. Rather, the report noted,
they pay the old penalty of N10 per 1000 scf flared, and even at that,
authorities lack the bite to accurately track what each operator should pay.
Bans on gas flaring have proved to be ineffective, and experts have said the
only ban that can prove effective is to shut flaring fields and cut off the
income they provide.
But, the government needs that revenue, so flaring will most likely continue
unless there is a viable outlet for the associated gas.
Efforts towards gasification
Since it was launched in 2016, the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation
Programme, a gas-to-power initiative of the federal government which has
identified over 170 flare sites that collectively flare 330 billion scf
annually, has not achieved most of its mandate.
Optimal performance would mean an investment of $3.5 billion that could
generate 2.5 gw of power, create 300,000 jobs, provide clean energy to 6
million households and 450,000 mt of liquefied petroleum gas to over 4
million households, and reduce annual CO2 emissions by 20 million tons.
Experts say these huge potentials continue to elude Nigeria due to cheap
charges imposed on oil companies, over-dependence on crude oil, insufficient
gas infrastructure and high cost of processing and transporting gas from
fields.
The Buhari-administration has expressed readiness to change this through the
National Gas Expansion Programme which seeks to deepen domestic usage of
natural gas through conversion of fuel-powered cars and generators from
petrol to gas.
Mr Sylva said in December that the programme is aimed at making gas a
cheaper alternative to petrol for powering automobiles, one that the country
would need to tap into its gas reserves to achieve this.
Whether this will be different from previous moves is left to be
seen.-Premium Times.
Nigeria: Senate Decries Foreign Dominance in Nigeria's Diving Sector
Mr Folarin said the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act
2010, provided that 70 per cent of divers in offshore energy projects must
be Nigerians.
The Senate on Thursday decried the dominance of foreign operators in the
employment of personnel in the nation's diving sector.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, Teslim Folarin, made the
remark at an investigative hearing on a motion to ensure strict compliance
with statutory regulations and provisions of the Nigerian Diving Sector.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting, which was at the
instance of the committee, was designed to investigate claims of
contravention of relevant statutory provisions in the area of diving in the
oil and gas sector.
Mr Folarin said the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act
2010, provided that 70 per cent of divers in offshore energy projects must
be Nigerians.
According to him, the sponsor of the motion indicated that the act on local
content has not been complied with in the diving sector.
According to him, Section 28 sub-section (1) provides that Nigerians should
be accorded first consideration for employment and training in projects to
be executed by the operator in the oil and gas industry.
He, however, said foreign dominance had been alleged to have deprived
indigenous divers their rightful place in line with the act.
This, he said, was unacceptable, particularly at a time when unemployment
was high.
This, he further said, resulted in the invitation of some of the key
operators in the oil and gas sector to give their perspectives on the issue.
He said it was important for a proper regulatory mechanism to be put in
place to enable the diving sector thrive and benefit Nigerians more.
Mr Folarin said the hearing provided the needed platform for relevant
stakeholders to brainstorm on how best to address challenges inherent in the
sector and make appropriate legislative recommendations to revamp the diving
sector.
He assured stakeholders that their views would be looked into
dispassionately in the interest of Nigeria.
Mr Folarin said he was delighted that the Minister of State for Labour and
Employment, Festus Keyamo, had inaugurated the board in line with the diving
Act Work Regulation 2018.
"This is a clear demonstration that the minister is not oblivious of the
fact that the inauguration is necessary for development of this sector," he
said.
He, however, said it was important the minister briefed the committee on
what the board had done since inauguration, along with plans to fulfil its
statutory role.
Responding, Keyamo said it was discovered that there had been some lacuna in
the regulatory activities of the diving sector.
He said the ministry inaugurated the board for regulation of the sector,
which had the Permanent Secretary as the leader of the board.
According to him, members of the board comprised representatives of the
Nigerian Navy, NIMASA, among other stakeholder associations operating in the
sector.
He said the ministry through the board has designed a work plan for
regulation of the sector, assuring that the ministry would work with
agencies of government responsible to drive adherence to local content,
particularly on employment and safety measures in the sector.
Shedding more information on the board, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry,
Yerim Tarfa, said the board met three times to produce a work plan and
budget line for regulation of the sector.
He decried the absence of a working budget to finance the activities of the
board.
He said the ministry was looking at the possibility of using part of its
overhead cost to finance the activities of the board.-Premium Times.
Kenya: Operations Test at New Lamu Port Starts Next Month
Officials will start testing operations of the new Lamu port at the end of
next month ahead of the June 15 commissioning.
The first batch of equipment including low load trailers, extension cargo
handlers and trailers to be used at the multibillion-shilling facility
arrived at the port on Wednesday.
The second batch including rubber tyred gantries, forklift and utility vans
are expected by mid-next month.
Lamu Port general manager Abdullahi Samatar said testing of the equipment
will begin on May 20 before the first vessel from Maersk makes a maiden call
to the facility.
"We have complied with all port requirements and have temporary
International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code to use in our
berth number one," said Mr Samatar.
The viability of the port, which has seen the first three berths completed
at Sh5.1 billion ($48 million) has been put into question over low demand as
it was expected to attract transshipment business, mainly from Ethiopia and
South Sudan.
The port is a key part of the wider Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport
Corridor, which is being implemented at a total cost of Sh2.5 trillion ($24
billion).
Mr Samatar sought to allay fears the port could become a white elephant
project, saying a number of shipping lines have visited the port and were
willing to use the facility
Commissioning of the port has been delayed thrice over the past two years on
funding shortages and operationalisation of all three berths is likely to be
pushed to end of the year as authorities seek at least Sh9.5 billion for the
purchase of basic equipment to run the berths.
To make berth 2 and 3 operational, there is a need for the full
establishment of the port structure and acquisition of new equipment.
Due to constrained budget, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is transferring some
equipment and staff from Port of Mombasa to Lamu.
According to an official document from KPA, 263 staff will be deployed to
run the facility, the majority of them from Mombasa.-East African.
Kenya Railways to Refurbish 31 Locomotives
Nairobi — Kenya Railways is refurbishing 31 locomotives to increase capacity
in preparation for operations along the Longonot - Malaba Metre Gauge
Railway (MGR) section and the Nakuru-Kisumu MGR branch line which are
currently under rehabilitation.
Among the 31 locomotives, 9 are being rehabilitated and 22 others are
undergoing an overhaul under the partnership between Kenya Railways and
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
Speaking during a tour to inspect the progress of the locomotive
refurbishing at the Nairobi Central Workshops, Industrial & Commercial
Development
Corporation (ICDC) Chairman John Ngumi, who is in charge of the Kenya
Transport and Logistics Network (KTLN) affirmed the Government's commitment
to optimizing cargo movement through efficient railway network.
This is in line with the ICDC's mandate of overseeing the implementation of
the KTLN Framework Agreement jointly signed last year by Kenya Railways
Corporation (KRC), Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), and Kenya Pipeline Company
(KPC) Limited, to ensure the Networks objectives are achieved.
"I'm impressed with the progress of the refurbishment of these locomotives
which would have otherwise been decommissioned. Once complete, the
additional locomotives and with the rehabilitation of the 465Km Longonot -
Malaba MGR Line and the 216.7km long Nakuru - Kisumu MGR Branch Line, we
will have reached an important milestone in our rail infrastructure
development that will now see efficient and timely movement of goods
connecting the Port of Mombasa to the Industrial parks in Naivasha and
beyond to other economic hubs across the country," he said.
The rehabilitation of Longonot - Malaba MGR section and Nakuru-Kisumu MGR
branch line that are 25.1% and 60% complete respectively, is viewed as
critical to expanding trade across the East African region and is estimated
to significantly reduce transport and logistics costs.
The new 23.5km MGR link between Naivasha ICD and Longonot MGR Station that
commenced in October 2020 is also 52.5% complete and is expected to be fully
operational in September 2021 enabling effective utilization of the Naivasha
ICD and improve freight transportation to Western Kenya and neighboring East
African countries.
"Indeed, we project to transport 2.45 million and 8.5million tons of cargo
by 2022 via MGR and SGR respectively. "Ngumi added. The Kenya Railways
Chairman, Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Pastor Awitta added the Nairobi Central Workshop
which is also undergoing a facelift, is very instrumental in production of
spare parts for machinery and infrastructure for the three KTLN entities;
Kenya Railways, Kenya Ports Authority and Kenya Pipeline. This will in turn
save the entities costs and time incurred during acquisition from external
sources.
Currently, the workshop undertakes manufacturing, rehabilitation and
maintenance of locomotives, wagons and passenger coaches.- Capital FM.
Malawi: Multichoice Malawi Introduces New Local Channel Mwabi TV - to Be
Showcasing Local Programs
MultiChoice Malawi has unveiled an exciting content for the year, a new
local channel named Mwabi TV -- which is set to showcase local programs such
as 'Pamphambano', 'Misika pa Malawi', 'Phindu Point' just to mention a few.
This was disclosed on Wednesday when MultiChoice Malawi hosted media to a
thrilling virtual Showcase, giving an exclusive look at the exciting content
hitting Malawian viewers' screens in the near future on DStv and GOtv.
"As Africa's number one storyteller, we continue to bring more content to
our customers that entertains and resonates with them and will continue to
provide our customers with choice in all aspects of our services," said Gus
Banda, MultiChoice Malawi Managing Director.
"There is no denying that over the recent years, the significance of
content, particularly television content has reached immeasurable heights.
"Throughout the years, and 2021 has been no different, MultiChoice Malawi
has cemented its position as trailblazers in the delivery of premium content
at our Annual Content Showcase."
New channels and Returning Series
Speaking on MultiChoice Group's hyper-local strategy in obtaining countless
hours of African content, CEO of General Entertainment and Connected Video,
Yolisa Phahle, said: "It is because of our customers that we can continue to
focus our energy on growing the African film industry and bringing content
which is authentically yours.
"Relevant, local and above all, entertaining and informative," Phahle said.
"Last month we launched the new OneZed channel allowing customers an
opportunity to experience great and authentic African content.
"The channel hosts shows such as Zuba -- which follows a young village quest
to become a fashion designer and the challenges she must face to achieve
this dream, Date My Family Zambia, Zatu and Mfuti."
She added that the recently launched Pan-African lifestyle channel, HONEY,
will keep viewers locked to their TVs and entertained with exclusive African
content line up which covers lifestyle, food and cooking, relationships, and
weddings along with reality shows from various territories throughout the
continent.
On the international front, Phahle said viewers will continue to be spoiled
for choice as they can expect more blockbuster hits as well as riveting
series returns.
"Highly acclaimed movies such as 'The Flight Attendant' featuring Kaley
Cuoco, 'Birds of Prey' and titles skipping the theatres and making their way
straight to you can be expected in the upcoming months as international
titles continue to keep viewers glued to their screens and devices.
"On the series side, Issa Rae and the rest of her girlfriends return for the
final season of Insecure on 1Magic, whilst Queen Latifah reigns supreme on
'The Equalizer' also on 1Magic.
"No matter what kind of content you fancy, DStv has got you this season!"
she said.
Innovating with times
As a business that puts the customer's need at the core of every decision,
MultiChoice says it is constantly embarking on various initiatives to
improve overall customer experience, through innovations that are aimed at
increasing and optimising touchpoints across the customer lifecycle.
"Last year we launched MyDStv and MyGOtv apps which enable customers to
manage their accounts, view current balance, payment history, and change
packages.
"Customers are also able to update their contact details and fix error codes
in the comfort of their homes. With the current challenges the world is
facing, there has been an increase in the number of people spending more
time at home."
The DStv app ensures viewers the peace in homes and solves their TV sharing
problems. With the app one can watch TV from any smart device including
phones, tablets or laptops.
"Our catch-up on demand on DStv will keep your weekend interesting as you
watch back-to-back episodes of your favourite shows."
Igniting the African Film industry
"MultiChoice continues making great strides to grow the African film
industry and particularly the Malawian film industry," continues Gus Banda.
"Through our flagship Corporate Social Value initiative, the MultiChoice
Talent Factory, we continue to train more young Malawians in film.
"During the recently held second MTF graduation, two Malawian students,
Chisomo Livason and Mphatso, graduated from the Academy after attending an
18-month intensive course in both theory and hands-on experience in
cinematography, editing, audio production and storytelling.
"The otherwise 12 months course was extended to 18 months due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. This additional time translated to the students
graduating with not one but two qualifications, making them even more
sought-after as they re-enter the local film and TV sector as highly
qualified industry professionals."
Everyday Value
The CEO adds that their mission is to deliver value to customers by making
great entertainment more accessible remains a priority for them.
"Despite the many challenges we have faced, we will continue to find and
develop the right mix of content and deliver it to Malawians across the
country -- anytime, anywhere.
"Whether it is local telenovelas, the excitement of world class sport or the
latest global blockbusters," he said.- Nyasa Times.
Invest Wisely!
Bulls n Bears
Cellphone: <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674
Alt. Email: <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw
Website: <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com> www.bullszimbabwe.com
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Skype: Bulls.Bears
INVESTORS DIARY 2021
Company
Event
Venue
Date & Time
BAT
AGM
Cresta Lodge, Msasa
30/04/21 10am
Workers Day
01/05/21
FCB
AGM
virtual
06/05/21 : 3pm
NMB
AGM
virtual
1205/21 : 3:30pm
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.
(c) 2021 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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