Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 08 August 2021

[Bulls n Bears]

 <https://bullszimbabwe.com/> 

 


 

 <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com> Bullszimbabwe.com         <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw?subject=View%20and%20Comments> Views & Comments        <https://bullszimbabwe.com/category/blogs/bullish-thoughts/> Bullish Thoughts        <http://www.twitter.com/BullsBears2010> Twitter         <https://www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe> Facebook           <http://www.linkedin.com/pub/bulls-n-bears-zimbabwe/57/577/72> LinkedIn          <https://chat.whatsapp.com/CF6wllAfScU9Wr6dXxoQnO> WhatsApp         <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw?subject=Unsubscribe> Unsubscribe

 


 

 


Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 08 August 2021

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


ü  Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway recovers from coronavirus slowdown

ü  Alibaba launches investigation, suspends several staff

ü  ECB must tighten policy if needed to counter inflation, Weidmann says

ü  Saudi Aramco Q2 profit soars on higher prices, demand recovery

ü  Amazon orders all U.S. employees to mask up at work

ü  Hedge fund Odey sells stake in Ryanair, IAG -Mail on Sunday

ü  New Zealand grants residency to Google's co-founder Page

ü  Chinese regulators meet with delivery firms, call for stronger labour rights

ü  U.S. markets regulator approves Nasdaq proposal to require corporate board diversity

ü  U.S. labor market powers ahead with strong job gains, lower unemployment rate

ü  Russia hands U.S. investor Calvey 5.5-year suspended sentence

ü  Binance U.S. CEO Brooks resigns just three months into job

ü  Malawi: Survey Says Malawi Slipping On Poverty, Hunger, Unemployment, Other Indicators

ü  Nigeria: Farmers Trained On Bee Colony Management, Pollination Services

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway recovers from coronavirus slowdown

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) on Saturday said many of its businesses are enjoying strong recoveries from the early depths of the coronavirus pandemic, fueling rebounds in profits and revenue.

 

The company Buffett has run since 1965 also signaled the billionaire's confidence in its future by repurchasing $6 billion of its own shares in the second quarter, even as its stock price regularly set new highs.

 

Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire's manufacturing, service and retailing businesses suffered last year as economic activity plunged, job losses soared and shoppers stayed home.

 

But now, Berkshire said its BNSF railroad, namesake auto dealership and housing units are among many businesses seeing "significant" recoveries despite supply chain disruptions and higher costs, with earnings and revenue in some instances topping pre-pandemic levels.

 

Another sign of improvement was Berkshire's decision not to repeat a caution in its previous quarterly results that other operating units still faced adverse effects from the pandemic.

 

Second-quarter operating profit rose 21% to $6.69 billion, or about $4,424 per Class A share, from $5.51 billion, or about $3,463 per share, a year earlier.

 

Net income rose 7% to $28.1 billion, or $18,488 per Class A share, bolstered by unrealized gains in Berkshire's $192 billion of investments in Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and American Express Corp (AXP.N).

 

Revenue jumped 22% to $69.1 billion. Berkshire also owns such businesses as the Geico auto insurer and See's Candies.

 

Results were "pretty strong, reflecting broad economic strength," said Jim Shanahan, an Edward Jones analyst. He rates Berkshire "buy" and raised his earnings forecast through 2022.

 

Many U.S. companies have improved results as the economy rebounds.

 

Goldman Sachs this month raised its 2021 earnings forecast for Standard & Poor's 500 (.SPX) companies, implying 45% annual growth.

 

The second quarter was also notable for Buffett's revealing that if he were to step down, Berkshire's next chief executive would be Greg Abel, a vice chairman overseeing Berkshire's non-insurance businesses. Buffett turns 91 on Aug. 30.

 

NET SELLER

 

Berkshire's buybacks, including at least $1.7 billion in July when its share count declined further, boosted total share repurchases to about $39 billion since the end of 2019.

 

Buffett has aggressively repurchased Berkshire shares as high stock market valuations and the growth of special purpose acquisition companies, which take private companies public, make buying whole companies appear too costly.

 

"It's a killer," Buffett said at Berkshire's annual meeting on May 1, referring to SPACs. read more

 

Valuations may have also played a role in Berkshire's selling $1.1 billion more stocks than it bought in the quarter.

 

The net selling is one reason Berkshire ended June with $144.1 billion of cash and equivalents, despite the buybacks.

 

Berkshire's share price is up 23.7% in 2021, topping the S&P 500's 18.1% gain, after trailing the index significantly in 2019 and 2020.

 

"It's very clear they're having difficulty deploying capital in public markets," Shanahan said. "Given the valuation of the stock, we should expect Berkshire's buybacks to be the preferred source of capital deployment."

 

BNSF's profit surged 34% to $1.52 billion, as retailers replenished inventories and demand swelled for building products, grain and coal.

 

First-half vehicle sales grew 30% at the Berkshire Hathaway Automotive dealerships.

 

Homebuying also rebounded, boosting quarterly reported profit 43% at Clayton Homes mobile homes and 129% at Berkshire's namesake real estate brokerage.

 

The brokerage is part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, where wind power tax credits helped increase profit 17%.

 

Some businesses fared less well.

 

Geico's pretax underwriting profit fell 70% as people drove, and crashed, more often. Rivals including Allstate Corp (ALL.N) and Progressive Corp (PGR.N) have also reported more accidents.

 

Berkshire also said revenue fell 9% at Precision Castparts, the aircraft and industrial parts maker it wrote down by $9.8 billion in 2020 as airlines slashed plane orders. It said a big rebound is not likely soon because customers have enough parts.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Alibaba launches investigation, suspends several staff

(Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) said on Sunday it has suspended several staff following an employee's allegations on the company's intranet that she was sexually assaulted by her boss and a client.

 

The woman's account, published via an eleven-page PDF that went on to circulate widely online, prompted a social media storm on China's Twitter-like microblogging website Weibo. Police in the city of Jinan said on Sunday morning that they were investigating the incident.

 

"Alibaba Group has a zero-tolerance policy against sexual misconduct, and ensuring a safe workplace for all our employees is Alibaba's top priority," a spokesperson said in a statement.

 

"We have suspended relevant parties suspected of violating our policies and values, and have established a special internal task force to investigate the issue and support the ongoing police investigation."

 

Late on Saturday, a female Alibaba staffer's account of an incident she said took place while on a business trip went viral on Chinese social media, with responses to her account figuring among the top-trending items on Weibo as of Sunday morning.

 

The woman, who did not reveal her identity, alleged that her boss coerced her into going on a business trip with him to meet one of her team's clients in the city of Jinan, about 900 kilometres (560 miles) from Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou.

 

According to the woman, on the evening of July 27, the client kissed her. After consuming alcohol, she woke up in a hotel room the following day with her clothes removed and no memory of what happened the evening before.

 

CCTV footage she obtained from the hotel showed that her boss entered the room four times over the course of the evening, she added.

 

Upon returning to Hangzhou, she said she reported the incident to human resources and upper management on Aug. 2, asking her boss be fired and for time off. While human resources initially agreed, ultimately they did not follow through, she said.

 

Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang responded to the uproar late on Saturday on the company's internal message board, according to a person who saw the post, though the company did not officially disclose the material posted on its intranet .

 

"It is not just Human Resources who should apologize. The related business department managers also hold responsibility and should apologize for their silence and failure to respond in a timely manner," Zhang wrote.

 

"Starting from me, starting from management, starting from human resources, everyone at Alibaba must empathize, reflect, and take action."

 

Alibaba announced on its intranet that the woman's supervisor, her contact at human resources, and direct management of those individuals had been placed on suspension, according to the person who saw the posts.

 

Last month another sex scandal rocked China when Chinese-Canadian pop singer Kris Wu was publicly accused by an 18-year-old Chinese student of inducing her and other girls, some of them under the age of 18, to have intercourse with him.

 

The incident revived discussions of the #MeToo movement in China, and police in Beijing subsequently arrested Wu, who has denied the allegations. read more

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

ECB must tighten policy if needed to counter inflation, Weidmann says

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank must tighten monetary policy if it needs to counter inflationary pressures and cannot be put off from doing so by the financing costs of euro zone states, ECB policymaker Jens Weidmann told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

 

Euro zone countries have ramped up their borrowing to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, potentially leaving them exposed to increased debt servicing costs if the central bank tightens policy to counter upward pressure on prices.

 

"The ECB is not there to take care of the solvency protection of the states," said Weidmann, whose role as president of Germany's Bundesbank gives him a seat on the ECB's policymaking Governing Council.

 

Should the inflation outlook rise sustainably, the ECB would have to act in line with its price stability objective, Weidmann said. "We have to make it clear again and again that we will tighten monetary policy if the price outlook calls for it.

 

"We cannot then take into account the financing costs of the states," he added.

 

After its July 22 policy meeting, the ECB pledged to keep interest rates at record lows for even longer to boost sluggish inflation, and warned that the rapidly spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus posed a risk to the euro zone's recovery. read more

 

"I do not rule out higher inflation rates," the paper quoted Weidmann as saying. "In any case, I will insist on keeping a close eye on the risk of an excessively high inflation rate and not only on the risk of an excessively low inflation rate."

 

The euro zone economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, pulling out of a pandemic-induced recession, while the easing of coronavirus curbs also helped inflation shoot past the ECB's 2% target in July, hitting 2.2%. read more

 

When the ECB decides it is time to tighten policy, Weidmann expected the central bank would first end its PEPP emergency bond purchase programme before scaling back its APP purchase plan.

 

"The sequence would then be: first we end the PEPP, then the APP is scaled back, and then we can raise interest rates," he said.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Saudi Aramco Q2 profit soars on higher prices, demand recovery

(Reuters) - Saudi Arabian state oil producer Aramco (2222.SE) reported a near four-fold rise in second-quarter net profit on Sunday, beating expectations and boosted by higher oil prices and a recovery in oil demand.

 

Aramco said its results were supported by the global easing of COVID-19 restrictions, vaccination campaigns, stimulus measures and accelerating economic activity in key markets.

 

Aramco joins other oil majors who have reported strong results in recent weeks.

 

Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) last month said its net income for the second quarter came in at $4.69 billion, or $1.10 per share, compared with a loss of $1.08 billion, or 26 cents per share, a year ago. read more

 

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) reported its highest quarterly profit in more than two years, with adjusted earnings at $5.53 billion, compared with earnings of $638 million a year earlier. read more

 

Oil prices, boosted by output cuts made by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, closed at $70.70 a barrel on Friday and has gained over 35% since the start of the year.

 

"Our second quarter results reflect a strong rebound in worldwide energy demand and we are heading into the second half of 2021 more resilient and more flexible, as the global recovery

 

gains momentum," Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement.

 

Aramco's net profit rose to 95.47 billion riyals ($25.46 billion) for the quarter to June 30 from 24.62 billion riyals a year earlier.

 

Analysts had expected a net profit of $23.2 billion, according to the mean estimate from five analysts.

 

Aramco's CEO told an earnings call that global oil demand was expected to hit 99 million barrels a day by the end of the year and 100 million barrels next year,

 

Aramco is still working to increase its own capacity to 13 million barrels day, Nasser said, reiterating a plan announced last year.

 

MAINTAINS DIVIDEND

 

It declared a dividend of $18.8 billion in the second quarter, in line with its own target, which will be paid in the third quarter.

 

Credit Suisse analysts said late last month they expected Aramco to declare a special dividend because of higher oil prices that had helped boost its free cash flow.

 

Yousef Husseini, equity research analyst at EFG Hermes, said Aramco may be keeping the extra cash for taking part in the new state-backed Shareek (Partner) initiative, to partner with private sector investments.

 

"I think the reason they maintained [the dividend] and our rationale was that they are retaining money to invest in future projects and particularly the "Shareek" programme," he said.

 

Aramco's capital expenditure was $7.5 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 20% from a year earlier.

 

A consortium including Washington DC-based EIG Global Energy Partners in June closed a deal to buy 49% of Aramco's pipelines business for $12.4 billion. read more

 

($1 = 3.7501 riyals)

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

Amazon orders all U.S. employees to mask up at work

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has ordered all U.S. employees to wear a mask at work regardless of their vaccination status, as the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19 sweeps the country.

 

Companies across the United States have tightened their defenses against the virus, after the Delta variant forced the U.S. public health agency to reverse course and insist on even fully vaccinated individuals wearing masks.

 

"We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.

 

Last month, big techs including Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google and Facebook Inc (FB.O) asked U.S. employees to get vaccinated to step into offices, while Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) said it was shutting its reopened offices in the country. read more

 

Amazon also extended its work-from-home dates for U.S. employees till Jan. 3. read more

 

Earlier this week, coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 200 million while U.S. cases stood at 35.62 million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally.

 

Bloomberg News first reported Amazon's change in masking policy on Friday.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Hedge fund Odey sells stake in Ryanair, IAG -Mail on Sunday

(Reuters) - UK-based hedge fund Odey Asset Management has sold its stakes in airline firms Ryanair Holdings Plc (RYA.I) and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (ICAG.L), the Mail on Sunday reported.

 

Hedge fund manager James Hanbury sold his holding in British Airways-owner IAG, Mail on Sunday reported, citing a presentation seen by the newspaper.

 

The recent development comes after the hedge fund took a short position for cinema chain AMC Entertainment (AMC.N), according to a report in the Financial Times.

 

Airlines, cinemas and other hospitality chains have been particularly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the fast-spreading Delta variant further disrupting the sector.

 

Britain has double vaccinated a higher proportion of its population against COVID-19 than most other countries, but the government has prevented travel to many destinations by imposing rules that the travel industry says are hobbling the economy.

 

Odey, IAG and Ryanair were not immediately available to Reuters request for comment late Saturday.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

New Zealand grants residency to Google's co-founder Page

(Reuters) - Larry Page, Google's (GOOGL.O) co-founder and one of the world's richest men, has become a New Zealand resident, with immigration services saying he had applied under a category for wealthy investors.

 

"Larry Page submitted an application for residence under the Investor Plus Category on 3 November 2020," Immigration New Zealand said in an e-mailed statement on Saturday.

 

"As he was offshore at the time his application was not able to be processed because of COVID-19 restrictions. Once Mr. Page entered New Zealand his application was able to be processed and it was approved on 4 February 2021."

 

The visa requires applicants to have NZ$10 million ($7 million) to invest in New Zealand over a three-year period, according to a statement on the immigration website. New Zealand closed its borders to visitors at the start of the pandemic, except for on-and-off travel bubble with Australia. The country allows only a limited number of returnees, requiring them to spend two weeks in a government-run quarantine facility.

 

Together with snap and strict lockdowns and high compliance with public health rules, the closed borders have helped keep COVID-19 out of the Pacific nation. There have been only 2,524 confirmed cases of the coronavirus so far.

 

When asked in the parliament earlier this week on what grounds Page was allowed entry into the country while the borders were closed, Health Minister Andrew Little said it followed a medical emergency application for Page's son to be evacuated from Fiji in early January.

 

"It met all the standard conditions of a medical emergency requiring a medical evacuation from the Islands, and every requirement and regulation that was in place in relation to medevacs and in relation to COVID-19 was complied with," Little said, according to a transcript on the parliament's website.

 

($1 = 1.4269 New Zealand dollars)

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Chinese regulators meet with delivery firms, call for stronger labour rights

(Reuters) - China's delivery platform companies including Meituan (3690.HK) and Alibaba's (9988.HK) Ele.me recently joined a meeting with government regulators on improving safety and labour rights for delivery workers.

 

Food delivery platforms, in the spotlight due to China's regulatory reforms, have attracted severe criticism on social media for their treatment of delivery workers, most of whom are not covered by basic social and medical insurance.

 

The meeting included officials from the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, according to a Saturday notice on WeChat by the Ministry of Emergency Management, which also attended.

 

Firms should strengthen safety and labour rights protections, and not set performance indicators which harm the health of workers, according to the meeting.

 

Alibaba Group, its supermarket operator Hema Xiansheng, Dada Nexus Ltd (DADA.O) and other firms also joined the meeting and reported on their efforts to improve safety and labour rights.

 

Investors believe a major shift is under way in China as the government aggressively pursues reform aimed at cutting cost-of-living pressures at the expense of businesses, roiling stock markets. read more

 

A set of reforms announced in July by China's market regulator pushed food delivery platforms in China to guarantee their workers with income above minimum pay, insurance and a relaxation in delivery deadlines. read more

 

Investors are worried about the rising cost of employing riders by the platforms, Reuters had previously reported.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

U.S. markets regulator approves Nasdaq proposal to require corporate board diversity

(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a proposal from stock exchange operator Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O) that requires its listed companies to have diverse boards, or explain why they do not.

 

The proposal requires that companies have two diverse directors, including one who identifies as female and another as an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+, or explain why they do not. Companies also have to publicly disclose the diversity of their boards.

 

"These rules will allow investors to gain a better understanding of Nasdaq-listed companies’ approach to board diversity," said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a prepared statement.

 

Nasdaq said it is looking "forward to working with our companies to implement this new listing rule and set a new standard for corporate governance.”

 

Women and minorities have been underrepresented in the top ranks of companies, leading to a recent reckoning on racial and gender diversity in Corporate America. According to data from Equilar, boards in the Russell 3000 are halfway to gender parity. In the Russell 1000, 18.4% of directors are under-represented minorities.

 

Investor efforts to scrutinize diversity on boards have also been stymied by a lack of disclosure, with many companies not detailing the gender and race or ethnicity of directors.

 

Republican lawmakers and some companies criticized Nasdaq's proposal and urged the SEC to reject it, saying it would interfere with boards' responsibilities to shareholders and could impose new costs on companies.

 

Advocates for people with disabilities had pushed both Nasdaq and the SEC to include disability in the proposal, but were “rebuffed,” said Ted Kennedy Jr, chairman of the American Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD), in an interview with Reuters.

 

Nasdaq said in a comment letter that companies could consider and disclose additional diverse attributes such as disability or veteran status. But those attributes would not meet the requirements for a female or person who identifies as an under-represented minority or LGBTQ+.

 

California and Illinois have laws on board diversity for companies headquartered in their states.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

U.S. labor market powers ahead with strong job gains, lower unemployment rate

(Reuters) - U.S. employers hired the most workers in nearly a year in July and continued to raise wages, giving the economy a powerful boost as it started the second half of what many economists believe will be the best year for growth in almost four decades.

 

The Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday also showed the unemployment rate dropped to a 16-month low of 5.4% and more people waded back into the labor force. The report followed on the heels of news last week that the economy fully recovered in the second quarter the sharp loss in output suffered during the very brief pandemic recession.

 

"We are charting new economic expansion territory in the third quarter," said Brian Bethune, professor of practice at Boston College in Boston. "The overall momentum of the recovery continues to build."

 

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 943,000 jobs last month, the largest gain since August 2020, the survey of establishments showed. Data for May and June were revised to show 119,000 more jobs created than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls would increase by 870,000 jobs.

 

The economy has created 4.3 million jobs this year, leaving employment 5.7 million jobs below its peak in February 2020.

 

President Joe Biden cheered the strong employment report. "More than 4 million jobs created since we took office," Biden wrote on Twitter. "It's historic - and proof our economic plan is working."

 

Hiring is being fueled by pent-up demand for workers in the labor-intensive services sector. Nearly $6 trillion in pandemic relief money from the government and COVID-19 vaccinations are driving domestic demand.

 

But a resurgence in infections, driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, could discourage some unemployed people from returning to the labor force.

 

July's employment report could bring the Federal Reserve a step closer to announcing plans to start scaling back its monthly bond-buying program. The U.S. central bank last year slashed its benchmark overnight interest rate to near zero and is pumping money into the economy through the bond purchases.

 

"This is the last employment report Chair (Jerome) Powell sees before Jackson Hole, and we have to imagine that he lays the groundwork for a potential September tapering announcement," said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York. "We think the odds continue to rise that tapering begins before the end of 2021."

 

Stocks on Wall Street rose, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) and the S&P 500 (.SPX) index hitting record highs. The dollar (.DXY) jumped against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices fell. read more

 

BROAD EMPLOYMENT GAINS

 

Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector increased by 380,000 jobs, accounting for 40% of the job gains, with payrolls at restaurants and bars advancing by 253,000.

 

Government payrolls increased by a whopping 240,000 jobs as employment in local government education rose by 221,000. Education jobs were flattered by a seasonal quirk.

 

Hiring was also strong in the professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, and healthcare industries. Manufacturing payrolls increased by 27,000 jobs, while construction employment rebounded by 11,000 jobs. Retail trade and utilities were the only sectors to shed jobs.

 

Details of the smaller household survey from which the unemployment rate is derived were also upbeat. Household employment shot up by 1.043 million jobs, leading the unemployment rate to decline half a percentage point to its lowest level since March 2020.

 

The jobless rate, however, continued to be understated by people misclassifying themselves as being "employed but absent from work." Without this misclassification, the unemployment rate would have been 5.7% in July.

 

About 261,000 people entered the labor force, lifting the participation rate to 61.7% from 61.6% in June. The employment-to-population ratio, viewed as a measure of an economy's ability to create employment, rose to 58.4% from 58% in June.

 

Even more encouraging, the number of long-term unemployed dropped to 3.4 million from 4 million in the prior month. They accounted for 39.3% of the 8.7 million officially unemployed people, down from 42.1% in June. The duration of unemployment fell to 15.2 weeks from 19.8 weeks in June.

 

There was also an improvement in the number of people who have permanently lost their jobs. With economic growth this year expected to be around 7%, which would be the fastest since 1984, further recovery is expected.

 

Faced with a record 9.2 million job openings, employers continued to raise wages to attract workers. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4% last month, with sharp gains in the hospitality industry. That followed a similar rise in June and lifted the year-on-year increase in wages to 4.0% from 3.7%.

 

Lack of affordable child care and fears of contracting the coronavirus have been blamed for keeping workers, mostly women, at home. There also have been pandemic-related retirements as well as career changes. Republicans and business groups have blamed enhanced unemployment benefits, including a $300 weekly payment from the federal government, for the labor crunch.

 

Half of the nation's states led by Republican governors have ended these federal benefits before their Sept. 6 expiration. Economists are cautiously optimistic that the worker shortage will ease in the fall when schools reopen for in-person learning and sustain the strong pace of hiring.

 

"August should be another big month, and September as well, as there are still millions who need to find work quickly," said Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial in New York.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Russia hands U.S. investor Calvey 5.5-year suspended sentence

(Reuters) - A Russian court on Friday handed U.S. investor Michael Calvey a 5.5-year suspended sentence for embezzlement, a day after finding him guilty, in a case that has rattled Russia's business community.

 

Calvey, the founder of Russia-focused private equity group Baring Vostok, was detained along with other executives in early 2019 on charges of embezzlement linked to mid-sized lender Vostochny. He and the executives deny the charges.

 

"The court, unfortunately, didn't or couldn't understand substance of the case with no victim, no damage and no beneficiary," Calvey told reporters outside the court after the more than 12-hour-long sitting was over.

 

Calvey will not be allowed to change his permanent place of residence in the next five years without informing Russian prison authorities, the verdict said.

 

"Compared to most cases receiving a suspended sentence is already almost a victory but, on the other hand, it is simply outrageous to be convicted of a crime that never happened," Calvey said.

 

The court handed French national Philippe Delpal, a partner at the fund, a suspended sentence of 4.5 years.

 

"Our colleagues are innocent, and both the criminal case and the verdict handed down by the court are groundless", Baring Vostok said about the verdict in a statement.

 

The case prompted several prominent officials and businessmen to voice concerns about the way the state deals with commercial disputes and executives caught up in them.

 

Calvey last month told a court that an innocent verdict in his case would trigger billions of dollars in foreign investment and help create thousands of new jobs. read more

 

The state prosecutor asked for the six-year suspended sentence over a 2.5 billion rouble ($34.04 million) embezzlement charge.

 

Initially placed in pre-trial detention and then house arrest, Calvey and his colleagues saw their restrictions ease in November, a move hailed at the time by the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund as an important signal to all the investment community.

 

Sovcombank, Russia's third biggest private bank and among the country's top 10 by assets agreed to buy Vostochny Bank, the small lender at the heart of the dispute, in March, but did not disclose financial terms of the deal.

 

The corporate dispute between Vostochny's top shareholders - Baring Vostok and businessman Artem Avetisyan's Finvision - was settled in October.

 

Baring Vostok has invested more than $2.8 billion in projects in Russia since 1994, including in internet giant Yandex (YNDX.O), online bank Tinkoff (TCSq.L) and e-commerce firm Ozon (OZON.O), which enjoyed a successful Nasdaq debut late last year.

 

($1 = 73.4358 roubles)

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Binance U.S. CEO Brooks resigns just three months into job

(Reuters) - Brian Brooks, chief executive of the U.S. arm of global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, said on Friday he had resigned just three months aftertaking up the role.

 

The former U.S. banking regulator and crypto enthusiast is resigning at a time when regulators in Hong Kong, Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy and Thailand have cracked down on Binance due to worries over investor protection. Watchdogs globally also fret that the boom in cryptocurrencies is aiding money laundering and increasing systemic risks.

 

"Letting you all know that I have resigned as CEO of ⁦⁦@BinanceUS," Brooks wrote on Twitter. "Despite differences over strategic direction, I wish my former colleagues much success. Exciting new things to come!"

 

Headed by Canadian Changpeng Zhao, Binance offers a wide range of services globally, from crypto spot and derivatives trading to tokenised versions of stocks, as well as its own cryptocurrency, Binance Coin.

 

"Brian's work for Binance.US has been invaluable and we hope he will continue to be an integral part of the crypto industry’s growth, advocating for regulations that move our industry forward," Zhao Tweeted on Friday.

 

Brooks did not respond to requests for further comment. A spokesperson for Binance declined to comment.

 

Britain's financial watchdog has barred Binance from carrying out regulated activities in the country. Japan's regulator has said Binance was operating there illegally and Germany's watchdog has warned it risked fines for offering tokens connected to stocks.

 

In the United States, Binance is also being probed by the Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and tax authorities, Bloomberg News has reported.

 

Responding to regulatory pressure, Binance has curbed some services on cryptocurrency bets, highly leveraged positions and trading with tokens linked to shares, and has pledged to beef up its compliance staffing. read more

 

Brooks, who was acting U.S. Comptroller of the Currency from May 2020 to January 2021, joined Binance U.S. as chief executive officer at the beginning of May. Prior to joining the regulator, Brooks had been Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase Global. During his time as acting Comptroller, Brooks led efforts to provide regulatory clarity for stablecoins and digital asset custody.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

Nigeria: Concerns As Govt Injects N3.8 Trillion Into Moribund Refineries

At least N3.8 trillion has been put into the four petrochemical refineries in Nigeria, which have been moribund, even as concerns heighten over the country's continuous importation of refined petroleum products, despite investment in the refineries

 

According to records, about N1.47trn was spent by the federal government in maintaining, revamping and running its four moribund refineries between 2015 and 2020. In spite of this huge sum, the government has approved a fresh $5.74billion (about N2.35trn) for the rehabilitation of the Port-Harcourt (old and new), Warri and Kaduna refineries, and for taking some shares in the Dangote Refinery project.

However, these approvals to spend nearly twice of what had been spent on the refineries in the past five years on rehabilitation have not gone well with experts in the oil and gas industry as they question the refineries' viability and extent of the impact on ordinary Nigerians.

 

Some oil and gas experts have, however, hailed the move to repair the Port-Harcourt and other refineries, citing the expected cut in current import burden.

 

According to a petroleum industry commentator, Suraj Oyewale, government should not spend more money on the refineries; instead, the refineries should be sold off or concessioned.

 

Oyewale said, "It is clear that the government cannot manage these refineries. Yar'adua made a big mistake by reversing the sale of the refineries by Obasanjo in 2007.

 

"I don't mean to sound like a doomsday analyst, but I don't see anything coming out of this repair. There have been many turnaround maintenances carried out on these refineries in the past three decades, but it gets worse with every maintenance project."

Speaking emphatically about the waste of scarce resources at a time when Nigeria needs more foreign exchange, Oyewale said, "This is another money in the drain. Other than keeping the refinery workers employed and keeping some contractors busy, I don't see how this move contributes anything significant to the economy."

 

The oil industry expert called on the government to hands off direct investment in crude refining the same way it handed off oil products retailing by selling its shares in its old downstream companies (like Unipetrol, now being privately and effectively run as Oando; AP sold to Forte Oil and now Ardova Petroleum ownership; among others).

 

GMD of NNPC, Mele Kyari and Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva

 

That was before the government returned to fuel retailing through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) retail, he noted.

"I am not sure the Nigerian government can run a modern refining business. In fact, it is my view that the NNPC itself should be privatised, although the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) retains government ownership, only that it will now be a limited liability company, with the government as a shareholder," he added.

 

However, some other oil industry and economic experts have said the rehabilitation of four refineries in the country will bring about lower pump prices, creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, less drain on Nigeria's scarce resource and consequently increase its foreign reserve.

 

They believe that current rehabilitation moves, if properly done, would yield positive results and liberate Nigeria from the comity of importers.

 

An Abuja-based economic expert, Simon Samson Galadima, said if the refineries were sustainably fixed and properly managed, there would be a huge boon to government's current tight fiscal space and Nigerians generally.

 

"It could mean less reliance on foreign refined oil, hence less subjecting to the vicissitudes of international politics and economics, translating to probably lower pump prices, more direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians and ultimately less drain on scarce resources," he said.

 

Galadima also noted that the spending, if not managed, could be a drain pipe. "However, it has the possibility of being a huge drain pipe if not properly done," he added.

 

He also harped on concessioning the refineries, saying, "This would have been a better option than government's incompetent hands."

 

Other experts made a case for the refineries' rehabilitation.

 

Lekan Ojo, a policy analyst, said Nigeria refining its own crude would save it a lot of hassle. Ojo said refining crude oil here in Nigeria would help conserve scarce foreign exchange for the importation of other and more important things.

 

He, however, said government's management of any resource had always been catastrophic. "More so, the Nigerian government has even been beyond grossly incompetent in management of things. This can easily be considered as billions down the drain," he said.

 

But the African Refiner and Distributor Association (ARDA) disclosed that African refineries would need about $15.7bn (+/-50 per cent) to upgrade their facilities to produce cleaner fuels.

 

The executive secretary of the association, Anibor Kragha, stated that with the growing pressure against fossil fuels, African countries must deploy measures to secure the needed financing to develop and add value to their hydrocarbon resources as these actions are fundamental for the continent's industrial development and overall energy security.

 

How fresh N2.35trn approval for refineries came

 

Shortly after announcing the full deregulation of the downstream oil sub-sector last year, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the four moribund oil processing machines would be rehabilitated.

 

The Federal Executive Council, in one its meetings, approved $1.5bn for the rehabilitation of the Port-Harcourt refinery. That came after about N1.47trn had already been sunk into revamping all the refineries in the last five years.

 

The NNPC had in 2015 expended N82.82bn on the refineries, while in 2016, N78.95bn expenditure was recorded on them. In 2017, the corporation used N604.127bn in maintaining the refineries without any meaningful impact as they all remained comatose.

 

However, the amount expended on the refineries dropped to N426.66bn in 2018 and further dropped to N218.18bn in 2019, according to NNPC records.

 

The NNPC also declared that N64.534bn was spent on the three refining companies from January to June 2020. The three refining companies are Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), both having one refinery each; while Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) has two refineries, old and new.

 

Port Harcourt refinery

 

This spending was not inclusive of directors' remuneration, staff pension and other benefits.

 

Refineries declaring huge losses

 

Official figures compiled from NNPC's operations reports showed that Port-Harcourt refinery stopped producing crude in March 2019. Kaduna refinery, the worst performer, has not received or processed crude since 2017, while Warri refinery stopped in June 2019.

 

The report by NNPC further showed that the refineries lost N123.25bn between January and October 2019, while KRPC posted a loss of N49.3bn, PHRC and WRPC lost N36.7bn and N37.24bn, respectively.

 

With the money expended on the refineries in five years, and the sum of $1.5bn already earmarked for the ongoing rehabilitation in Port-Harcourt and yet to be awarded $1.48bn for Warri and Kaduna rehabilitation, as well as the $2.76bn for stake in Dangote Refinery, experts have concerns over the huge drain on the country's revenue to fix the refineries.

 

Why NNPC wants a stake in Dangote Refinery

 

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Chief Timipre Sylva announced the approval after the virtual FEC meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, saying the acquisition was in the sum of $2.76bn.

 

The announcement raised a lot of concerns, but the managing director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, explained that the national oil company was purchasing a stake in Dangote Refinery, saying it was for both energy and fiscal security of the country.

 

According to him, there is no resource-dependent country that would have such a gigantic project without having a stake in it.

 

The refinery is expected to begin production in 2022, with an installed 650,000 barrels per day capacity.

 

"We know that this business is viable, it will work and return dividends. It has a cash-flow that is sustainable because refinery business, in the short term, will continue to be sustainable.

 

"That's why banks have come forward to lend to us, so we can take equity in this.

 

"It is to expand our portfolio, and because we are the national oil company, we have the responsibility to guarantee energy security for our country. And there is no way you can do that except you have a seat on the boards of these institutions," he said.

 

Kyari said any firm going to construct a refinery in the excess of 50,000 barrels per day," the NNPC would talk to them, take equity in it, as long as we have the money to pay for it."

 

"For the Dangote Refinery, we are not taking government's money to buy it, which is the mistake people are making. We are borrowing on the back of the cash-flow of this business," he added.

 

Commenting on this process, an expert, Mr Simon Galadima, said the NNPC angling for 20 per cent of the Dangote Refinery may be a way to replicate the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) model, which has been praised as exemplary.

 

"It has the possibility of even being a better arrangement as our dependence on petroleum products is increasing daily.

 

An economist and former director-general of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Muda Yusuf, described the proposal by the NNPC to take a 20 per cent equity stake in the Dangote Refinery as a move in the right direction.

 

Yusuf said, "The reality is that the Dangote Refinery is a project of significant and strategic national importance, even though it is promoted by the private sector.

 

"Taking a stake in the project also makes a great deal of economic sense, especially given our heavy dependence on importation of petroleum products and the resultant pressure on our foreign reserves. "

 

Reacting to the development, Professor Chris Onalo, the registrar and chief executive officer of the Institute of Credit Administration, said the oil and gas sector remained the major source of revenue for the government, and required massive investment.

 

Onalo said the Dangote Group had taken the bull by the horns by making a huge investment needed to jumpstart the industry.

 

"The refinery is an expression of massive confidence in the oil and gas economy of this country.

 

"It shows that the sector can take Nigeria out of economic woes. I think it is a welcome development, and those of us who are in the public domain cannot wait too long to see that happening.

 

"So I will say kudos to the Dangote Group for its investment drive across the economy of this country," Onalo said.

 

Mr Wilson Opuwei, the chief executive officer of Dateline Energy Services Limited, had told the News Agency of Nigeria that the approval was a step in the right direction for the country.

 

"It makes sense for the NNPC to invest in ventures that will bring returns to the company.

 

"Every business needs good investments, and this is what the NNPC is doing with the Dangote Refinery," he said.-Daily Trust.

 

 

 

Malawi: Survey Says Malawi Slipping On Poverty, Hunger, Unemployment, Other Indicators

Malawi is doing worse on reducing poverty, hunger, and unemployment and other indicators, according to a recent Afrobarometer Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Scorecard for the country.

 

Afrobarometer SDG Scorecards for 31 countries are being released between May-August 2021. Afrobarometer's national partners in all regions of Africa conduct face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent's choice. In the recent survey in Malawi, the Centre for Social Research at the University of Malawi interviewed a nationally representative, random, stratified probability sample of 1,200 adult Malawians. A sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

 

The Afrobarometer SDG Scorecard, which provides citizens' assessments of Malawi's progress over a recent five-year period on important aspects of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, reflects partial progress in only two areas - access to medical care and infrastructure.

Trends are negative when it comes to gender equality in financial control and climate action, and there are mixed results on gender equality in technology use, access to clean water and sanitation, and trust in state institutions (police, judiciary, and Parliament). The country has made no progress on increasing access to education and electricity or on reducing ethnic inequalities and payment of bribes.

 

The newly developed Afrobarometer SDG Scorecards highlight citizens' experiences and evaluations of their country's performance on democracy and governance, poverty, health, education, energy supply, water and sanitation, inequality, gender equity, and other priorities reflected in 12 of the 17 SDGs.

 

"These citizen assessments can be compared to official UN tracking indicators. They present both summary assessments for each SDG - via blue, green, yellow, and red "stoplights" - as well as the data behind these assessments.

Afrobarometer, an independent Pan-African survey research network, released scorecards for Malawi and five other countries as part of a series of regional webinars focusing on progress toward the SDGs in Africa.

 

Abel Oyuke, Afrobarometer project manager for East Africa, says the Afrobarometer SDG Scorecards provide an additional perspective - one that is usually missing from other sources - that can be compared and contrasted with other indicators and thus enrich the discussion, help identify gaps, and support action to move forward in each country.

 

"Afrobarometer data relevant to the SDGs are especially valuable because of the frequency of collection (in survey rounds every two to three years) and the independence, quality, and reliability of the data.

 

"They can offer an independent check, from a grassroots perspective, on the data points reported by government statistics offices and other sources," he is quoted as saying in a press release issued last month, July.-Nyasa Times.



 

Nigeria: Farmers Trained On Bee Colony Management, Pollination Services

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), through the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA), has trained farmers on the management of bee colonies for pollination services, as well as the use of the pollination equipment.

 

The workshop, which drew 50 participants from Kaduna, Kano and Katsina states, took place in Katsina.

 

Speaking during the event, the director of the FDA, KarimaI Babangida, represented by Deputy Director, Horticulture, Mrs Omotosho Agbani, said the essence of the training was to raise the awareness of the farmers on the significance of bee pollination in crops yield.

 

"Bee pollination aids increase in yield per hectare of strategic cash crops by about 30 per cent annually or growing cycle; example, oil palm, 110 per cent, 225 per cent increase in millet, 60 per cent in soya beans, 100 per cent in citrus, 80 per cent in cocoa, 123 per cent in pepper, 80 per cent in cucumber etc, as noted by Bargong Farms and USAID market," she said.

According to her, bees are social insects that play vital roles in proving agricultural productivity, preserving biodiversity, as well as enhancing sustainable livelihoods.

 

Earlier, the Katsina State coordinator of the FMARD, Sule Muhammad Salisu, said the ministry had trained farmers on value chain of different crops, bringing them up to speed in modern farming.

 

"Apart from training, we have also issued improved seeds to the farmers to increase their yields. That is why we are coming up with this training for them to maximise their profits and enhance food security in the country," he said.

 

He called on the participants to put the knowledge acquired into practice and share with their colleagues in all the states.

 

Speaking on behalf of the beekeepers, Malam Salisu Sule called on governments and other donor agencies to continue to assist farmers with new technology and in marketing the product for the economic development.

 

Some equipment, including beehive, hive stand, smoker, brush, knife, queen extruder, as well as personal protective gears, were given at subsidised prices to the farmers.-Daily Trust.

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


 

 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2021

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


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

 


 

 

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20210808/d17cc704/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 9458 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20210808/d17cc704/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 39375 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20210808/d17cc704/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 22328 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20210808/d17cc704/attachment-0003.jpg>