Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 25 February 2021

[Bulls n Bears]

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ü  Implats poised to approve R10bn, 360,000 oz PGM expansions in SA, Zimbabwe

ü  Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

ü  GameStop surges again as Reddit crashes temporarily

ü  Chinese £3,200 budget electric car takes on Tesla

ü  Facebook and Google 'too powerful' says watchdog boss

ü  CEO Secrets: 'My billion pound company has no HR department'

ü  Zimbabwe to buy 1.2 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses from China

ü  New Chinese study finds milder variants of African swine fever virus

ü  StanChart restores dividend, reaffirms targets as COVID-19 halves profit

ü  Shares and commodities keep climbing, so do bond yields

ü  Virtual work parties: the good, the bad and the plain peculiar

ü  Zambia aims for copper output of 900,000 tons in 2021 after “a historical high” in 2020

 

	

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Implats poised to approve R10bn, 360,000 oz PGM expansions in SA, Zimbabwe

 

IMPALA Platinum (Implats) is assessing two growth projects that will add 262,000 oz to its annual production – just over 14% of total output – at a potential cost of R10bn.

 

Nico Muller, CEO of Implats, said in a press call today following the publication of the firm’s interim results, that 180,000 oz in additional (growth) ounces would be produced from each of its Two Rivers joint venture and its 87%-owned Zimplats mine at a capital cost of R10bn over a four to five year period.

 

“This subject to formal approval,” said Muller, who added a decision was imminent. Of the two projects, some R5.7 would be spent on the Two Rivers project in which Implats has an 46% stake. African Rainbow Minerals is the other joint venture partner in Two Rivers.

 

On an attributable basis, therefore, Implats would be in for R2.6bn in capex and take 82,800 oz/year in production (but process all of its production at its processing facilities – Impala Refining Services. On Zimplats, Implats is assessing a capital outlay of $290m, equal to R4.43bn.

 

“These are low cost, shallow ounces which is exactly what we are looking at as a company,” said Muller, who added – however – that the group had also strategised for growth through tier one to tier three opportunities.

 

Whilst the potential new projects were tier one opportunities, Implats was also looking at potential merger and acquisition activity including possible tier three opportunities which would be in battery minerals.

 

“Impala is interested in investing in its future. We are interested in investing in other parts of the value chain or beyond PGM production in battery metals or associated metals. We would not exclude the possibility of external growth but we won’t grow for the sake of it.”

 

Asked for details on potential battery metals investment, Muller responded: “Tier three assets may or may not be battery metals.

 

“I must stress that we are not in a position to make an announcement on this in either the six or 12 months. But we have not excluded it from our universe”.

 

Johan Theron, spokesman for Implats, added that the company already produced nickel, copper and cobalt as a by-product of its platinum, palladium and rhodium production so a move into battery metals would not be a departure.

 

Taking on meaningful diversification is, however, potentially big news for Implats especially as offshore growth – where much of the battery metals deposits are located – involves high outlay. Sibanye-Stillwater announced earlier this week that it had taken a 30% stake in a Finland lithium project that is hoping to build a R6bn mine.

 

 

 

Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

 

Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon has rejected remote working as a “new normal” and has labelled it an “aberration” instead.

 

Mr Solomon said the investment bank had operated throughout 2020 with “less than 10% of our people” in the office.

 

His eagerness for workers to return to the office is at odds with many other firms, who have suggested that working from home could become permanent.

 

Mr Solomon suggested that it does not suit the work culture at Goldman Sachs.

 

“I do think for a business like ours, which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us. And it’s not a new normal. It’s an aberration that we’re going to correct as soon as possible,” he told a conference on Wednesday.

 

In particular he was worried about an incoming “class” of about 3,000 new recruits, who wouldn’t get the “direct mentorship” they need.

 

“I am very focused on the fact that I don’t want another class of young people arriving at Goldman Sachs in the summer remotely,” he said.

 

Although he thought the Covid-19 pandemic had helped push the adoption of digital technologies and created ways for the investment bank to run more efficiently, Mr Solomon thought it would not lead to huge changes over the longer term.

 

“I don’t think as we get out of the pandemic the overall operating mode of the way a business like ours operates will be vastly different,” he said.

 

Within the finance sector, it appears Mr Solomon is not alone.

 

In September, JP Morgan’s chief executive Jamie Dimon said that working from home has had a negative effect on productivity.

 

Barclays boss Jes Staley also expressed hope recently that the vaccine would allow employees to return to the office.

 

Permanent work from home?

Tech companies, by contrast, appear to be more enthusiastic about work from home arrangements.

 

Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter have all said staff would have the option to work from home permanently.

 

Facebook has also suggested that up to half of its staff could work remotely within five to ten years.

 

The social media giant has also suggested remote workers might receive lower pay, as their expenses would be less away from San Francisco and Silicon Valley.-BBC

 

 

 

GameStop surges again as Reddit crashes temporarily

 

Shares in GameStop surged on Wednesday in what could mark a return to frenzied trading that rocked markets last month.

 

Trading in the US games firm was halted twice after shares more than doubled suddenly on Wednesday afternoon.

 

GameStop stock climbed by 104% until trading was halted for a second time - moments before markets closed.

 

The rapid rise came as Reddit, the online home of activist investors that led the GameStop movement in January, went down temporarily.

 

The stock gained nearly 90% in after-hours trading.

 

It came one day after the firm announced its chief financial officer Jim Bell would resign next month to help "accelerate GameStop's transformation".

 

Some investors have talked publicly and posted on social media site Reddit about not selling their shares in GameStop during last month's volatile trading because of what they see as its long-term potential.

 

On Wednesday, Reddit was down for many users. The company did not say what caused the outage but said it had identified the issue, fixed it and that "systems are beginning to recover."

 

It is the latest twist in a battle that has pitted amateur investors against Wall Street giants.

 

Major hedge funds had bet billions of dollars that GameStop's shares would fall.

 

But they have faced major losses after amateurs, swapping tips on social media sites like Reddit, drove up the share price by more than 700% in one week.

 

The retail trading frenzy drew concern from regulators and has even led to a Congressional hearing in the US.

 

Keith Gill, who became a key player in the trading and is known as 'Roaring Kitty' on YouTube, has also been hit with a class action lawsuit. He allegedly duped retail investors into buying inflated stocks while hiding his sophisticated financial background.

 

Mr Gill has downplayed his impact and rebutted claims he violated any laws.

 

"The idea that I used social media to promote GameStop stock to unwitting investors is preposterous," Mr Gill said in the prepared testimony.

 

"I was abundantly clear that my channel was for educational purposes only, and that my aggressive style of investing was unlikely to be suitable for most folks checking out the channel."

 

The GameStop saga was hailed as a victory of the little guys against big Wall Street hedge funds that were betting against video games retailer GameStop and other struggling businesses.

 

But it is unclear what role hedge funds had in the rally, as some are reported to have made millions from the GameStop share rally that was inspired by Reddit users.-BBC

 

 

 

Chinese £3,200 budget electric car takes on Tesla

 

A budget electric vehicle (EV) selling in China for $4,500 (£3,200) is now outselling Tesla's more upmarket cars.

 

The compact car is proving a big hit for state-owned SAIC Motor, China's top automaker.

 

The Hong Guang Mini EV is being built as part of a joint venture with US car giant General Motors (GM).

 

Last month sales of the budget electric car in China were around double those of Tesla, which was questioned this month over safety issues there.

 

While the $4,500 Hong Guang Mini is the most popular model, there is an upgraded one with air conditioning for just over $5,000. The cars are being marketed as "the people's commuting tool".

 

The joint venture partnership, SAIC-GM-Wuling, is known as Wuling locally.

 

Car experts have said that while it clearly lags well behind Tesla when it comes to its battery, range and performance, its convenience and low price have made it one of China's bestselling "new-energy" vehicles.

 

Having launched last year, the basic model has a top speed of 100km/h (62mph) and can accommodate four people at a squeeze.

 

"China's government is serious about pollution reduction and becoming the global lead in adopting and promoting innovation of electric vehicles," Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group, told the BBC.

 

"We remain very bullish on the adoption of budget EVs like the Hong Guang Mini to higher end ones like NIO and Tesla."

 

To promote EVs, the Chinese government offers license plates for free and they are guaranteed. In many cities, it can take months, if not years, to get a license plate for a petrol engine through various auction systems.

 

The Hong Guang Mini EV is being built under a joint venture known as Wuling with US car giant General Motors (GM).

 

The Hong Guang Mini EV saw sales of 112,000 for the second half of 2020, ranking second behind Tesla's Model 3 which are made in its Shanghai factory.

 

Earlier this month five Chinese regulators summoned Tesla over quality and safety issues earlier this month at its plant. China is Tesla's largest market after the US.

 

For January, Hong Guang Mini sales outstripped Tesla almost two-to-one. It is now believed to be the second-best-selling electric model worldwide behind the Model 3.

 

The tiny, all-electric EV sold 25,778 models in China in January according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). This compares to 13,843 for the Tesla Model 3.

 

But high-end electric vehicles have still been performing well with Tesla tripling its sales volume in China last year.

 

The Model 3 sells for about $39,000 (£27,000) in China factoring in price cuts due to its local production.

 

The Hong Guang Mini EV could make an appearance outside China, as Wuling has said it plans to export the EV overseas.

 

"China has so many makers of small and cheap electric vehicles, however most of them are low-quality and low-speed products that do not appeal to a wide market, said Sam Fiorani, at Auto forecast Solutions.

 

"The Hong Guang Mini is the first time a major company has stepped up with a simple EV that targets buyers looking for a real car."

 

Reports have linked Wuling to a Latvian automaker who could sell a version of the car in Europe. However, the price is likely to be twice as high due to European environmental requirements.-BBC

 

 

 

Facebook and Google 'too powerful' says watchdog boss

 

Tech giants Google and Facebook have too great a share of the UK online advertising market, the boss of the UK's competition watchdog has said.

 

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) would like regulatory changes to deal with that market dominance, its boss Andrea Coscelli told the BBC.

 

Google and Facebook have faced criticism from competition and other regulators in the past.

 

Facebook said it faces "significant competition" online from rival firms.

 

Google has also been approached for comment by the BBC.

 

When questioned by the BBC's media editor Amol Rajan, Mr Coscelli said that the two tech giants have a "duopoly" in the UK when it comes to digital advertising, which can often be bad for competition.

 

Google and Facebook have about an 80% share of the UK's £14bn digital advertising market, which is "not an ideal situation", Mr Coscelli said.

 

"We think it would be good if we got to a situation where others had a bigger share of the market," he said.

 

He also described the fact that Google holds about 90% of the UK's £7.3bn search advertising market as a "problem".

 

Facebook currently has a more than 50% share of the £5.5bn display advertising market in the UK, which is too much, Mr Coscelli said.

 

Authority would like regulatory changes to deal with the 'imbalance of power'

"When companies have too much economic power, that creates a number of distortions, first for competitors, secondly for consumers, and at some level potentially in terms of the political process as well, in some cases," he said.

 

"We, in general terms, like to see markets more competitive, with more players, with more diversity of players, because we think that delivers better outcomes."

 

A Facebook spokesman said its platform "gives millions of people and businesses in the UK the opportunity to connect and share."

 

He added: "Advertisers can and do freely move their [advertising] spending between TV, radio, print, outdoor and online.

 

"And in online advertising itself, we face significant competition from the likes of Google, Apple, Snap, Twitter and Amazon, as well as new entrants like TikTok, which keeps us on our toes."

 

Increasing scrutiny

 

Mr Coscelli stopped short of saying that Facebook and Google should be broken up.

 

"Our current proposal is not to break them up, it's to have pro-competitive regulation to deal with some of the issues, but it would allow the companies to maintain all the current activities that they have," he said.

 

The CMA said in December it plans to issue Facebook, Google and the other tech giants a set of rules customised to each firm to rein in "anti-competitive behaviour" and give consumers "more control over how their data used".

 

It is set to create a Digital Markets Unit within itself to draw up the rules and govern compliance, although legislation is required which may not be introduced until 2022.

 

Silicon Valley firms have recently faced increasing scrutiny from other regulatory bodies around the world.

 

Before the UK's exit from the European Union, competition regulation for global or pan-European companies was done through Brussels.

 

Google has been hit with a number of competition fines by the European Commission over the years, including a €1.49bn (£1.28bn) fine in 2019 for blocking rival online search advertisers.

 

Facebook is also facing competition action in the United States from federal regulators and more than 45 state prosecutors who are accusing the social media company of taking illegal action to buy up rivals and stifle competition.-BBC

 

 

 

CEO Secrets: 'My billion pound company has no HR department'

 

Greg Jackson is the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, a UK start-up valued at more than £1.4bn ($2bn), selling green energy. Despite now having more than 1,200 employees, he says he has no interest in traditional things like human resources (HR) and information technology (IT) departments.

 

There is a tendency for large companies to "infantilise" their employees and "drown creative people in process and bureaucracy", says Jackson.

 

HR and IT departments don't make employees happier or more productive in his experience, he says.

 

So he doesn't have them.

 

Octopus Energy was set up in 2015, specialising in renewable energy for households. It has enjoyed huge growth, taking on the "big six" traditional energy firms, and now supplies more than 1.9 million homes in the UK and is expanding into other countries with its proprietary, energy-managing software.

 

It is now valued at more than £1.4bn ($2bn) by private investors, with permanent staff owning 5% of its shares.

 

Jackson is a serial entrepreneur who has previously run a mirror-manufacturing company, an online property management agency and a coffee shop.

 

His distaste for "command and control", top-down management structures is born of experience, he says. Running smaller companies of around five people he would learn to cover HR and IT issues himself.

 

But what if there is a case of bullying to be resolved, or a contract dispute that requires specialist knowledge?

 

Jackson says he expects his managers to take personal responsibility for these things (with appropriate training) rather than "shelving responsibility to a third party" - just as he used to do when managing his teams.

 

He thinks this approach allows companies to scale faster, as well as making employees more self-reliant.

 

But it is a single, personal incident, which haunts him to this day, that really underpins his management philosophy.

 

"When I was 27, I was managing a manufacturing business in north London and there was a woman who ran the reception and also did customer service, who was in her 40s," he remembers.

 

"One day I heard her speaking to a customer on the phone and I thought I could help, so I leaned in and gave her some wise words.

 

"She finished the call, like a consummate professional, and she turned to me and said: 'Greg, I bring up two boys and a husband on the poxy wage this company pays. If I can do that, you can be pretty sure I can do anything this company wants from me. And by the way Greg, I was here before you were here and I'll be here after you have gone. I love the company more than you do, so you never need to tell me what to do.'"

 

Jackson was stunned into silence because she had just given him - her boss - an incredible dressing down.

 

"I realised she was right, and I remember I gave her a hug. It was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life and it forms the basis of my management theory today."

 

The episode taught him to favour a hands-off approach that lets individuals and teams sort their own affairs as much as possible without interference from above.-BBC

 

 

 

Zimbabwe to buy 1.2 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses from China

 

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will buy an additional 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China at a preferential price, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman said on Wednesday, after Beijing agreed to give more free doses to the southern African country.

 

Zimbabwe began COVID-19 vaccinations last week after receiving a donation of 200,000 doses from the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). The government initially aims to inoculate health workers, security forces and journalists, among others.

 

Chinese Ambassador Guo Shaochun said in a statement that his country had decided to double its donation of vaccines to 400,000 as part of its “solidarity and action” with Zimbabwe.

 

Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba said the government, which had already bought 600,000 doses from Sinopharm and is expecting to take delivery of them next week, would increase its purchases from China.

 

“Zimbabwe is also procuring more vaccines from China at a preferential price. Zimbabwe is set to purchase another 1.2 million doses from China,” Charamba wrote on Twitter.

 

That would bring to 1.8 million the number of COVID-19 doses being bought from China.

 

Charamba was not reachable on his mobile phone for further comment.

 

Mnangagwa’s government has not yet disclosed how much it is paying for the COVID-19 vaccines from China.

 

Authorities in Harare have also said Russia and India have donated 87,000 COVID-19 doses in total.

 

More than two thirds of Zimbabwe’s 35,910 coronavirus infections and 1,448 deaths have been recorded this year, according to a Reuters tally.

 

Separately, neighbouring Mozambique on Wednesday received 200,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine donated by China.

 

India has also pledged to donate 100,000 shots to Mozambique, the government said.

 

Namibian officials said Beijing would donate 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine and that India would donate 30,000 shots.-Reuters

 

 

 

New Chinese study finds milder variants of African swine fever virus

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - New variants of the African swine fever virus circulating in China appear to cause a milder form of the disease, making it less deadly but harder to detect and to get under control, a study published this week showed.

 

The paper by a team at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the second this month to report on natural mutations in the virus which ravaged China’s pig herd during 2018 and 2019 and continues to kill pigs in the world’s biggest pork producer.

 

The first study from the Military Veterinary Institute in Changchun reported finding a virus that had a partial deletion of genes, previously shown to protect pigs against the African swine fever (ASF) when deleted. However that study did not investigate the virulence of the variant.

 

It comes amid growing concerns in the industry over the evolution of a disease with no approved vaccine.

 

“The emergence of lower virulent natural mutants brings greater difficulty to early detection and poses new challenges for the control of ASF,” write Sun Encheng and colleagues in the Life Sciences journal.

 

They noted the mutants cause a “much more delayed course, and mild, chronic signs, while being continuously shed via the oral and rectal routes”.

 

The new findings come from sampling from seven provinces during the second half of last year. The team found 22 isolates with mutations, and they later tested four of those for virulence in pigs.

 

Two isolates were just as lethal as the earliest virus circulating in China. But two showed lower virulence with symptoms varying from partially lethal to non-lethal depending on the dose given to pigs.

 

Some analysts estimate about 20% of sows in northern China have been impacted by the disease this winter.

 

Reuters reported last month that at least two new strains of African swine fever had been found on Chinese pig farms, which appeared to be man-made.

 

The strains are causing a chronic form of African swine fever that is impacting production on sow farms, industry insiders have said, with the disease also more difficult to detect.

 

It is not clear how common the new variants identified by the Harbin team are on pig farms. Samples were taken from farms, slaughterhouses and disposal plants in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and Hubei, they said.

 

Unlike the strains described by industry insiders to Reuters, the new variants identified in the study found the MGF505 and MGF360 genes to be unchanged.

 

The researchers added that verifying the efficacy of a vaccine currently under development at Harbin needs to be “urgently evaluated” against the new strains.-Reuters

 

 

 

StanChart restores dividend, reaffirms targets as COVID-19 halves profit

 

HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - Standard Chartered PLC on Thursday restored its dividend and reaffirmed its long-term profit goals, in a show of confidence about its ability to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic even as its annual profit more than halved.

 

The Asia, Africa and Middle East-focused bank however warned that income in 2021 is likely to be close to last year, showing the challenge it faces to meet its modest profit goals in a world of rock-bottom interest rates.

 

Boosting revenue has been Chief Executive Bill Winters’ main headache in recent years, as slowing growth in many of the bank’s key markets, a commodities downturn and low central bank rates all conspired to crush income.

 

The bank’s shares fell 5% in London, as investors looked past the restoration of its dividend to the lender’s longer-term challenges in growing income.

 

StanChart like rival HSBC said it is targeting affluent customers, especially in Asian markets, to try and boost its flagging profit, hoping to earn more fees from wealth management products to offset flat-lining lending returns.

 

Winters said he has no plans to leave the bank, pushing back on some media speculation he would look to leave soon after six years at the helm.

 

“I’m here to do a job, and the job is not yet done,” he told reporters on a conference call.

 

The London-headquartered lender also said it would return capital to investors via a 9 cents per share dividend and $254 million buyback, with the total payout being the maximum allowed under temporary ‘guardrails’ set by the Bank of England.

 

The central bank last year told Britain’s largest lenders to suspend dividend payments and share buybacks for 2020 to help them maintain capital buffers against an expected hit to loan books from the pandemic.

 

“Having now resumed it, we expect to be able to increase the full-year dividend per share over time as we execute our strategy and progress towards a 10% return on tangible equity,” Jose Vinals, Standard Chartered’s chairman, said.

 

The bank also said its return on tangible equity, a key profit metric, would climb from 3% to 7% by 2023.

 

Analysts at Citi said that the 10% target was achievable if StanChart stayed at the top end of its revenue growth ambitions.

 

However they described the bank’s fourth-quarter results as “underwhelming” in the “context of other UK listed banks, who have largely reported strong results.”

 

 

StanChart’s share performance has in recent years been closely tied to global interest rates, as banks struggle to make returns on loans with base rates near zero.

 

BAD LOANS RISE

StanChart posted a 57% fall in annual profit for 2020, missing analyst estimates, on higher bad loan charges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Its pretax profit was $1.61 billion, compared with $3.71 billion in 2019 and the $1.85 billion average of analyst forecasts compiled by the bank.

 

Credit impairments last year more than doubled compared with a year earlier to $2.3 billion because of the pandemic, the bank said, but noted that two thirds of these charges were taken in the first half of the year.

 

However, in common with U.S. and European peers, StanChart saw strong performance from its investment bank, as pandemic-related market volatility in 2020 drove frenzied trading.

 

Income in its financial markets division rose 18%, driven by a 53% increase in income from trading interest rate-related products.

 

StanChart, which has gone further than many other lenders in saying it will make permanent the flexible working arrangements introduced during the pandemic, also said it could cut a third of its office space in the next three to four years.-Reuters

 

 

 

Shares and commodities keep climbing, so do bond yields

 

LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks headed back towards record highs with a third day of gains and the dollar dropped to a three-year low on Thursday, after top Federal Reserve and European Central Bank officials took aim at rising bond market yields.

 

 

FILE PHOTO: The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, February 24, 2021. REUTERS/Staff

There was a lot to keep tabs on. A renewed retail frenzy re-ignited the likes of GameStop, bets on $70 a barrel oil and a decade high in copper prices drove a commodity currency rally [/FRX] and bond yields were still rising too.

 

A near 1.9% jump in oil and gas shares ensured European markets followed Asia’s overnight gains [.T][.SS]. MSCI’s main world index, which spans 50 countries, was up 0.5%.

 

“There are two clear stories now” said CMC Markets senior analyst Michael Hewson. “You have the concerns about rising yields and they are continuing to move higher today, and then you have got an economic recovery story, which is helping lift the more moderately-valued parts of the market.”

 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that U.S. rates could remain low for years, while ECB board member Isabel Schnabel was out early on Thursday saying it would fight any big increases in inflation-adjusted market rates. 

 

“A too-abrupt increase in real interest rates on the back of improving global growth prospects could jeopardise the economic recovery,” she said. “Therefore, we are monitoring financial market developments closely.”

 

But bond markets are still not playing ball. Ten-year German Bund yields climbed 3 basis points in early trading. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were near one-year highs at 1.42% and on course for the biggest monthly rise since Donald Trump’s 2016 U.S. election victory jolted markets.

 

In the FX markets, the safe-haven U.S. dollar slumped near three-year lows as the Fed’s stance, ongoing progress with COVID vaccination programmes and commodity market uplift boosted riskier currencies.

 

The Australian and Canadian dollars both hit three-year highs of $0.7978 and C$1.2503 per U.S. dollar respectively.

 

 

The euro touched a one-month high of $1.2183. The safe-haven yen and Swiss franc both weakened.

 

“It is pretty clear that there is a pretty strong concentration in the commodity currencies,” said Saxo Bank’s John Hardy. “Even with emerging markets you are seeing it to a degree,” he added, pointing to how big energy importers like Turkey’s lira had faded.

 

MARATHON NOT A SPRINT

 

Crude oil climbed to 13-month highs after U.S. government data on Wednesday showed a drop in crude output as a deep freeze in Texas disrupted production last week. 

 

Copper prices steadied near $9,500 a tonne in London. It’s now at its highest level in almost a decade and could log its biggest monthly gains in 15 years this month.

 

In a possible sign of a renewed retail-driven frenzy in equity markets, GameStop’s Frankfurt-listed shares trebled as they opened on Thursday, overshooting the videogame retailer’s 100% surge on Wall Street overnight.

 

Other so-called “stonks” - an intentional misspelling of “stocks” - favoured by retail traders on sites such as Reddit’s WallStreetBets had also leapt again, although explanations for the moves were tenuous.

 

Some online stocks watchers had even pointed to a picture posted by an activist GameStop investor of a McDonald’s ice cream cone with a frog emoji as a cryptic sign.

 

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Whatever happens resist the urge to sell. The longer we hold the higher it goes,” said @catchme1fyoucan, one user in Italy of the retail trading platform eToro, in a discussion on GameStop.

 

 

 

Virtual work parties: the good, the bad and the plain peculiar

 

Stockholm (Reuters) - Virtual work parties? You can’t really mingle with colleagues, or dance with them, and it’s tough to get in the disco mood in your home office. On the other hand, you can’t spread disease, you don’t have to traipse home and there’s no chance of an ill-advised amorous encounter.

 

In the COVID-19 era though, gala options are limited. Companies are turning to events organisers to create virtual social events for staff. And with working-from-home here to stay, some expect demand to continue even after the pandemic.

 

After almost a year of doing her job from home, fintech worker Catharina Gehrke was finally able to get some proper office gossip in the virtual bathroom and smoking area at her company’s online Christmas party.

 

The event she attended included a (virtual) taxi ride and dance floor, a Queen Elizabeth II impersonator, a cocktail-making class, plus (real) food and drink hampers delivered to the 200 party people - the staff stuck at home.

 

“Although I was sitting alone in my living room, I really felt like I was at a party,” said Gehrke, who heads up the Swedish arm of online pet insurance company Bought By Many.

 

Gehrke sampled everything the “venue” had to offer but said the highlight was getting some juicy office gossip in the privacy of the (virtual) bathroom - where, with a click of the mouse, she could decamp from the dance floor with a select group of friends.

 

She said the event was one of the best work socials she’d been to, but added: “Maybe you just had to be there.”

 

As work habits shift, the worldwide virtual events market is expected to grow from just under $100 billion in 2020 to $400 billion by 2027, according to data from Grand View Research.

 

“Virtual socials are 100% here to stay, but combined with in-person events” said Rachel Haines, director of organisation and development at Swedish payments firm Klarna. “After all, I’d rather go yoga on the roof of our HQ than in my living room.”

 

Klarna has made virtual socialising a core part of its corporate culture during the pandemic.

 

“Many of our people are young and live alone,” Haines added. “Online socials are very important and we’ve pushed several big initiatives to make sure people are connected.”

                                                                  

These initiatives include virtual Friday drinks, weeknight cookalongs and morning yoga. Klarna has even done a team-building activity where staff solve puzzles in order to break free from a virtual “escape room”, Haines said.

 

‘A DOZEN SHOCKED FACES’

 

The work-from-home experiment has been so successful in some sectors, like finance, that many people have no intention of reverting to type. Half of finance workers in Britain, for example, do not want to return to the office after COVID-19, according to consultancy firm KPMG.

 

Edward Pollard, chief operating officer of events organiser Hire Space, said the surge in demand for online events during the pandemic had forced his company to innovate.

 

“Clients now ask us for everything from virtual horse racing to cookery classes and networking events,” Pollard said. 

 

Yet, some workers aren’t quite so comfortable with the new order.

 

“I was put on the spot with a solo verse at our virtual carol,” said Jake, a London-based charity worker. After warbling a few terrible notes, he turned off his camera and pretended the internet had cut out.

 

“But the damage was done. I just remember a dozen shocked faces in a grid across my screen.”

 

Or take the case of Sebastian Woods, who works for a machine learning company in Stockholm. He was somewhat thrown when his wife, who like him has been working from their flat, took part in a Friday night work social event.

 

“I couldn’t concentrate on my excel spreadsheet because she was doing the Banana Dance at the kitchen table.”-Reuters

 

 

 

Zambia aims for copper output of 900,000 tons in 2021 after “a historical high” in 2020

 

ZAMBIA aimed to produce more than 900,000 tons of copper this year, said Reuters citing the southern African country’s mines minister, Richard Musukwa.

 

Musukwa said that longer term, the country could top a million tons in production of the red metal considered crucial as global industry decarbonised.

 

His comments come amid government data showing production at 882,061 tons last year, an increase of 10.8% from 796,430 tons in 2019, said Reuters. Musukwa said this number was “a historical high”.

 

 

A worldwide shift to electric cars, which use much more copper than cars using traditional combustion engines, is expected to boost production of the metal, Musukwa said. “The prospects for the mining sector look positive despite Covid-19 Mus,” he said.

 

Copper was discovered in Zambia in the late 19th century, and in the 1950s the Zambian copper belt dominated global production of the metal, said Reuters.

 

Zambia’s cobalt production, however, fell 21.8% in 2020, to 287 tons from the 367 tons produced in 2019. Musukwa put that drop down to reduced cobalt mineralisation and operational challenges at Konkola Copper Mine.

 

Gold production fell to 3,579 kg in 2020 from 3,913 kg in 2019 as ore grades at the Kansanshi mine fell, the minister said in a statement.

 

State-owned Zambia Gold Company, which buys and processes gold from artisanal and small-scale miners, sold 47.9 kg of gold to the Bank of Zambia at the end of last year as part of efforts to build the country’s gold reserves. The company started producing gold in May last year.

“I wish to commend the company for a job well done,” Musukwa said.-Miningmx

 

 

	
	
	

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DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

 


 

 


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