February, 2021

• 7 February

  Rolls-Royce eyes Africa as new energy market

  Bloomberg Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc is betting on expanding in Africa to grow the power-systems division after its main business building and maintaining wide-body jet engines was derailed by the coronavirus. The continent’s abundant natural resources, fast-growing economies and increasing urbanisation make it a promising market for the unit, Rolls-Royce Strategic Marketing Director Ben Story said. “We’ve got our eyes open, …

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• 7 February

  Hershey plans to raise prices this year

  Bloomberg That chocolate Santa will cost a bit more this Christmas. Hershey Co plans to raise prices on bags of kisses, miniature chocolate bars and other seasonal treats shaped like snowmen and Santas starting in the 2021 holiday season, Chief Executive Officer Michele Buck said in an interview. Prices for these items had not been increased since the 2014 holiday …

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• 7 February

  RBI rejects bids for benchmark bond in India as yields surge

  

  Bloomberg India’s central bank rejected all bids for its benchmark bond at an auction after yields jumped on concern the regulator’s measures to support the debt market fell short of expectations. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond rises to its highest in over five months in early trading while corporate notes had their biggest weekly loss since May. Traders …

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• 7 February

  Banks not finished shifting $970bn of assets out of UK

  

  Bloomberg Big banks still had 810 billion euros ($970 billion) of capital markets-related assets to move from the UK to the European Union at the end of September, underlining the extent of the moves ahead as they adjust to operating after Brexit. International banks have agreed to shift a total of about 1.2 trillion euros of assets to European units, …

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• 7 February

  Ex-Commerzbank CEO plans European SPAC

  

  Bloomberg Ex-Commerzbank AG Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Martin Blessing is planning to raise funds for a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) targeting deals in the European financial industry. Blessing has been speaking with potential partners about listing a blank-check company in Amsterdam. He’s seeking to raise about 300 million euros ($359 million), they said. Credit Suisse Group AG is advising on …

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• 7 February

  Biggest Indian bank sees steepest weekly surge in three decades

  

  Bloomberg Shares of State Bank of India, the nation’s largest by assets, surged this week by the most in almost three decades, buoyed by plans to tackle bad debt and a profit that beat expectations. The Mumbai-based lender jumped 39.4% — most since March 1992 — to a record close of 393.10 rupees. Investors cheered the fact that higher provisions …

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• 7 February

  Bitcoin rally takes crypto market value to another record

  

  Bloomberg Bitcoin climbed towards $40,000 in a rally that helped the market value of digital tokens scale a new peak. The largest cryptocurrency rises as much as 4.3% to $39,499 on Saturday, taking it closer to early January’s record of almost $42,000. The value of more than 6,000 tokens tracked by CoinGecko hit an unprecedented $1.22 trillion. The jump comes …

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• 7 February

  Westpac to move forward with life insurance unit sale

  Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp. is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co. as it prepares to kick off a formal sale process for its life insurance business as soon as this month, according to people with knowledge of the matter. AIA Group Ltd., Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. and Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. are among the firms that have been approached …

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• 6 February

  BNP Paribas sees revenue recovery

  Bloomberg BNP Paribas signalled higher revenue and potential share buybacks this year after reporting weaker-than-expected trading results and a slowdown at fixed-income business. The French bank posted an uneven fourth-quarter performance that saw net income and provisions beat estimates, while overall revenue and trading came in below expectations. While the lender signaled an uncertain outlook as the pandemic continues to …

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• 6 February

  Chip shortage spirals beyond cars to phones, game consoles

  

  Bloomberg The first hints of trouble emerged in the spring of 2020. The world was in the early throes of a mysterious pandemic, which first obliterated demand then super-charged internet and mobile computing when economies regained their footing. That about-face — in a span of months — laid the seeds for potentially the most serious shortage in years of the …

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