April, 2021

• 28 April

  Australia bans India flights on hotel quarantine risk

  Bloomberg Australia is banning all flights from pandemic-ravaged India until at least May 15 as the South Asian nation battles what PM Scott Morrison described as a “terrible crisis.” In a bid to ease pressure on Australia’s system of mainly quarantining returned residents from overseas in inner-city hotels, Morrison had already announced a 30% cut in flights entering from India. …

  Read More »
• 28 April

  Pick n Pay’s new CEO to target discount stores, online growth

  

  Bloomberg Pick n Pay Stores Ltd’s next chief executive officer, Pieter Boone, plans to accelerate his predecessor’s eight-year turnaround of the South African grocer by focusing on stores that cater for lower-to-middle income consumers and by boosting online sales. “Pieter speaks of evolution and acceleration, rather than revolution,” David North, Pick n Pay’s executive for strategy, said in an interview. …

  Read More »
• 28 April

  Victoria’s Secret aims higher valuation in new sale talks

  

  Bloomberg L Brands Inc’s Victoria’s Secret has restarted talks with buyers about a potential sale, and is seeking more than double the $1.1 billion value it had last year in a failed deal, according to people familiar with the matter. After strong recent sales, the company could now target a valuation of at least $2 billion to $3 billion in …

  Read More »
• 28 April

  Interjet to file for bankruptcy protection

  Bloomberg Interjet shareholders unanimously voted to approve a filing for bankruptcy protection, a move that would enable the Mexican airline to resume payments to employees that have been frozen for several months. Alejandro del Valle, who took a 90% stake in the carrier late last year, led discussions over the filing with former majority owners and founders Miguel Aleman Magnani …

  Read More »
• 28 April

  HSBC profits rise in Q1 as positive outlook spurs credit loss reversal

  

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc posted its best quarter since the pandemic began as an improving economic outlook drove optimism about the ability of borrowers to repay loans and its strategic reset to Asia remained on track. First-quarter profit more than doubled as $400 million of loan loss reserves were released, spurred by the rollout of vaccination programs in markets like …

  Read More »
• 28 April

  Nomura, UBS take global banks’ Archegos hit to over $10 billion

  

  Bloomberg Global banks’ losses related to the collapse of Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management topped $10 billion after Nomura Holdings Inc and UBS Group AG disclosed more than $3.7 billion of combined hits from the collapse of the US family office. The Japanese bank booked about 245.7 billion yen ($2.3 billion) of losses in the three months ended March 31, …

  Read More »
• 28 April

  Kotak Mahindra shares fall as India caps CEO’s term

  

  Bloomberg Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd were the most hit among peers after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) capped founder’s tenure as chief executive officer of a bank to 15 years. That gives the world’s wealthiest banker Uday Kotak less than three years to find a successor, according to a note by Suresh Ganapathy, an analyst at Macquarie …

  Read More »
• 28 April

  Citi’s Asia chief calls retail exit in 13 nations a strategic necessity

  

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc’s decision to exit retail banking operations in 13 markets outside the US including China was crucial for its ability to redeploy capital to areas where it can make bigger profits, according to an internal memo by the bank’s Asia-Pacific chief. “This was not about any specific markets or the attractiveness of individual consumer markets,” Peter Babej said …

  Read More »
• 28 April

  Zimbabwe’s biggest bank to cut staff

  

  Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s CBZ Bank Ltd., the country’s biggest lender, begun voluntary job cuts as it deals with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic on the corporate landscape. The bank needs to review its structures and operations to adapt to new ways of working, according to a memo from group CEO Blessing Mudavanhu and its chief human resources officer. “The manner …

  Read More »
• 27 April

  Kuroda to miss price goal as Japan’s inflation hunt drags on

  

  Bloomberg Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will fail to reach his goal of stable 2% price growth during his term after what will have been more than a decade of stimulus to stoke inflation, according to the Bank of Japan’s latest forecasts. Even with an economy expected to show a faster recovery from the pandemic, a slew of …

  Read More »