April, 2020

• 5 April

  Mexican peso sinks 4%, leads global drop

  Bloomberg The Mexican peso led global currency losses after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejected calls for fiscal stimulus to offset the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The peso sank as much as 4% amid a global sell-off, its third decline in four days. While economists forecast the economy could contract as much as 7% this year, the president, …

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• 5 April

  Covid-19: Cash crunch pits airlines against customers

  

  Bloomberg The fight to survive the Covid-19 crisis is pitting airlines across the globe against their grounded customers. Regulations in the US and Europe generally call for carriers to offer passengers a refund if a flight is cancelled, with exceptions for circumstances like bad weather. It happens in normal times, but country lockdowns have dissolved schedules for weeks, with airlines …

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• 5 April

  JetBlue reduces flights 70%, burns $10m a day

  

  Bloomberg JetBlue Airways Corp will park 100 aircraft and reduce flying capacity 70% this month as passenger loads plummet because of the new coronavirus. The carrier expects the number of passengers to fall to 7,000 daily in April from about 120,000 that it would typically expect, a plunge of 94%, JetBlue said in a statement. The New York-based airline also …

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• 5 April

  Lufthansa under pressure to accept government stake

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG Chief Executive Carsten Spohr is facing mounting pressure to hand over an equity stake to the German government as the airline fights for survival in the coronavirus crisis, according to people familiar with the matter. Lufthansa representatives are locked in talks with the cabinet in Berlin, the people said, asking not to be identified because the …

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• 5 April

  Luxury retailers reluctantly cut prices amid demand plunge

  

  Bloomberg Stuck-at-home Americans are nowadays way more interested in buying toilet paper and hand soap than handbags and evening gowns. That’s forcing luxury retailers, like Neiman Marcus Group Inc and Nordstrom Inc, to resort to a tactic they rarely use: discounts. Neiman Marcus has Tom Ford glasses, which usually sell for about $400, at 50% off on its website. Customers …

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• 5 April

  Kenya Airways seeks state support to survive

  Bloomberg Kenya Airways Plc is appealing for a cash bailout from the government to be able to survive the next six months as the partially state-owned carrier runs out of money after grounding all international flights to help contain the coronavirus. It will cost the airline about $5 million a month to manage its grounded fleet and retain a workforce …

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• 5 April

  HNA’s Swissport hires advisers to review debt

  Bloomberg Swissport International AG, the airport ground services firm owned by beleaguered Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co, hired advisers to review its debt as passenger air traffic grinds to a halt because of coronavirus restrictions. The company appointed boutique financial services firm Houlihan Lokey and lawyers White & Case LLP to help the firm “strengthen its financial position,” it said …

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• 4 April

  Jobs destroyed globally as virus sparks recession

  

  Bloomberg The world’s workers are reeling from the initial shock of the coronavirus recession, with job losses and welfare claims around the globe already running into the millions this week. As the International Labour Organisation (ILO) warns of almost 25 million layoffs if the virus isn’t controlled, the cuts from Austria to the US reflect the deepest peacetime recession since …

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• 4 April

  Opec, allies meeting likely to be delayed on new Saudi, Russia rift

  

  Bloomberg The Opec+ meeting to try to end the oil price war is unlikely to go ahead of Monday as previously expected, as Riyadh and Moscow engaged on a war of words about who’s to blame for the collapse in oil prices. The Opec+ alliance needs more time for negotiations, a delegate familiar with the matter said, noting the meeting …

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• 4 April

  Natural gas glut moves offshore

  

  Bloomberg Liquefied natural gas (LNG) traders are following the latest trend in the oil market by storing huge amounts of the commodity on tankers, hoping prices will rise before the ship docks. But while crude can sit for months or even years in a tank, super-chilled LNG tends to evaporate even in the specialised vessels that handle it. That limits …

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