February, 2020

• 29 February

  UBS urges Swiss fiscal policy rethink due to negative rates

  Bloomberg Switzerland’s negative central bank policy rate that allows the government to get paid to borrow money “inevitably raises the question” whether fiscal policy isn’t too restrictive, according to UBS Group AG. Switzerland has a low debt-to-output ratio, with a constitutionally guaranteed debt break meant to prevent out-of-control spending. The burden of keeping the economy on track falls on the …

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• 29 February

  Shoprite selling property to pay for online, store upgrades

  

  Bloomberg Shoprite Holdings Ltd’s decision to sell some properties and lease them back is to free up cash to invest in technology, growing online sales and upgrading supermarkets to offer more fresh food. These are the kinds of investments that “give us very good returns,” Chief Executive Officer Pieter Engelbrecht said in an interview after Africa’s biggest grocer reported first-half …

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• 29 February

  S Africa raises funds for state airline to $1.1bn

  

  Bloomberg South Africa almost doubled the level of funding for the national airline to 16.4 billion rand ($1.1 billion), cash that will go towards supporting a restructuring plan for the technically insolvent carrier. The bailout will be used to service and pay debt previously guaranteed by the state over the “medium term,” finance minister Tito Mboweni said in his budget …

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• 29 February

  Airlines send in world’s strongest disinfectants to fight virus

  

  Bloomberg Airlines are turning to the world’s hardest-hitting disinfectants to rid planes of the coronavirus. Qantas Airways Ltd, Korean Air Lines Co and Singapore Airlines Ltd’s Scoot unit are among carriers that helped evacuate people from the outbreak’s epicenter, the Chinese city of Wuhan, and from a cruise ship off Japan. They’ve stepped up aircraft-cleaning efforts as a result, trying …

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• 29 February

  British Airways shrinks its Milan timetable amid virus

  Bloomberg British Airways (BA) became the first major carrier to cut services to Italy following the spread of the coronavirus there, saying it will eliminate 22 round-trip flights to Milan through March 11. BA said that it took the decision following a reduction in demand for travel to the city in the Lombardy region, where the Italian outbreak is concentrated. …

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• 29 February

  Papa John’s falls most on dim growth, virus

  

  Bloomberg Papa John’s International Inc fell after the pizza chain reported earnings that suggest little growth for its North American locations this year, along with concerns about the coronavirus that’s quickly becoming a threat to the global economy. While North American same-store sales rose 3.5% last quarter and exceeded analysts’ predictions, the chain isn’t planning on increasing its net store …

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• 29 February

  Nestle bans employee travel in radical virus response

  Bloomberg Nestle SA, the world’s largest food and beverage company, told employees to avoid travelling for business reasons until the middle of March to keep from contracting or spreading the coronavirus. The Swiss maker of KitKat and Nespresso capsules “shares global concerns over the spread and impact on public health of coronavirus,” it said. Nestle, which employs 291,000 people worldwide, …

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• 26 February

  The National receives Google innovation grant

  ABU DHABI / WAM The National, the English-language news outlet based in Abu Dhabi, has been selected by the Google News Initiative as one of the first winners of Google’s GNI Middle East Innovation Challenge. The GNI Middle East Innovation Challenge is a programme that will fund a set of projects across the region that inject new ideas into the …

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• 26 February

  Europe on high alert for virus as cases rise

  

  Bloomberg Europe kicked into high alert as countries from Italy and Spain to France reported rising numbers of cases of coronavirus, struggling to limit its spread. Vast swathes of the Lombardy and Veneto regions of Italy, stretching from Milan to Venice, remained in a virtual lockdown. Spain kept about 700 guests confined to a Canary Islands hotel as they undergo …

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• 26 February

  Oil slumps to lowest in a year as fear of coronavirus hit spreads

  

  Bloomberg Oil extended declines to the lowest in a year on fears the fast-spreading coronavirus will take a major toll on the global economy. Futures in New York fell 1.4% after plummeting more than 7% over the previous three sessions. Top US health officials warned of a domestic outbreak of the infection, triggering another sell-off on Wall Street and in …

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