February, 2020

• 10 February

  Oil holds near $50 as Opec+ hesitate despite signs of glut

  

  Bloomberg Oil held near $50 a barrel in New York on signs that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies probably won’t go ahead with an emergency meeting, even as a global oversupply piles up. While the coalition’s technical experts have recommended a production cutback as Asia’s coronavirus batters demand, Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov told the …

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• 10 February

  NMC suspends chairman from board discussions

  

  Bloomberg NMC Health Plc, the operator of the biggest network of hospitals in the UAE, said its chairman will be removed from board discussions after he said he may have misreported the size of his stake. Chairman Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty is conducting a legal review into the size of his stake, NMC said on Monday. The company is asking its …

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• 10 February

  Etihad partners with WebCargo to expand digital air cargo reach

  

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Aviation Group, on Monday announced inking a new partnership for Digital Air Cargo with WebCargo by Freightos to expand digital air cargo reach. The WebCargo partnership extends Etihad Cargo’s digital reach to more than 1,700 logistics providers and forwarder customers globally, with the platform serving as an …

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• 10 February

  China’s hurting banks brace for worst-case economic scenario

  

  Bloomberg Just as it looked like Beijing was starting to get a handle on its regional banking crisis, a much more severe threat is engulfing the world’s largest banking system as a deadly new virus hits the country’s economy. The impact of the spreading coronavirus risks bringing to life the worst-case economic scenarios contained in China’s annual banking stress tests. …

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• 10 February

  Discontent among HSBC staff ahead of business review

  

  Bloomberg A survey of HSBC Holdings Plc’s 237,000 staff has highlighted falling morale as employees brace themselves for job cuts in a strategy review due later this month. At HSBC’s European arm, confidence in the direction of the bank dropped 21 points in the second half of 2019 compared to the first half, according to an internal document seen by …

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• 10 February

  Italian banking mergers nowhere in sight

  

  Bloomberg Consolidation in Italy’s banking industry will probably be postponed — again. Potential tie-ups were high on the agenda of the bankers who gathered in the northern town of Brescia for the Assiom Forex conference, but no one seemed ready to take the first step. The current regulatory framework and Italy’s poor economic prospects will probably delay deals that analysts …

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• 10 February

  Deutsche Bank seeks 50% haircut on India firm’s debt

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG and SSG Capital Management have made a joint bid for an Indian power producer’s debt of 60 billion rupees ($842 million), according to a person familiar with the matter. The consortium has submitted a binding bid of about 31 billion rupees for the delinquent debt of Chennai-based Coastal Energen Pvt, the person said, asking not to …

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• 10 February

  World’s lowest rate may soon be raised in Denmark

  

  Bloomberg Denmark and Switzerland have long shared the world record in negative interest rates, at minus 0.75%. But that may be about to change. Economists at some of the biggest Nordic banks say Denmark, which pegs the krone to the euro, is likely to raise its key rate in the coming months. Not long ago, they thought a cut was …

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• 10 February

  Irish property stocks lead slide after Sinn Fein surge

  Bloomberg Irish stocks slid on Monday after polls put Sinn Fein in place for a possible role in government, fuelling declines in banks and property shares given that the party’s policies include a wealth tax and a freeze on residential rents. The benchmark ISEQ Index slid as much as 1.4%, with Bank of Ireland Group Plc and AIB Group Plc …

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• 10 February

  Wind giants in Germany are not so keen on market rates

  

  Bloomberg The first time Germany auctioned offshore wind projects, developers were happy to forgo any subsidies, confident the technology was robust enough to turn a profit unaided. Now, they’re not nearly so sure. Germany’s offshore wind giants now are looking at a UK programme that would ensure they get paid enough for their power, no matter what wholesale prices are …

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