August, 2020

• 17 August

  Sasol’s loss, funding drive shares lower

  

  Bloomberg Sasol Ltd reported an annual loss after $6.5 billion in asset writedowns and the scheduling of a rights issue as its struggles continued amid the coronavirus pandemic. The shares slumped as much as 9.6%. Lower demand and prices for its products due to the virus, compounded by problems at its US Lake Charles chemical project, is making a bad ...

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• 17 August

  US’s Chaparral files for bankruptcy protection

  

  Bloomberg Chaparral Energy’s filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in four years, paving the way for bondholders to take control of the Oklahoma driller in the aftermath of sluggish oil prices. The company filed for Chapter 11 in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware as it seeks to restructure its balance sheet and raise new money. Almost 80% of ...

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• 17 August

  Whiting CEO to exit after $6.4m bankruptcy bonus

  Bloomberg Whiting Petroleum’s Chief Executive Officer Brad Holly will leave the company just five months after receiving a $6.4 million payout to see the company through bankruptcy proceedings. The Bakken oil producer expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection on September 1, when Holly will resign and be replaced by Lynn Peterson, who previously led SRC Energy. Holly and fellow executives ...

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• 17 August

  Congress should think like central bank on virus relief

  

  Last week’s US retail sales numbers provided comfort for both the V and the square-root economic recovery camps. But rather than mark the beginning of a consensus on what lies ahead, they highlight a durable debate raging not just on Wall Street, but also on Capitol Hill. By adding 1.2% growth after the 8.4% rebound of the previous month, the ...

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• 17 August

  Holiday tours bad idea in a pandemic

  

  TUI AG, the world’s biggest package-holiday company, has just secured enough government funding to see it through the lean Covid-affected winter season. A glance at its latest quarterly earnings shows this is probably just as well. The German company reported a 1.1 billion-euro ($1.3 billion) operating loss in the quarter ending on June 30, after revenue slumped 98%. It said ...

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• 17 August

  Chinese consumers are turning inward now!

  The Chinese used to be an adventurous bunch. Last year, 170 million of them travelled internationally, threatening to tip the nation into a current account deficit. Now, scarred by anti-Chinese sentiment abroad amid the pandemic, and suspicious of many things foreign, consumers are turning inward. Consider a CLSA Ltd survey of 1,600 shoppers, conducted between June 30 and July 7. ...

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• 17 August

  Apple ‘bundles’ don’t move needle enough

  It looks as if the long-awaited Apple Inc subscription bundles are finally going to happen. But while it is a solid step in the right direction, the smartphone giant needs to do far more to change the game. Bloomberg News reported that Apple is preparing to launch several bundles, internally named “Apple One,” as soon as October. There will be ...

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• 17 August

  China’s loss may be India’s gain in supply-chain shift

  

  Bloomberg India’s latest set of incentives to entice businesses moving away from China seem to be working, with companies from Samsung Electronics Co to Apple Inc’s assembly partners showing interest in investing in the South Asian nation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in March announced incentives that make niche firms — electronics manufacturers — eligible for a payment of 4%-6% ...

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• 17 August

  Japan’s economy takes record hit due to virus

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s economy suffered a record contraction last quarter as a state of emergency and lockdowns in the country’s major export markets hammered consumer spending, production and exports. A recent uptick in infections threatens to slow the recovery. Gross domestic product contracted an annualised 27.8% in the three months through June from the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office reported on ...

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• 17 August

  Thailand recession deepens with biggest GDP decline since 1998

  

  Bloomberg Thailand’s economy contracted the most in more than two decades, deepening its recession as the nation’s key drivers of trade and tourism remain hobbled by the global coronavirus pandemic. Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 12.2% from a year ago, the National Economic and Social Development Council said on Monday, its biggest decline since the Asian financial crisis in 1998. ...

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