May, 2020

• 6 May

  UniCredit posts $2.94 billion loss on provisions, charges

  

  Bloomberg UniCredit SpA reported its biggest loss in more than three years as provisions related to the coronavirus added to the pain of one off costs for job cuts and the writedown of its Turkish unit. The net loss totalled 2.71 billion euros ($2.94 billion), as loan-loss provisions climbed to 1.26 billion euros, the Milan-based bank said on Wednesday. About ...

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• 6 May

  Morgan Stanley-backed fund to buy S Africa firms

  

  Bloomberg Capitalworks Investment Partners Pty Ltd. plans to invest 5 billion rand ($270 million) of newly raised cash in mid-sized South African companies hit by a shrinking local economy and the coronavirus pandemic. The firm raised 25% more than planned for its Private Equity Fund III from Morgan Stanley’s Alternative Investments Partners (AIP) unit, institutional investors and wealthy families, Capitalworks ...

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• 6 May

  Credit Agricole sees provisions surge as it girds for bad loans

  

  Bloomberg Credit Agricole SA is setting aside almost three times the amount it booked a year ago to cover souring loans because of the impact of the coronavirus, the latest lender to try and estimate the damage to its balance sheet from the outbreak. Provisions in the first three months of the year jumped to 621 million euros from 225 ...

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• 6 May

  NAB posts 51% slump in profit, cuts dividend

  

  Bloomberg Australian bank investors got their first taste of what is set to be a horror earnings season, as National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) reported a 51% plunge in profit, slashed its dividend and embarked on a $2.24 billion capital raising. The early announcement — the lender wasn’t due to report until next week — has shareholders bracing for the ...

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• 6 May

  India’s ailing credit market shows limits of central bankers

  

  Bloomberg Indian money managers are dumping corporate bonds as they struggle to meet redemptions after the biggest-ever forced closure of funds in the country last month. Even higher-rated debt is under pressure. Notes issued by government-backed lenders Punjab National Bank, Andhra Bank and Canara Bank were traded in the past few days at the highest yields in over a year ...

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• 6 May

  BOJ ramping up stimulus

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) said it’ll buy as many government bonds as it needs to and ramped up purchases of corporate debt, adding stimulus after the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency brought more shutdowns and heightened the need for financial support at struggling businesses. By ditching the guideline to increase holdings of government debt by around ...

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• 6 May

  Gatwick cutbacks mount with Virgin Atlantic the latest to flee

  

  Bloomberg The coronavirus is muddying the outlook for London’s second-biggest airport. Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd became the latest carrier to back away from London Gatwick, saying it will shutter its operation at least temporarily to focus on the much larger Heathrow. With arch-rival British Airways reportedly looking to do the same, and Gatwick’s third-largest tenant, Norwegian Air Shuttle ...

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• 6 May

  Singapore Airlines soars most in more than three decades

  

  Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd’s shares surged the most in more than three decades on bets that ongoing fund raising will help the carrier survive as lockdown restrictions ease worldwide from Italy to the US. Its share price, adjusted for the planned rights issue, soared as much as 21%, the most since October 1987. It pared its advance to 11% on ...

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• 6 May

  United Air to slash office jobs by 30% after US aid ends

  

  Bloomberg United Airlines Holdings Inc will cut at least 30% of its managerial and administrative jobs when government restrictions lift in October, bracing for a prolonged travel slump in the age of Covid-19. In addition to cutting the roughly 3,500 positions, the company will require that management and administrative employees take 20 days off without pay between May 16 and ...

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• 6 May

  Sephora fires back at JC Penney in bid to end their partnership

  

  Bloomberg Sephora USA Inc escalated its legal fight with partner JC Penney Co, saying the department-store chain’s response to the pandemic violates an agreement allowing it to operate about 650 in-house beauty boutiques. JC Penney, which closed all its stores in March as the virus spread, persuaded a Texas state court judge last week to temporarily bar Sephora from exiting ...

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