April, 2020

• 23 April

  Luckin collapse adds to Credit Suisse’s losses

  

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG was stung by the collapse of Luckin Coffee Inc in China following an accounting scandal, which led to a five-fold increase in Asian loan-loss provisions. The Swiss bank set aside 97 million Swiss francs ($100 million) for soured loans, primarily related to three cases, the largest of which was Luckin Coffee, according to a person ...

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• 23 April

  SoFi acquires Hong Kong’s 8 Securities in first global push

  Bloomberg Social Finance (SoFi) Inc acquired 8 Securities, a Hong Kong mobile investing startup, marking its first expansion outside of the US. Rebranded as SoFi Hong Kong, the company will be the only brokerage service that delivers fee-free stock trading on more than 15,000 US and Hong Kong stocks, as well as exchange traded funds, the company said. The acquisition ...

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• 23 April

  Virus lockdowns reshape future of oil demand

  

  Bloomberg Richie Merzian is still thinking about oil a lot in his professional capacity, but these days he’s using much less of it. The Australian energy and climate change researcher used to drive daily to his office and his kids’ daycare, while occasionally flying to international conferences. Now he works from his home in suburban Canberra and makes presentations to ...

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• 23 April

  South Africa’s power utility Eskom warns coal suppliers

  

  Bloomberg South Africa’s power utility warned coal suppliers it may halt purchases of the fuel because a nationwide lockdown to deal with the coronavirus pandemic has curtailed demand for electricity. The force-majeure notice Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd issued to miners follows a similar instruction to wind-power producers two weeks ago as the utility struggles to honor contractual agreements. It’s another ...

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• 23 April

  Green shoots appear in Germany, Italy’s power market

  

  Bloomberg Italy and Germany showed signs that they’re beginning to consume more electricity, suggesting economic activity may be starting to increase in some corners of Europe hardest hit by the coronavirus. In France and Spain, power use was steady in the past week, while Britain suffered a further slump. Those findings from grid operators shed light on how lockdowns to ...

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• 23 April

  New Jersey needs space for ‘wind goals’

  Bloomberg New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will need more space in the Atlantic Ocean to meet his goal to get half the state’s electricity from offshore wind farms. There aren’t enough federal leases available off the coast of New York and New Jersey to supply the 7.5 gigawatts of wind farms that Murphy wants to develop by 2035, said Jim ...

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• 23 April

  Europe’s lockdown pushes economy into record slump

  

  Bloomberg Europe’s economy suffered a massive blow in April when government restrictions to contain the coronavirus left companies scrambling to stay afloat. An estimate of private-sector activity in the euro area plunged to just 13.5 from 29.7 in March, IHS Markit said on Thursday. The drop was far sharper than economists had anticipated and marks the lowest reading for the ...

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• 23 April

  Pimco steps up distressed bet with another $3bn fund

  Bloomberg Pacific Investment Management Co. is seeking to raise another $3 billion for a distressed credit fund as the rush to capitalise on dislocations in the fixed-income market grows. Pimco’s latest money pool — Distressed Credit Opportunities Fund III — will invest in public market securities, including corporate credit, according to documents from a Fresno County Employees’ Retirement Association meeting ...

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• 23 April

  VW restarting electric-car manufacturing amid virus

  

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG is pressing ahead with the manufacturing of the ID.3 electric car and expects to start European deliveries this summer as planned, despite lingering uncertainty surrounding demand for vehicles amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Efforts to finish the car’s software are “on the home stretch” and the schedule for the rollout at VW’s German factory in Zwickau remains ...

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• 23 April

  Merkel urges Germany to support EU stimulus

  

  Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a Europe-wide economic stimulus program to be financed by the European Union’s budget, making a national appeal that helping its partners would be good for Germany. “A European growth program could support an upswing over the next two years and we’ll work for that,” Merkel said in a speech to the lower house ...

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