July, 2017

• 31 July

  Politics to weigh on South Africa’s central bank: Moody’s

  

  Bloomberg South Africa’s central bank is under increasing political pressure to maintain “expansionary” monetary policy, Moody’s Investors Service said as the regulator prepares to challenge an instruction to change its mandate. The High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday will hear the Reserve Bank’s application to review the Public Protector’s order that lawmakers must change the constitution to make the central ...

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• 31 July

  HSBC first big bank to spell out Brexit bill: $300 million

  

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc faces as much as $300 million in legal and relocation fees as it prepares to move 1,000 staff to Paris, in one of the first indications of the cost of Brexit to the UK’s financial industry. Europe’s biggest lender took a $4 million charge in the second-quarter for “costs associated with the UK’s exit from the ...

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• 31 July

  Inflation hits low bar ECB’s Draghi set

  

  Bloomberg Italian economist Mario Draghi kept expectations low for inflation this summer, and July’s number is proving him right. Consumer-price growth in the euro area stayed at 1.3 percent — enough to argue that deflation risks have disappeared, but too little to meet the European Central Bank president’s goal of just under 2 percent. While it confirms Draghi’s prediction that ...

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• 31 July

  Bond Connect lures China offshore money back home to credit

  

  Bloomberg Turns out that China’s new Bond Connect with Hong Kong isn’t just good for foreigners. Offshore Chinese money is using the channel to bring money back home, taking advantage of opportunities in domestic credit products. With the Chinese yuan’s exchange rate rising in recent months against the dollar — and likely to stay stable with a critical Communist Party ...

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• 31 July

  HSBC rises as 2nd quarter growth backs its turnaround

  

  Bloomberg After posting a second quarter of revenue growth and with plans to return another $2 billion of cash to investors, departing boss Stuart Gulliver’s six-year turnaround of HSBC Holdings Plc might finally be gathering momentum. Adjusted revenue and pretax profit rose 4 percent and 13 percent respectively, beating analysts’ estimates, as the bank continued to pump capital into better-returning ...

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• 31 July

  Branson cedes Virgin Atlantic control to secure ‘crown jewel’

  

  Bloomberg Billionaire Richard Branson says he’s ceding control of Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. so that the carrier can join what it claims will be “the most significant joint venture in aviation.” For Virgin, the deal may be as much about gaining a lifeline after years struggling to keep up with British Airways. Branson, 67, said in an open letter when ...

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• 31 July

  Snapdeal rejects Flipkart’s $950mn acquisition deal

  

  Bloomberg Snapdeal rejected an acquisition bid from rival Flipkart Online Services Pvt, saying it will compete alone in India’s e-commerce market. Snapdeal, which said it will sell off some non-core assets, is set to post a gross profit this month, the startup said in an emailed statement on Monday. SoftBank Group Corp., which has almost a third of Snapdeal shares, ...

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• 31 July

  Bombardier limits cash burn, sees pretax profit near top of outlook

  

  Bloomberg Bombardier Inc. burned through less cash than expected in the second quarter and said pretax earnings this year will be in the top half of a previously disclosed range, as Chief Executive Officer Alain Bellemare forges ahead on his turnaround plan. Free cash flow usage in the period ended June 30 was $570 million, Bombardier said. In addition, the ...

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• 31 July

  Virgin Australia eyes China hubs to end losing streak

  

  Bloomberg Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd., the airline part-owned by HNA Group Co., aims to add two routes to mainland China to tap into the Chinese backer’s aviation hubs and the record flow of visitors heading Down Under. In an interview in Sydney, Chief Executive Officer John Borghetti mapped out a plan over the next five years to take advantage of ...

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• 30 July

  UAE markets start trades on high note

  ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE stock markets started the first session of the week on a slight rise, with some traders offsetting their options in the build-up to the closure of July accounts. In Sunday’s trading, the banking and real estate sectors drove the market slightly high, with traders still waiting for leading property companies to reveal their H1 ...

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