Story of the Day:
Contraction in the financial sector has continued as Standard Chartered Bank reported a 6% reduction in revenue following a 21% decrease in Non-funded income despite the 5% increase in banks’ core value-generating source – net interest income. Read more
Domestic Business and Finance
Zambia has cut its 2019 economic growth forecast, President Edgar Lungu said on Friday, citing adverse weather conditions that have affected crop production and electricity generation at hydropower plants. Read more: Reuters
Mulberry Group of companies, a giant Japanese textile business is set to construct a textile hub in Kabwe Central Province which will employ over three thousand Zambians. Japanese Ambassador to Zambia, Hidenobu Sobashima says over three thousand direct Jobs will be created for the local people before and after the firm is established. Read more: ZNBC
The Bank of Zambia says it is working with the Ministry of Finance to prioritize digital banking in Zambia because of its benefits. Bank of Zambia Director Banking and Currency Payment Systems Lazarus Kamanga says digital platforms are one of the pillars to improving digital financing in Zambia. Read more: ZNBC
TBZ has projected this year’s (2019) tobacco production to grow by 16% and hit 36 million Kilograms (Kg’s) compared to 31 million Kg’s in 2018. Read more: Zambian Business Times
The Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research – ZIPAR, a think tank organisation has disclosed that Zambia has since 2012 not yielded a positive economic growth rates despite the massive infrastructure investments being undertaken across the country. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Zambia and Sweden’s IVL Environmental Research Institute have agreed to work together to develop a series of water and environmental related projects which will be funded and implemented through the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA). Read more: Lusaka Times
International Business and Finance
The World Bank has approved a $450 million loan to Tanzania, the bank said on Friday, signalling the release of the first tranche of funds to the East African nation that were frozen last year because of concern over government policies. Read more: Africa News
African Development Bank has become the first multilateral bank in the world to receive recognition by Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) for procurement excellence. Read more: Business Chief
Saudi Aramco is aiming to restore by Monday about a third of its crude output that was disrupted after drone attacks on two key oil facilities, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing Saudi officials familiar with the matter. Read more: CNBC
The London Stock Exchange has roundly rejected Hong Kong’s $37 billion takeover bid, saying it was too low, politically risky and lacked strategic merit. Read more: CNN
Capital Markets Report
In 31 trades recorded on Friday, 80,949 shares were transacted, yielding a market turnover of K143,381. A share price gain and loss of K0.01 was recorded in CEC Zambia and Zambia Breweries respectively. Trading activity was also recording in AEL Zambia, Lafarge, PUMA and Standard Chartered Bank Limited. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,406.72 points up by 0.06% from its previous close of 4,404.13 points . The market closed on a capitalization of K57,147,093,499 including Shoprite Holdings and K22,907,887,519.84 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: