Story of the Day:
The Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) has awarded Zambian Breweries with the ZAM Sustainability Award for its leading role in environmental protection and building green communities through its Manja Pamodzi recycling initiative. Read more
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After a turbulent pandemic year 2020 characterized by record impairment stocks, First National Bank Zambia’s balance sheet repositioning has paid off with a first quarter after tax earnings sprint to K96.3 million (27x higher than a year ago). Read more: The Business Telegraph
With time decay, the amalgamation (M&A) transaction between BancABC and Finance Bank is evidently paying off. Atlas Mara Zambia first quarter performance has revealed a cost efficient trajectory as cost to income ratio narrows sharply to 49.0% from 86.1% levels same time a year ago. The Business Telegraph
The Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) will next month launch a K1 billion credit facility for small and medium enterprises. DBZ Managing Director, Samuel Bwalya says the credit facility will enable entrepreneurs have capital for their business. Dr Bwalya says a lot of entrepreneurs do not have access to funding and that the funding will fill the gap for Zambian entrepreneurs. Read more: ZNBC
The Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has called on the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to offer farmers a better maize price during this year’s marketing season. ZANIS reports that ZNFU president, Jervis Zimba said increasing the floor price will enable farmers to get full cost recovery and mark an increase in their profit margins. Read more: Lusaka Times
International Business and Finance
The U.S. nonprofit Digital Dollar Project said on Monday it will launch five pilot programs over the next 12 months to test the potential uses of a U.S. central bank digital currency, the first effort of its kind in the United States. Read more: Reuters
Stock futures slipped in early morning trading on Tuesday after a strong start to May as investors piled into shares that would benefit the most from an economic reopening. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 46 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both traded in negative territory. Read more: CNBC
The prime minister has announced new trade and investment deals with India worth £1bn. It includes more than £533m of new investment from India into the UK, which is expected to create about 6,000 jobs. Downing Street said the new partnership will “pave the way” for a future UK-India Free Trade Agreement. Read more: BBC News
Warren Buffett said Monday that Greg Abel, the head of Berkshire Hathaway’s non-insurance business, will be his successor — although Buffett gave no indication that he will give up the top job at the conglomerate anytime soon. Read more: CNN
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In 46 trades recorded yesterday, 141,746 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K221,929. Trading activity was recorded in BATA, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, First Quantum Minerals, SHOP, Zanaco and Zambia Sugar. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 4,109.31 points, as there were no share price changes. The market closed on a capitalization of K58,095,257,985 including Shoprite Holdings and K23,850,617,211 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: