Story of the Day:
In the heat of a global pandemic, one would wonder if Zambia will be able to sustain itself in a total lockdown. The first quarter of the year has been rough for the Zambian economy and this has been indicated specifically in Zambia’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in which readings have been in contraction (<50) for the last 15 months. Read more
Local Business and Finance Sponsored By Liquid Telecom
As part of Government’s response to the global effects of the covid-19 pandemic on Zambian businesses, the Government announced the waiver of penalties and interest on tax declarations and liabilities resulting from the impact of covid-19 and directed the Commissioner General of the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to issue guidelines on the implementation of this measure for all individuals and businesses. Read more: Zambian Observer
Charles Sakanya, Chief Engineer has been appointed as Mopani Copper Mine acting CEO. Glencore will reverse its earlier decision to shut its Zambia subsidiary Mopani Copper Mines if it reaches an agreement with the Zambian government, the company said on Monday. Read more: Zambia Reports
The Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZANACO) has announced the financial relief packages available to its customers in the awake of the COVID-19 pandemic. ZANACO Acting Chief Executive Officer Lishala Situmbeko explained that the relief is aimed at cushioning the negative economic effects that COVID-19 has caused on the customers. Read more: Lusaka Times
Bezant Resources has entered into a joint venture agreement with KPZ International Ltd in relation to the acquisition of a 30% interest in a 974 square kilometre scale exploration licence in the Kalengwa greater exploration area in Zambia. The ground is prospective for copper, cobalt, silver, gold and other minerals. Read more: Proactive Investors
International Business and Finance Sponsored By Royal Air Charters
HSBC says its first quarter profits have almost halved due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Pre-tax profit for the first three months of the year came in at $3.2 billion, down from $6.2 billion a year ago. Read more: BBC News
Boeing Co will need to borrow more money over the next six months and does not expect to pay dividends again for years, as the U.S. planemaker wrestles with industry fallout from the coronavirus and the grounding of its 737 MAX jet, chief executive Dave Calhoun told shareholders on Monday. Read more: Reuters
Energy giant BP reported a significant fall in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, as oil prices continue to dive amid intensifying concerns about the coronavirus crisis and dwindling storage capacity. The U.K.-based oil and gas company posted first-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $800 million. That compared with $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2019, reflecting a fall of 67%. Read more: CNBC
UBS reported Tuesday a 40% increase in profit for the first quarter of 2020 on the year before, helped by higher trading volumes as market participants reacted to the volatility of recent months. Net profit attributable to shareholders came in at $1.6 billion in the three months to the end of March, up from $1.1 billion in the same quarter of 2019. Read more: CNBC
Lenders worldwide have pledged more than $31 billion of loans to major airlines scrabbling to line up funding as the coronavirus pandemic forces them to ground their fleets. Companies from the Americas account for bulk of the borrowings with almost $20 billion in total, according to data collated by Bloomberg. Read more: Bloomberg
South Africa is seeking 95 billion rand ($4.99 billion) from multilateral lenders to help it fight the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior Treasury official said on Sunday. Read more: Reuters
Capital Markets Report Sponsored By ZCCM-IH
In 8 trades recorded yesterday, 447,101 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K445,275. A share price loss of K0.04 was recorded in Standard Chartered Bank Limited. Trading activity was also recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,130.50 points, 0.37% down from its previous close of 4,145.82 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K56,797,470,963 including Shoprite Holdings and K22,558,264,983 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: