Avianca Holdings (AVH) filed for bankruptcy protection after travel restrictions tied to the coronavirus pandemic brought passenger operations to an almost complete halt since mid-March.The Columbian air carrier said it submitted Chapter 11 proceedings to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in an effort to preserve jobs, restructure its $7.27 billion in debt and reorganize its business operations. Throughout the restructuring period, it will continue operations, the company said."Avianca is facing the most challenging crisis in our 100-year history as we navigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Avianca CEO Anko van der Werff. "Despite the positive results yielded by our 'Avianca 2021' plan, we believe that, in the face of a complete grounding of our passenger fleet and a recovery that will be gradual, entering into this process is a necessary step to address our financial challenges."Avianca's passenger operations have been grounded since mid-March, cutting its...
(Bloomberg) -- Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for South Africa’s rand... they probably won’t.The currency slumped to a record low against the dollar in April, roiled by a slew of bad news: an ever-widening fiscal gap and soaring government debt; credit-rating downgrades leaving the country deep in junk territory; expulsion from a major bond index tracked by trillions of dollars of funds; and the implosion of the economy amid a strict coronavirus lockdown.But there are signs the bad news is priced in, and the rand may be poised for a rebound as emerging markets recover from the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic. These charts show why.Volatility ModeratesThe rand’s tentative recovery from a record low of 19.35 per dollar is encouraging options traders to prune bets on further losses. Implied volatility, which measures expected swings based on the price of options to buy and sell the rand, fell...
(Bloomberg) -- The Saudi sovereign wealth fund and General Atlantic are among firms exploring investments in billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s digital business, as Asia’s richest man seeks to expand his operations outside oil and petrochemicals, people with knowledge of the matter said.Saudi Arabia’s $320 billion Public Investment Fund is considering buying a minority stake in Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Jio Platforms unit, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.General Atlantic, the U.S. investment firm that helped fund Airbnb Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., is discussing a potential investment of about $850 million to $950 million in Jio Platforms, the people said. The deal could be completed as soon as this month, though no agreement has been finalized and plans may change, the people said.Any new investment into Jio Platforms will add to the $8 billion deal run that Ambani has sealed in recent weeks. Facebook...
The company, whose handbags have won it a place among the big names of the fashion world, is just one of a raft of major U.S. retailers seeking to lower rent bills to make sure they have enough cash to weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Mall operators collected only 15% of April rent and trends are looking worse for May, according to CenterSquare Investment Management, which specializes in real estate. After a decade of change that has shaken up the U.S. retail landscape and driven some out of business, Zeitlin says mall rents need to fall anyway for retailers' brick-and-mortar strategies to make sense....
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. and European stock futures saw modest gains on Monday, while Asia had a mixed session, as investors weigh a slowing death toll in a number of countries. Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrials futures ticked higher, while those on the S&P 500 were flat after U.S. equities gained on Friday even in the wake of a historic surge in unemployment. Japanese shares outperformed amid talk of a potential further supplementary budget. Hong Kong and Sydney also climbed, while Korean equities dipped and Shanghai was little changed amid thin Asia-Pacific trading. Treasuries were flat, and oil slipped.In India, bonds slumped after the government lifted borrowing to offset revenue lost due to the pandemic. The yield on 10-year bonds climbed 25 basis points, the biggest increase since February 2017.On the coronavirus front, France, Italy and the U.K. all reported the fewest deaths since March, though South Korea warned of the risk...
(Bloomberg) -- The great oil glut of 2020 may have already peaked in the world’s biggest crude importer.Crude inventories in China have shrunk in recent weeks after rising to record levels, according to analysts and satellite observations. Supplies have been drawn out of storage as refineries ramp up operations to meet rising demand from an economy emerging from lockdown.Inventories drawing in the world’s biggest importer is an early sign that rebalancing may have begun in the global oil market after an epic collapse in demand, according to Morgan Stanley. Stockpiles dwindled even as oil imports in April increased from the previous month, according to Customs data.“The combination of inventories falling and strong imports implies really solid refining activity,” said Geoffrey Craig, an analyst with Ursa Space Systems Inc., which uses synthetic aperture radar to track storage tank fills. “You saw them build aggressively in late February and into the end of...
