(Bloomberg) -- Gold fell as a drumbeat of moves toward reopening economies eroded appetite for havens, with prices sinking below $1,700 an ounce before paring losses as investors counted down to policy announcements from two of the world’s leading central banks.The precious metal eased for a third day after U.S. equities hit the highest in almost seven weeks as states including Florida took steps toward easing restrictions. Italy, one of the countries hit hardest, prepared to begin reopening, although the World Health Organization warned the coronavirus pandemic is far from over.While bullion is still near the highest in more than seven years amid the outbreak, investors are questioning if there’s scope for further gains given the restarts. At the same time, they’re tracking the stimulus by governments and central banks to aid growth, with the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to make policy announcements on Wednesday and Thursday.While bullion...
(Bloomberg) -- Germany is preparing to take a stake in Deutsche Lufthansa AG as part of a rescue package to help the carrier weather the coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter.A decision is expected in the coming days for an overall aid package that could amount to more than double the company’s market capitalization of 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion), said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. One option being discussed could include giving the government seats on the board and the power to block strategic decisions, a person said.A spokesperson for Lufthansa declined to comment, as did the German economy ministry.On Tuesday, Business Insider reported Lufthansa is poised to get a 9 billion-euro rescue package from Germany that would give the government a stake in the struggling airline, seats on its supervisory board and influence to block strategic...
(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc bolstered its financial reserves as the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic caused its profit to plunge and increased its debt.While earnings were hit hard in the first three months of the year, the worst of the virus-driven crisis is yet to come. The company expects the pandemic to reduce its production and have a material impact on refining in the second quarter.A measure of its indebtedness rose to the highest in more than eight years, underscoring the financial strain resulting from the oil-market collapse. To boost its financial reserves, BP has taken on a new $10 billion credit facility and also sold $7 billion of bonds.“Our industry has been hit by supply and demand shocks on a scale never seen before,” Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney, who took the company’s helm earlier this year, said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are focusing our efforts on...
(Bloomberg) -- Wirecard AG said an independent audit by KPMG uncovered no need to restate earnings, but added that all the data needed to confirm past revenues could not be obtained. SWirecard hired the accounting firm in October, which has been looking into the payment processor’s third-party partner business, as well as business activities in India and Singapore.In a statement Tuesday, Wirecard said the required data needed to conclusively approve revenues from 2016-2018 is “primarily in the control of third parties.” The company also added that its 2019 accounts will not be released on April 30, due to the Covid-19 virus and the KMPG report. Shares fell as much as 15% in early trading in Frankfurt.The company has drip-fed parts of the report to the market, including last week saying KPMG had not made any substantial findings of questionable accounting methods in all four areas of the audit.Read more: Wirecard Says...
(Bloomberg) -- Banco Santander SA reported the highest provisions by a bank in continental Europe so far this quarter as it attempted to put a number on potential loan losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak.Santander is holding back 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) specifically for losses linked to the virus. Total provisions jumped to a record 3.9 billion euros in the first quarter, causing net income to plunge 82% to 331 million euros, the bank said in a statement.Provisions have become the key focus of this year’s earnings season, with banks trying to estimate the impact of the global economic lockdown on its customers. Santander has spent most of the past decade cleaning up its balance sheet after Spain’s housing market collapsed in 2012, souring billions of euros of loans.Like many competitors, Santander was reluctant to set specific targets going forward as uncertainties remain over the virus’s impact and government economic...
Stuart Joyner, equities analyst at Redburn, said BP's "large rise in net debt overshadows (its) underlying earnings beat." "Whilst the quarterly dividend was maintained at 10.5 cents, serious questions remain over its affordability," he added....
