Banks Offer Interest Free Loans for Flood and Cyclone Victims

Good Morning,

Kiwibank has joined Westpac and TSB in offering interest-free loans to flood and cyclone victims, Fletcher Building says there are no problems on its delayed Puhoi to Warkworth motorway project and the new road is now in the formal handover process to NZTA/Waka Kotahi, Shareholder votes offer a check on unjustified CEO pay at S&P 500 companies.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• The NZX 50 moved +0.6% higher to 12,157.75 and the ASX 200 gained +0.5% to 7,390.70.

• In the US, the S&P 500 moved +0.3% higher, the NASDAQ was up +0.9% despite stronger-than-expected inflation data and a fall in weekly jobless claims (RT)

• London's FTSE 100 increased +0.6% to 7,997.83.

Earnings and Data

• Skellerup has reported an unaudited 1% drop in net profit to $23 million for the six months to December, citing an operating environment of high inflation and slowing economies. However, it is on track to make its guidance for the full year of $48m to $52m net profit, Mair told analysts at a briefing on Thursday (NBR)

• Cisco Systems Inc's second-quarter adjusted earnings of 88 cents per share and revenue of $13.59 billion were higher than market estimates by Refinitiv (MSN)

• Fourth-quarter revenue rose 26% to $1.7 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.64 billion. On an adjusted basis, Shopify earned 7 cents per share, beating the expectation of a 1 cent loss. Despite this, the company failed to impress and its stock has tumbled over -11% (RT)

• ASB’s 10% increase in net profit to $840 million for the half year to December comes as Kiwis face a cost of living crunch, chief executive Vittoria Shortt acknowledges (NBR)

News Summary

• Vineyards have been hit hard by flooding, but it is too early to say how the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle might affect the $1.9 billion wine export industry (Stuff)

• Last week another construction firm with over 100 staff, H Construction Services Ltd, entered voluntary administration (Stuff)

• Cyclone Gabrielle has left a trail of busted fences, “banana-ed gates”, and pastures so thick with silt they resemble beaches after the Pohangina River swelled to 4.22 metres on Monday night (Stuff)

• Kiwibank has joined Westpac and TSB in offering interest-free loans to flood and cyclone victims (Stuff)

• Transpower knew Napier substation was 'critical' risk in worst case flood (Stuff)

• Fletcher Building says there are no problems on its delayed Puhoi to Warkworth motorway project and the new road is now in the formal handover process to NZTA/Waka Kotahi (NBR)

• Standard Chartered Plc upped its guidance and announced a bigger-than-expected buyback (worth US$1bn) as it reported fourth-quarter results against a backdrop of speculation around a possible takeover bid from the Middle East (BBG)

• Nestle SA has taken an impairment charge of 1.9 billion Swiss francs ($2.1 billion) on an investment in a peanut allergy medication, effectively writing down the bulk of its value (BBG)

• Shareholder votes offer a check on unjustified CEO pay at S&P 500 companies, study finds (RT)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

• Industry sources across the Tasman told Street Talk Anchorage has been in talks with Access’ owner, NZX-listed Green Cross Health, about carving the homecare unit out of the wider health group and running it as a standalone company (AFR)

• Azure Capital has ruled off a $1 billion odd sale of German renewables player Wircon’s Australian solar assets, closing a deal with oil and gas giant Petronas’ clean energy business Gentari this week (AFR)

• Adani Power Is Said to Scrap $850 Million Coal Plant Purchase (BBG)

• Atos SE received an indicative offer from Airbus SE to acquire a 29.9% stake in Evidian, a unit that will spin off Atos’ cybersecurity, cloud and supercomputing activities. Shares rose as much as 12% in Paris (BBG)

• Newcrest Mining Ltd. rejected an initial $17 billion takeover bid by US rival Newmont Corp., with the Australian miner’s interim CEO saying the company was “worth a lot more." (BBG)

• Vodafone Is Exploring Options for $14 Billion African Unit (BBG)

• Sinochem Holdings Corp. is considering selling its 37% stake in Italian tiremaker Pirelli & C. SpA as the Chinese state-owned conglomerate seeks to streamline its global portfolio of assets, according to people familiar with the matter (BBG)

• Freedom Holding Agrees to Buy Maxim Group for $400 Million (BBG)

• A Russian government commission has approved the sale of Swedish furniture maker IKEA's factories in Russia to two local buyers, paving the way for a deal to be struck, a government official was quoted as saying on Thursday (RT)

• Air India has options and purchase rights to buy 370 more aircraft from Airbus and Boeing over the next decade, an company executive said in a recent LinkedIn post, days after the carrier unveiled a record order for 470 jets (RT)

• U.S. private equity firm TPG is in advanced talks to buy Malaysian private education assets owned by regional buyout firm KV Asia Capital in a deal that could be worth more than $300 million, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters (RT)

• Amazon said on Wednesday it is in talks with regulators on its $1.7 billion bid for iRobot Corp (IRBT.O), maker of the robotic vacuum cleaner Roomba, with the takeover likely to draw tough scrutiny due to regulatory concerns about deals by Big Tech (RT)

VC & Fundraising

• Acquisitive property group Centuria Capital had Morgan Stanley and Bank of America targeting Asian investors for a $300 million convertible bond raising on Thursday night, locking in debt at a 3.45 per cent to 3.95 per cent annual coupon (AFR)

• PEP and Brookfield’s tearaway Intellihub is chasing lenders for an additional $500 million funding, to help speed-up rollout of its smart meters and particularly in New Zealand (AFR)

• Egypt is considering raising as much as $1.5 billion as early as next week via a debut sale of Islamic bonds known as sukuk, according to people with knowledge of the plans (BBG)

Equity Raises

• Bain Capital has tapped Goldman Sachs, UBS and Barrenjoey Capital Partners as lead managers on Virgin Australia’s potential initial public offering (AFR)

• Byju’s is in negotiations with investors including TPG to raise more than $500 million, a much-needed capital infusion that could help the world’s most valuable edtech startup stave off potential debt issues (BBG)

• The firm behind brands including Jissbon condoms is considering a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise about $300 million, according to people familiar with the matter (BBG)

Debt

• Ryman Healthcare made the call to pay off its most expensive tranche of debt, which carries a hefty penalty for shareholders, because it was at risk of breaching its covenants. The NZX-listed retirement village announced yesterday it was tapping shareholders for $902 million, to help reset its balance sheet and pay down mounting debt, which had exceeded $3 billion (NBR)

• Lenders including Natwest Group Plc, ING Groep NV, Bank of America Corp. and BNP Paribas SA are in the process of writing down about $300 million in loans to Eurovita after an Italian regulator suspended management and halted redemptions at the life insurer, people with knowledge of the matter said (BBG)

• High-profile financial advisers including Houlihan Lokey Inc., Lazard Ltd. and EvercoreInc. say they’re experiencing a surge in enquiries for so-called liability management as corporates bloated with debt find themselves searching for solutions to the end of a decade of almost free money (BBG)

Daily Picks

• New study will look at link between Tongan eruption and Cyclone Gabrielle (Stuff)

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