A Fire, A Protest, A War & A Frog

May 17, 2023

Good Morning,

A fire in a leaves at least 6 dead in a Wellington hostel. In the crypto markets, a pepe the frog themed cryptocurrency rises 7,000% in value. Russia continues to launch missiles into the Ukraine, and strikes in Britain continue for workers to protest and maintain their purchasing power due to high levels of inflation.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell to a morning low of 11,878.97 before recovering in the afternoon to close at 11,945.87, up 8.26 points or 0.07%. (GR)

  • The retirement sector was stronger, with many aged healthcare companies experiencing an increase in share price. Summerset Group gained 8c to $8.26; Arvida Group increased 3c or 2.83% to $1.09; and Oceania Healthcare was also up 3c or 4.41% to 71c. (GR)

  • International investors look poised to reverse a decade of disinvestment from Italian government bonds, as high yields and encouraging economic reports spur demand for the debt, latest data shows and analysts say. (RT)

  • Cryptoverse: Every frog has its day as pepe pops 7,000% (RT)

  • The pound dropped on Tuesday after a rise in Britain's jobless numbers suggested fewer Bank of England rate increases could be needed in the coming months to bring down inflation, helping the broad dollar index to push back towards Monday's five-week peak. (RT)

  • Westpac economists have lifted their expected peak for the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 6 per cent in a new report which highlights the inflationary risks of the surge in migration numbers. (Herald)

Earnings and Data

  • Auckland-based space-tech company Zenno Astronautics has exceeded $75 million in sales, as the company aims to rapidly expand and support its mission to build life in space. (NBR)

News Summary

  • A resident of a Wellington hostel where a fatal fire occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning said the fire alarms often went off, but not when they were most needed. (RNZ)

  • Stats NZ said gross domestic product (GDP) fell a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in the three months ended December, after a revised gain of 1.7 percent in the previous quarter. (RNZ)

  • Two people with weapons rob Waikato bank (Stuff)

  • An Auckland man has been jailed for 20 months at Pukekohe District Court after he fraudulently applied for Covid-related financial support from Inland Revenue. (Stuff)

  • What landlords can earn in rent appears to have stagnated, with the median amount being asked for remaining unchanged for three months in a row, Trade Me data shows. (Stuff)

  • The Ukrainian capital Kyiv has been targeted by further Russian air attacks, described by one official as "exceptional in density". (BBC)

     

  • Eleven Indonesian villagers from Aceh province have reached a confidential financial settlement with oil giant ExxonMobil. (BBC)

  • Britain’s economy lost another half a million working days to strikes in March amid the most severe round of industrial action in nearly four decades. (BBG)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • Suncorp and ANZ will point to the difficulties regional banks face in competing against larger rivals – specifically persistently higher funding costs – as part of a last ditch effort to be given approval for a $3.5 billion sale of the former’s banking division to the latter. (AFR)

  • Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard Inc. won European Union approval, putting the bloc at odds with its UK and US counterparts. (BBG)

  • Elon Musk’s X Corp., the parent company of Twitter, has made its first acquisition: a tech talent recruiting service called Laskie, according to a person familiar with the matter. (BBG)

  • Outgoing Shell Australia chairman Tony Nunan has delivered a stark warning that the multiple interventions made by the Labor government against the energy sector have made Australia less attractive for international investment. (AFR)

VC & Fundraising

  • Appen seeks $60m to recast itself for the ChatGPT era (AFR)

Equity Raises

  • Fund managers are evaluating two capital raisings on Tuesday as Nuchev and Intra Energy chase equity. (AFR)

Debt

  • Vice Media Group, popular for websites such as Vice and Motherboard, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday to engineer its sale to a group of lenders, capping years of financial difficulties and top-executive departures. (RT)

  • The parent company of failed controversial payday lender, Moola, has been placed into liquidation. (NBR)

Daily Picks

  • Five men have been found guilty of an audacious jewel heist in the German city of Dresden. Read more here.

Job Board

New Zealand

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