Israel Strikes the Gaza Strip

October 11, 2023

Good Morning,

Kiwibank to pay $812,500 after more than a decade of overcharging customer fees. The US warns Iran to stay out of the Israel and Hamas conflict, and Israel hits the Gaza Strip with fiercest airstrikes in their 75 year history - ignoring threats from Hamas. 4,300 unionized workers strike at three General Motors in Canada.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • Australians devote a greater share of their income to mortgage repayments than any other advanced economy, the IMF has revealed, as it downgraded its forecasts for the local economy and warned inflation will be higher than previously thought. (AFR)

  • In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF left its forecast for global real GDP growth in 2023 unchanged at 3.0% but cut its 2024 forecast to 2.9% from its July forecast of 3.0%. World output grew 3.5% in 2022. (RT)

  • U.S. stocks have surfed through multiple crosscurrents over the past week - from the blistering spike in Treasury yields to the Middle East shock at the weekend - but they remain on board amid what the IMF sees as "remarkable" U.S. economic strength. (RT)

Earnings and Data

  • The co-operative on Monday lifted its farmgate milk price forecast to between $6.50 and $8 per kilogram of milk solids. That increased the midpoint, which farmers are paid off, by 50 cents to $7.25 per kgMS. (Stuff)

  • Brent crude fell 36 cents to $87.79 a barrel by 0805 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude eased 35 cents to $86.03 a barrel. Both benchmarks had fallen by more than $1 in earlier trading before recovering slightly. (RT)

  • German carmaker BMW saw group sales of its battery-electric vehicles surge by 79.6% year on year in the third quarter of 2023 to 93,931 units, the company said on Tuesday. (RT)

News Summary

  • Kiwbank has agreed to pay an $812,500 penalty after it overcharged customers bank fees for more than a decade. (Stuff)

  • Landlords who left their tenant with sewage pooling from a malfunctioning septic tank have been ordered to pay her more than $14,000. (Stuff)

  • Toyota New Zealand must continue to evolve and be relevant beyond selling vehicles, according to chief executive Neeraj Lala, as the sector looks set for another shake-up if National takes power after the general election. (NBR)

  • The Albanese government is moving to regulate Apple Pay, Google Pay and other new digital payment services by expanding the Reserve Bank’s powers, with draft legislation to be released on Wednesday. (AFR)

  • The US is warning Iran to stay out of Israel’s conflict with Hamas as American weapons begin flowing to its Middle East ally after the weekend’s terror attack, and as Israel called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists for the conflict (AFR)

  • Israel pounded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday with the fiercest air strikes in the 75-year history of its conflict with the Palestinians, razing whole districts to dust despite a Hamas threat to execute a captive for each home hit. (RT)

  • Prominent Harvard University alumni on Monday denounced a pro-Palestinian statement from students that blamed Israel for violence engulfing the region and urged the university to take action against the signatories. (RT)

  • Distraught parents of Thai seized in Israel plead: 'help the hostages' (RT)

  • Several global companies have temporarily shut some operations in Israel and asked employees to work from home as the country goes on war footing in response to a surprise attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas over the weekend. (RT)

  • About 4,300 unionized workers went on strike at three General Motors facilities in Canada from Monday midnight after a deadline to negotiate a new deal lapsed, piling pressure on the automaker grappling with an industrial action in the U.S. (RT)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • Accounting giant Deloitte is acquiring some of rival PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) Maldives and Sri Lanka network firms, according to a Deloitte memo seen by Reuters, strengthening the company's presence in the South Asia region. (RT)

  • Truist Financial is in talks to sell its insurance brokerage unit to private equity firm Stone Point for about $10 billion, news website Semafor reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. (RT)

  • French-based company Vinci Group is interested in acquiring EastLink. (AFR)

  • The ACCC has waved through Brookfield and EIG’s $18.7 billion (AUD) deal for Origin Energy. (AFR)

VC & Fundraising

  • Spirits brand Scapegrace is well underway with building New Zealand’s largest distillery on the banks of Lake Dunstan near Cromwell in Central Otago, but the distillery is just part of a much bigger plan for tourism and hospitality offering on the site. (NBR)

  • The Brothers Beer Group will avoid liquidation, after shareholders agreed to inject more than $1 million into the business to keep it afloat and some creditors agreed to take a haircut. (NBR)

  • Judo Bank revealed its plans to raise capital with one of the financial markets’ more arcane, and recently controversial, instruments – additional tier 1 hybrid bonds – on Tuesday. (AFR)

Equity Raises

  • Bank of America research for IPO hopeful Cuscal Limited landed in front of investors, valuing the end-to-end payments outfit at as much as $736 million. (AFR)

  • Tasmea’s IPO is all go as pre-IPO materials hit inboxes. (AFR)

Debt

  • Country Garden warned on Tuesday about its inability to meet offshore debt obligations, potentially joining a growing list of Chinese developers that have defaulted and setting the stage for one of the country's biggest debt restructurings. (RT)

Daily Picks

  • What's the Israel-Palestinian conflict about? The origin of wars explained here.

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