Oil Company Drama!

May 05, 2023

Good Morning,

The US Federal Reserve serves yet another hike in interest rates, marking the tenth time in 14 months. The Reserve Bank in New Zealand is set to set a higher OCR rate later this month. Dramas continue with oil companies - with Air New Zealand questioning oil companies on the quality of supplied goods.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.25% as expected on Thursday and said it would stop reinvesting cash from maturing debt in its 3.2 trillion euro Asset Purchase Programme from July. (RT)

  • The Federal Reserve increased its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points - its 10th hike in 14 months. (BBC)

  • Asian investors have joined a series of landmark international lawsuits being filed against the Swiss government over its handling of the takeover of troubled bank Credit Suisse. (BBC)

  • US unemployment claims rose by 13,000 to 242,000 in the week ended April 29. (BBG)

Earnings and Data

  • The Bank of New Zealand has posted a 13 percent rise in profits on the back of growth in lending but warned that challenging times are ahead. (RNZ)

  • Sales in homeware business Briscoes increased by 2.85% to $109.9m in the quarter, while sporting goods sales at Rebel Sport increased by 2.78% to $71.3m. (Stuff)

  • Shell was accused of a “profiteering bonanza” after it made record first-quarter profits of more than $9.6bn (£7.6bn) in the first three months of this year, even as oil and gas prices tumbled from last year’s highs. (Guardian)

News Summary

  • Heavy rain is forecast for Northland, the west coast of the North Island and the top of the South Island with MetService and councils monitoring the situation in some areas in case of flooding. (RNZ)

  • A change in a 'discriminatory' refugee policy has seen a large increase in African and Middle Eastern families being resettled in New Zealand. (RNZ)

     

  • KiwiRail admits it had opportunities to avoid the chaos with trains in Wellington this week but missed them. (RNZ)

  • The top US data privacy regulator has accused Meta, the firm that owns Facebook and Instagram, of not putting proper parental controls in place. (RNZ)

  • The price of labour is falling in the United States, Britain and Europe, as the balance shifts back to employers from employees in a number of major markets. (RNZ)

  • Air New Zealand wants oil companies to explain why bad batches of jet fuel keep being delivered. (RNZ)

  • The rapid rise in migration and the resurrection of the tourism industry could see the economy cling on to growth for longer than expected, though an economic downturn is still forecast for later this year. (RNZ)

  • The RBNZ will deliver another official cash rate hike later this month, according to economists, but whether they stop at 5.5% will depend on one unruly word – inflation. (NBR)

  • Retail investment platform Sharesies has revealed its soon-to-be launched KiwiSaver product will give consumers the option to “self-select” how a portion of their savings are invested. (NBR)

  • Residential investors are borrowing money against their rentals to put into other income-earning ventures, as a way to avoid the new mortgage non-deductibility rule, a property commentator said. (NBR)

  • A fast food retailer that took almost $3.4 million in Covid wage subsidies failed to pay staff for working public holidays, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found yesterday. (Herald)

  • New EU envoy recognises ‘willingness to rebuild relationship’ between UK and EU (Guardian)

  • More than half of the 22 oil tankers in Venezuela's fleet are so run down that they should be immediately repaired or taken out of service, according to an internal report from state-run oil company PDVSA that was shared exclusively with Reuters. (RT)

  • Kenyan cult in the forest claimed world would end on April 15 and convinced hundreds to starve themselves and their children to death. (RT)

  • Russia said on Thursday that the United States was behind what it says was a drone attack on the Kremlin that aimed to kill President Vladimir Putin, while Moscow's forces fired more combat drones at Ukrainian cities including the capital Kyiv. (RT)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • Kiwi retailer HealthPost buys two Australian competitors after parent company's insolvency (RNZ)

  • Betr, the News Corporation-backed wagering group launched last year, has put itself up for sale after receiving inbound interest. (AFR)

  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s international online shopping unit is exploring a US initial public offering as it weighs options to spur growth for the business that includes major e-commerce brands Lazada and AliExpress (BBG)

  • Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank Group called off its $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon Corp on Thursday, triggering a drop of around 40% in the U.S. regional bank's shares in premarket trading. (RT)

Debt

  • Egg farmer Indus Valley, whose Zeagold unit sells under the Farmer Brown and Woodland brands, has entered a sale and leaseback deal on farming property as part of a scheme to pay down debt. (NBR)

Daily Picks

  • A Canberra man has been arrested while evading police on an e-scooter travelling at 100km/hr. Read more about it here.

  • A Woman in Thailand has been arrested for 14 counts of murder by cyanide poisoning. See more in this article.

Job Board

New Zealand

  • ASB rural banking graduate - Apply here

  • Waterman Capital investment analyst - Apply here

Australia

  • Citadel Securities graduate and intern roles - Apply here

  • Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Intern - Apply here

  • IMC graduate and intern roles - Apply here

  • Jarden

    • Graduate role - Apply here

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    • Graduate role - Apply here

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