(Bloomberg) — A group of the world’s richest nations that pledged $8.5 billion in climate finance to South Africa wants the money to be used to retire coal-fired power plants, according to a senior U.S. official involved in the talks, damping suggestions some could be channeled to producing electric vehicles and green hydrogen. The funds …
U.S. Official Says South Africa Aid Aimed at Coal Plants Not EVs Read More »
(Bloomberg) — Woolworths Holdings Ltd.’s efforts to restructure Australian business David Jones have been rewarded with a special dividend, a signal the department-store chain may finally start to deliver for its South African owner after almost eight years. The retailer has “taken out significant amounts of costs” at David Jones and “dealt with what was …
Woolworths Payout From David Jones Gives Joy After Long Struggle Read More »
(Bloomberg) — A South African judicial probe that’s spanned almost four years and cost 1 billion rand ($64 million) concluded that former President Jacob Zuma breached his constitutional duties and asked law-enforcement agencies to consider prosecuting him. The finding by Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo adds to other probes and a deluge of media reports …
South Africa in For Long Haul to Hold Zuma to Account For Graft Read More »
(Bloomberg) — A probe into state corruption in South Africa found that senior ruling party officials received illicit payments from services company Bosasa, leaving President Cyril Ramaphosa in a quandary over how to respond. Bosasa, subsequently renamed African Global Operations, paid the bribes in order to win lucrative state contracts, Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo …
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(Bloomberg) — Burberry Group Plc suspended shipments to Russia, joining U.K. fashion retailers Asos Plc and Boohoo Group Plc in reining in operations in the region after the invasion of Ukraine.
The luxury brand has paused all shipments to Russia until further notice due to “operational challenges,” a Burberry spokesman said Wednesday. The brand has two stores and one concession in Russia, which have remained open for now.
Asos said it has halted sales in the country as it is “neither practical nor right” to continue doing business there, according to a statement. The company has a website in Russia but no operations on the ground.
Asos had already suspended sales in Ukraine immediately following the Russian invasion, a spokesperson said. The retailer didn’t disclose the size of its operations in the countries.
Read More: Rich Russians Spend Big on Luxury to Stop Savings Melting Away
Asos’s rival Boohoo, which also sells to Russian shoppers via its website, suspended its operations in the country at the end of last week, according to a company spokesperson. Boohoo doesn’t have any sales channels in Ukraine.
A number of prominent U.S. brands, including Apple Inc. and Nike Inc., previously announced plans to halt product sales in Russia.
Beyond concerns about the conflict, doing business in Russia has become very difficult for foreign companies. Sanctions are mounting, the ruble is plunging and a number of courier services have stopped deliveries to the country.
The suspension of shipments isn’t expected to have a big financial impact on the U.K. retailers. Burberry’s exposure to Russia is less than 1% of sales, according to the company’s spokesman. Asos’s sales in Russia and Ukraine likely make up less than 5% of sales, estimates Tony Shiret, analyst at Panmure Gordon. Asos declined to comment.
Boohoo’s Russian operations are a slice of 5% revenue coming from a group of countries that predominantly includes Australia, New Zealand and Canada, according to the company’s results.
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(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank expects to raise interest rates later this month to tackle hot inflation amid a tight labor market while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has added uncertainty to the U.S. outlook. “With inflation well above 2% and a strong labor market, we expect it will be …
Powell Sees Fed Rate Liftoff in March While Ukraine Fogs Outlook Read More »
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden’s four nominees to join the Commodity Futures Trading Commission told lawmakers that the main U.S. derivatives overseer should take on new responsibilities regulating cryptocurrencies.
At their confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday, the nominees said the agency’s history overseeing crypto derivatives positions it well to do more to oversee digital assets. Rostin Behnam, who chairs the agency, told lawmakers last month that they should consider giving the regulator more authority and a budget increase of at least $100 million.
There’s an ongoing debate in Washington over which regulators should oversee digital tokens. The CFTC’s current role is limited to oversight of derivatives based on Bitcoin and Ether, as well as investigating fraud or manipulation in underlying markets. Meanwhile, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has garnered attention for suggesting that most tokens fall under his agency’s tough investor-protection rules — a position that industry executives reject.
Read more: CFTC Seeks Bigger Role in U.S. Efforts to Oversee Crypto Trading
During Wednesday’s hearing, Christy Goldsmith Romero, one of the four female CFTC nominees, said that the agency lacked visibility into underlying crypto markets. “It’s very hard to find fraud if you don’t have visibility, you don’t have access,” said Goldsmith Romero, who has worked for about 10 years as special inspector general for the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The other nominees — Summer Mersinger, Caroline Pham, and Kristin Johnson — also faced questions from lawmakers about their views on crypto oversight, and indicated the CFTC was poised to take on a bigger role.
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(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. announced plans to hold its first product unveiling of 2022 on March 8, kicking off what’s expected to be its biggest year ever in terms of new devices.
In an invitation sent out Wednesday, Apple confirmed a date that was previously reported by Bloomberg News. At the event, the company is expected to announce its first low-cost iPhone SE with 5G capabilities, a new iPad Air and updated Macs with Apple-made chips.
The showcase will occur virtually, continuing the approach Apple adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic. The event, promoted with the tagline “Peek performance,” will get underway at 10 a.m. Pacific time. The presentation will be streamed on Apple’s website, but the company also typically hosts its virtual keynotes on Google’s YouTube and other social media websites.
Last October, Apple announced the latest MacBook Pros and AirPods. Next week’s event is likely to be one of several in the coming months, with the company planning an ambitious upgrade cycle in 2022. The new products are expected to include the iPhone 14 line, as many as three updated Apple Watch models, several new Macs with custom chips, a revamped iPad Pro and possibly a preview of an upcoming mixed-reality headset.
At next week’s presentation, the company is planning to unveil its first update to the iPhone SE since 2020, adding 5G networking to the current design. The phone is also expected to include a processor and camera upgrade. Apple also may show off its first update to the iPad Air since 2020, with the device getting 5G and a newer chip.
Apple plans to announce at least one new Mac as well, with more new machines coming around May or June and in the fall. The company is planning a new entry-level MacBook Pro with an M2 chip, an upgraded Mac mini geared toward professionals and a higher-end iMac this year.
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(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook sent an email to all employees following the company’s announcement that it will stop sales in Russia, telling staff that it will match donations to support Ukraine.
The full email, obtained by Bloomberg News, is below:
Team,
I wanted to take a moment to address the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
I know I speak for everyone at Apple in expressing our concern for all of those affected by the violence. With each new image of families fleeing their homes and brave citizens fighting for their lives, we see how important it is for people around the world to come together to advance the cause of peace.
Apple is donating to humanitarian relief efforts and providing aid for the unfolding refugee crisis. We are also working with partners to assess what more we can do. I know that many of you are eager to find ways to support as well, and we want to help amplify the impact of your donations. Starting today, Apple will match your donations at a rate of 2:1 for eligible organizations, and we will make this retroactive for donations to those organizations since Feb. 25. Please visit the Employee Giving Portal to learn more.
We are working to support our teams in Ukraine and across the region. In Ukraine, we have been in contact with every employee, assisting them and their families in any way we can. For our Ukrainian team members located outside of the country that may need support, please contact (address redacted). And for any employee who needs any support, please visit the People site for available resources.
As a company, we are taking additional actions as well. We have paused all product sales in Russia. Last week, we stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country. Apple Pay and other services have been limited. RT News and Sputnik News are no longer available for download from the App Store outside Russia. And we have disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens.
We will continue to evaluate the situation and are in communication with relevant governments on the actions we are taking.
This moment calls for unity, it calls for courage, and it reminds us that we must never lose sight of the humanity we all share. In these difficult times, I take comfort in knowing that we are united in our commitment to each other, to our users, and to being a force for good in the world.
Tim
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(Bloomberg) — The hottest inflation in four decades has prompted some employers to open the spigot on pay, but plenty still won’t budge — leaving workers in the lurch with a pay cut.
Nearly 1 in 4 executives said they’re not making any changes to pay in response to inflation, according to a poll by Gartner Inc., an increase from the 18% who said so in December. That reluctance — fueled in part by expectations that inflation will ease — comes amid a tight labor market and rising prices for everything from gas to guacamole. More than 6 out of 10 workers are concerned about their salary keeping up with inflation, a survey from the Conference Board found.
“Some companies that had been planning on making that pay adjustment decided not to do it,” Brian Kropp, Gartner’s head of human-resources research, said in an email. “The two most common reasons for pulling back are that they started to believe that inflation would not be as permanent and therefore didn’t need to bake it in, or realized they couldn’t actually afford it given how their financials played out.”
Companies are still doling out merit-based increases but typically aren’t hiking pay based on inflation alone, according to the Gartner survey.
To be sure, wages have risen recently, particularly for lower-paid or hourly roles, and companies of all stripes are expanding their compensation budgets this year. Target Corp., McDonald’s Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. have all boosted their starting or average hourly wages over the past year, while on the higher end of the pay scale, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. have raised junior bankers’ pay to keep them from fleeing to cryptocurrency or fintech startups.
One gauge from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta shows a 5.1% annual pace of wage gains, the best in two decades. Workforce consultant Willis Towers Watson found that 98% of companies globally will increase salaries in 2022, at an average rate of 3.4%, the fastest since 2008.
But inflation is running much faster. Consumer prices rose 7.5% in January from a year ago following a 7% annual gain in December, according to the Labor Department. The typical U.S. household is spending an additional $276 a month on goods and services because of rising inflation, according to Moody’s Analytics Inc. When adjusted for inflation, average hourly earnings fell 1.7% in January from a year earlier, the 10th straight decline.
It helps explain why 62% of workers polled by the Conference Board are worried that their pay won’t keep up with inflation. That figure rises to 72% among millennials, the generation born between 1981 and 1996 that comprise the fastest-growing part of the U.S. labor force.
Gartner’s survey, conducted in late February, also found that about 1 in 4 executives planned to boost pay, but not at a level that would keep pace with inflation. Just 13% said they planned to increase compensation at a rate commensurate with inflation for all employees.
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