| Listed hotel and casino operators rallied yesterday following President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement on Wednesday night that they will soon be allowed to operate again. Tsogo Sun Gaming, Tsogo Sun Hotels, Sun International and City Lodge all jumped between 20% and 36%. Although a date hasn't been set for the reopening, it will allow hundreds of thousands of people to return to work three months after the lockdown started. That's cold comfort for the restaurants that will never reopen and the thousands of workers who face retrenchment as companies scale back due to the lasting impact Covid-19 and the lockdown will have on their operations. Following reports that Edcon has served retrenchment notices on 22,000 of its employees, Sasol is preparing to restructure its workforce as it reshapes its business to endure lower oil prices. More job losses are also on the cards at ArcelorMittal SA after the lockdown exacerbated an already difficult environment for the steel producer. Meanwhile, more companies plan to ask their shareholders to back cash calls. Last month, Mr Price said it wanted authority from shareholders to issue shares for cash. Now The Foschini Group and Curro are planning to raise equity capital to pay down debt and take advantage of any opportunities that may crop up. Curro already has its eye on a few. Finally, which JSE-listed mining company has a market capitalisation 40% larger than Anglo American, almost half as much again as Glencore, and larger than AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Impala, Sibanye-Stillwater and Exxaro combined? That company is BHP, a behemoth and a constituent of most diversified portfolios. Ingham Analytics says it takes notice of big job announcements - not least the key finance role at an uncertain time. David Lamont is the new CFO at BHP - unusually, an external appointment with an interesting background. In its latest Searchlight note "New hands on the financial tiller" Ingham Analytics drills down to the shape BHP is in and the challenges Lamont will face. And, is there some juice still to squeeze out of the BHP share price? Investors interested in mining will also find "Kumba, qaphela!" topical in this context. I hope you have a good weekend. Stephen Gunnion Managing Editor, InceConnect
Relief for the most vulnerable through digital aid delivery The onset of Covid-19 does not replace the challenges that came before: the hundreds of thousands who die every year from malaria, the children sick from parasitic worms, or the millions of people living in extreme poverty. These problems remain, and their effects will be amplified by Covid-19. Here at InceConnect we believe individual donors can do the most good by giving with the use of this platform, all of which are extremely cost-effective organisations serving the world's most vulnerable people. We are proud to announce the launch of iHIVE, a product of partnership between InceConnect, Bridge Capital, and www.acumen.zone. iHIVE is an end-to-end solution for digital aid delivery seeking to drive efficiency and dignity in aid provision. We have partnered with well-known food-assistance NPOs around the country who are providing relief to the most vulnerable amongst us. Find out more here. | 