Fishing company Irvin & Johnson (I&J) has caught the bug, so to speak, and it’s affecting its balance sheet.
South Africa’s biggest exporter of abalone to China is experiencing shipment stoppage of product going east, I&J holding company AVI has reported.
With exports to China halted because of the coronavirus (Covid-19), AVI chief executive Simon Crutchley has identified the impact of Covid-19 as the group’s biggest short-term challenge so far this year.
South African Airlines (SAA), which is practically terminal from a different kind of contagion, the corruption virus, will have to cull jobs if its wants to stay afloat.
Currently in business rescue after years of racking up losses to the tune of R26 billion, SAA has told its staff complement of 4 708 that this figure will have to come down – drastically.
News of the expected job cuts at the state-owned airline come despite union efforts to stop business practitioners from trimming personnel fat through litigation, a matter in which labour has so far failed.
Also plummeting from the heights is MTN.
The cellular service provider’s share price has fallen 15.10% because of the havoc Covid-19 is wreaking on the plunging oil price, down 22%. The R64.95 level to which MTN shares fell when markets closed yesterday, is the lowest point its stock has reached since 2006.
In the meantime there’s no certainty whether the South African company will acquiesce to debt ratings agency S&P Global’s demand that it diminish its exposure to Nigeria. MTN is heavily invested in its biggest market, but S&P is threatening to downgrade MTN’s debt if it doesn’t pull back on its exposure to Africa’s largest economy.
Speaking of Africa, a continent in much need for foreign direct investment (FDI).
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has reported that FDI will be hit hard by Covid-19 and its effect on manufacturing.
Unctad data shows that FDI can decrease by up to 15% as global markets absorb the effects of the coronavirus.
Best case scenario is that FDI will only slow to about 5%, depending on how soon global supply chain recovers from the virus, with shipping lines appearing a little hasty to restore full-service volumes –CMA CGA subsidiary APL being one of them.
Time will tell though how the effect of Covid-19 will play out over the rest of 2020.
Far more apparent was the JSE bleeding yesterday where worldwide selling led to the local stock exchange’s worst day since 2008. Indications are that panic selling of stock across the world will also not let up anytime soon.
And if you think that’s bad – a penny for your thoughts about what’s happening in Italy where Covid-19 has caused the country to seal off its industrial heartland in the north. – Eugene Goddard
