Finance

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Ryanair Holdings Plc predicted a 300 million-euro ($325 million) hit for the fiscal year that just ended because of costs arising from fuel hedges. Before the extra costs, profit for the year ended March 31 will come in as low as 950 million euros, the bottom end of its previous estimate, the Irish low-cost carrier said Friday. With its planes mostly grounded for April and May, Ryanair said it’s impossible to…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — As countries around the globe try to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, nowhere is the task more challenging and the risk greater than in the developing world. From Southeast Asia to South America, governments are struggling to enforce severe China-style lockdowns. They lack the resources to deploy the testing-heavy, tech-driven measures used by wealthier countries like Singapore and South Korea, which have had more success in keeping…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — Negative yields in the $17 trillion Treasury market is a step closer to reality after the Federal Reserve eased banking capital requirements. The move by the Fed allows banks to take on more leverage so they can absorb a lack of liquidity for Treasuries, following a turbulent few weeks. Two-year yields touched the lowest level since 2013 after the announcement, and are hovering just over 20 basis points…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — As if an all-but-dead economy wasn’t enough, South African banks must now navigate a downgrade in the nation’s credit rating to junk just as the coronavirus sinks any chance of recovery. Banking stocks slid with the rand and local bonds on Monday after the continent’s most industrialized economy lost its last investment-grade rating from Moody’s Investors Service, which maintained a negative outlook. The coronavirus pandemic means the country, already…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Call it Helicopter Credit. The Federal Reserve is poised to spray trillions of dollars into the U.S. economy once a massive aid package to fight the coronavirus and its aftershocks are signed into law. These actions are unprecedented, going beyond anything it did during the 2008 financial crisis in a sign of the extraordinary challenge facing the nation. “The Fed has effectively shifted from lender of last resort for…

Fitch Ratings-Paris/London-25 March 2020: The coronavirus pandemic will put pressure on sub-sovereign issuers’ financial profiles, Fitch Ratings says. The main transmission channel to sub-sovereign ratings would be through potential sovereign rating actions rather than the direct impact, but this will vary between local and regional governments (LRGs) and government-related entities (GREs). Fitch rates approximately 300 LRGs and 325 policy-driven GREs globally on its international rating scale. Policy-driven GREs are those whose policy missions are traditionally…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa is rushing to boost radio spectrum for its main telecommunications companies to avoid a network breakdown as Africa’s most industrialized nation prepares for a three-week lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa is in talks with companies including Vodacom Group Ltd. and MTN Group Ltd. to find ways to provide the wireless carriers with additional capacity, the regulator’s spokesman, Paseka Maleka, said by…