South African financial services firm Investec reported a 16.8% drop in full-year profit on Thursday. It had forecast a decline of 16-23% in March.

The company said adjusted earnings per share, which reflect profits made in through ordinary operations, stood at 46.5 cents, down from 60.09 cents a year earlier.

South Africa’s rand was weaker in early trade on Thursday, after rallying to a five-week higher in the previous session, ahead of a key policy meeting where the central bank is expected to cut rates again.

At 0630 GMT, the rand was 0.55% weaker at 18.0250 per U.S. dollar after hitting 17.8920, its firmest since April 9, in the previous session in a broad emerging market advance.

Optimism about a coronavirus vaccine and an easing of lockdown restrictions around the world has spurred demand for riskier assets - such as emerging market currencies - this week, while a recovery in commodity prices has also helped them.

South Africa’s SPAR Group on Thursday reported a 13.4% drop in half-year earnings, hit by losses at its restructuring Polish business, and flagged a conservative dividend due to market uncertainty amid the coronavirus crisis.

The grocery chain and wholesaler, which also sells building materials and medicines, said normalised headline earnings per share (HEPS) dropped to 452.7 cents, for the six months ended March 31, from 522.5 cents last year.

The company in a statement said owing to the uncertainty, the board has declared a conservative interim dividend and will consider the annual dividend at year-end when there is more clarity.

Sources on Wednesday said French energy major Total has secured $14.4 billion funding for its Mozambique liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique.

A source with knowledge of the matter said Total has reached a financing agreement with a group that includes around 20 lenders for the first phase of senior debt funding of $14.4 billion.

The source however did not specify the name of the banks involved in the financial arrangement.

An energy banking source confirmed the financing deal to Reuters, adding that it involved 20 banks for just below $15 billion.

Total concluded the acquisition of Anadarko’s 26.5% interest in the Mozambique LNG project for $ 3.9 billion in September. It is expected to start production in 2024.

Civil society organisations have asked the Federal Government to include the beneficial ownership details of bidders among the key requirements needed from those interested in the marginal oil licensing rounds.

According to them, the disclosure of beneficial owners will promote transparency in the process and encourage serious bidders to show interest in the exercise.

The groups disclosed this at a one-day online workshop hosted by Media Initiative on Transparency in Extractive Industries, with the theme urgent case for reforms in the petroleum industry.

In April 2017, Nigeria joined 25 African countries in expressing commitment to disclose the natural beneficial owners of the companies bidding for, operating or investing in the extractives sector.

The Federal Government said in 2019 that the register aligned with its anti-corruption mandate.

Industry operators on Wednesday said the recent reduction in the ex-depot price of petrol by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was to keep the oil firm competitive following the commencement of petrol imports by private marketers.

It was learnt that the corporation had abundant stock and it had to crash its ex-depot price in order not to lose its customers, as more dealers began the importation of petrol.

Officials at the Abuja headquarters of PPPRA and oil marketers said the national oil firm decided to cut down its ex-depot price because the cost of petrol might crash once the products of other marketers begin to hit the market.

They said although the reduction had not caused a corresponding crash in the pump price of petrol, the cost of the commodity at filling stations might drop by next month. Reduced Depot Price To Remain Competitive

The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria has warned its members and forex speculators putting pressure on the naira to stop the practice or risk losing their money.

This came as the dollar was on Wednesday exchanged for N461 on the parallel market.

President, ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, on Wednesday said in Lagos the Central Bank of Nigeria-licenced Bureaux De Change would soon start full operations as the apex bank was set to reopen dollar sales to operators.

According to him, with the CBN’s planned lifting of suspension on dollar sales to the BDCs, reopening of the airports for air travels and global ease on restriction of movements, there are indications that dollar flow to the economy will soon improve.

Gwadabe stated the return of over 5,000 BDCs to the forex market will add great strength to the naira and lead to major capital losses for forex speculators.

A member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Dr Rafindadi Sanusi, in his presentation during the last MPC meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria said Total assets of the industry have grown from N38.57tn in November 2019 to N42.89tn in February 2020.”

The rise in the assets of the banks shows an increase of 11.2 per cent within a period of three months, between November 2019 and February 2020.

Sanusi, an associate professor of economics at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, also spoke on other developments in the banking industry in his personal statement released by the apex bank on Wednesday.

He said Review of the banking system stability report shows that the banking system continues to be stable and resilient.

The non-performing loan ratio decreased from 6.59 per cent in January to 6.54 per cent in February.

He noted that the introduction of the Loan to Deposit Ratio policy made the total credit to increase by N2.35tn between end of May 2019 and March 17, 2020.

Massimiliano Barrotta is seeing a surge in customers coming to sell their gold in his Rome store as Italians feel the economic pain of their government’s lockdown, imposed to curb one of the world’s worst COVID-19 epidemics.

The eight-week shutdown has been gradually eased since May 4, but it has left an economy on its knees, with businesses laden with debt and tens of thousands of new unemployed. The European Commission expects Italy’s economy to shrink by nearly 10% this year.

The manager of three Compro Oro (I buy gold) shops, Barrotta, told Reuters that an increase of about 50% in their purchases of gold from private customers this year, particularly in the last two weeks.

Emerging market currencies snapped a three-day winning streak on Wednesday as concerns about a deep post-pandemic recession returned to the fore after a report cast doubts on the effectiveness of a potential coronavirus vaccine.

Chinese mainland stocks fell 0.5%, while optimism about stimulus measures lifted indexes in South Korea and India, with the former climbing to 2-1/2-month highs.

Turkish shares extended gains for a third session running, stocks in Russia and Poland made healthy gains but bourses in South Africa and Hungary fell.

MSCI’s index of emerging market shares rose 0.3%.