235,000 jobs
With US wage growth accelerating in February and employers hiring at a lively pace, there is now no question that the Federal Reserve will raise rate this week.
The economy added 235,000 jobs compared with forecasts of 200,000 while average hourly earnings climbed by 2.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the first full month of Donald Trump’s presidency.
February’s reading on the labour market has taken on increased significance.
“A March hike is a done deal. The report was the last piece in the puzzle and there is nothing here that will make the Fed want to step back from their recent signalling,” said Luke Bartholomew, investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.
$25bn plus IPO
There is no gain saying that Saudi Arabia’s initial public offering of state energy giant Saudi Aramco planned for late next year will be the largest ever, surpassing the $25bn raised by Alibaba in 2014.
Now the question on the mind of the Saudis and their advisers is, which market is deep enough to take an IPO of the size being contemplated?
Deep and active markets are essential for the one or two foreign stock exchanges chosen to host the shares, alongside a listing on the kingdom’s domestic market, the Tadawul. Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, this week said the company was evaluating different venues.
The choices and their market cap are New York’s NYSE $19.6trn; Tokyo’s TSE $5.1trn; London’s LSE $3.5trn; and hong Kong’s HKEx $3.4trn.
90,000 bpd
Nigerian energy group Aiteo took the market by storm last week when it announced it had achieved a peak production of 90kpod just one year after its acquisition of sub-Sharan Africa’s reputedly largest onshore oil bloc OML 29. And if confirmed, it should make Aiteo the largest indigenous oil producing firm by output.
Aiteo acquired OML 29 in September, 2015 when oil major Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) fully exited the facility. At the time of the divestment, average production was 23Kbpod. But Aiteo, says it has tripled this figure leveraging the diversity and skills of its work force and bona fides as a dynamic international energy conglomerate.
CEO and Vice Chairman, Benedict Peters says the company grew production from 23kbbl/d upon takeover of operations to a peak of 90Kbbl/d in one year and hinted at several existing and developing projects that could potentially grow Aiteo’s asset production to over 150 kbopd and 200mmscf/d.
$21.8bn on fire
Nigeria is seeking to increase the contribution of renewables to its energy mix to 23 percent by 2025, from 13 percent in 2015 and the plan is to generate as much as 1,200 megawatts of off-grid solar. Nigeria’s households and small businesses currently spend about $21.8 billion each year powering diesel generators to generate electricity, according to a study by German development agency GIZ.
Interest in solar has already increased, with more than $50 million of Chinese photovoltaic panels imported in the last two years, according to Bloomberg’s New Energy Finance, BNEF.
“Nigeria’s working population is just over 70 million people,” says Erabor Okogun, founder of Nemoante, a solar energy investor. “Any aspiring industrial nation typically requires about 1 gigawatt of energy for 1 million people, so providing sufficient power to those individuals alone is a 70 gigawatt opportunity.”
30% up
What has chocolate price got to do with Brexit? Here is the answer that many Brits will find bitter.
Chocolate prices could rise if the UK does not secure a trade deal post-Brexit, according to Mars’ top boss.
Fiona Dawson, global president for Mars, said the absence of a deal with EU member states would see tariffs of up to 30% for the industry.
