South African Regulator to Consider Approving Nuclear Power Plan

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa will on Nov. 11 consider approving the procurement of 2,500 megawatts of nuclear power.

The regulator will consider approving a so-called section 34 determination for the program, which enables the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to undertake a bidding process for private producers to build nuclear power facilities, it said in a Twitter posting outlining the agenda for the meeting.

GardaWorld Announces Extension Of Cash Offer For G4S Plc – Quick Facts

Garda World Security Corporation said its cash offer for G4S plc (GFSZY.PK,GFS.L) is being extended and will remain open for acceptance until 1.00 p.m. on 28 November 2020.

Stephan Crétier, CEO of GardaWorld, said: “We are extending our offer for G4S because, despite its past problems and uncertain future, we believe we can turn the business around. We can give G4S shareholders the certainty of cash today, not jam tomorrow. We believe G4S is misrepresenting its prospects under the current management team.”

UK to get 10,000,000 doses of Covid vaccine that is 90% effective

The UK could be 10,000,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine by Christmas after a pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced it had proven to be 90% effective.

Dr Albert Bourla confirmed today that the Covid-19 vaccine trial had exceeded experts’ expectations.

A spokesperson for Boris Johnson has now branded the results ‘promising’ ahead of a press conference this evening.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon…

Visit our live blog for the latest updates Coronavirus news live

Herald morning quiz: November 10

Test your brains with the Herald's morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz at 3pm for the afternoon quiz.

Bunzl Buys Denmark’s ICM; Agrees To Buy Brazil’s SP Equipamentos; Terms Not Disclosed

Distribution and outsourcing Group Bunzl plc (BZLFY.PK,BNZL.L) announced Monday that it has now completed the acquisition of ICM, a Denmark-based distributor of personal protection equipment to customers, mainly operating in the wind energy sector. ICM generated revenue in 2019 of around 49 million pounds.

Further, the company said it has recently entered into an agreement to purchase SP Equipamentos, a Brazilian personal protection equipment distributor. Completion of the acquisition is expected to take place at the end of November.

Sao Paulo-based SP Equipamentos, with revenue in 2019 of around 22 million pounds, supplies safety products across a number of markets, including the mining, steel, construction and agriculture sectors.

Frank van Zanten, Chief Executive Officer of Bunzl, said, “These two acquisitions will further expand and develop our safety businesses in Brazil and Denmark, complementing our product offering and broadening our customer base in both markets. Growth through acquisitions continues to be an important part of the strategy of the Group..”

For the year-to-date period, the company has committed acquisition spend totaling more than 400 million pounds.

The company added that a number of discussions regarding further acquisitions are ongoing.

Countrywide Plc Receives Indicative Approach From Connells – Quick Facts

Countrywide plc (CWD.L) said the Group has received an indicative approach from Connells Limited to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital at a price of 250 pence per Countrywide share. The Group noted that the approach is at an early stage.

The Board of Countrywide plc has decided to postpone the general meeting to approve the shareholder resolutions pursuant to the proposed transaction announced on 22 October 2020 until further notice. The Group said its shareholders should take no further action in connection with the proposed deal until further notice.

Q.beyond Posts Narrower EBITDA Loss In Q3; Confirms FY20 Guidance – Quick Facts

q.beyond AG (QSCGF.PK) reported a third quarter consolidated net loss of 5.0 million euros compared to a loss of 2.6 million euros, previous year. EBITDA was negative at 0.6 million euros compared to a negative EBITDA of 2.2 million euros.

Third quarter revenues increased to 35.1 million euros from 32.3 million euros, prior year. Cloud & IoT revenue increased to 25.1 million euros from 22.7 million euros. New orders were 52.3 million euros in third quarter of 2020. The Group noted that around 70% of these orders were received from new customers.

For 2020, q.beyond still expects revenues to grow by at least 13% to more than 143 million euros. The company still expects a negative EBITDA of up to 5 million euros in the current year.

“As planned and previously communicated, q.beyond expects to generate sustainably positive EBITDA from the fourth quarter of 2020, and sustainably positive free cash flow from the fourth quarter of 2021,” said CEO Jürgen Hermann.

Three-Year Note Auction Attracts Average Demand

Kicking off this week’s announcements of the results of its long-term securities auctions, the Treasury Department revealed on Monday that its auction of $54 billion worth of three-year notes attracted average demand.

The three-year note auction drew a high yield of 0.250 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.40.

Last month, the Treasury sold $52 billion worth of three-year notes, drawing a high yield of 0.193 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.44.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

The ten previous three-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.42.

Looking ahead, the Treasury is due to announce the results of its auction of $41 billion worth of ten-year notes on Tuesday and the result of its auction of $27 billion worth of thirty-year bonds on Thursday.