Company news in brief

Sasol slumps as oil crash hits global marketsSouth African stocks plunged to a more than four-year low yesterday, joining a global sell-off in riskier assets as oil prices collapsed more than 30%, hitting chemical and energy firm Sasol the hardest.Yesterday morning, Sasol was on track for its biggest ever one-day fall. Shares plunged 44.46%, to a 6-1/2-year low.The decline in the Johannesburg All-Share index and Top-40 index was compounded by fears the impact from the fast-spreading coronavirus will intensify.At 0904 GMT, the All-Share index weakened 5.84% to 49 025 points, a level last seen in February 2016, while the Top-40 index tumbled 6.02% to 43 947, its weakest level since January 2017.Mining stocks also took a hit as silver, palladium, platinum and gold prices fell. The mining index slumped 7.14%. – Nampa/ReutersAramco trades below IPO priceShares in Saudi Aramco plunged 10% in opening trade yesterday, following a sharp drop in oil prices after Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling prices for crude and set out plans for a dramatic increase in oil production next month.Aramco was trading at 27 riyals (US$7.20), 15.6% below its initial public offering (IPO) price of 32 riyals, which in December valued the company at US$1.7 trillion in the world's biggest share offering.Aramco fell below its IPO price on Sunday for the first time since trading began in December when the company's listing was seen as a culmination of years of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's efforts to help diversify the economy away from oil.Arqaam Capital cut its rating of Aramco to hold yesterday, citing the company's significant exposure to the oil price cut which will hit its 2020 earnings. It also cut its target price to 30.80 riyals a share from a previous 39.20 riyals.Aramco, which is set to announce its 2019 earnings on March 16, is expected to post a net profit of 347.6 billion riyals (US$92.6 billion) in 2019, according to a mean estimate of 15 analysts polled by Refinitiv, down from US$111.1 billion in 2018. – Nampa/ReutersNissan's China vehicle sales drop 80%Nissan Motor Co's vehicle sales in China, its biggest market, dropped 80% in February as coronavirus concerns sapped demand, in another blow to the carmaker which is struggling to recover from a profit free fall.The Japanese automaker said yesterday it had sold just 15 111 vehicles last month in the world's biggest auto market as demand for its Sylphy sedans and X-Trail and Qashqai SUV crossovers continued to tumble.Nissan has been betting on growth in China to cushion the impact from its slumping business in the United States and Japan, where car sales fell 27% last month.But commuting bans and road closures in many Chinese regions in February has led to a slowdown in production since last month, curbing output and raising risks to the automaker's global supply chain.As uncertainty about the coronavirus outbreak shakes global markets, demand in the world's second largest economy is expected to remain week in the short- to mid-term, which could further pressures sales at global automakers. – Nampa/ReutersApple sells fewer smartphones in ChinaApple sold fewer than half a million smartphones in China in February, government data showed yesterday, as the coronavirus outbreak halved demand for all such devices.China placed curbs on travel and asked residents to avoid public places in late January, just ahead of the Lunar New Year festival, a major gift-giving holiday. Those restrictions stayed largely in place through most of February.In total, mobile phone brands shipped a total of 6.34 million devices in February, down 54.7% from 14 million in the same month last year, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed (CAICT).It was also the lowest level for February since at least 2012, when CAICT started publishing data.Shipments of Apple devices slumped to 494 000, from 1.27 million in February 2019. In January, its shipments had held steady at just over 2 million. – Nampa/ReutersTesco agrees sale of businesses in AsiaBritain's biggest retailer Tesco said yesterday it will return US$6.6 billion (5 billion pounds) to shareholders after agreeing to sell its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to Charoen Pokphand Group for an enterprise value of US$10.6 billion.The UK supermarket group kicked off a review of its Asian businesses in December after receiving interest in the assets, signalling a further retreat from its once lofty global ambitions.The deal's completion would mean Tesco's only overseas operations, apart from Ireland, would be its central European division, consisting of stores in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia."This sale releases material value and allows us to further simplify and focus the business, as well as to return significant value to shareholders," said Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis. – Nampa/Reuters

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