Vrijpoort
Establishing Nation
de MORGEN
nieuws van Nedernesië sinds 1642. vrij en onafhankelijk 8ƒ
nieuws van Nedernesië sinds 1642. vrij en onafhankelijk 8ƒ
Earnings Reports from Q1 Show Lower Consumer Confidence, Lower Demand, but Increased Household Savings
Vrijpoort, 02.05.2020 - With markets closed in Nedernesia and most of the world yesterday for the Labour Day holiday, many large publicly traded firms used the opportunity to release their earnings reports for the first quarter (January through March). Processed food giant, NedFoods, reported stable revenues in the domestic and Scanian markets, but reduced revenues in Gallo-Germania and Westernesse. The only region for growth was Himyar as Nedcafé, powdered milk and canned goods continue to do well there.
Standard Chartered Bank had a lacklustre quarter at home and in Scania and Gallo-Germania where consumer confidence has steadily declined this year mostly over growing tensions in Gallo-Germania and again in the Long Sea region. The uncertainty has caused businesses to delay or cancel orders thus affecting growth prospects. Standard Chartered, the world's largest bank by deposits and lending book size, dispersed 12 per cent fewer corporate loans last quarter compared to Q1 2019. Growth in the Dune Sea and Natal continues as the Himyari region remains one of the bank's key emerging markets where new deposit accounts and small and medium sized business loans are on the rise.
Markets analyst Lev Martinez from Zilverman and Kim's investment bank was negative: 'We have a tripple whammy here. Regional tensions are spooking markets and investors, in turn spooking consumers and businesses. People are worried about tough times ahead so they are putting more of their paycheque into savings or debt reduction, which is good for the high household debt levels in Nedernesia and other markets, but bad for sales. High oil prices in reaction to Long Sea tensions and rumours of impending war in the Implarian are also increasing shipping costs and hurting consumers at the pump. We expect equities to be volatile in the coming months and are advising all but our most risk-tolerant clients to increase their holdings in bonds, namely Nedernesian and Gunnish, which are traditionally safe.'
KLM Royal Nedernesian Airways posted flat growth for Q1 but did not issue a profit warning as many analysts had expected. Despite that, last month's earthquake and tsunami in Nedernesia severely disrupted operations at its global hub of Vrijpoort Transcontinental Skyport. The airline behemoth, boasting a fleet of over 1,000 aircraft, remains bullish on its expansion plans, especially the rebranding of its subsidiary KLM Continental (formerly Lairs) and the planned expansion of Lars Airport into a secondary global hub. Cargo bookings for the airline were down 6 per cent, however.
In Nedernesia, private households put up to a third of their salary into mandatory Commonwealth Provident Fund accounts, used for housing, healthcare and retirement savings. Despite this extraordinarily high compulsory savings rate, data suggests that consumers are stashing cash into supplementary deposit savings accounts, where the money remains liquid and easily accessible for unexpected expenses. Standard Chartered also reported higher than normal deposit account openings across Scania and Gallo-Germania.
Meanwhile, the Nedernesian Guilder could soon come under pressure from Forex markets as investors sell currencies with high exposure to the Long Sea. While solid and accepted worldwide for commodities and general orders, holders of Eiffellandian Marks are buying Guilders in higher numbers, putting pressure on the Nedernesian Reserve Bank to lower interest rates or otherwise risk having the guilder increase rapidly in value, hurting exports of services such as consulting, legal services, financial services, etc. Holders of Pelasgian and Aresuran currencies have also been trading in those currencies for the safe haven guilder.