Interested in the Greek deal? Why not help fund it!
In the light of the continuing will-they-won’t-they drama surrounding Greece, it appears one man has taken matters into his own hands – by setting up a crowdfunding page to bail out the country.
29 year old Yorkshireman Thom Feeney came up with he idea after he got increasingly fed up of “dithering” politicians. He set up the page on IndieGoGo yesterday, where he hopes to raise the 1.6 billion euros required for Greece to pay back the IMF.
According to him, if the 503 million people in the EU donated just 3 euros each the target would be reached.
In an interview with the Independent, Feeney explained: “My opinion is that we need to invest for something to grow, whether that be a person, a company or a nation like Greece.” He wants a bailout “by the people, for the people”.
The campaign has started off well, with more than 2000 people donating in the past 24 hours and just over 31,000 euros reached. However, the project needs to gain a lot more traction in the next week in order to reach its target.
Miranda Wadham
Sinclair (William) Holdings PLC down 33% after publishing interim results
Willian Sinclair Holdings PLC (SNCL.LDN) was down 33.33% this morning after the publication of their unaudited interim results for March 2015.
The company reported a loss of £3.5m, nearly double that of 2014.
Stuart Burgin, Chief Executive of the company, said:
“Since I joined William Sinclair as CEO on 5th March there has been a huge level of activity in the business. This has been focused in 2 key areas: improving the performance of the Ellesmere Port site, and analysing the business and developing plans for the future. I am pleased to say that commissioning of Ellesmere Port has moved forward considerably and that we have developed strong plans for the future revolving around a single point of dispatch from Ellesmere Port and increased focus on customer and product profitability. Provided we are successful in raising the funds required to implement these plans, I am confident that William Sinclair can be successful again.”
William Sinclair are one of the UK’s leading producers of gardening products. Their customers include The Garden Centre Group, B&Q, Tesco, Wilkinson, and Morrisons.
Styles & Wood Group up 24% after announcing a change of directorate
The integrated property services and project delivery specialist Styles & Wood Group was one of the biggest movers this morning, up 24.8% after announcing the appointment of Matt Widdall as Non-Executive Director.
Tony Lenehan, CEO of Styles & Wood, said “I am delighted to welcome Matt to the Group. The investment commitment from the Business Growth Fund together with Matt’s direct participation at Board level provides real momentum in support of the Group’s growth agenda.”
Matt will join the board as the representative of the Business Growth Fund, a project seeking to provide capital for entrepreneurial companies in the North of England. BGF makes long-term equity investments of between £2m and £10m in businesses with the potential to grow, and is backed by five of the UK’s main banks, including Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds.
Greek PM threatens to step down over referendum
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has threatened to quit if the referendum taking place on Sunday produces a yes vote.
Tsipras is campaigning for the Greek public to vote no, which he says will enable him to negotiate a less austere deal with the EU. Ultimately, it may instead lead to a ‘Grexit’, with Greece exiting the Euro and re-adopting the Drachma. However, this process has never been tried before, and it remains to be seen how it will be done.
The wording of the ballot paper is decidedly complex:
“Should the proposed agreement be accepted, which was submitted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund in the Eurogroup of 25.06.2015 and consists of two parts, which constitute their unified proposal?
“The first document is entitled ‘Reforms for the Completion of the Current Program and Beyond’ and the second ‘Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis’.”
Beside the question are two boxes: “Not approved/No; Approved/Yes”.
Greece’s bailout expires today, the same day it faces a deadline to repay a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Greece aid package drama enters final act
It will come as no surprise that this morning’s trade has been dominated by Greece.
Today we are witnessing what is seen by some as a last minute game of chicken as EC Commissioner Junker offers a deal which is turned down by Greece only for rumours to emerge in Greek papers that the deal was in fact being considered by the Greek government.
Following the release by Greek paper eKathemerini, the German DAX rallied 200 points.
Greece are due to repay EUR 1.4 billion by 12:00pm tonight with no sign of any aid package, Bloomberg have reported a German official saying it is now too late to extend the current bailout package.
However, Greece are rumoured to be preparing a final proposal for creditors to avoid default.
The theatre could not be written. The German DAX has round tripped over 400 points and it is only 12:00 BST
Morrisons makes first market share gain since 2011
Morrison’s growth has exceeded that of Sainsbury’s and Tesco for the second month in a row.
“Morrisons has seen the largest sales increase among the ‘big four’ retailers for the second month in a row, recording a sales growth of 0.6%, which has been supported by an increase in online shopping. Continuing to grow ahead of the market, the retailer has increased its market share to 11.0%, up 0.1 percentage points compared with a year ago. While only a small increase against a weak 2014, this does represent the first market share gains made by Morrisons since December 2011,” explains Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight.
Savvy consumers are still exploring discount supermarkets as they turn their backs on the big four. Aldi achieved a record 5.5% market share and Lidl now has a 3.9% market share.
The volume of grocery sales are up 2% from a year ago but Kantar have said they do not anticipate further gains. Although volumes rose the prices have persisted in their decline. Research from Kantar World Panel shows that groceries are 1.7% cheaper than they were this time last year as food price deflation continues.
Chinese central bank eases again, FTSE 100 outperforms
Whether it be their own waning economy or the Greek crisis knocking their domestic stock market, the People’s Bank of China, has again been compelled to provide stimulus.
The central bank injected CNY 50 billion into the market last night leading to an over 10% rally in the Shanghai Composite.
The injection of capital comes a couple of days after the Chinese central bank cut rates by 0.25% to 4.85%
The Chinese authorities have been blowing hot and cold and inciting market volatility as they repeatedly caution on bubbles only to ease if the market falls.
Volatility in Chinese stocks is now at its highest level since 2007.
“There is still too much uncertainty in the markets and investors would be watching developments in Greece and China very carefully before jumping in,” said Karine Hirn, of Swedish group East Capital.
As with yesterday’s trade following the Chinese central bank cut interest rates over the weekend, the FTSE 100 outperformed its European peers due to the high weighting towards commodity stocks such as Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and Glencore (LON:GLEN).
The prospect of further Chinese easing will increase investors perception of a higher demand for commodities going forward, a potential upside catalyst for mining companies.
The FTSE 100 trades down 1.16% and The DAX down 1.53%
Merkel and Hollande give up on Greece
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande appear to have reached their limits with Greece, after telling Tsipras there will be no more concessions.
Merkel and Hollande had previously championed keeping Greece in the euro, continuing negotiations although it appeared that a deal looked impossible. Now, however, it seems they have reached the end of their tether, offering no more leeway with the deal.
“If the euro fails, Europe will fail,” Merkel said in a speech in Berlin. “That’s why we have to fight for these principles. We could maybe set them aside in the short term. We could maybe say we’ll just give in. But I say: in the medium and long term, we will suffer damage that way.”
Stock markets have continued to slide globally as the talks have heated up over the last few days, with the FTSE down 2% this morning and The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sliding 2.5 percent by 6:57 a.m. in New York.
The Greek people woke up this morning to find that banks were closed and capital controls were in place preventing the withdrawal of anything over 60 euros. It appears the ultimate outcome for Greece will depend on the result of the referendum, due to be held on Sunday.
What do you do when you can’t make a decision? Get someone else to make it for you, of course
As queues form outside cashpoints and the Greek public start to panic, Alexis Tsipras has finally made a decision that might bring an end to the last few weeks of drama; he’s not going to decide. Instead, he has called a national referendum on whether or not Greece should accept the deal offered by creditors.
Whilst Tsipras is trying to market this as democracy at its finest – a ‘heroic leader’ giving his people the final say – it appears to the rest of the world as little more than another move in a game that Tsipras has learnt to play well. At best, it’s a thinly veiled attempt to shrug off all responsibility for a decision that will have enormous consequences; at worst, a last ditch effort to squirm out of doing his job where, unfortunately, making difficult decisions on behalf of the country is pretty much part and parcel.
Many of Greece’s creditors doubt Tsipras’s commitment to austerity even if the deal is accepted, and holding a referendum that typically costs millions of pounds will do nothing to dispel the fears of his irresponsibility. However, cost aside, calling a referendum on such a complicated matter, with such important consequences, still seems careless to say the least.
Clearly, there is not enough time for information to be circulated, and both sides to form a coherent argument – because of this, many Greeks answer is likely to be based on Tsipras’ government’s propaganda and a nationalistic mistrust of the EU officials that are holding their country to ransom. There is, to be poetic, a dangerous likelihood of Greeks voting with their hearts and not their heads.
Unsurprisingly, the government seem to be confident about their chances; Deputy Social Security Minister Dimitris Stratoulis told reporters that “on 5 July Greeks will have the opportunity to say a resounding ‘no’ to their [the EU] brazen demands. And that will arm the government with a new determination to apply its programme. I am optimistic, very optimist”.
However, not everyone is so sure. The Economist Intelligence Unit gave a 60% probability that voters would not back the government and reject the bailout; in reality there is unlikely to be a clear winner and there is already considerable division over which way the vote will go. Kappa Research has published a poll conducted today for “To ima” newspaper; in response, 47.2% said they agreed with the deal proposed by the creditors, 33.0% said No, 18.4% were undecided and 0.8% didn’t know or wouldn’t answer.
Ironically, the result may not matter at all. On Tuesday, the government’s current bailout expires and as far as the Eurogroup is concerned, Greece can’t just choose to extend it at a week later; Greece will be in default as of tomorrow. This makes the move by Tsipras look more like a distraction, a cunning attempt to detract from the real issue in hand; one which, given Europe’s desire to come to an arrangement, just might work. In reality, there is no easy way out of this situation and should the referendum go ahead, the Greek people will face a difficult choice; a choice that would have been far better made weeks ago, by the people democratically elected to make the decision.
Trafigura sells mining stake to Abu Dhabi
Trafigura has entered into a joint venture with Adu Dhabi’s state investment fund. Trafigura has sold stakes in a number of Spanish copper and zinc mines in an effort to raise money as commodities trade near multi year lows.
Adu Dhabi set up it’s investment fund known as Mubadala to help provide diversity to their economy in 2002. “Investing in Matsa is a key step in growing and diversifying our existing metals and mining portfolio,” said Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi, CEO of Mubadala.
Trafigura’s Mubadala deal will split the mining assets 50:50, sources say the deal has valued the asset at $1.4 billion.
The announcement comes after Traifgura announced record profits, trading in oil in the first half was boosted by higher volatility and helped net income rise to $645 million.