Via Reuters

By Shivani Kumaresan

(Reuters) – British shares inched higher on Tuesday, supported by gains in HSBC and drugmakers, at a time when tighter coronavirus restrictions have raised concerns about the pace of an economic recovery.

The FTSE 100 index was up 0.3% after two consecutive sessions of declines, with HSBC Holdings, up 2.5%, giving the biggest boost to the blue-chip index.

“HSBC is up on Asian growth. UK investors could play on the what the growth is like in China,” said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.

“We are dealing with a market that is shuffling the cards at the moment in a sense that they had a big run over the last three months and is looking for direction.”

The FTSE 100 tumbled 14.3% in 2020, its worst performance since the 2008 financial crisis and underperforming its European peers by a wide margin, as pandemic-driven lockdowns battered the economy and led to mass layoffs.

British firms called for another 7.6 billion pounds ($10.3 billion) of emergency government help, saying they cannot wait until finance minister Rishi Sunak’s March budget to learn if they will get more pandemic support.

The mid-cap index gained 0.2%, with travel stocks easyJet and Wizz Air Holdings being the top boosts.

Shares of Experian Plc, the world’s largest credit data firm, gained 1.2% after its third-quarter revenue growth exceeded targets, helped by strong U.S. mortgage volumes.

OXO cube maker Premier Foods fell 4.6% despite a 90% jump in the third-quarter online sales, while British fashion group Superdry lost 12.9% after reporting a big drop in sales in the Christmas quarter.

(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Shailesh Kuber)

Via Reuters

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian hyperlocal courier startup Dunzo has raised $40 million from existing investor Google and others, it said on Tuesday, after seeing a surge in usage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As many Indians stayed indoors for much of 2020 because of the health crisis, Dunzo and food-delivery apps Zomato and Swiggy recorded a fresh surge in popularity. Naspers-backed Swiggy also runs a hyperlocal courier service.

“This capital stems from a year of robust growth amidst the pandemic,” Dunzo said in a statement. “As cities reopen, (Dunzo) continues to see strong growth across user segments.”

Besides Google, Lightbox, Evolvence, Hana Financial Investment, LGT Lightstone Aspada and Alteria also participated in the fundraising round, the Bengaluru-based company added.

Dunzo allows users to order groceries and other essential items from nearby stores as well as run pick-up and drop errands within the eight cities it operates in.

“As merchants go digital, Dunzo is helping small businesses in their digital transformation journey,” said Caesar Sengupta, vice president at Google, which has set aside $10 billion for digital investments in India over five to seven years.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

Via Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – European companies hit by COVID-19 could issue “hybrid” shares to plug a predicted capital gap of up to 600 billion euros ($723.48 billion) when government relief measures expire as vaccination programmes are rolled out, a report said on Tuesday.

The report compiled by consultants PwC and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), which represents banks and other market participants, said economic recovery is under threat unless the capital gap is bridged.

It proposes a new European-Union-wide hybrid security like preferred shares, a form of stock that has features of ordinary shares and bonds, typically offering a priority in dividend payments but with no voting rights.

“This is where hybrid and equity markets can play a key role in supporting Europe’s recovery,” AFME CEO Adam Farkas said in a statement.

Despite relief from governments and the private sector since the start of the pandemic, 10% of European companies have cash reserves to only last six months, the report said.

The EU has already passed a package of “quick fix” measures to make it more attractive for companies to rebuild their finances by issuing shares on the stock market rather than the more common route of taking on debt such as bank loans.

But many mid-sized and SME corporates do not want to give up control of their business by issuing ordinary shares, the report said, and are willing to pay a premium not to dilute their voting rights.

“Hybrid instruments are ideally suited to address these needs,” it said.

Policymakers could also explore further use of dual class shares to address the control concerns of companies, as well as debt for equity swaps to reduce leverage, the report said.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Catherine Evans)