• Sygnus Credit Investments Limited (SCI) has advised that the Additional Public Offer (APO) of ordinary shares in the Company was oversubscribed and SCI has exercised the option to upsize the Invitation to 240,887,900 New Ordinary Shares, reflecting a 54% upsize to the maximum allowed by the Prospectus dated, December 11, 2020.
• All applicants in the “Existing Shareholders and team Members”, “Key Investors” and “General Pool” will receive the full allotment.
• Refunds to applicants who have overpaid due to a rounding issue during the process will be credited to the accounts of applicants who are clients of NCB Capital Markets Limited by end of the day, January 11, 2021; and refunds to applicants who are not clients of NCB Capital Markets Limited will be sent to their respective brokers by latest, January 15, 2021.

(Source: JSE)

• Private consumption and external demand for Guatemalan goods will power real GDP growth in 2021 in Guatemala following the COVID-19-induced recession in 2020.
• However, the landfall of two hurricanes in November 2020 and the continued spread of COVID-19 will restrain the economic recovery in H1 2021.
• Fitch Solutions has revised up its 2021 real GDP forecast to 3.2% y-o-y, up from 2.5% previously, due to the sooner than expected approval of a COVID-19 vaccine by Western governments, which it expects will be available in Guatemala in H2 2021.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• Fitch Solutions expects Ecuador’s fiscal deficit will narrow to 3.5% of GDP in 2021, from an estimated 6.7% in 2020, as rising global energy demand will drive a rebound in revenues.
• Expenditures will continue to fall in 2021 as the government seeks to rein in the deficit through reducing transfers and delaying investment.
• However, the agency notes the risk that the next President, who will take office in May, abandons the current government’s austerity regime and reform agenda, which would drive the deficit wider and exacerbate the government’s financing challenges.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• The House introduced an article of impeachment and plans to vote on it this week.
• Democrats charge Trump with inciting an insurrection after a mob spurred by the president attacked the Capitol last week.
• The House plans to pass a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
• The House could choose to delay sending the article of impeachment to the Senate, as it likely would not be able to hold a vote on convicting Trump until after he leaves office next week.

(Source: CNBC News)

• The European Union is working on a proposal for the incoming Biden administration on a new trade relationship, including settling a longstanding aircraft dispute that has seen the allies impose tariffs on $11.5Bn of each other’s exports, according to people familiar with the matter.
• The proposal from the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, would seek to cover the broader trade relationship with the U.S., not just the aircraft dispute, one of the people said. The commission did not respond to a request for comment.
• The move comes as the EU prepares to move past the presidency of Donald Trump, a period when transatlantic relations plumbed new lows. Over the past four years, the two sides have threatened punitive trade actions over issues from digital taxes to steel imports, while the U.S. has undercut key European priorities like the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iran nuclear accord.

(Source: Bloomberg

• As of the end of December 2020, the Bank of Jamaica’s Net International Reserves (NIR) stood at US$3,126.13Mn, reflecting a 5.5% (US$163.37Mn) increase month-over-month.
• This increase can be explained by a 3.78% (or US$148.76Mn) increase in total foreign assets as well as a 1.51% (or US$14.61Mn) reduction in total foreign liabilities.
• Considering this increase, the reserves can now cover 53.95 weeks of goods imports and 38.81 weeks of goods & services imports, which is higher than the 51.99 weeks and 37.39 weeks, reported at the end of November, respectively. 
• At the current level, Jamaica’s NIR remains well-above the international benchmark of 12-weeks.  

(Source: BOJ)

• Brazil’s industrial production rose for the seventh straight month on a surge in capital goods, adding to signs of a gradual improvement in Latin America’s largest economy.
• Output rose 1.2% in November from the month prior, less than the 1.4% median estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. From a year ago, production increased 2.8%, the National Statistics agency reported on Friday.
• Brazil’s industry has gotten a boost from record-low interest rates, a weak currency, and emergency government spending against the coronavirus. Those factors have helped propel sector confidence close to pre-pandemic levels despite an uneven recovery. Going forward, production faces headwinds including rising virus cases, as well as the government’s move to reduce stimulus.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• The U.S. labor market suffered its first net loss of jobs in eight months in December, as the surge in COVID-19 cases hit service sectors of the economy hard in the run-up to the Christmas holiday.
• The Bureau of Labour Statistics said nonfarm employment fell by 140,000 through the middle of the month, compared with expectations for an increase of 71,000. However, the waters were muddied by a big upward revision to hiring in November, where payrolls grew by 336,000, rather than the 245,000 initially reported last month.
• The unemployment rate, meanwhile, stayed at 6.7% of the workforce, defying expectations of an increase to 6.8%.
• The carnage of lockdown measures was most evident in the hospitality sector, where 372,000 jobs were lost in bars and restaurants nationwide. Another 92,000 were lost in entertainment parks and casinos.

(Source: CNBC News)

• Canadian mergers and acquisitions (M&A) fell to a nine-year low in 2020 as the pandemic put brakes on companies' growth strategies, but bankers expect the pickup in deal-making in the fourth quarter to revive activity this year.
• The arrival of multiple COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 is expected to improve public confidence in an economic recovery and revive deal-making, say bankers. Market stability and continued access to capital that led to a resurgence in transactions in the second half of the year is expected to continue.
• Over $158.7 billion worth of M&A deals were announced in 2020, making it the slowest year since 2011, compared with $234 billion in the previous year, data from Refinitiv showed.

(Source: Reuters)

• Proven Investments Limited (PROVEN) has advised that the Company has entered into an Agreement for Sale and Purchase of Shares on December 30, 2020, to acquire 50.5% of the common equity of Roberts Manufacturing Co. Limited (RMCL) from Massy Properties (Barbados) Limited (MPBL) for a consideration of US$21,452,500.00.
• PROVEN further advised that “RMCL, located in Barbados, operates from a 21-acre industrial complex consisting of large manufacturing plants producing a variety of margarine, shortening, soya bean oils and animal feed products which are distributed to over 15 markets regionally and internationally.
• “The proposed acquisition of the majority shareholding of RMCL from MPBL is aligned with PROVEN’s strategy to grow through acquisition in the real sector throughout the Caribbean and Latin American regions with a view to creating value to its shareholders.”

(Source: JSE)