Zoom boss Eric Yuan, whose business exploded during the pandemic, says working from home is here to stay.

The video conferencing company expects sales to rise more than 40% this year, reaching more than $3.7bn (£2.66bn).

The forecast pushed shares in the company up more than 6% in after-hours trade in New York.

Investors have been watching for clues as to how the firm would fare as more people get vaccinated and social distancing restrictions lift.

Zoom said it did not expect growth to continue at the pace it enjoyed last year, but so far business remains strong.

The firm's sales in the last three months of 2020 were up 370% compared to the same period in 2019, hitting $882.5m.

"The fourth quarter marked a strong finish to an unprecedented year for Zoom," company boss Eric Yuan said. "As the world emerges from the pandemic, our work has only begun."

'The future is here'

The pandemic, which prompted an abrupt shift to remote work for many businesses around the world, transformed Zoom into a household name practically overnight.

The firm, which charges businesses for its remote meeting software in addition to more limited free use for the general public, saw sales soar 326% to $2.6bn in 2020. Profits jumped from just $21.7m in 2019 to $671.5m.

While some companies have started to ease staff back into the office, many others have said they expect that some of the increased flexibility introduced during the pandemic will linger.

"The future is here with the rise of remote and work from anywhere trends," Mr Yuan said in prepared remarks for investors. "We recognize this new reality and are helping to empower our own employees and those of our customers to work and thrive in a distributed manner."

Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Zoom's fate would depend on how it manages to compete against firms such as Microsoft and Google, which have introduced similar features.

"Although it stole an early march on other players in the first few months of the crisis, it does now have much stiffer competition from the likes of Microsoft and Google who have significantly upped their game," she wrote in a research note.

"It may be that we have become so used to pandemic habits that we will stick with our virtual social lives, particularly for long distance friendships and work relationships. But just how large a slice of the live video pie Zoom manages to hang on to will depend on how it matches up to its powerful rivals."

Fitch Ratings believes that the new amendments to Mongolia’s Banking Law, when fully implemented, will improve transparency and strengthen the banking system’s corporate governance in the medium-to-longer term, ultimately contributing to the banking system’s stability. Parliament approved the amendments in late January, which include requirements for the five domestic systemically important banks (D-SIB) to become public companies through IPOs in the stock market by June 2022 and a cap on a bank shareholder’s rights at 20%. The amendments are part of the continuous work of The Bank of Mongolia on banking-sector reform. We expect the banks, once listed, to provide more timely and detailed disclosure, not only in their financials but also their banking operations, allowing for more public market participants' oversight. Undue influence by a dominant shareholder is also likely to be checked under the new ownership structure. As D-SIBs, these banks are required to have at least nine members on their boards, with no less than one-third of the directors to be independent. In addition, all commercial banks are required to reduce shareholder concentration by end-2023 with a maximum of 20% of the banks’ total shares owned by each shareholder and its related parties.

Please see the full report on the link https://www.fitchratings.com/.../mongolian-banks...

Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong/Seoul-01 March 2021: Mongolia's new requirements for its systemically important banks to be listed and to cap a bank shareholder's rights at 20% will improve transparency and strengthen the banking system's corporate governance in the medium-to-longer term, ultimately contributing to the system's stability, says Fitch Ratings.

We expect a listed bank to provide more timely and detailed disclosure, not only in its financials but also its banking operations, allowing more public participants' oversight. Undue influence by a dominant shareholder is likely to be checked by the other shareholders under the new ownership and board structures.

However, we see significant challenges that can derail the implementation schedules, especially the public offering requirement in light of the mounting pressure on the banks' financial performance from the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, we think tight liquidity in the local market would make it hard to accommodate the banks' IPOs within a short period as the current market capitalisation of the Mongolian Stock Exchange is small compared with the banks' total equity.

The amendments to the Banking Law require five domestic systemically important banks (D-SIB) in Mongolia to become public companies through IPOs in the stock market by June 2022. A D-SIB is also required to have at least nine members on its board, with no less than one-third of the directors to be independent. In addition, all commercial banks are required to reduce shareholder concentration by end-2023 with a maximum of 20% of the bank's total shares for a shareholder and its related parties.

More details can be found in the report, "Mongolian Banks Dashboard: March 2021", available at www.fitchratings.com or by clicking on the link in this release.

Contact:

Savio Fan

Associate Director, Financial Institutions - Banks

+852 2263 9955

Fitch (Hong Kong) Limited

19/F Man Yee Building

68 Des Voeux Road Central

Hong Kong

Heakyu Chang

Senior Director, Financial Institutions - Banks

+822 3278 8363

Media Relations: Alanis Ko, Hong Kong, Tel: +852 2263 9953, Email: alanis.ko@thefitchgroup.com

Wai Lun Wan, Hong Kong, Tel: +852 2263 9935, Email: wailun.wan@thefitchgroup.com

Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. With a view to alleviate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and population health, the government of Mongolia has approved MNT 10 trillion comprehensive plan for economic recovery and health protection.

Within the framework of the plan, soft loans totaling MNT 500 billion will be granted to support the agricultural industry and the required funding for it has been settled, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.

Out of the MNT 500-billion loans, MNT 200 billion worth of loans will be provided to companies for cashmere production for the spring season of this year, MNT 100 billion loans for farming productions, and MNT 200 billion will be aimed to support livestock herders.

Commercial banks will issue loans amounting to MNT 200 billion sourced from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry in cooperation with the Development Bank to companies engaged in cashmere preparation and cashmere manufacturers.

Also, funding was made available by the ministry for loans worth MNT 100 billion for crop farming companies for their spring planting and fall harvesting. Both types of the loans will have a 1-year term and 3-percent interest rate per annum.

The MNT 200 billion of loans to support livestock herders and revive the animal husbandry will also be issued through commercial banks and will have a term of 3 years and annual interest rate of 3 percent. Priority areas targeted by the loans are industrial livestock production, dairy production, production of raw materials of animal origin, pastureland protection and livestock water wells, as reported by the Agricultural Ministry.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On March 1, Deputy Prime Minister S.Amarsaikhan held a meeting with the working group in charge of conducting risk assessments on infection control, safety, and possible risks at border checkpoints.

The Government of Mongolia is currently working towards the objective of opening the border from May 1. In its framework, Deputy PM S.Amarsaikhan had obliged specialists to conduct risk assessments on COVID-19 infection control at border checkpoints as well as for possible risks at the locations. Thus, a working group led by Deputy Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs, Brigadier General S.Baatarjav has carried out works, developing emergency plans in three areas. They are also currently preparing to organize drills and exercises at the border checkpoints for COVID-19 countermeasures, alongside defining methods to mitigate risks.

Having used the risk assessment tool developed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to identify risks at Buyant-Ukhaa checkpoint and Chinggis Khaan airport as well as the border checkpoints of Zamiin-Uud and Altanbulag, the working group introduced that works are planned to be carried out in the framework of short-, mid-, and long-term objectives.

During the meeting, the Deputy PM also noted the importance of reflecting safety measures in the plan for reopening border checkpoints and resuming regular operations, with a special focus on disinfection and sterilization.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Light Industry Z.Mendsaikhan had discussions with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Mongolia Mohinder Pratap Singh, who attended the March 1 extended meeting of the Ministry of Food Agriculture and Light Industry and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations at invitation, about implementing a joint project on dairy farming development, putting greater emphasis on nutritional values of foodstuffs, and developing digital agriculture.

Being the country with the highest milk and dairy production in the world, India has much experience in the industry. Mongolia, on the other hand, has yet to fully leverage its abundant milk resources. Therefore, the countries agreed to cooperate on the greatly significant long-term beneficial project on milk industry development.

As supporting public health through the supply of nutritious food is a key goal for MoFALI, during the meeting, a proposal for the implementation of Milk Every Day project was also made in light of the ample opportunity for the country with rich dairy resources to increase elementary students’ dairy milk intake through the student lunch program.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The first meeting of Mongolia – U.S. Joint Aviation Technical Working Group took place virtually on February 27. Specialists from the Mongolian Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, and Transportation Security Administration participated in the discussion.

During the meeting, Head of Air Transport Policy and Coordination Division of the CAA G.Batbayar briefed about context and process of revised draft law on Civil Aviation.

While, Director for Office of International Aviation of the Department of Transportation Benjamin Taylor presented about necessary works to be carried out to conduct direct, scheduled flights between Mongolia and the United States. He said “The first step to conduct direct, scheduled flight to U.S. is to establish Air Relations Agreement. The U.S. has willingness to establish a legal framework that covers both passenger and cargo flights.”

The sides decided to set up subgroups of Economy, Safety Operation and Security under the Technical Working Group and to appoint bilateral representatives as reflected in the meeting plan.

The sides also agreed to organize the next meeting at the beginning of June, 2021.

48 people in Ulaanbaatar tested positive for coronavirus after Mongolia conducted PCR testing of 13,108 people nationwide a day before, the Health Ministry said on March 2.

As of March 2, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country reached 3,000 (+48).

The total number of those who recovered reached 2,330 (+31) and the recovery rate stands at 77.6%.

655 patients are treated at medical facilities, 1 patient is in extremely serious condition, 80 patients are in a serious condition and the rest have a mild form of the disease.

ULAANBAATAR -- After weeks of escalating tensions and leadership turmoil, Mongolia and Rio Tinto have agreed to work out a new arrangement to finance the costly expansion of the vast Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, Nikkei Asia has learned.

The rising cost of the new underground phase of the mine, one of the world's biggest copper deposits, played a role in bringing down both Mongolia's previous prime minister and Rio's last chief executive. This appears to have helped set the stage for changing the terms of how the two co-owners of the project will share the expense.

Public irritation has been running high in Mongolia after new figures emerged late last year showing that the government could not expect to start receiving dividends from its 34% ownership of the mine in 2032 as originally expected. Rather, due to a new two-year delay and a $1.5 billion jump in the project's cost to $6.8 billion, the government is concerned it may not receive any dividend before the mine's reserves are depleted.

While Rio has solely financed the construction and operation of the mine and provided Mongolia with a loan to finance its share of the mine's ownership, it also gets all the profits for now, with Rio taking a management fee and payments on its loan out of Oyu Tolgoi's earnings. Under the expansion arrangement reached in 2015, Ulaanbaatar has to wait until the loan is fully repaid before receiving a dividend though it does collect royalties on the minerals mined.

Now both sides are ready to scrap that deal and put a new one in place.

"Both sides have agreed to work on canceling the 2015 deal and building a new one," Solongo Bayarsaikhan, one of the government's negotiators as deputy cabinet secretariat chief, told Nikkei Asia. "Rio expressed its willingness to reduce the interest rate and its management fee."

A source close to Rio confirmed the company is now willing to set aside the 2015 deal and redraft terms.

A key point will be how to handle further cost increases.

"There is no regulation in the underground mine development contract about what to do if the underground mine construction cost increases in the future," Bayasgalan Enkhbaatar, a government appointee on Oyu Tolgoi's board, told Nikkei. "That is why we want to build a new contract, not amend the 2015 deal."

In a related development, the government said Friday that Rio had paid 230 billion tugrik ($87.55 million) of some 1 trillion tugrik founding owing after audits of past annual tax filings by Turquoise Hill Resources, the Canadian mining company through which Rio controls the other 66% of Oyu Tolgoi's shares. The government, which last year launched international arbitration claims for the sums, said it expects to receive another 420 billion tugrik this week.

Open-pit mining at Oyu Tolgoi, which also produces gold, started in 2012. The underground section is now set to open in October 2022.

Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, a longtime critic of the project's costs, took office as Mongolia's prime minister on Jan. 27 after his predecessor resigned in the face of protests over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The escalating costs at the mine also played some role in the departure of Jean-Sebastien Jacques as Rio's chief executive. Jakob Stausholm took over as successor on Jan. 1, appointing Mongolian Bold Baatar to head up the company's copper operations, with a brief to work things out with the government in Ulaanbaatar.

"Bold Baatar has already set his team and they have commenced discussions with the government of Mongolia," Stausholm told Nikkei in a statement last week.

"I remain convinced that we will be able to find mutually acceptable solutions as the Oyu Tolgoi development is not only an impressive engineering achievement delivering the needed copper to the world, but it is fundamentally a development for the benefit of the Mongolian people," he said.

Mongolia and Rio Tinto have a long history of disputes over how to develop Oyu Tolgoi. Rio Tinto operates the project without owning it directly, although it has control through its majority ownership of Turquoise Hill.

Rio Tinto has collected $1.3 billion in management fees since 2013 while Mongolia still owes $2.2 billion on its loan from Rio. Rio says the mine project pays around $300 million in taxes annually to the Mongolian government, including royalties.

Turquoise Hill and Rio Tinto, and their respective shareholders, have also clashed in recent months over the rising costs and delays with Oyu Tolgoi.

Former Mongolian Prime Minister Saikhanbileg Chimed, who signed the 2015 contract, is under investigation over his handling of the deal but is in exile. Bayar Sanj, a predecessor, was sentenced in 2020 to five years' imprisonment for abuse of power in another case related to the mine.

March 1 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia will bring back a total of 1,920 stranded nationals from abroad on chartered flights this month, the country's foreign ministry said on Monday.

The country is expected to send 12 flights to repatriate the citizens, the ministry said in a statement.

Mongolia has repatriated around 30,000 nationals on chartered flights, buses or trains from different parts of the world, since it suspended international commercial flights last year due to the pandemic, the foreign ministry said.

The Asian country has so far reported more than 2,950 COVID-19 cases, with six deaths.