2025-05-15 20:27

BlackRock, JPMorgan CEOs among those to get letter Asks for confirmation of no weakening of climate targets Also seeks communications with Trump administration NEW YORK/LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers harshly criticized the chief executives of BlackRock (BLK.N) , opens new tab, JPMorgan (JPM.N) , opens new tab and other top finance companies for leaving several global coalitions devoted to combating climate change, urging them to uphold their previous commitments and policy targets designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Against a backdrop of worsening extreme weather events and rising financial risks, the members of Congress said the bosses had "actively decided to cede leadership on combating climate change," a letter to the executives seen by Reuters showed. The letter, sent Thursday, also asks for records of their communications with the Trump administration regarding any plans to cut their work on environmental and social causes. Sign up here. "We are disappointed that your organization appears to be disregarding science and what's good for business, and instead yielding to political pressure for short-term political favor," it said. The chief executives of Morgan Stanley (MS.N) , opens new tab, Citigroup (C.N) , opens new tab, Bank of America (BAC.N) , opens new tab, Wells Fargo (WFC.N) , opens new tab, Goldman Sachs (GS.N) , opens new tab, Northern Trust (NTRS.O) , opens new tab, Franklin Templeton (BEN.N) , opens new tab, State Street (STT.N) , opens new tab, Invesco (IVZ.N) , opens new tab and Pimco, part of insurer Allianz (ALVG.DE) , opens new tab, also received the letter, which was led by California Rep. Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee and Illinois Rep. Sean Casten. Pimco, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citi, State Street and JPMorgan have declined to comment. Franklin Templeton was not immediately available while the other companies and banks did not immediately return a request for comment. Each institution left either the Net Zero Banking Alliance, the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative or Climate Action 100+, members of which had either committed to cutting emissions linked to the institution's activities or to engaging with investee companies over climate. When they left the groups, most of the institutions said they still pledged to reduce emissions but made no reference to the political pressure from some Republican politicians, who accused the companies of unfairly seeking to limit financing to the fossil fuel industry. Industry emissions from the burning of coal, gas and oil are the leading cause of man-made global warming and countries have agreed to try and reduce them, although the administration of President Donald Trump has recently pulled the U.S. out of the deal. As well as asking the CEOs to explain their decision to leave the groups, the letter asked them to confirm their intention to achieve their previously stated emissions-reduction goals and explain how they intended to do it. The letter also asked whether they would continue publishing their progress or explain why not; to detail existing targets and policies to cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on climate; and to commit not to weaken them. For the banks specifically, it asked them whether they still intend to set targets and policies on so-called "facilitated" greenhouse gas emissions, such as those linked to companies issuing bonds a bank underwrites. The letter also asked whether the banks would stick with the same timetable for emission reduction goals. And for all the companies, it asked them to detail communications with the Trump administration regarding cutting environmental, social and governance activities since Jan. 20, including any directives to freeze funds for climate-related federal programmes such as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/us-finance-ceos-challenged-leaving-climate-pacts-by-democratic-lawmakers-2025-05-15/

2025-05-15 20:18

May 15 (Reuters) - Cava Group (CAVA.N) , opens new tab beat estimates for first-quarter revenue on Thursday, helped by robust demand for its Mediterranean cuisine despite a broader slowdown in dining out across the United States. Cava also maintained its annual forecasts for same-store sales growth and margin at a time when companies are withdrawing or cutting their outlooks as President Donald Trump's shifting trade policy fuels economic uncertainty. Sign up here. The company has been able to temper its price hikes amid fast-food chains raising menu prices significantly over the last few years, increasing consumers' appetite for Cava's fast-casual outlets. First-quarter revenue grew 28.1% to $331.8 million, compared with estimates of $326.9 million, according to data compiled by LSEG. Cava's same-store sales grew 10.8% in the quarter ended April 20, while analysts expected growth of 10.3%. A refreshed loyalty program, more drive-thru lanes as well as new menu items such as its grilled steak have also kept demand steady at Cava. In contrast, burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N) , opens new tab lowered its annual sales target and said consumers were starting to reduce restaurant visits due to economic uncertainty. Cava also has limited exposure to tariffs on products such as olives from Greece and some beef from Australia, while most other ingredients are sourced domestically. It imports, however, some packaging material from China. CEO Brett Schulman told Reuters that the company has no plans to further raise prices as it is able to offset the tariff impact with better supply-chain management. Cava raised its target of net new restaurants for the year to 64 to 68, from 62 to 66 earlier. The company opened 58 new restaurants last year. Cava had advanced purchases for its kitchen equipment and store fixtures for these new outlets, so its capital expenditure wouldn't be impacted by the duties, Schulman added. The Washington, D.C.-based company maintained its annual same-restaurant growth target of 6% to 8%, and profit margin of 24.8% to 25.2%. It reported a quarterly profit margin of 25.1%, compared with 22.4% in the prior quarter. (This story has been corrected to say revenue rose from 28.1% to $331.8 million, not 28.2% to $328.5 million, in paragraph 4) https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/cava-beats-quarterly-revenue-estimates-strong-demand-2025-05-15/

2025-05-15 19:48

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress should enact steeper work requirements for Medicaid and food aid in a tax cut and spending plan being advanced by Republicans, four senior Trump administration officials said in a New York Times opinion column. Republicans on Wednesday pushed forward key elements of President Donald Trump's budget package, including new and expanded work requirements for receiving Medicaid and benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the nation's largest food aid program. Sign up here. "Our agencies are united in a very straightforward policy approach: able-bodied adults receiving benefits must work, participate in job training or volunteer in their communities at least 20 hours a week," said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Housing Secretary Scott Turner, and Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz in the Wednesday column. Democrats have said the eligibility changes will result in millions of people losing benefits. "Instead of making the (SNAP) program work better for seniors and parents of children as young as seven years old, the Republican bill adds paperwork requirements to make accessing food harder," said Angie Craig of Minnesota, ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, after the committee voted along party lines on Wednesday night to advance its portion of the package. The Trump administration officials said the work requirements will reduce dependency on federal welfare programs and are necessary to save taxpayer dollars. "At the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development, we are ready to implement work requirements," they wrote. "As we do so, we will work hand in hand with Congress, states, communities and individuals to make this vision a permanent reality." Some Republicans have warned that cuts to programs for low-income Americans could erode public support and threaten their narrow House majority. More than 41 million Americans receive SNAP food benefits and 71 million are covered by Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income Americans. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/trump-officials-back-steeper-medicaid-food-stamp-work-requirements-2025-05-15/

2025-05-15 19:46

More clarity needed to complete closure of activities, experts say Some firms willing to sacrifice exports if they can preserve joint venture stakes Chevron not giving up on convincing Trump that presence in Venezuela key for energy security May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. oil producer Chevron Corp (CVX.N) , opens new tab and several European companies are in talks with the Trump administration to obtain authorizations to keep their stakes in joint ventures with Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, three sources close to the matter said. Washington in March revoked licenses and authorizations it had granted in recent years that allowed PDVSA's foreign partners and customers to do business with Venezuela, which is under U.S. sanctions, and export oil to destinations including the U.S., Europe and India. Sign up here. The U.S. gave the companies until May 27 to wind down transactions, but did not rule specifically on what they should do with employees and assets in Venezuela, including joint venture stakes. Lawyers and experts have said more clarity is needed to complete the closure of those activities. PDVSA has in the meantime only been delivering oil to customers who prepay or agree to swaps, and in April canceled a handful of crude cargoes to Chevron amid payment uncertainty. Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department let a separate license for U.S. oil service firms to keep equipment in Venezuela expire. Several oil companies are now requesting the U.S. to allow them to at least return to the type of license they had between 2020 and 2022, which prevented them from expanding operations in Venezuela or exporting oil, but allowed them to preserve their stakes, offices and a minimum presence in the South American nation, the sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. This alternative would avoid an exodus of foreign companies from Venezuela, but could lead to PDVSA again accumulating debt and owing more dividends to the companies, as it plans to take over operations previously controlled by the joint ventures and handle exports by itself. Venezuelan oil production has declined sharply in the last decade due to lack of investment, mismanagement and sanctions, but the country still holds the world's largest crude reserves. Repsol (REP.MC) , opens new tab CEO Josu Jon Imaz said last month the Spanish company was in talks with U.S. authorities about ways to keep activities in Venezuela. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said on the company's earnings call this month that it was in dialogue with the U.S. government on how its license could be modified or extended. Neither CEO disclosed specifics of his request. PDVSA, Venezuela's Oil Ministry and the U.S. Treasury did not reply to requests for comment. A Chevron spokesperson referred to Wirth's recent public comments on the matter. LAST U.S. OIL COMPANY IN VENEZUELA Following PDVSA's cargo cancellations last month, Chevron has taken small steps to reduce operations in Venezuela, where it is the minority stakeholder of four joint ventures controlled by the state firm. PDVSA briefly suspended production in April at a joint oil upgrader, Petropiar, to reorganize operations aimed at supplying more feedstock to domestic refineries. Chevron, meanwhile, has diverted tankers that had been exclusively carrying Venezuela crude to handle other business. About 300 contractors are linked directly and indirectly to Chevron's projects with PDVSA, which are responsible for about a quarter of Venezuela's 1-million-barrel-per-day oil output. The company had hired new staff in recent years. Chevron has not given up on its efforts to convince President Donald Trump's administration that having a presence in the OPEC country and exporting its oil is important for U.S. energy security. "We are the only American company that remains on the ground in Venezuela," Wirth said in a television interview this month. "If we were to leave as others have, the oil production continues and American companies are replaced by companies from other countries," including China and Russia, he said. When the previous Biden administration granted it a broad license in 2022, Chevron was owed $3 billion by PDVSA, accumulated from the previous period when the U.S. company was blocked from having access to proceeds in Venezuela. The export mechanism in the authorization has allowed the firm to recover almost the entire amount, but some dividend payments are still pending from PDVSA, one of the sources said. The government of President Nicolas Maduro has fiercely rejected the U.S. sanctions, which have been hardened by Trump amid his criticism about elections the U.S. says were rigged, as well as migration. Venezuela has said the measures amount to an "economic war," while some of its key partners, including China, have expressed similar opinions. "Venezuela is unstoppable. The one they are hurting (with the license cancellation) is Chevron," Maduro said on a television show last week. Experts are forecasting a decline of between 15% and 30% in Venezuela's oil output by the end of 2026 if the oil licenses are canceled without any alternative. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chevron-european-firms-lobby-keep-stakes-venezuela-oil-joint-ventures-2025-05-15/

2025-05-15 19:37

DAKAR, May 15 (Reuters) - Guinea has revoked the licences of 46 mining companies operating in the country, a government source told Reuters on Thursday, while another said it could be up to 53 permits, in what some analysts see as a warning shot to larger operators in the world's second-largest bauxite producer. The move comes amid growing resource nationalism in the military-ruled country and across Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, where authorities have tightened control over their vast mineral wealth since military coups in 2020. Sign up here. The affected licences cover bauxite, gold, diamond, and graphite operations, but industry sources say none of the companies is a significant producer in Guinea's mining sector, which is dominated by major international firms. "These are just small, underperforming licences," said one mining analyst familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue. "Impact on the market should be negligible." Guinea holds the world's largest bauxite reserves, the main ore used to produce aluminium and is a significant source of gold and iron ore. The government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the specific reasons for revoking the licences or whether larger mining operations might face similar actions in the future. "We've been working for some time on cleaning up the land registry. We can say that this falls within the same framework," said the second source in the mines ministry. Guinea exported about 146.4 million metric tons of bauxite last year, Guinea's Mines and Geology Ministry's notice said on LinkedIn. One analyst said major bauxite producers in the West African nation are on track to mine more than 200 million tons this year - a 35% increase from last year's record production. "These producers remain unaffected by the licence revocations," the analyst added, based on production estimates from the major producers. Although licence revocation is consistent with regulation, "it can be interpreted as a warning to mining companies that the government intends to see projects being developed according to the agreed terms," an adviser at a pan-African consultancy firm said, asking not to be named. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/guinea-revokes-46-mining-licences-signalling-stricter-oversight-major-operators-2025-05-15/

2025-05-15 19:16

BRASILIA, May 15 (Reuters) - Brazil's Finance Minister said on Thursday that the government is preparing measures to help meet this year's fiscal target, and denied any plans to increase monthly payments under the "Bolsa Familia" cash transfer program for low-income families. Speaking to reporters in Brasilia, Fernando Haddad said the measures under consideration are targeted, not part of a broader package, and will be discussed with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva next week. Sign up here. "It is not even possible to call it a package, because they are specific measures, none of them are of large-scale," Haddad said. "They are aimed exclusively at meeting the fiscal target." The government is expected to release on May 22 its first budget report of the year, tracking revenues and expenditures. The report must outline any necessary measures to meet the fiscal target of eliminating the primary deficit this year, if current projections fall short of that goal. Haddad also said there is no plan within the government to raise payments of the "Bolsa Familia" benefit, echoing remarks made by Social Developing Minister Wellington Dias late on Wednesday. Local magazine Veja reported on Wednesday that the Social Development Ministry was readying a proposal to increase monthly the monthly payments to 700 reais ($124.17) next year, up from the current 600 reais. The outlet reaffirmed the report on Thursday. The Brazilian real briefly narrowed losses against the U.S. dollar in spot trading during Haddad's remarks, but resumed a negative path right after, weakening over 1% to about 5.69 per greenback. Haddad also noted that a planned measure to support app-based delivery workers is still under development and does not yet have a final design. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-finance-minister-signals-upcoming-fiscal-measures-rules-out-bolsa-2025-05-15/