2025-04-30 06:45
LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA) , opens new tab has completed the sale of its international wine portfolio, including brands like Jacob's Creek, to Accolade Wines owner Australian Wine Holdco, it said on Wednesday. The transaction will result in the creation of a new global wine company called Vinarchy, it said. It did not disclose a price for the sale. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/pernod-completes-sale-wine-portfolio-accolade-wines-owner-2025-04-30/
2025-04-30 06:42
LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Glencore (GLEN.L) , opens new tab on Wednesday reported lower copper production in the first quarter, and said it expects 2025 profit at its trading division to be in the middle of its long-term annual guidance. The miner and trader reported a 30% drop in first-quarter copper production to 167,900 metric tons, but maintained its full-year forecast for 2025 at 850,000-910,000 tons, expecting higher output in coming months. Sign up here. Last year it produced around 952,000 tons of the metal used in electric vehicle wiring and batteries, green energy plants and data centres. Glencore's share price opened 3.4% lower in London. Worries about global trade tensions have weighed on prices of most industrial metals this year, but analysts anticipate growing demand for copper, cobalt and other transition minerals, driven by the shift towards electric vehicles and renewable infrastructure. First-quarter production of cobalt rose 44% on higher grades and volumes at its Mutanda mine, while nickel production fell 21%, it said. The company kept 2025 production guidance unchanged for both. Glencore forecasts full-year marketing earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) in the middle of its long-term guidance of $2.2 billion-$3.2 billion this year, compared to $3.2 billion in 2024, as commodities markets continue to fluctuate due to "U.S. tariff newsflow and uncertainty". "Owing to the various proposed and currently being implemented tariffs across commodity supply chains, it is likely that some physical trade flow re-orientation and dislocation will manifest over the coming months," it said in a statement. The trading division, whose profit hit a record $6.4 billion in 2022, includes coal, oil, liquefied natural gas and related products, as well as metals. "Disappointing that in these volatile times with significant regional arbitrage in copper that marketing guidance was not at the top end of the range," RBC Capital Markets analysts said. Glencore's first-quarter thermal coal production fell 7% to 23.4 million tons from 25.2 million tons a year before on lower output from its Australian mines. The company is one of the largest producers and exporters of thermal coal, mining 99.6 million tons in 2024. It said in March it would begin reducing production at its Colombia mine Cerrejon by between 5 million and 10 million tons annually. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/glencore-reports-30-drop-first-quarter-copper-production-2025-04-30/
2025-04-30 06:32
LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Franco-Dutch airline group Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) , opens new tab on Wednesday reported better-than-expected results as it saw strong revenues and a drop in jet fuel costs, despite worries about the knock-on impact from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats. European airlines have been on alert for possible repercussions from global economic uncertainty tied to tariffs, although carriers like Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) , opens new tab have said they've yet to see a notable impact on demand or earnings. Sign up here. Air France-KLM said earlier this month that it would consider dropping economy ticket prices on its transAtlantic routes if needed. Still, it maintained its outlook for 2025, confident that it would navigate the uncertainty. "The increasingly uncertain context may bring additional headwinds going forward, yet we believe Air France-KLM is uniquely positioned to adapt and perform, thanks to its diversified network," Chief Executive Ben Smith said in a statement. The company said it benefited from ongoing demand to its Paris hub, and that it planned to mitigate risks from tariff turmoil by diversifying its routes and shifting capacity if needed. Lower jet fuel prices also helped its result. Revenues soared 7.7% higher compared with the same quarter last year to 7.2 billion euros ($8.20 billion). The group reported an operating loss of 328 million euros ($373.85 million) for the first quarter, compared to a 370 million euro ($421.73 million) loss expected by analysts polled by LSEG. That's an improvement of 161 million euros ($183.51 million)over the same quarter last year. Capacity was also up 4-5% compared to 2024 while its planes remained relatively full with a load factor of 86%. Air France-KLM has seen a turnaround since last year, when it struggled with spiralling costs and difficulty in particular at its Dutch airline KLM. The first quarter is often the weakest for airlines given lower bookings between January and March. Airlines make up revenues in the busy summer travel season. ($1 = 0.8773 euros) https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/cheap-fuel-strong-revenues-air-france-klm-dodges-q1-tariff-uncertainty-2025-04-30/
2025-04-30 06:19
April 30 (Reuters) - India's Hexa Climate Solutions, backed by private equity firm I Squared Capital, has acquired Finland-based Fortum's domestic renewables portfolio and plans to invest $500 million to expand its clean energy platforms in the country and other emerging markets. The deal includes a 100% stake in Fortum's (FORTUM.HE) , opens new tab India unit, a 206 MW commercial and industrial renewables portfolio, a 600 MW pipeline of ready-to-build projects, and Fortum's 40-member team in India, Hexa said on Tuesday. Sign up here. The company did not disclose the deal value. The deal comes amid India's push to boost its non-fossil power capacity to at least 500 GW by 2030, up from 165 GW currently. Hexa also said it plans to invest about $500 million to scale up its renewable energy, water, and carbon platforms. The sale marks Fortum's exit from India. It sold 185 MW of solar assets in 2024 as part of a broader strategic shift to focus on its domestic market. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/hexa-climate-buys-fortums-india-renewables-plans-500-million-investment-2025-04-30/
2025-04-30 06:18
NEW DELHI, April 30 (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) , opens new tab has signed a five-year import deal with trader Trafigura to buy 2.5 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a $1.3–$1.4 billion deal, Chairman A S Sahney said on Wednesday. Supplies under the deal would begin from the second half of this year, he said, adding that the price of the LNG is linked to the U.S. Henry Hub benchmark. Sign up here. Trafigura will supply 2.5 million tonnes of LNG, equivalent to about 27 cargoes under the deal, he said. Earlier in the day, Reuters had reported, citing sources, that Trafigura will supply three to four LNG cargoes this year and six cargoes annually from next year. India is looking to raise its imports of U.S. energy to fix its trade balance with the world's top economy, and traders are looking to reroute some of the LNG meant for China into India, one of the sources said. India is the world's fourth-largest LNG importer, shipping in 26.58 million metric tons of the fuel last year, according to Kpler data. The U.S. is India's second-biggest supplier, but the two sides are looking to ramp up volumes for India's energy-hungry economy, one of the fastest growing in the world. Reuters reported in March that India is considering a proposal to scrap import taxes on U.S. LNG to boost purchases and cut its trade surplus with Washington. LNG importer GAIL India had also recently issued a tender seeking a stake in an LNG project in the U.S., along with a 15-year import deal. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indian-oil-agrees-five-year-lng-deal-with-trafigura-sources-say-2025-04-30/
2025-04-30 06:12
Asks US to reverse decision to block Empire Wind Says US government's stop order unlawful Overall financial exposure so far is $4.5 bln Risks impairment of $2.5 bln book value OSLO, April 30 (Reuters) - Equinor (EQNR.OL) , opens new tab stands to lose billions of dollars on its massive wind power project offshore the state of New York unless U.S. President Donald Trump's administration reverses a decision to halt the construction, the Norwegian group said on Wednesday. In a blow to the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on April 16 the Biden administration had failed to conduct enough environmental analysis before approving the Empire Wind development. Sign up here. Equinor on Wednesday said the project was about 30% complete at the time it was halted and that it planned to meet with U.S. government officials to seek a reversal of what the company called an unlawful order while it considered its legal options. The group's investment so far has a book value of $2.5 billion, with further exposure including guarantees and termination fees of $1.5 billion–$2.0 billion before taking into account tax and other potential limiting factors, it said. Equinor CEO Anders Opedal said the company may book an impairment loss in the second quarter as a result of the U.S. government order. "An impairment would of course only be on the book value," Opedal told Reuters. Burgum's announcement this month sent shockwaves through the industry, raising concerns that fully permitted developments are not safe. "We have invested in Empire Wind after obtaining all necessary approvals, and the order to halt work now is unprecedented and in our view unlawful," Opedal said. "This is a question of the rights and obligations granted under legally issued permits, and security of investments based on valid approvals," he added. Equinor, majority-owned by the Norwegian state, won a federal lease for the project's site off the Atlantic coast under Trump's previous administration in 2017. However, on the first day of his second term, Trump ordered a review of offshore wind permitting and leasing, though the fully permitted projects had been seen by analysts as safe. One of the world's top offshore wind developers, Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE) , opens new tab, last week said it had stopped work on its U.S. projects for the time being in light of the Trump administration's moves. With a planned installed capacity of 810 megawatts, Equinor's project could generate enough electricity to power 500,000 homes a year and was expected to begin operating in 2027. Equinor on Wednesday reported , opens new tab a stronger-than-expected rise in its first-quarter operating profit, boosted by a jump in European gas prices. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/equinor-slams-trump-administrations-halt-major-us-offshore-wind-project-2025-04-30/
