2025-03-25 22:09
Layoffs may be linked to February's cost-cutting plan CFO Patolawala set regional cost-cutting targets amid US investigations SAO PAULO, March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. grains merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland is making a fresh wave of job cuts this week at its largest unit, the grain trading and oilseed processing division, according to three sources briefed on the matter. Chicago-based ADM (ADM.N) , opens new tab said in February it would cut up to 700 jobs and reduce costs by $500 million to $750 million over the next three to five years, after posting its lowest fourth-quarter adjusted profit in six years. The job cuts would represent about 1.7% of the company's global workforce. Sign up here. It was not immediately clear if the latest layoffs are part of that announcement or are additional staffing reductions. ADM did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not confirm the number of job cuts this week. The new wave of cuts began at ADM's Swiss office, which is its European headquarters, one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The cuts would be disruptive to ADM's agricultural services and oilseeds business, said another source, as employees, including experienced traders, worried over who might be targeted next. That unit, ADM's largest, houses the company's global crop trading, transportation and storage, and oilseed processing operations. The division appeared to be the focus for this round of cuts, rather than ADM's nutrition unit, one of the sources added. Each region where ADM operates was given specific cost-cutting targets by Chief Financial Officer Monish Patolawala, according to one of the sources. ADM tapped Patolawala for the job last July as it dealt with multiple U.S. investigations, including a criminal one, related to accounting irregularities. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/adm-cuts-jobs-grain-trading-division-sources-say-2025-03-25/
2025-03-25 21:57
LADWP denies its power line caused Palisades Fire Complaint alleges LADWP system sparked spot fires feeding Palisades Fire ATF investigation finds no link between LADWP equipment and fire ignition NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - A Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) above-ground power line near the Pacific Palisades was energized when the Palisades Fire began early this year, but that there is no evidence that the line contributed to the blaze, the municipal utility said on Tuesday. The transmission line near the hills where the deadly inferno began on Jan. 7 has come under scrutiny more than two months after the blaze began in what is expected to be recorded as one of the most destructive natural disasters in U.S. history. Sign up here. A new complaint against the utility, filed on Wednesday, accused the LADWP electrical system of sparking spot fires that fed into the Palisades Fire. Those fires began at around 10:30 p.m., about 12 hours after the blaze first erupted, the complaint said. LADWP said that it manually shut the line at 2:30 p.m., after the initial fire began, but before the alleged spot fires. Investigations are ongoing into the initial start of the Palisades Fire. LADWP said investigations, including by lead investigators with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF,) so far have not indicated that its equipment was linked to the cause of the inferno. "Neither the ATF nor any other investigating authority has indicated that LADWP facilities were involved in the ignition of the Palisades Fire," LADWP spokesperson Ellen Cheng said. "The ATF examined LADWP's overhead facilities in the area and did not ask LADWP to preserve any of them." The municipal utility is also facing lawsuits tied to the management of its water supplies during the Palisades Fire fight. The Los Angeles fires began on Jan. 7, with the Palisades and Eaton Fire to the east, evolving into the largest of a more than a half-dozen blazes that began within hours of one another. Southern California Edison, which is the largest investor-owned utility in the southern part of the state, is being sued on claims that its power equipment started the Eaton blaze. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/la-municipal-utility-says-no-evidence-energized-power-line-caused-fire-2025-03-25/
2025-03-25 21:40
SAO PAULO, March 25 (Reuters) - Brazil-based JBS (JBSS3.SA) , opens new tab, the world's largest meat packer, posted a sharp rise in net profit in the final quarter of 2024, even as the company's U.S. beef division grapples with high cattle prices. The company said fourth quarter profit came in at 2.412 billion reais ($423.57 million), up from about 83 million reais the year earlier. Sign up here. The company said adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a measure of operating income known as EBITDA, came in at 10.789 billion reais, higher than the 9.888 billion reais predicted by analysts. In an interview, CEO Gilberto Tomazoni said its U.S. beef business remained strong despite U.S. challenges of cattle becoming scarce and expensive, pressuring margins in the market where the company derives most of its sales. That division's EBITDA was 647.1 million reais last quarter, up from a negative EBITDA of 488.5 million in the same period of 2023. Margins stood at 1.7% for the division, up from -1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Tomazoni said the operating environment in the U.S. was more challenging last year than the previous year, but the company was still able to raise margins. He also praised what he called the "turnaround" of Seara, the company's processed foods division in Brazil, which has recorded high, double-digit margins in the last two quarters and registered EBITDA of 2.627 billion reais in the final three months of 2024, a 292% increase from the previous year. JBS recorded consolidated net revenue of 116.7 billion reais in the fourth quarter, up 21% from the same year ago quarter. For 2024, JBS' adjusted EBITDA reached 39 billion reais, with an adjusted margin of 9.4%, up 4.7 percentage points from the previous year and driven by improved profitability across all business units. Net profit last year was 9.615 billion reais, reversing a net loss of about 1 billion reais in 2023, the company said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/brazils-jbs-posts-q4-profit-4236-million-2025-03-25/
2025-03-25 21:17
One of Jose's berths empty, no ships loading at Bajo Grande port Reduction of Chevron's fleet visible at terminals Bottleneck of tankers waiting might lead to delays Many customers puzzled by tariff implementation March 25 (Reuters) - Loading of Venezuela's heavy crude at its main oil ports slowed this week after the U.S. imposed a tariff on trade with countries buying the South American nation's oil and producer Chevron began reducing its tanker fleet there, according to shipping data and a document seen on Tuesday. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration published an executive order declaring that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela will pay a 25% tariff on trades with the U.S. starting in early April. Sign up here. Washington also extended until May 27 a deadline for Chevron to wind down operations in Venezuela. This includes exports of Venezuelan crude to the U.S. The two moves temporarily focused Trump's pressure on buyers of Venezuelan crude other than the U.S., such as China. Planned enforcement methods remain unclear. As of Tuesday, Venezuela's main oil port, Jose, operated by state-owned PDVSA, had an empty berth, while three supertankers were loading, according to vessel monitoring services TankerTrackers.com and LSEG and a company document. No tankers were loading for exports at Bajo Grande, which handles shipments of the heaviest crude grades, the data showed. About two dozen vessels, mostly supertankers, were waiting to load around Jose while two remained in Venezuelan waters after completing their loads, TankerTrackers.com said, adding that two ships left the country empty since mid-February. Venezuela exported some 910,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and fuel last month, with Chevron already seeing a decline with 252,000 bpd exported, below the 294,000 bpd of January. The growing bottleneck of tankers might lead to loading and shipping delays in coming days as many customers remain puzzled by the U.S. tariff implementation, especially in China, the largest buyer of Venezuelan oil. Trade of Venezuelan oil to China stalled on Tuesday due to Trump's tariff order as traders and refiners in that country waited to see how the order would be implemented and whether Beijing would direct them to stop buying. Venezuela sent some 503,000 bpd to China in February or 55% of total exports. While the U.S. gave Chevron seven more weeks to wind down operations in Venezuela, the upcoming termination of its license, which last year allowed it to export some 210,000 bpd to the U.S., has in recent days reduced the number of vessels chartered by the company waiting to load in Venezuelan waters, the data showed. A total of seven cargoes of Venezuelan oil chartered by Chevron have departed from the country so far this month, compared with 15 in February, the shipping data showed. PDVSA and Chevron did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Venezuela, which has said U.S. sanctions on the country amount to an economic war, on Monday accused Washington of violating international trade rules. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-loading-slows-venezuelas-ports-amid-us-tariffs-license-termination-data-2025-03-25/
2025-03-25 21:07
ORLANDO, Florida, March 25 (Reuters) - TRADING DAY Making sense of the forces driving global markets Sign up here. By Jamie McGeever, Markets Columnist U.S. consumer confidence sinks What started out as a positive day for world stocks on Tuesday fizzled as the U.S. session progressed, after another steep plunge in U.S. consumer confidence reminded investors of the challenges facing the world's largest economy. The MSCI All Country global index hit a near-three week high before easing back when Wall Street got up and running. Perhaps the big surprise was that resilience in tech stocks meant the three main U.S. indices closed the day higher and shrugged off the growing mismatch between the rosy earnings outlook and darkening economic horizon. I'd love to hear from you, so please reach out to me with comments at [email protected]. You can also follow me at [@ReutersJamie and @reutersjamie.bsky.social.] Today's Key Market Moves Another vote of consumer no confidence First the University of Michigan, now the Conference Board. Two of America's most closely-watched consumer surveys show that consumers, who account for 70% of all economic activity, are spooked by President Donald Trump's tariff agenda. The Conference Board survey published on Tuesday showed that confidence has fallen to the lowest in four years and the expectations index is at a 12-year low, breaching a level associated with an economic downturn. It doesn't bode well for growth and, ultimately, corporate profits - more on that below. The tariff situation is extremely fluid as Trump's April 2 deadline for a whole raft of new duties draws closer, and on Tuesday Europe's top trade official was due to meet with Trump's top trade officials for talks. Trade tensions and tariff fears are also likely to figure heavily in British finance minister Rachel Reeves' half-year update on the public finances on Wednesday, a budget statement that could see her slash her growth forecasts. As the latest Conference Board survey shows, tariffs are clearly weighing on U.S. consumer confidence, although less so on the U.S. earnings outlook. That might be about to change though. Rosy U.S. earnings vista doesn't match gloomy growth outlook U.S. economic growth is set to slow this year, perhaps significantly, but no one seems to have told Wall Street. While equity prices and valuations have tailed off recently, analysts are still expecting record-high profits. In some ways, this is how it should work. Shifts in the economic, political, regulatory or financial environment that affect corporate profitability should be reflected in the stock market well before analysts adjust their longer-term outlooks. And a re-rating of sorts has already played out. U.S. equity valuations have come off their historic peaks, as the S&P 500 has flirted with a 10% reversal from its record high and the Nasdaq has waded deeper into correction territory. Earnings growth is expected to slow modestly this year. But profits, which are already at record-high levels, are still expected to keep rising fairly quickly despite the increasingly dour economic growth forecasts. The S&P 500 weighted average earnings per share estimate for 2025 is a record high $269.91, representing growth of around 10% from last year, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. The calendar year 2026 estimate assumes there will be an additional 14% rise. This suggests the re-rating hasn't gone far enough. To read more, click here. What could move markets tomorrow? If you have more time to read today, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Trading Day is also sent by email every weekday morning. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-trading-day-graphics-2025-03-25/
2025-03-25 21:07
MOSCOW, March 25 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was a Russian facility and transferring control of it to Ukraine or any other country was impossible. The ministry also said that jointly operating the plant was not admissible as it would be impossible to properly ensure the physical and nuclear safety of the station. Sign up here. It said Zaporizhzhia region, partly controlled by Russian forces, was one of four in Ukraine that had been annexed by Russia by virtue of referendums staged seven months after Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbour and a presidential decree had formally made the station Russian property. Western nations have dismissed the referendums as shams. "The return of the station to Russia's nuclear sector has been a fait accompli for quite some time," the ministry statement said. "Transferring the Zaporizhzhia plant to the control of Ukraine or another country is impossible." Russian forces seized the station early in the invasion and each side has since routinely accused the other of staging attacks that endanger safety at the plant, Europe's largest with six reactors. Although the plant now produces no electricity, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has monitors stationed there, as it does at all Ukrainian nuclear power sites. Ukraine demands the return of the station to its jurisdiction and rejects the 2022 annexation of its territory as illegal. U.S. President Donald Trump, during a phone conversation this month with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy suggested the United States could help run and possibly own Ukraine's nuclear power plants. Zelenskiy said the plants belong to the Ukrainian people. He said he and Trump had discussed potential U.S. investment in the plant. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-stay-russian-control-moscow-says-2025-03-25/
