2025-02-23 09:59
NEW DELHI, Feb 23 (Reuters) - India's state-run Coal India (COAL.NS) , opens new tab will establish a joint venture with an arm of France's EDF to build renewable power plants in South Asian countries, it said on Sunday. The joint venture between Coal India and EDF India, will set up pumped-storage hydropower projects and other renewable energy projects in India and neighbouring countries, Coal India said in a stock exchange announcement. The two companies have signed a non-binding shareholders agreement to form the joint venture, it said. EDF also signed a joint venture agreement with state-run Indian power company NTPC (NTPC.NS) , opens new tab to set up hydropower projects and explore opportunities in power distribution, an NTPC statement said. The 50-50 joint venture will set up projects within India and neighbouring countries, the statement said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-cil-frances-edf-form-jv-set-up-renewable-projects-2025-02-23/
2025-02-23 04:41
CAPE TOWN, Feb 24 (Reuters) - South Africa's Eskom has managed to restore eight units at power plants after implementing its highest stage of controlled power cuts early on Sunday, the power utility said after multiple failures at Majuba and Camden power stations over the weekend. On Saturday, Eskom applied Stage 3 power cuts, known locally as loadshedding, effectively cutting 3,000 megawatts to the national grid. "Of the 10 units that we lost overnight, we have essentially returned six units," Eskom group CEO Dan Marokane told reporters on Sunday. He said five to six units were expected to become operational during the course of the day, bolstering the 3,200 MW of capacity recovered overnight. "We anticipate to get out of this stage by the end of the week," he said, adding that given the pace of recovery Eskom would consider dialling down its power cuts by Monday. Early on Monday morning, Eskom said the power outages would be reduced to Stage 4 until further notice. Regular breakdowns at Eskom's fleet of ageing coal-fired plants, providing the bulk of electricity in Africa's most industrialised economy, are often the cause of loadshedding - an incremental system where Stage 1 sees 1,000 MW cut from the system, with Stage 6 the highest implemented to date. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africa-faces-highest-level-power-cuts-generation-units-fail-2025-02-23/
2025-02-22 21:51
WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - (This Feb. 22 story has been corrected to fix the description of Gaza in paragraph 8) Yemen's Houthis launched surface-to-air missiles at an American fighter jet and MQ-9 Reaper drone this week, but did not hit either, two U.S. officials told Reuters. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not specify if the attacks occurred over the Red Sea or Yemen itself. One said the incidents could suggest the Houthis were improving their targeting capabilities. Abdul Malik al-Houthi, who leads the Iran-backed group, said in a televised speech on Feb. 13 that the Houthis would intervene with missiles and drones and attack vessels in the Red Sea if the United States and Israel tried to remove Palestinians from Gaza by force. An Israel-Hamas ceasefire took effect in Gaza on January 19 but has appeared close to collapse recently amid mutual accusations of violations. U.S. President Donald Trump has infuriated the Arab world with a plan to permanently displace Palestinians from Gaza and take over the enclave to turn it into a beach resort. The Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships off Yemen since November 2023 in support of Gaza's Palestinian militants fighting Israel, disrupting global shipping. The Iran-aligned movement, which controls northern Yemen, has also frequently fired missiles at Israel over the past year in what it says is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The territory has been devastated by the more than 16-month war following a Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/yemens-houthis-launched-missile-us-fighter-jet-missed-2025-02-22/
2025-02-22 19:54
Feb 22 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) , opens new tab on Saturday joined a growing list of American companies to publicly change their approach to discussing their commitment to diversity and inclusion. Berkshire's annual report includes a section describing how the conglomerate's 189 operating businesses, which employ about 392,400 people, depend on human capital and resources, and that each establishes practices to attract and retain employees. Last year's report said the businesses accomplished this in part through hiring practices "intended to identify qualified candidates and promote diversity and inclusion in the workforce." This year's report omitted the discussion of diversity and inclusion, ending that passage after "candidates." Buffett's assistant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Berkshire has long said its decentralized structure allows individual operating businesses to make their own day-to-day operating decisions without interference from the top. The company joined dozens of major U.S. companies including Amazon.com (AMZN.O) , opens new tab, Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab, Citigroup (C.N) , opens new tab, Ford (F.N) , opens new tab, McDonald's (MCD.N) , opens new tab, Morgan Stanley (MS.N) , opens new tab and Walmart (WMT.N) , opens new tab in curbing public support or initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Such initiatives have been attacked by many conservatives including U.S. President Donald Trump, who has tried to eliminate DEI from the federal government. At Berkshire's annual meeting last May, shareholders voted down by a nearly 4-1 margin a proposal that Berkshire disclose more about its efforts to promote DEI in the workplace. Berkshire's board of directors opposed the proposal. Buffett has run Berkshire since 1965. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company owns Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad, and an array of energy, industrial, retail and service businesses. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/berkshire-hathaway-removes-diversity-inclusion-annual-report-2025-02-22/
2025-02-22 18:53
Feb 22 (Reuters) - An economic partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. would benefit both countries, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote in an opinion piece for the Financial Times on Saturday. Bessent wrote in the newspaper that the U.S. has proposed that revenue received by Ukraine's government from natural resources, infrastructure and other assets would be allocated to a fund focused on the long-term reconstruction and development of Ukraine, with the U.S. having economic and governance rights in those future investments. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/bessent-says-economic-partnership-will-protect-ukrainians-us-taxpayers-2025-02-22/
2025-02-22 18:15
Record profit though 53% of businesses had lower earnings Buffett praises Geico CEO over underwriting, cost cuts Cash reaches $334.2 billion, no stock buybacks Feb 22 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) , opens new tab on Saturday said operating profit set a record in the fourth quarter and for the third straight calendar year, bolstered by improved underwriting and higher investment income in its insurance businesses. Much of that income came from Berkshire's enormous cash stake, which ended 2024 at a record $334.2 billion, twice as much as a year earlier. In his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders, the 94-year-old Buffett assured that Berkshire would prefer investing in businesses to holding cash. But he also said his Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate "did better than I expected," though 53% of its 189 operating businesses posted lower earnings. He attributed the improvement in part to higher yields on U.S. Treasury bills, and improvement at the Geico car insurer, which benefited from improved pricing and tighter underwriting as loss rates from accidents declined. "Those were incredible numbers," said Thomas Russo, a partner at Gardner Russo & Quinn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which has owned Berkshire stock since the 1980s. "You really saw the power of Berkshire's insurance operations and investments." Buffett singled out Todd Combs, Geico's chief executive since 2020 and also a Berkshire investment manager, saying he has "reshaped Geico in a major way" by increasing efficiency and improving underwriting, though more work remains. Geico cut more than 2,300 jobs last year, and has shed about 10,000 jobs--26% of its workforce--since the end of 2022. NO BUYBACKS Operating profit rose 71% to $14.53 billion in the fourth quarter, and 27% to $47.44 billion in 2024. Quarterly net income totaled $19.69 billion, or $13,695 per average equivalent share, as the value of Berkshire's holdings in Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab, American Express (AXP.N) , opens new tab and other stocks increased. For the year, net income totaled $89 billion. Buffett considers net results misleading because they include gains and losses on investments that Berkshire has not sold and sometimes has no plan to sell. The increased cash stake in 2024 largely came from $143.4 billion of stock sales, including 62% of Berkshire's holdings in Apple and one-third of its stake in Bank of America (BAC.N) , opens new tab. Berkshire has been a net seller of stocks for nine consecutive quarters. Meanwhile, Berkshire spent just $2.9 billion repurchasing its own stock in 2024. Through February 10, it has conducted no repurchases since last May. Bill Smead, a longtime Berkshire investor at Smead Capital Management in Phoenix, noted Buffett's comment in the annual letter that Berkshire only "very infrequently" finds itself knee-deep in things to buy. "He is saying: nothing looks compelling," Smead said. LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES Geico's pretax underwriting profit rose 29% in the fourth quarter, and more than doubled in 2024 as the percentage of premiums used to pay claims fell to 71.8% from 81% in 2023. Rate increases offset a small decline in the number of policies. While overall insurance underwriting profit quadrupled in the fourth quarter, Berkshire projected a $1.3 billion pre-tax hit from last month's wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Profit at the BNSF railroad fell 6% in the fourth quarter and 1% in 2024. Full-year profit also declined in Berkshire's retail and service businesses, as margins fell at the Pilot truck stop chain and at Berkshire' namesake car dealership business. Profit also declined at mobile home unit Clayton Homes, reflecting higher insurance claims and projected loan losses. Full-year profit at Berkshire Hathaway Energy rose by more than half as utility margins increased, and the PacifiCorp utility set aside less money for litigation arising from Oregon and California wildfires in 2020. Buffett disclosed that Berkshire paid $3.9 billion late last year to buy the 8% of Berkshire Hathaway Energy it did not already own. Berkshire also owns a variety of industrial companies, as well as consumer brands such as Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom and See's Candies. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/buffetts-berkshire-posts-record-profit-insurance-investments-2025-02-22/
