2025-01-10 21:37

Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. shale producer Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) , opens new tab said the prices received for oil production during the fourth quarter were lower than the preceding three months, as global demand for the commodity weakened. Crude prices declined about 6% in the quarter ended Dec. 31 from the prior three months, and fell nearly 12% from a year ago. Occidental said its realized price was $69.73 a barrel, compared with $75.33 per barrel during the third quarter. However, the producer reported higher prices for its total natural gas output, amid a 30% rise in U.S. natural gas prices . For the fourth quarter, Occidental's average realized prices were $1.41 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) for its total natural gas production. In the preceding quarter, it was 76 cents per Mcf. (This story has been corrected to say that the average realized gas prices in the preceding quarter were 76 cents, not 70 cents, in paragraph 5) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/occidental-petroleum-says-it-realized-lower-prices-oil-fourth-quarter-2025-01-10/

2025-01-10 21:24

Capri hired Barclays to assess strategic options, including Versace and Jimmy Choo sale, sources said Analysts sceptical of Prada's potential acquisition of Versace Versace's revenues and margins declined in 2023-2024 fiscal year LONDON/MILAN, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Italy's Prada (1913.F) , opens new tab, is among the potential suitors looking at fashion group Versace, which has been put up for sale by its parent Capri Holdings (CPRI.N) , opens new tab, and has been working with Citi to evaluate any bid, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Friday. U.S.-listed Capri is struggling with falling sales in a global $400 billion luxury sector where confidence has been eroded by wealthy Chinese cutting their spending and the end of a prolonged boom. In November, Coach-owner Tapestry (TPR.N) , opens new tab abandoned an $8.5 billion deal to buy Capri, which also owns brands Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo. After that deal to create a U.S. luxury conglomerate fell through, Capri executives did not rule out the possibility of a potential sale of its brands. Capri hired Barclays to look at strategic options including the sale of its Versace and Jimmy Choo brands, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Private equity firms and rival luxury groups are both looked at as possible bidders, one of the sources added. One person said the entire Capri Holdings group could also be up for sale. Contacted by Reuters, Prada, Barclays and Citi declined to comment. Capri Holdings was not immediately available for a comment. Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore first reported that Prada was evaluating a possible bid with Citi. The U.S. bank has worked with the Italian luxury group in the past over a dual-listing project which was put on hold. Reuters could not establish whether Prada is still evaluating or interested in a possible bid for Versace. U.S.-listed Capri shares were up about 6% at 1520 GMT. Prada's Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 0.4% on Friday. "On the positive, one could argue that Versace and Prada cater to very different consumer groups", said Bernstein analyst Luca Solca, adding that Versace has a maximalist aesthetic while Prada has a minimalist one Bernstein pegs the value of Versace at between $1.75 billion and $2.19 billion, not including debt. Versace, founded in Milan in 1978 by late Italian designer Gianni Versace and still led by his sister Donatella as creative director, became known for its bold, opulent prints, including the iconic Medusa motif. Prada, whose rigorous, intellectual style bears the imprint of creative head Miuccia Prada, has been defying the industry's downturn with sales up 18% at constant currencies in the third quarter. "On the negative, Prada has an abysmal past in M&A", Solca said, citing Jil Sander and Helmut Lang as examples. Prada bought the two labels in the late 1990s and sold them a few years later, with Prada's owner labelling them as "mistakes". The analyst said another challenge Prada would need to address is the reorganisation of distribution, by reducing the wholesale presence and outlets, and the renewal of Versace's aesthetic. Versace accounted for a fifth of Capri's revenue in the fiscal year through March 30, 2024. Versace's revenues dropped to $1.03 billion from $1.1 billion one year earlier, with the operating margin declining to 2.4% from 13.7%. "We see the acquisition of Versace as a challenging turnaround. Therefore, pending further elements, we believe that Prada's real interest in Versace is unlikely", said analysts at Italian broker Equita, doubting a bid would emerge. Prada's Chief Executive Andrea Guerra said back in May the group was not looking at big acquisitions as it was focused on the brands it already owned. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/italys-prada-considering-buying-versace-capri-holdings-daily-reports-2025-01-10/

2025-01-10 21:14

US sanctions seen costing Russia billions of dollars a month US official sees no danger of global crude oil shortage Circumventing sanctions could add costs to Russia's oil industry WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI/LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration imposed its broadest package of sanctions so far targeting Russia's oil and gas revenues on Friday, in an effort to give Kyiv and Donald Trump's incoming team leverage to reach a deal for peace in Ukraine. The move is meant to cut Russia's revenues for continuing the war in Ukraine that has killed more than 12,300 civilians and reduced cities to rubble since Moscow invaded in February, 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a post on X that the measures announced on Friday will "deliver a significant blow" to Moscow. "The less revenue Russia earns from oil ... the sooner peace will be restored," Zelenskiy added. Daleep Singh, a top White House economic and national security adviser, said in a statement that the measures were the "most significant sanctions yet on Russia’s energy sector, by far the largest source of revenue for (President Vladimir) Putin’s war". The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM) , opens new tab and Surgutneftegas, which explore for, produce and sell oil as well as 183 vessels that have shipped Russian oil, many of which are in the so-called shadow fleet of aging tankers operated by non-Western companies. The sanctions also include networks that trade the petroleum. Many of those tankers have been used to ship oil to India and China as a price cap imposed by the Group of Seven countries in 2022 has shifted trade in Russian oil from Europe to Asia. Some tankers have shipped both Russian and Iranian oil. The Treasury also rescinded a provision that had exempted the intermediation of energy payments from sanctions on Russian banks. The sanctions should cost Russia billions of dollars per month if sufficiently enforced, another U.S. official told reporters in a call. "There is not a step in the production and distribution chain that's untouched and that gives us greater confidence that evasion is going to be even more costly for Russia," the official said. Gazprom Neft said the sanctions were unjustified and illegitimate and it will continue to operate. U.S. 'NO LONGER CONSTRAINED' BY TIGHT OIL SUPPLY The measures allow a wind-down period until March 12 for sanctioned entities to finish energy transactions. Still, sources in Russian oil trade and Indian refining said the sanctions will cause severe disruption of Russian oil exports to its major buyers India and China. Global oil prices jumped more than 3% ahead of the Treasury announcement, with Brent crude nearing $80 a barrel, as a document mapping out the sanctions circulated among traders in Europe and Asia. Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. assistant secretary for energy resources at the State Department, said there were new volumes of oil expected to come online this year from the U.S., Guyana, Canada and Brazil and possibly out of the Middle East will fill in for any lost Russian supply. "We see ourselves as no longer constrained by tight supply in global markets the way we were when the price cap mechanism was unveiled," Pyatt told Reuters. The sanctions are part of a broader effort, as the Biden administration has furnished Ukraine with $64 billion in military aid since the invasion, including $500 million this week for air defense missiles and support equipment for fighter jets. Friday's move followed U.S. sanctions in November on banks including Gazprombank, Russia's largest conduit to the global energy business, and earlier last year on dozens of tankers carrying Russian oil. The Biden administration believes that November's sanctions helped drive Russia's rouble to its weakest level since the beginning of the invasion and pushed the Russian central bank to raise its policy rate to a record level of over 20%. "We expect our direct targeting of the energy sector will aggravate these pressures on the Russian economy that have already pushed up inflation to almost 10% and reinforce a bleak economic outlook for 2025 and beyond," one of the officials said. REVERSAL WOULD INVOLVE CONGRESS One of the Biden officials said it was "entirely" up to the President-elect Trump, a Republican, who takes office on Jan. 20, when and on what terms he might lift sanctions imposed during the Biden era. But to do so he would have to notify Congress and give it the ability to take a vote of disapproval, he said. Many Republican members of Congress had urged Biden to impose Friday's sanctions. "Trump's people can't just come in and quietly lift everything that Biden just did. Congress would have to be involved," said Jeremy Paner, a partner at the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed. The return of Trump has sparked hope of a diplomatic resolution to end Moscow's invasion but also fears in Kyiv that a quick peace could come at a high price for Ukraine. Advisers to Trump have floated proposals that would effectively cede large parts of Ukraine to Russia for the foreseeable future. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the new sanctions. The military aid and oil sanctions "provide the next administration a considerable boost to their and Ukraine's leverage in brokering a just and durable peace," one of the officials said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-hits-russian-oil-toughest-sanctions-yet-bid-give-ukraine-trump-leverage-2025-01-10/

2025-01-10 20:52

NEW YORK/HOUSTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI.N) , opens new tab said two of its Los Angeles fuel pipelines returned to service on Friday, after being shut down since Jan. 8 due to power outages caused by the most destructive wildfires in the city's history. The 515-mile SFPP West pipeline, which delivers fuel to Arizona, and the 566-mile Calnev line, which delivers to Nevada, had not been directly impacted by the fires, Kinder Morgan said on Thursday. The power station fueling Kinder Morgan's Calnev pipeline was restored and gasoline was moving normally into southern Nevada on Friday, officials from Clark County, Nevada, posted on social media. Both pipelines also deliver fuel to various markets within California. The outages prompted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to fill up its vehicles as a precautionary measure on Thursday, while city officials asked residents to reconsider their driving plans in light of the disruptions. There was some progress in controlling the wildfires in Los Angeles on Friday, helped by a pause in the fierce winds super-charging them, although strong gusts are set to return next week. Southern California Edison, the largest electric utility in Southern California, said it had a total of 278,143 customers without power as of midday Friday. More than half of those were pre-emptive power shutoffs. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/kinder-morgan-fuel-pipelines-return-service-after-californian-power-outages-2025-01-10/

2025-01-10 20:52

Survivors return to find homes reduced to rubble Wildfires kill at least 10, destroy over 10,000 structures Insurance challenges expected for affected homeowners LOS ANGELES, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Survivors of the wildfires that have been sweeping parts of Los Angeles have started to trickle back to their evacuated homes in recent days, hoping against the odds that they were spared the worst of the devastation. Many instead found little more than concrete foundations, ashen rubble and memories. The wildfires, among the worst natural disasters ever to hit California, had killed at least 10 people as of Friday morning and destroyed or badly damaged more than 10,000 structures, authorities said. Aerial images of some scorched neighborhoods - including parts of Pacific Palisades, a mostly affluent enclave west of downtown, and Altadena, a diverse neighborhood on L.A.'s eastern edge - show block after block of homes burned to the ground, as if in a war zone. Those who survived say they feel fortunate to have escaped with their lives. But many shed tears over family homes lost and fears about futures filled with uncertainty. In a neighborhood of 60 homes ravaged by the Palisades Fire, the only thing left standing at Rick McGeagh's ranch house near the Will Rogers State Park is a statue of the Virgin Mary he installed when they moved there in 1998. It had belonged to his grandmother who had died a year earlier. He called the statue's survival an "amazing blessing" in a terrible time. "I think it's miraculous." McGeagh, 61, a commercial real estate broker who along with his wife raised three children at their home, said only six homes in his neighborhood remained standing. "Everything else is ash and rubble," he told Reuters on Friday. He first noticed the fire on Tuesday, when he was out walking his dog near the park and saw odd looking white clouds that turned out to be smoke. He rushed home, packed everything that he could grab in his car and fled with his wife. Later they watched the progression of the fire that day on their home security camera. "At five, we saw the neighbor's house across the street go. Then our camera went out." "We're obviously devastated, but grateful to have each other," McGeagh said. AVOCADO TREE OFFERS SLIVER OF HOPE In the Altadena neighborhood, Alita Johnson, a lifelong resident whose home burned down, was seeking assistance at an evacuation center on Thursday when she bumped into a friend there. After greeting the man and giving him a hug, Johnson, 61, said: "I lost my house." In a reply all too common in Los Angeles this week, her friend replied, "I know, I'm sorry - we lost everything, too." En route to see the charred plot of land where her home once stood, Johnson, sitting in the passenger seat of a car, pointed ahead of her and told a Reuters reporter, "This is where I live." In a trembling voice, Johnson then corrected the verb tense: "Where I lived." Her voice rose a little as she noted that her avocado tree survived. It was one of the few signs of hope in sight. "Nothing prepares you for this amount of destruction," she said, her eyes welling with tears. ON THE STREET "Now we're homeless," Paul Lewis, another Altadena resident whose home burned down, said on Thursday in a matter-of-fact voice. "We're searching for a place to stay." Lewis and his wife had tried to return to their burned-down home in the hope of recovering any personal effects not consumed in the flames, he said. But the area where they live was blocked off to vehicle traffic. He didn't want to walk the mile (1.6 km) or so to their home with two young children and a dog in tow. A day earlier they were able to reach the home by car and found it burned down to the foundations, still smoldering. Lewis said that his garage was still on fire that day. Hotels in the area are fully booked, mostly by people forced to flee their homes, Lewis said. AirBnBs and Vrbos were scarce, he said. Lewis said his house was covered by insurance - but he was girding for a long fight to recover its value. He foresaw a scenario in which he would have to hire an attorney "to make sure we're protected." "Insurance companies for a while have been trying to drop coverage for people like us, who live near natural habitat," he said, referring to the nearby Eaton Canyon area. "I'm sure they'll do everything they can to undercut our claim." OVERWHELMED BY DESTRUCTION At a mobile home park in Pacific Palisades, Curtis, who said he would not like his last name to be published, grimaced and his eyes welled with tears as he took in the burnt ruins all around him. Asked what he had lost, Curtis replied immediately and simply: "Everything." Then he recalled that he did have his vehicle and "whatever's in the car." Overwhelmed by the scenes of destruction around him, Curtis added that he hoped a feral neighborhood cat - a beloved local character - "hopefully made it out safely." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/stunned-tearful-angelenos-return-find-their-homes-are-gone-2025-01-10/

2025-01-10 20:49

Wall Street stocks trade lower U.S. yields hit highest since November 2023 European shares finish down U.S. dollar index reaches highest since November 2022 Crude prices jump after U.S. unveils fresh Russia sanctions NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Global stocks fell while U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday after a stronger-than-expected jobs data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates elevated for longer than traders were betting on. Wall Street's main indexes finished lower, with 10 out of 11 categories of stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 closing in the red led by financials, real estate, technology and consumer staples. Energy stocks ended higher. All three indexes notched their second straight week of losses. The Labor Department data on Friday showed that the U.S. economy created 256,000 jobs in December, beating analyst expectations of 160,000, according to a Reuters poll of economists. "This is one of those classic good-news-is-bad-news types of data point," said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management in Santa Monica, California. "When I think about the economic data that's good for growth, but it certainly weighs on the yield picture and kind of puts a bit of a bind when it comes to lowering rates. And I think the market is trying to sort that out." Markets are now pricing in a single Fed rate cut no sooner than June. Prior to the jobs report, traders were expecting the Fed to cut rates as early as May with a 50% probability of another rate cut before year end, according to CME's FedWatch tool. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 8 basis points to 4.761%. It had reached as high as 4.79%, its highest level since November 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 1.63% to 41,938.45, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab fell 1.54% to 5,827.04 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab fell 1.63% to 19,161.63. Shares in small cap companies, which can be more vulnerable to fluctuations in interest rates, came under the most pressure during the session, pushing the Russell 2000 (.RUT) , opens new tab down 2.22%. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab fell 1.39% to 833.86. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab finished down 0.84%, dragged down by utilities, consumer non-cyclical, and real estate stocks. "Bond yields are climbing today because the ability to cut further is going to be diminished after today's report even though I always advise to look at January numbers with a grain of salt given seasonality issues that work itself out in the next couple of months," St. Aubin added. Government bond yields have jumped higher this week amid a broad market selloff that pushed long-dated borrowing costs to multi-year highs. The turmoil in the fixed income market has hit UK government bonds particularly hard, pushing 30-year gilt yields to their highest since 1998, as investors grow increasingly worried about Britain's finances . The U.S. dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.39% to 109.70. It reached as high as 109.97, its highest level since November 2022. The euro was down 0.52% at $1.0244, dropping to its lowest level since November 2022 on the session. The pound fell for a fourth day, dropping by as much as 0.91% to $1.2189, its lowest since November 2023. It last traded down 0.81% to $1.2204. Oil prices rallied nearly 3% to their highest in three months, as traders braced for supply disruptions from the broad U.S. sanctions package targeting Russian oil and gas revenue. Brent crude futures were up 3.69% to $79.76 a barrel, after reaching their highest since October. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up 3.58% to $76.57, also a three-month high. Gold prices rose and were on track for the fourth straight day of gains. Spot gold rose 0.73% to $2,689.79 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled 0.9% higher at $2,715.00. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2025-01-10/