2024-11-22 14:01

Co-founder Peter Carlsson steps down as CEO Says group needs $1 bln-$1.2 bln financing Filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday 'We were over-ambitious' on production, outgoing CEO says Needs one or more partners to finance restructuring COPENHAGEN, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Northvolt's CEO and co-founder Peter Carlsson stepped down on Friday, a day after Europe's biggest hope for an electric vehicle battery champion filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Swedish maker of battery cells went in a matter of months this year from being Europe's best shot in a vital industry for the energy transition to racing to stay afloat, hobbled by production problems and dwindling funds. Its collapse deals a big blow to Europe's hopes of reducing its auto industry's reliance on Chinese battery suppliers such as CATL (300750.SZ) , opens new tab and BYD (002594.SZ) , opens new tab. The company, whose motto is "make oil history", has received more than $10 billion in equity, debt and public financing since its 2016 startup, and counts Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs, each with about one fifth of the shares, as its top owners. It now needs to raise between $1 billion and $1.2 billion to restore its business, the outgoing CEO told reporters. "Personally this is an emotional day," Carlsson said. The former Tesla executive said Northvolt had been "like a baby" to him. The company opted for a court-led restructuring after talks with investors and creditors including Volkswagen and Goldman broke down, and as its funds were running out. The Chapter 11 filing allows a period during which the company can reorganise and ramp up operations while honouring customer and supplier commitments, and ultimately position itself for the long term, Carlsson said. The company had only $30 million of cash at the time of the filing, enough to sustain it for one week, while its debts stood at $5.8 billion, including $313 million owed to the European Investment Bank (EIB) and a $154 million loan from shareholders. It was far too early to say what the outcome of the Chapter 11 process will be, EIB Vice President Tomas Ostros said. "For us ... it remains the case that Europe has a strategic interest in a European battery industry for electric cars and we will follow developments very closely," he added. The lithium-ion battery maker also secured $100 million in new financing for the bankruptcy process from other shareholder and top customer Scania to allow it to continue operating, and said it would seek more cash. Northvolt, which employs around 6,600 staff across seven countries, said in its Chapter 11 filing that it expects to complete the restructuring by the first quarter of 2025. Company sources, who declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak to media, said Northvolt's problems in ramping up output stemmed from faults with machines, inexperienced staff and unrealistic ambitions. "In hindsight, we were over-ambitious on the timing in which we could achieve it," Carlsson said of the production target, adding the company was working towards improving output. On Monday, Reuters reported that Northvolt had missed some in-house targets and curtailed production at its battery-cell plant in northern Sweden. Carlsson will become a senior adviser and remain a member of the board, the company said, adding the search for a new CEO had started. In the meantime, it will be led by finance chief Pia Aaltonen-Forsell and its president of battery cells, Matthias Arleth, who takes up a new role as chief operations officer. NOT EASY TO MAKE "The biggest issue is that batteries are not easy to make and Northvolt haven't satisfied the supply demands of their customers - that is a management issue," said Andy Palmer, founder of consultancy Palmer Automotive. Europe has been seeking to attract EV battery makers to the region - home to the likes of Volkswagen and Stellantis - to cut dependency on Asia, and win a green subsidies race with the United States. Production plans have, however, been bogged down by bureaucracy, technical problems and slower EV demand than expected. In 2024, Europe's battery pipeline capacity out to 2030 has fallen by 176 gigawatt-hours, according to data firm Benchmark Minerals. That's equivalent to almost all the current installed capacity in Europe, according to Reuters calculations. Only a single production line at Northvolt's plant in northern Sweden, its sole operating battery facility, is currently delivering finished products to an end user, truck maker Scania, Carlsson told reporters. Work is ongoing on two other production lines at the plant to enable deliveries to Porsche and Audi, he added. Northvolt said on Thursday it was looking for one or more partners to finance its restructuring and return the company to long-term sustainability, including the completion of major battery plants in Germany and Canada. "Any and all interested parties, regardless of their desired transaction type, are encouraged to contact Rothschild as soon as possible and submit proposals by early December," Northvolt said in its Chapter 11 filing at a Texas court. Failing this, Northvolt said it had engaged financial services company Hilco Global to assist with "an orderly liquidation process if necessary". 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2024-11-22 12:57

Nov 22 (Reuters) - NTPC Green Energy, the renewable energy arm of state-owned NTPC (NTPC.NS) , opens new tab, garnered bids worth 154.06 billion rupees ($1.83 billion) on Friday for its $1.2 billion initial public offering, as investors bet on the country's growing clean energy needs. India has been scrambling to meet its clean energy targets and has ramped up investments in renewable energy and expanded capacity. It has to spend $385 billion by 2030 to meet its targets after falling short in 2022, per Moody's Ratings. The IPO has done reasonably well for itself and the fact they have achieved 2.41 times the overall share subscription is creditable, said Arun Kejriwal, founder of brokerage Kejriwal Research. About three-quarters of the 593.2 million shares on offer were set aside for institutional investors, which were oversubscribed by 3.3 times. Most of these bids came during the final few hours of trading on Friday. Meanwhile, the portion reserved for retail investors was oversubscribed by 3.4 times, after being fully subscribed on the first day of bidding on Tuesday. At the upper end of its price band of 102-108 rupees apiece, NTPC Green is valued at $10.8 billion rupees. Its IPO trails behind only Hyundai Motor India (HYUN.NS) , opens new tab and Swiggy (SWIG.NS) , opens new tab in size this year. However, Indian stock markets -- which hit multiple record highs earlier this year -- have cooled off since September, falling over 8% from its last peak and causing some near-term concerns for the IPO, Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President of Research at Mehta Equities, said. The IPO only includes fresh issue of shares, with NTPC not diluting its stake, according to the draft papers in the filing. Anchor investors, including the Government of Singapore, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the New World Fund, had also bought shares worth about $469 million ahead of the bidding date. Trading on the stock exchanges is expected to begin on Nov. 27. ($1 = 84.3970 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ntpc-greens-ipo-attracts-bids-worth-18-bln-indias-third-biggest-listing-this-2024-11-22/

2024-11-22 12:43

ZURICH, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank will reintroduce negative interest rates if necessary, Chairman Martin Schlegel said on Friday, comments which weakened the Swiss franc against the dollar and euro as investors anticipated more rate cuts in future. The central bank did not like negative rates, Schlegel said, but could use them if needed to dampen investor appetite for the safe-haven franc. "I want to emphasise that lower interest rates, plus negative interest rates are not excluded from our toolbox," he told an event in Zurich. "Nobody loves negative interest rates, the SNB does not love negative interest rates, but if it is necessary we are ready to take the next step." The dollar rose to its highest level in 18 weeks versus the franc following the comments, while the euro reversed its earlier decline as the Swissie weakened. Switzerland is no stranger to negative rates, having used the measure previously to help cool the franc, whose strength compounds the problems of Swiss exporters already dealing with subdued demand abroad. The SNB exited negative rates in September 2022, joining other central banks in raising borrowing costs, before changing course this year after inflation was brought under control. During 2024, the SNB has reduced its benchmark rate three times to 1% now, with expectations of more cuts to come. Markets currently give a 72% probability for a 25 basis point cut, and a 28% probability for a 50 basis point cut at the central bank's next meeting in December. The cuts have been made possible by weakening inflation, which has been within the SNB's 0-2% target range over the last 17 months, and eased to its lowest level in more than three years in October. Schlegel expected the franc to remain a safe haven for investors during times of political and economic uncertainty. Interest rates remained the SNB's main policy tools, he said, with support from foreign currency interventions when necessary. Schlegel, who took charge at the SNB in October, hinted that he would not be deterred from foreign currency sales or purchases in future by the possibility of being branded a currency manipulator. "Our mandate is clear and is focussed on Switzerland," he said, referring to the SNB's goal of inflation running at 0-2%, which would remain the priority in future. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/swiss-national-bank-chief-stresses-tackling-inflation-main-goal-2024-11-22/

2024-11-22 12:36

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Northvolt, the Swedish maker of battery cells for electric vehicles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States with debts of $5.8 billion and only $30 million in cash. Here are Northvolt's creditors listed in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing: NORTHVOLT AB UNSECURED DEBT FACILITIES Total Northvolt AB Debt: $3.9 billion SECURED DEBT FACILITIES FOR NORTHVOLT ETT, ITS ONLY OPERATING BATTERY FACTORY IN NORTHERN SWEDEN Total Northvolt Ett Debt: $1.74 billion CANADIAN SECURE DEBT FACILITY Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/who-are-bankrupt-northvolts-creditors-2024-11-22/

2024-11-22 12:35

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Mexico's economy expanded 1.1% in the third quarter compared to the April-June period, national statistics agency INEGI said on Friday, almost in line with the 1.0% increase expected by economists polled by Reuters. The growth in Latin America's second-largest economy was mainly driven by the primary sector, which comprises activities such as farming, fishing and mining and expanded 4.9% in the quarter, according to the statistics agency. Secondary and tertiary activities, respectively covering manufacturing and services, grew 0.9% and 1.1% on a sequential basis. In annual terms, the economy expanded 1.6 percent compared to a year earlier. The reading was slower than the growth of 2.20% posted in the previous quarter, and marginally above the 1.5% projected in the Reuters poll. Mexico's central bank, known as Banxico, lowered its key rate by 25 basis points to 10.25% last week in a unanimous decision, underscoring progress on bringing down core inflation and signaling future rate cuts were possible. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/mexicos-economy-up-11-third-quarter-2024-11-22/

2024-11-22 12:32

NEW DELHI, Nov 22 (Reuters) - India's government plans to clamp down on polluting farm fires by measuring the areas burnt instead of live blazes, after reports that farmers were burning paddy waste or stubble at times when satellites were not passing overhead. India currently uses data from NASA satellites that pass twice a day over the northern states of Punjab and Haryana to monitor farm fires, which are a major contributor to the smog that envelopes the national capital region (NCR) each winter. The Commission for Air Quality Management, a government body responsible for air quality in the NCR, said on Friday that India's space agency had been asked in January to develop a system to study burnt areas to count farm fires. "That protocol has actually been developed and is currently being tested," Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the Supreme Court after an adviser to the court said on Monday that the current system counted fires over a limited time. Some experts suspect that farmers have, over time, become aware of the surveillance period and shifted the time of burning their crop waste to evade the NASA satellites, because of which while counts were lower this year, pollution levels were not. The government said on Friday that data from stationary satellites was "sub optimal" and not "actionable", dismissing an earlier direction from the court to use them instead. Delhi has been battling hazardous air this month, with the air quality index (AQI) touching a peak of 494 on a scale of 500 on Monday, when farm fires also recorded a high of 2,893, prompting the government to restrict vehicle movement and construction and shift schools to online teaching. India considers an AQI of 0-50 'good', and above 400 'severe', which poses a risk to healthy people and "seriously impacts" those with existing diseases. Delhi recorded a 'very poor' AQI of 374 on Friday, authorities said, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences forecast it would remain in the same category (300-400) through this week. Other countries in South Asia also battle toxic air every year as cold air traps dust, smoke, and emissions, and some studies say rising air pollution can cut a person's life expectancy in the region by more than five years. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-aims-stamp-out-farm-fires-with-satellite-images-scorched-earth-2024-11-22/