2024-10-25 06:53
MILAN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Italian energy group Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab will increase its share buyback programme to 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), it said on Friday, after beating third-quarter profit expectations. The state-controlled group had indicated in July that it could raise the 1.6-billion-euro programme to up 2.1 billion if the macroeconomic situation improved. It reported an adjusted net profit of 1.27 billion euros, topping the 1.08 billion expected by analysts in a poll compiled by the company but down from 1.82 billion last year. Despite lower oil price expectations, Eni said on Friday that it would increase rewards for investors as progress on its disposal plan and cost controls help keep its debt in check. Analysts have warned that a drop in oil prices after more than two years of bumper profits could push big energy companies to borrow to maintain shareholder payouts or force them to cut buybacks. Eni announced on Thursday that U.S. fund KKR (KKR.N) , opens new tab would buy a 25% stake in its biofuel business Enilive for 2.9 billion euros, continuing efforts to spin off growth businesses to fund its energy transition. With Eni expecting the Brent crude oil price to drop to an average of $83 a barrel this year, down from a previous estimate of $86, the company trimmed its full-year guidance for underlying cashflow from operations and operating profit. Third-quarter underlying cashflow from operations (CFFO) at 2.9 billion euros was in line with consensus. The group's leverage ratio, which measures total debt in relation to equity, was stable compared with the second quarter at 22% and is now expected to fall towards the lower end of a 15%-20% range. Its four-year disposal plan is proceeding faster than expected with excellent visibility for almost all the 8 billion euros in net proceeds planned, Eni said in a statement. "Overall, Eni continues to deliver on its strategic objectives, and the nudge up in distributions is likely to be welcomed by investors," Royal Bank of Canada analyst Biraj Borkhataria wrote in a note for clients. ($1 = 0.9238 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/italys-eni-ups-buyback-2-bln-euros-after-better-than-expected-q3-2024-10-25/
2024-10-25 06:49
BHUBANESWAR, India, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A "severe cyclonic storm" pounded India's eastern coast on Friday, uprooting trees, snapping power lines and inundating some areas, authorities said, adding that no deaths or injuries were reported. Cyclone Dana made landfall in Odisha state around midnight with wind speeds of 100-110 kmph (62-68 mph), gusting up to 120 kph (75 mph), but weakened into a cyclonic storm by forenoon, the weather department said. It is expected to weaken further into a deep depression in the afternoon. Odisha had closed schools, suspended flights to and from its capital city of Bhubaneswar until Friday morning, and evacuated more than half a million people in anticipation of the storm. "We don't have any reports of damage to life or property, only damage to trees. Power in the affected area will be restored by late afternoon," said Dilip Routrai, administrative chief of the region where the cyclone made landfall. Ports and industries in the state did not sustain any damage, he said. Paradip port, where work was suspended since Wednesday, had resumed normal operations, a senior port official told Reuters. By late Friday morning, people in several areas began returning to their homes from shelters. "We had tied our goats at home before we left for the shelter and returned to find that both they and our house were safe," one resident told a local television channel. Heavy rainfall also lashed parts of the neighbouring state of West Bengal and, accompanied by a surge in the sea water, left low lying areas inundated, damaging the standing paddy crop that was almost ready for harvest in some fields. "Winter vegetables also perished in large agricultural tracts because of heavy rains and storm surge of the sea water that entered many areas in the Sunderbans belt," said Bankim Hazra, minister for Sunderban Affairs. Flight operations resumed on Friday morning at the airports in Bhubaneswar and the West Bengal capital Kolkata, where too they were suspended since Thursday evening. Some of the 200 train services that were suspended also resumed operations. Severe storms pummel the coasts of India and neighbouring Bangladesh during the cyclone season from April to December each year, damaging both life and property. Odisha saw its worst cyclone in recent years in 1999, which raged for 30 hours and killed 10,000 people. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/trees-uprooted-power-lines-snapped-cyclone-dana-pummels-indias-east-coast-2024-10-25/
2024-10-25 06:48
Oct 25 (Reuters) - Yara International (YAR.OL) , opens new tab, one of the world's largest fertilizer producers, reported third-quarter core earnings above market expectations on Friday, citing record production and its focus on core operations to boost profitability. Third-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation (EBITDA), excluding items affecting comparability, soared more than 47% from a year earlier to $585 million. Analysts on average had forecast $482 million, a company-provided poll , opens new tab showed. "Yara is delivering all-time high production performance and strong premiums this quarter, a testament to the robustness of our operations and the value of our core business," CEO Svein Tore Holsether said in the statement. While European deliveries remain below pre-2022 levels amid higher raw material costs, Yara said improved margins from phosphate-rock upgrading and stable potash prices led to stronger-than-expected results, setting it up for profitability once market conditions stabilize. It also pointed to stronger third-party sales in Brazil as a reason for the earnings jump. Yara said the costs of buying natural gas in the fourth quarter were expected to be in line with last year's level, while in the first quarter of 2025 they were projected to be $60 million higher year on year. Vast amounts of gas are required to produce fertilizers, so when gas prices surged following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they became more costly to produce and thus more expensive for farmers to buy. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/norways-yara-beats-q3-profit-expectations-2024-10-25/
2024-10-25 06:35
Copper assets key to Anglo's defence against takeover BHP may wait for Anglo's restructuring before another bid JOHANNESBURG, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The speed at which Anglo American shifts to becoming a copper-focused miner may well dictate its ultimate fate - survival as an independent operator, or absorption by a bigger rival such as BHP Group, which earlier this year failed to buy the group. BHP(BHP.AX) , opens new tab walked away from a $49 billion bid to acquire Anglo in May after it was rebuffed three times. With a six-month block on another approach set to expire at the end of November, a deal is again under scrutiny. Anglo (AAL.L) , opens new tab was able to convince investors during BHP's approach that it had a better plan to grow value, focused on shedding underperforming platinum, diamonds and coal to focus on copper, a metal key for the energy transition. If that succeeds, the higher value that comes with copper assets may help keep Anglo safe, one portfolio manager at a Cape Town fund manager said. But the longer it takes to achieve a transformation, the more likely it is that investors will be tempted by another bid. Investors with shares in both companies told Reuters that even though they expect BHP CEO Mike Henry to renew his pursuit for the London-listed miner, the timing and even the rationale for such an approach could be shaped by whether Anglo can grow beyond the grasp of cash-rich rivals. Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad is rushing to sell coking coal mines in Australia and nickel assets in Brazil while spinning off platinum mines in South Africa. The company is also weighing whether to sell or separately list its De Beers diamonds unit. Anglo's world-class copper assets in Latin America are the prize for rivals seeking increased exposure to copper. But its copper mines are still dogged by operational issues. On Thursday, it said copper output declined 13% in the third quarter, though the company remains on course to meet this year's output guidance of 730,000 tons to 790,000 tons. Anglo declined to comment. BHP did not respond to emailed requests for comment. CHOOSING THE MOMENT Anglo's shares rose as much as 4.3% in London on Monday amid a broad uptick in mining stocks, but have shed most of the premium they added in the wake of BHP's approach. If Anglo's valuation takes time to catch up with its restructuring, it could present a golden opportunity for BHP. According to a source at a top investor in both companies, a restructured Anglo creates more value for BHP, which is still wary of the risks associated with absorbing South African assets. "If I was BHP, I would say let Anglo do most of the heavy lifting, the restructuring it promised it will do by end 2025," the source told Reuters. Any potential new bid should come when some of the restructuring is expected to completed by June or July next year, they added. BHP may have to wait until Anglo spins off its platinum business by mid-2025 to make the deal less complex, UBS Group analysts said. "We expect Anglo to re-rate as the group simplifies," UBS said. "If not, we see potential for another takeover approach." Christiaan Bothma, an investment analyst at Johannesburg-based money manager Sanlam Private Wealth, which has shares in both companies, told Reuters it would "make sense" for BHP to wait for Anglo to do the asset separation for them. But he added: "The counter argument to this would be if they wait (too) long, Anglo's valuation premium may be too high or iron ore prices too low (BHP's primary currency)." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/can-anglos-copper-pivot-help-thwart-renewed-takeover-bid-2024-10-24/
2024-10-25 06:20
BEIJING, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Steel demand in China, the world's largest producer and consumer, will likely flatten or dip slightly in 2025, industrial officials said, warning mounting risks facing steel exports due to growing trade frictions. Oversupply due to demand dropping faster than supply has weighed down steel prices and hurt profitability among steelmakers, some of which shipped more cargoes abroad. China's apparent steel consumption in the first three quarters of 2024 slid 6.2% year-on-year to 688 million metric tons, the state-backed China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) told reporters on Friday. Consumption will likely be below 900 million tons this year, and will stay at around 800 million tons until 2035, the CISA said in a separate note on its WeChat account on Thursday. China's crude steel output for the first three quarters slipped 3.6% on the year to 768.48 million tons, official data showed last week. CISA forecasts this year's total output is likely to stay above 1 billion tons. China's steel output has been on the decline since 2021 when Beijing started to mandate a cap on annual growth to limit carbon emissions. The structural focus of China's steel consumption has shifted to the manufacturing sector, said the CISA. A protracted downturn in the property market, typically the largest steel consumer in China, has seen Chinese steelmakers struggling with profitability amid dwindling demand. "Steel demand from the manufacturing sector will climb to around 50% or even higher this year," said Jiang Wei, the association's vice chairman and secretary general. Additionally, the association said the concentration in China's steel industry still lagged some other developed countries. In the first three quarters of this year, the market share of China's top 10 steel producers was 40.9%, while the share of the top two to four steelmakers in other developed countries ranged from 65% to 85%, said Wang Bin, another official from the association. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinas-jan-sept-apparent-steel-consumption-down-62-yy-2024-10-25/
2024-10-25 06:17
LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - London's Tube map is being celebrated in a new exhibition that traces the evolution of its much-loved design that has inspired transport network guides around the world. Displayed at London Underground stations, in trains and on passenger leaflets, the Tube map has remained a popular way to plan journeys around the capital even in the age of smartphones. In a 2006 BBC poll Britons voted the Tube map their second favourite British design of the 20th century after the Concorde jet, and beating the Spitfire fighter plane, the World Wide Web and the red telephone box. Starting on Friday, the "Mapping the Tube: 1863-2023" exhibition at The Map House, in London, will display and sell rare Tube maps and posters, including a manuscript of Harry Beck's 1933 version, which has a price tag of 75,000 pounds ($96,900). Beck's design changed how transport networks were imagined worldwide, transforming a diagram of squiggly lines overlaid on geographical maps into straight lines that allowed passengers to figure out quickly how to get from station to station. "His concept was that when a passenger was underground, it didn't matter to them where they were above ground, as long as they ended up at the station they were trying to get to," exhibition curator Charles Robert said. "His design is continued and copied and developed by almost every other transport network around the world," he said. "His influence is as wide-ranging as any other designer of the 20th century." However, deeming it too radical, the capital's transport authorities rejected Beck's no-nonsense design at first, only adopting it after a hit trial run. The technical draughtsman was barely recognised during his own lifetime, although Tube maps today do credit his design. The exhibition - which coincides with the 50th anniversary of Beck's death - runs until Nov. 30. ($1 = 0.7739 pounds) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/london-tube-map-exhibition-celebrates-iconic-design-2024-10-25/
