2024-10-14 11:25

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Sibanye Stillwater (SSWJ.J) , opens new tab is facing a $522 million compensation claim from investment firm Appian Capital Advisory over the termination of a $1.2 billion deal to buy Appian's Brazilian nickel and copper mines, the South African miner said on Monday. London's High Court last week ordered Sibanye to compensate Appian for the failed deal and said the damages would be determined at a hearing in November 2025. "Appian currently claims damages of up to $522 million," Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted told Reuters. "Sibanye's case is therefore that Appian is entitled to either no or significantly reduced damages." A spokesperson for Appian declined to comment. Sibanye announced in October 2021 the deal to buy the mines that are owned by affiliates of funds advised by Appian, in what was to become its biggest foray into battery minerals. Three months later it abandoned the purchase, citing instability at the Santa Rita mine, which it said would have had a material and adverse impact on future operations. Wellsted said the claims Sibanye received comprise the difference between the purchase price agreed and the market value of the shares in the mines plus the costs and expenses associated with the resale process and management of the mines, and pre-judgment interest. The financial demands add to the challenges facing Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman, who is battling mounting losses due to a slump in prices for platinum group metals. Sibanye plans to argue that Appian failed a general principle of the English contract law that a claimant must take reasonable steps to mitigate its losses, Wellsted said. "Appian is required to mitigate its loss by accepting offers for the mines at fair market value and to account for any profits it has made from its continuing ownership of the mines," he added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/sibanye-faces-522-million-claim-over-cancelled-brazil-mines-deal-2024-10-14/

2024-10-14 11:11

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday that U.S. firms ServiceNow (NOW.N) , opens new tab, CyrusOne, CloudHQ and CoreWeave would invest a combined 6.3 billion pounds ($8.2 billion) in UK data centre technology. The announcement comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosts global business leaders at a major investment summit , opens new tab in London. ($1 = 0.7662 pounds) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-tech-firms-invest-82-bln-uk-data-centres-2024-10-14/

2024-10-14 11:06

Panama government to reform fiscal framework after pushback on budget proposal over deficit concerns, Minister Chapman says Investors backing Panama's proposal to cut debt - Chapman Government weighing short-, long-term options to another drought hitting Panama Canal Panama open to letting First Quantum remove copper concentrate from shuttered mine, no date set PANAMA CITY, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Panama will stick to its economic forecasts for next year even though the government withdrew its budget proposal after pushback from Congress, Economy and Finance Minister Felipe Chapman told Reuters. "Our economic projections are not going to change," Chapman said in an interview on Friday. "We'll keep working on a budget based on an estimate of... real gross domestic product growth of 3%." The previous proposal was to slash spending by some 15%. The minister said he did not yet know if the new budget would consider a similar cut. Chapman went back to the drawing board last week after Congress' budget committee expressed concerns about the bill, particularly a forecast for a higher deficit than what is allowed under an existing framework. The ministry will submit a proposal to reform the framework – the fiscal and social responsibility law – on Monday, Chapman said. "That law does not take into account exogenous factors that could alter the ability to comply with it," he said, citing examples such as the pandemic or a recent drought, which has impacted operations at the Panama Canal, one of the world's busiest trade corridors. The reform will "take those elements of flexibility into account and raise the ceiling (on the deficit) with the idea that it would come down progressively," Chapman said. The government will present a five-year fiscal plan by the end of the year targeting a "soft landing," he said. BUY-IN FROM INVESTORS Investors are starting to show confidence in Panama's commitment to reducing its debt, Chapman said. The yield on one-year treasury bills auctioned this month yielded 6.07% on average, down 33 basis points from the August and September auctions, the finance ministry has said. Chapman said that during a recent trip to New York, he met with ratings agencies, bondholders and banks, who, unsolicited, offered credit lines "in the billions of dollars." He declined to offer more detail. Fitch cut Panama's sovereign rating to junk in March, but the minister said he felt "optimistic" as conversations were progressing with agencies. Chapman said external threats were his main concern for Panama's economy, while he was "more worried about it not raining." The minister said efforts were ongoing to account for future droughts hitting the Panama Canal, with a plan to dam the nearby Rio Indio as the surest long-term option. In the short term, the canal could pump water from the Bayano Lake, Chapman said, though he acknowledged it was "not ideal." The government is close to signing a deal with independent experts who will present their recommendations on what to do with copper concentrate mined from the now-shuttered First Quantum copper mine, by the end of this year or at the beginning of next year, Chapman said. Panama's Supreme Court declared First Quantum's contract with the country unconstitutional last year amid protests over its environmental impact and complaints about the amount of royalties coming in from the mine. The ruling forced the key mine to close down. Chapman said the government was open to letting the mine export what it had already mined but that no date had been set. Any agreement would have to take into account public sentiment, Chapman conceded, as a recent newspaper poll showed two in three Panamanians against restarting operations at the mine to later close it. Any future deal with First Quantum would likely require larger royalty fees to win over citizens, he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/panama-stick-economic-targets-despite-budget-backtrack-minister-says-2024-10-14/

2024-10-14 10:49

ATHENS, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz has been freed from custody in Greece but banned from travelling outside the country as he awaits a court ruling on a Romanian-issued arrest warrant, police and legal sources said Monday. Steinmetz was detained by Greek police on Sunday evening, hours after arriving on a private aircraft at Athens International Airport, police sources said. A European arrest warrant has been issued against him on behalf of Romania on accusations related to participation in a criminal organisation, a police official said on condition of anonymity. On Monday, the 68-year-old appeared before a prosecutor who decided that he should be freed on bail, with restrictions including a travel ban, as he awaits a judicial panel's decision on his arrest and extradition. In 2022, a Greek court which examined his case based on another Romanian-issued arrest warrant against him, had ruled against his extradition. Romania later issued a new request. "It is unprecedented for the rule of law in Greece, or any other respected country, for such an administrative act to overturn a decision of the Greek judiciary, which had definitively and irrevocably ruled against his extradition to Romania, recognizing his right to travel freely,” Steinmetz's lawyer Stavros Togias said in a statement. Steinmetz' defence lawyers have dismissed Romanian authorities' accusations as "unfounded" and have called the extradition requests by Romania "abusive". In November 2023, Cyprus' Court of Appeal ruled against Steinmetz' extradition to Romania, overturning a lower court ruling. A court in Italy has also rejected a similar extradition requests by Romania against Steinmetz. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/israeli-mining-magnate-held-greece-romanian-arrest-warrant-2024-10-14/

2024-10-14 10:17

Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The pound held near a one-month low against the dollar on Monday ahead of wage growth and inflation data this week that could help shape the Bank of England's next move at its policy review meeting next month. Sterling was little changed at $1.30660 , near last week's one-month low of $1.30110, and flat against the euro at 83.70 pence . The pound is about 2.8% below its two-and-a-half year high hit in late September as markets pared back bets on a jumbo size interest cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Expectations that sticky inflation would keep the BoE on a gradual interest rate cut path relative to its peers - the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank - had underpinned the pound's outperformance this year. Money markets currently see an 85% chance of a 25 basis point interest rate cut from the BoE's November policy meeting, and are evenly split about another cut by the end of the year. IRPR Meanwhile Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hosting some of the world's biggest businesses at a conference on Monday, where he will vow to scrap regulation that holds back growth and investment. The investment summit, which the government is hoping to use to attract tens of billions of pounds of investment, is not likely to have a big impact on the pound, ING head of markets Chris Turner said in a note. Instead, data on British pay growth on Tuesday and the consumer prices report on Wednesday could have "a decent say in the pricing of the Bank of England's easing cycle and sterling", Turner said. If the UK September services CPI drops back as consensus expects, the EUR/GBP could hold support at 0.8350 this week and retest the recent high at 0.8435, while GBP/USD could press the 1.3000 area, Turner said. Investors were also nervous ahead of the Labour Party's inaugural budget when finance minister Rachel Reeves is likely to announce tax hikes to ease the government's budget shortfall. A Deloitte survey showed optimism in large British companies softened ahead of the annual budget, in line with most other gauges of business and consumer confidence which point to a fall in sentiment ahead of Oct. 30. The ECB rate decision and the U.S. retail sales report, both due on Thursday, are key events that could influence broader markets this week. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-dips-investors-look-uk-jobs-inflation-reports-this-week-2024-10-14/

2024-10-14 10:17

MUMBAI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee slipped to an all-time low on Monday, weighed down by a fall in most Asian peers and strong dollar demand from foreign banks. The rupee , which weakened below the key support level of 84 for the first time on Friday, ended unchanged at 84.06 on Monday after dipping to a record low of 84.0750 earlier in the session. Foreign banks' dollar bids, likely on behalf of custodian clients, weighed on the currency alongside weakness in most regional peers, traders said. Overseas investors have been sellers of Indian stocks over the last 10 trading sessions, selling nearly $8 billion. Benchmark Indian equity indices, the BSE Sensex (.BSESN) , opens new tab and Nifty 50 (.NSEI) , opens new tab, rose on the day but have declined about 3% this month. Asian currencies were mostly lower, with the offshore Chinese yuan down 0.3% to 7.08 per dollar as investors considered the economic implications of the fiscal measures announced over the weekend. The dollar index was little changed at 103, close to its highest level in two months. "The dollar is holding recent gains as investors now price in less than 50bp of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. We doubt short-dated U.S. rates will move much higher from here," ING Bank said in a note. Investors awaited India's retail inflation data due later in the day. The consumer price index based inflation likely overshot the central bank's 4% medium-term target in September and accelerated to 5.04% from 3.65% in August, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-slips-record-low-pressured-by-decline-asian-peers-2024-10-14/