2024-05-06 11:37
CHENNAI/BENGALURU, May 6 (Reuters) - India's Marico (MRCO.NS) New Tab, opens new tab, which owns the Saffola and Parachute brands of packaged oils, expects revenue growth to outpace its volume growth in fiscal 2025, it said on Monday, adding that it would aggressively scale up food and personal care portfolios. The consumer goods major said it expects a gradual revenue uptick in its core categories on account of stabilising macro-indicators and a normal monsoon forecast this year. It aims to scale up the foods and premium personal care portfolios to improve profitability parameters, and expects its share of domestic revenue from these segments to expand to about 25% by FY27 from about 20% currently. "We aim to grow Foods at 20% compound annual growth rate," it said. Marico added that it aims to maintain its double-digit percentage growth momentum, on a constant currency basis, in FY25 and beyond in its international business. The company posted a 5.3% rise in consolidated net profit to 3.18 billion rupees ($38.1 million) for the fourth quarter. However, it missed analysts' average estimate of 3.23 billion rupees, as per LSEG data, as neither price cuts in crucial domestic portfolios nor new product ranges could sway customer demand. For the quarter, revenue from operations rose 2% to 22.78 billion rupees, snapping a three-quarter run of falling revenue, but it missed analysts' average estimates of 22.87 billion rupees. The company added that it aims to back its outlook with substantial investments and demand-generation initiatives during the year. Marico's shares turned volatile at the close of trade as results came in 15 minutes before the closing bell, before ending 2.6% higher. They are down 2.8% so far this year. Among peers, Hindustan Unilever (HLL.NS) New Tab, opens new tab missed quarterly earnings estimates but said a recovery in demand in rural areas is underway, while Nestle India (NEST.NS) New Tab, opens new tab reported a bigger-than-expected rise owing to higher product prices. ($1 = 83.4530 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/indias-marico-misses-q4-earnings-view-sluggish-demand-2024-05-06/
2024-05-06 11:33
NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - The dollar fell against most currencies on Monday for a fourth straight session as recent labor market data and comments from Federal Reserve officials buoyed rate-cut hopes, but the greenback strengthened against the yen after last week's suspected interventions. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was on track for its longest streak of declines since early March. Friday's U.S. payrolls report showed the smallest jobs gain since October, easing concerns the Fed would have to keep interest rates higher for longer. Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday that rate increases remained unlikely were echoed by other Fed officials on Monday. New York Fed President John Williams said that "eventually" the central bank will cut interest rates, although he did not give a time frame. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said the current level of interest rates is restrictive enough to cool the economy to bring inflation back to the central bank's 2% target. The economic calendar is light this week, highlighted by the consumer sentiment reading from the University of Michigan on Friday, while a host of Fed officials are due to speak, including Fed Governors Lisa Cook and Michelle Bowman later in the week. The dollar will stay weaker "as long as the data stays conducive to that and as long as those Fed speakers don't rebut Jay Powell, but I have a feeling that some of them will," said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie in New York. "The labor market is evidently more loose now than it was a year ago, but at the same time, these guys who are more hawkish could easily build arguments to make a case for higher for longer," he said. The dollar index fell 0.1% at 105.06, with the euro up 0.12% at $1.0771. The yen was weaker against the greenback after last week notching its strongest weekly gain since early December 2022, following two rounds of suspected intervention from the Bank of Japan to pull the currency away from a 34-year low of 160.245 per dollar. The yen gained 3.5% in the week. On Monday, the yen weakened 0.61% against the greenback at 153.92 per dollar. Japanese and British markets were both closed for a holiday on Monday, but with Japanese authorities choosing last week's quiet periods to intervene in the currency market, traders remained on guard to the possibility of another. Traders estimate the Bank of Japan spent nearly $59 billion defending the currency last week, but likely only bought some time, analysts say, as the market still views the yen as a sell. Still, "it's pretty treacherous right now to be going long dollar-yen," said Wizman. "It's not because FX intervention per se is effective, it's just that if the BoJ thinks that U.S. yields have peaked -- not saying they have -- but if they think that U.S. yields have peaked, they're going to be encouraged to try to intervene again." While Japan clearly has capacity to intervene more, the broader macro environment remains quite negative for the yen, according to Goldman Sachs strategists, saying that intervention "success" can go only so far. Barclays analysts said the interventions will do "little more than delay the eventual" move higher in the dollar. The yen has been under pressure as U.S. interest rates have risen while Japan's have remained near zero, pushing cash out of the currency and into higher-yielding assets. The latest weekly report from U.S. regulators showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes speculative trades and hedge funds , reduced their yen short positions to 168,388 futures contracts in the week ended April 30, still close to their largest bearish positions since 2007. Markets are now pricing in nearly 50 basis points of rate cuts from the Fed this year, including a 65.7% chance of a rate cut of at least 25 basis points in September, according to CME's FedWatch Tool New Tab, opens new tab. Sterling strengthened 0.16% at $1.2564 ahead of a Bank of England policy announcement on Thursday, when interest rates are expected to be held at 5.25%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/dollar-steady-after-soft-us-jobs-report-yen-starts-week-back-foot-2024-05-06/
2024-05-06 11:07
BOGOTA, May 6 (Reuters) - Colombia's majority state-owned energy company Ecopetrol (ECO.CN) New Tab, opens new tab is analyzing its potential direct participation in the Andean country's first-ever offshore wind auction, the company said in a statement to Reuters. The government of President Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first leftist leader, has said it wants to wean the Andean country from its dependence on fossil fuels while ensuring energy self-sufficiency. Bidders in the auction for concessions off the country's Caribbean coast are required to demonstrate some sort of partnership agreement with a public or mixed-ownership company - such as Ecopetrol - in order to be awarded a concession. But it had not been known whether Ecopetrol would seek to qualify for the auction process as a bidder itself. "Ecopetrol is carrying out the technical, economic and legal analyses of its potential participation in the offshore wind auction process," the company told Reuters in a statement in response to questions about its participation. Potential private bidders will be able to choose from a variety of companies with public participation, energy minister Andres Camacho told Reuters in December. Public or mixed-ownership companies that later join private company bids are not subject to evaluation at the qualification stage under the terms of the auction. A source with knowledge of the matter had told Reuters that Ecopetrol was exploring its own qualification. Public or mixed-ownership companies must qualify alongside other businesses that have technical experience, the company said. "The qualification stage requires Ecopetrol to participate jointly with a partner," it said in the statement. Ecopetrol is talking with a number of companies regarding potential partnerships to develop offshore wind projects, the company said, though it declined to name any businesses it has spoken to. Ecopetrol - the country's biggest oil producer - is taking part in a number of forays into renewable energy, such as green hydrogen pilots and powering its operations with solar energy. Offshore wind energy represents a good opportunity to incorporate non-conventional renewable energy into Ecopetrol's operations, the company said. "Participating in the offshore wind auction will allow us to access reliable renewable energy to leverage the entry of green hydrogen projects and their derivatives," the statement added. The auction process is being overseen by the government's National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) and the registration deadline is June 21. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/colombias-ecopetrol-exploring-participation-offshore-wind-auction-2024-05-06/
2024-05-06 11:07
MOSCOW, May 6 (Reuters) - Russia's finance ministry said on Monday that it would halve its purchases of foreign currency and gold in the month ahead, a move that will increase the state's overall forex sales. The finance ministry said its purchases of foreign currencies and gold for the period from May 8 to June 6 would amount to the equivalent of 110.94 billion roubles ($1.21 billion), or 5.55 billion roubles per day. Due to other interventions the central bank carries out, the Russian state will continue making FX sales throughout May with overall sales increasing to 6.3 billion roubles from 0.6 billion roubles a day in the previous month. In the previous period, between April 5 and May 7, the ministry had planned to buy foreign currency worth 235.3 billion roubles ($2.57 billion), or 11.2 billion roubles per day. Under its budget rule, Russia sells foreign currency from its National Wealth Fund (NWF) to make up for any shortfall in revenue from oil and gas exports, or makes purchases in the event of a surplus. Proceeds from oil and gas sales for Russia's federal budget down to 1.23 trillion roubles in April from 1.3 trillion roubles in March, ministry data showed. The central bank conducts FX interventions on the finance ministry's behalf. Meanwhile, in August 2023, the central bank stopped foreign currency purchases until the new year to avoid aggravating pressure on the rouble, which tumbled past 100 to the dollar in August and October. This year the central bank in addition to the regular operations of the Ministry of Finance to the budget rule is selling forex to compensate for money spent from Russia's rainy-day fund in 2023. "The increase in the volume of currency sales in May, coupled with the delayed effects of the growing foreign trade surplus in March, will continue to support the rouble in May and June", - said Astra Asset Management economist Dmitry Polevoy, adding that preservation of high Central Bank rate is another plus for the rouble. As a result, he assumes that in coming two months the rouble may gravitate to the range of 90-93/USD followed by a moderate weakening to 95-100 by the end of the year. The ministry was selling Chinese yuan for the first half of 2023 as Western sanctions imposed over Russia's actions in Ukraine hit energy revenues. It reverted to purchases in August as commodity prices rose and energy revenues recovered. ($1 = 91.5625 roubles) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/russias-finance-ministry-halve-fx-purchases-coming-month-2024-05-06/
2024-05-06 11:03
Hamas says accepted ceasefire proposal; Israel rejects proposal Saudi Arabia hikes June crude oil prices for most regions China's April business sentiment rises, data shows HOUSTON, May 6 (Reuters) - Oil futures ended largely unchanged on Monday as a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel continued to elude negotiators. Both crude oil benchmarks settled 37 cents, or 0.5%, higher with Brent crude futures at $83.33 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) at $78.48 a barrel. Last week, both contracts posted their steepest weekly loss in three months, with Brent falling more than 7% and WTI down 6.8%, as investors weighed weak U.S. jobs data and the possible timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut. Throughout trading on Monday, global benchmark Brent climbed and then retreated on prospects for a ceasefire, reaching a high of $83.83 and a low of $82.77. "(A possible agreement) took some air out of the oil market," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "Any ceasefire agreement would lessen the tension in the Middle East. A Israeli official said the ceasefire proposal from Egypt that Hamas accepted had some far-reaching aspects that were unacceptable. Hamas has demanded for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages and Israel appeared poised to launch a long-threatened assault in the southern Gaza Strip. "Markets are a little jaded about geopolitical risk from the war," said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital. "I think you're going to have to see more kinetic activity to move the markets." Also supporting oil was Saudi Arabia's move to raise the official selling prices for its crude sold to Asia, Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean in June, signalling expectations of strong demand this summer. Lipow said he expects the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will announce at meetings in June plans to continue production cuts in the third quarter. In China, the world's largest crude importer, services activity remained in expansionary territory for the 16th straight month, while growth in new orders accelerated and business sentiment rose solidly, boosting hopes of a sustained economic recovery. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-nudges-higher-after-saudi-arabia-hikes-prices-2024-05-06/
2024-05-06 10:39
ROME, May 6 (Reuters) - Italy's rightwing coalition on Monday passed rules curbing the installation of solar panels on agricultural land, ministers said, in a move that triggered criticism as it could undermine Rome's decarbonisation goals. The new rules, part of a broader package of measures to protect farming and fisheries, included a ban on the installation of photovoltaic systems with modules placed on the ground in areas classified as agricultural. "We put an end to the wild installation of ground-mounted photovoltaic (panels)," Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida told a news conference after the cabinet meeting that approved the measures. Agricultural lobbies -- key supporters of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government -- had long called for limitations to the panels, saying they were incompatible with cultivation. In contrast, environmental associations accused the government of undermining green goals agreed with partners from the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations. Last week, at the end of a meeting of G7 energy ministers, Italy committed to triple installed renewable energy capacity by 2030 and phase out coal-fired power plants in the first half of the next decade. Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin -- who government officials said had initially opposed the plan -- told reporters the new curbs would not jeopardise a government goal to install around 38 GW by 2030 through photovoltaic plants. Lollobrigida said the scheme does not target agri-voltaic projects, which place solar panels over fields and vineyards to get double use out of the land by producing power during periods of heavy sunlight, while still allowing crops to grow. The government's package is now subject to scrutiny by both houses of Parliament, which are allowed to amend it. Limits on solar plants could negatively impact energy companies including ERG (ERG.MI) New Tab, opens new tab and ALERION (ARN.MI) New Tab, opens new tab, which have growth targets in the solar sector, financial analysts at Italian broker Equita said. On the other hand, a slowdown in the development of solar capacity could be positive for power generators including Enel (ENEI.MI) New Tab, opens new tab, A2A (A2.MI) New Tab, opens new tab and IREN (IREE.MI) New Tab, opens new tab, which may suffer pressure on prices if solar energy accelerates, the analysts said. Italy last year added nearly 6 gigawatt (GW) in renewable energy capacity, mainly through the development of small solar plants, with wind projects accounting for only 8% of the new green capacity. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/italy-split-possible-solar-plant-curbs-that-may-jeopardise-green-goals-2024-05-06/
