2024-04-30 12:31

EDF, KHNP bid for Czech nuclear power projects Bids are for one unit, binding option of up to three more Czech state gets EU approval for aid for new unit Aims to finalise builder contract this year Timeline plans for new unit to operate in 2036 PRAGUE, April 30 (Reuters) - Czech majority state-owned utility CEZ (CEZP.PR) New Tab, opens new tab has received updated binding bids from South Korea's KHNP and France's EDF in a tender to build up to four nuclear power units, the company said on Tuesday. The Czech Republic, which plans to keep nuclear power as a major part of its energy mix in the coming decades, had widened the tender to possibly build multiple blocks with capacity of more than 1,000-megawatts each, up from an originally planned one unit. The tender is structured as a firm bid for one unit at CEZ's Dukovany nuclear power plant, plus a binding option for up to three more: an additional unit at Dukovany and two at CEZ's Temelin facility. The plan to expand nuclear power capacity got an added boost on Tuesday when the European Commission gave approval to state aid for building the first unit. The government, which owns 70% in CEZ, said the decision could be a basis for support for any further blocks that the government decides to build. The government will assess the suppliers' bids along with CEZ, one of central Europe's biggest companies with a market value of nearly $20 billion, and pick the winner in the coming months, seeking to sign a contract by end-March 2025. "Nuclear now provides for more than a third of consumption in our country and it should be even half in the future," Prime Minister Petr Fiala said. The government and CEZ widened the scope of the tender to help lower the price of each block in what is expected to be the country's largest energy investment to date. CEZ has agreed a financing model with the government, including low-interest loans and guaranteed power sales prices, for the construction of one unit at Dukovany. But management has said the company could not replicate the model four times, and critics have said the country, with gross domestic product of 293 billion euros ($314.13 billion), could find it difficult to finance four units. Delays and cost overruns are common across the industry, but analysts have said that EDF's European production base and France's political support in the EU spoke to its favour. The cost of EDF's 3,200-megawatt Hinkley Point C plant in Britain has more than doubled to $43 billion, plus a significant inflation adjustment, and its launch date has been pushed back by years. KHNP has faced smaller delays to its 5,600-megawatt plant in the United Arab Emirates and has joined a project in Poland, but has yet to build a reactor in the EU. The Czech government has yet to set the size of a loan that is part of the state support that received EU approval on Tuesday. It said guaranteed sale prices will be set for 40 years, longer than at Hinkley Point C, in a model to provide investor stability and the ability to repay the loan. ($1 = 0.9327 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/cez-gets-french-skorean-bids-build-up-four-nuclear-power-units-2024-04-30/

2024-04-30 12:30

MAI MAHIU, Kenya, April 30 (Reuters) - Rescuers were digging through mud with shovels on Tuesday to recover victims' bodies as the number of people still missing rose steadily after rains triggered heavy flooding and landslides across Kenya. At least 48 people were killed and a further 84 remained missing after a mudslide and flash floods hit the town of Mai Mahiu in central Kenya early on Monday, the Kenya Red Cross said. Survivors in Mai Mahiu described an onslaught of water that swept away houses, cars and railway tracks. "When I opened the door, the water gushed in and made its way through the kitchen," said resident Anne Gachie. "My husband managed to quickly manoeuvre and get out. My daughters who were in the next room were swept out of the house by the force of the water." Tabitha Wanja lost eight members of her family, including her seven-month-old niece. "This is a bad dream... We have lost nearly all our family members. This is the darkest moment for us," she said before breaking into tears. In all, at least 169 people have died across Kenya since last month due to heavy rains and flooding. More than 190,000 people have been forced from their homes, including 147,000 in the capital Nairobi, according to the president's office. Several parts of the country should expect further heavy rainfall in the coming days, it said. "Those citizens who are living in landslide-prone areas, we are asking you to leave," Kenyan President William Ruto said in a speech while visiting flood survivors in Mai Mahiu. "The risk of losing lives is real," he said, adding that he was instructing the military to help in the search for victims. Dozens more people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced by heavy downpours in Tanzania and Burundi, with scientists saying climate change is causing more intense and frequent extreme weather events. The eastern Kenyan county of Garissa, where four people were killed when their boat capsized over the weekend and 23 others were rescued from the floodwaters, has reported 16 people missing, the interior ministry said. At least 120 people were killed in Kenya late last year by flooding caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon. Those rains followed the worst drought that large parts of East Africa had experienced in decades. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/with-shovels-rescuers-search-rising-number-kenya-flood-victims-2024-04-30/

2024-04-30 12:29

April 30 (Reuters) - Global grain trader Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM.N) New Tab, opens new tab beat market estimates for first-quarter 2024 profit on Tuesday, as it seeks to move on from accounting issues that triggered U.S. government probes into the grain merchant. ADM said lower energy and manufacturing costs led to an increase of 15 cents per share in segment operating profit from a year earlier. The results were stronger than Wall Street analysts expected, thanks largely to results in ADM's corporate and other segments, Stephens analyst said in a note. "All in, these results are fairly consistent with where we think investor expectations reside, as the market looks for more visibility on the balance of the year," Stephens analysts wrote. ADM and its trading and processing rivals Bunge (BG.N) New Tab, opens new tab and Cargill Inc have seen their profits pressured as global crop supplies have swelled and prices slumped from recent historic highs. The agribusinesses make money by processing, trading and shipping crops around the world. Stiff South American competition has led to weak U.S. crop export demand, pressuring ADM, which has the largest share of its grain assets there. Oil and gas prices have declined compared to the peaks reached in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, however, benefiting ADM. Adjusted operating profit at ADM's Ag Services and Oilseeds division, which includes soybean crushing and trading businesses, fell to $864 million, compared with $1.21 billion a year earlier. Carbohydrate Solutions, a division housing ADM's ethanol and sweeteners operations, saw its adjusted operating profit drop to $248 million, compared with $279 million a year earlier. In March, ADM corrected six years of financial data after an internal investigation found some sales between business units within the company were not recorded properly. ADM said it had overstated annual operating profit in the Nutrition segment by as much as 9.2%. ADM confirmed in March some employees received grand jury subpoenas from the Department of Justice which is investigating its accounting practices. Government investigations are not evidence of wrongdoing and do not necessarily result in charges. Chief Financial Officer Vikram Luthar said last week that he plans to resign from his role in September, the highest-level executive to leave the firm since it disclosed accounting issues. Touted by executives as the future of ADM, the Nutrition division had seen explosive growth until profits began to erode in late 2022. On Tuesday, the Nutrition unit reported an adjusted operating profit of $84 million, down from $138 million for the prior year period. The drop, the company said, was due in part to a steadying texturants market that impacted the unit's margins, as well as unplanned downtime at its Decatur East facility, where an explosion occurred in September. The Chicago-based company reported adjusted earnings of $1.46 per share, for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.36 per share. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/grain-trader-adm-beats-quarterly-profit-estimates-costs-ease-2024-04-30/

2024-04-30 12:26

NEW DELHI, April 30 (Reuters) - India's infrastructure output (ININFR=ECI) New Tab, opens new tab in March rose 5.2% year-on-year, compared with a revised 7.1% growth in February, government data showed on Tuesday. Infrastructure output, which accounts for 40% of industrial production, measures activity in eight sectors, including refinery products and electricity. In the financial year ended March 31, infrastructure output was up 7.5% from the year-ago period. Cement production rose the most at 10.6% in March year-on-year, compared with a 9.1% growth a month earlier. Coal production grew 8.7%, while electricity generation rose 8%. In February, coal production rose 11.6% and electricity generation grew 7.5%. Two of the eight core sectors, however, posted a drop in output. Fertiliser production registered a smaller fall of 1.3% in March, compared with a 9.5% decline in February, while refinery products dropped 0.3%, against a 2.6% rise in the previous month. Steel production grew at 5.5% year-on-year in March, against a 9.1% increase a month earlier. Crude oil production rose at a slower pace of 2% in March, compared with 7.9% growth in February. Natural gas output registered a growth of 6.3% in March, while it rose 11.3% in the previous month. "This can mean a growth of around 5%-6% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for March," said Madan Sabnavis, an economist at Bank of Baroda. The industrial output for March will be released on May 10. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-march-infrastructure-output-rises-52-yy-2024-04-30/

2024-04-30 12:24

April 30 (Reuters) - Coca-Cola (KO.N) New Tab, opens new tab raised its annual organic sales forecast on Tuesday after topping first-quarter results as customers in the U.S. and international markets shell out more money for its pricey sodas and juices. The soda giant is seeing demand in the U.S. surge mainly in the away-from-home category as consumers venturing out for movies and dining are willing to spend on its Coke sodas and Minute Maid juices. Coca-Cola, similar to PepsiCo (PEP.O) New Tab, opens new tab which also beat its first-quarter results, is enjoying buoyant demand in international markets such as Europe and Latin America where relaunches of Georgia Coffee and Sprite reformulations have bumped up sales. The company's first-quarter organic revenue in Europe, Middle East and Africa rose 15%, while in North America it increased 7%. Overall average selling price rose 13%, while unit case volumes were up only 1%. "They are doing good in certain international markets, which are a little bit more used to the effects of inflation, and Coca-Cola has frankly a lot of brand power so they are not seeing that kind of erosion," said Christian Greiner, senior portfolio manager at F/m Investments, which owns shares of the beverage giant. Coca-Cola is also overhauling their existing products and introducing newer items to spur demand among lower-income customers. "U.S. still remains in good shape," CEO James Quincey said in a post-earnings call, adding there is some purchasing power compression among lower-income customers. Coca-Cola expects fiscal 2024 organic sales to grow 8% to 9%, compared with its prior forecast of a 6% to 7% rise. First-quarter net revenue rose 2.5% to $11.23 billion, beating LSEG estimates of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola posted adjusted profit of 72 cents per share, compared with expectations of 70 cents. Coca-Cola maintained its annual comparable earnings per share forecast of 4% to 5% growth. "It is encouraging to see the company guide up but on an underlying dollar basis, it looks like everything is going to remain the same," Wedbush analyst Gerald Pascarelli said. The company's shares were down marginally in early trade. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/coca-cola-raises-annual-organic-sales-forecast-strong-global-demand-higher-2024-04-30/

2024-04-30 12:22

April 30 (Reuters) - Portugal's Galp Energia (GALP.LS) New Tab, opens new tab will need a partner to develop a prolific oil find in Namibia as it is "beyond its financial means" to keep an 80% stake in the exploration block that includes the Mopane field, CEO Filipe Silva said on Tuesday. "We will prioritise a partner that is keen to develop quickly the prospects and that will fund the capex," Silva told a conference call with analysts. The company said last week that it had completed the first phase of exploration in the Mopane field and estimated it could have at least 10 billion barrels of oil. Sources told Reuters last week that Galp has launched the sale of half of its 80% stake in the exploration block. "We are confident that Namibia will bring another exciting growth avenue to Galp," the CEO said, adding that the Mopane complex "is going to be a multiple FPSO development" that would require tens of billions of dollars, which "is not expected to be funded by Galp". FPSOs are vessel-based production and storage platforms. "It is critical the market understands that when we start with (a stake of) 80%, we have a lot of leeway to go down, be diluted over time and bring somebody else to fund the project," he said. Galp also needs to derisk a multibillion-dollar natural gas project in Mozambique's Rovuma basin, he said. Galp holds a 10% stake in a consortium exploring for natural gas in Rovuma's Area 4, in the northern Mozambique region of Cabo Delgado, which has been the target of attacks by militants. The main shareholder with a 70% stake is Mozambique Rovuma Venture, comprising Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) New Tab, opens new tab, Italy's ENI (ENI.MI) New Tab, opens new tab and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Korea's Kogas and Mozambique's National Hydrocarbons Company ENH have 10% each. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/galp-ceo-says-cannot-keep-80-stake-namibia-block-2024-04-30/