2023-12-21 23:15
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Nike (NKE.N) on Thursday trimmed its annual sales forecast blaming cautious consumer spending, a weaker online business and more promotions, and said it plans to cut supplies of key product lines to manage costs, sending its shares down 11%. The company said it was seeking $2 billion in savings over the next three years through steps including tightening the supply of some products, improving its supply chain, reducing management layers and increasing the use of automation. Nike's wholesale business has been under persistent pressure as retailers place fewer orders amid choppy demand. The weakness is also showing up in online sales, forcing the company to boost promotions as shoppers dwindle. Sales in China have also slowed as the economy has stumbled. "We are seeing indications of more cautious consumer behavior around the world," Nike's finance chief Matthew Friend said on a post-earnings call. Nike projected full fiscal-year revenue to be up about 1%, down from its prior forecast of mid-single-digit percentage growth. Analysts had expected a 3.8% increase, according to LSEG data. "Nike's talking about reducing the number of products ... perhaps the company feels there are too many products that are not high-margin and not really generating significant sales," David Swartz, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said. But Nike said it was also launching fresher styles to attract consumers, building on the success of recent releases like the Sabrina 1, LeBron 21 and Tatum 1 basketball shoes. "In an environment like this when the consumer is under pressure and the promotional activity is higher ... it's newness and innovation which causes the consumer to act ... that's what's going to pull us through a promotional marketplace," Friend said. Nike expects upcoming releases in the GT Cut, Book 1 and Kobe lines planned over the next three months to drive sales. Nike did not elaborate on which product franchises it plans to cut supplies of, but said its iconic lines of sneakers such as Air Force 1, Dunk and Court were all performing well. The company posted total revenue of $13.39 billion in the fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 30, missing estimates of $13.43 billion. Per-share earnings of $1.03 topped estimates of 85 cents, thanks to lower freight costs and inventories. As part of the streamlining, Nike expects about $400 million to $450 million in pre-tax restructuring charges, primarily tied to employee severance costs, in the third quarter. Nike shares have risen less than 5% this year, compared with a 24% rally in the S&P 500 index and a 52.5% gain for rival Adidas (ADSGn.DE). https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/nike-misses-quarterly-sales-estimates-weak-wholesale-business-china-demand-2023-12-21/
2023-12-21 23:14
Dec 21 (Reuters) - PJM Interconnection, the biggest U.S. power grid operator, said on Thursday it expects to clear 300 new power generation projects totaling 26,000 Megawatt (MW) in 2024 under its overhauled review process. The grid operator, which coordinates transmission across all or parts of 13 states from Indiana to Virginia, also identified an additional 46,000 MW of projects that should be able to clear its study process and be ready for construction by mid-2025. The new review process helps improve project cost certainty for network upgrades and sets the stage for more than 260,000 MW of mostly renewable projects to be studied over the next three years, the grid operator said. However, projects that have already been approved are running into delays, due to siting, supply chain and financing challenges, PJM said in a statement. "While siting and supply chain issues continue to slow the development of new generation resources, there will be a growing number of projects approved for interconnection in the near term," said Ken Seiler, Sr., vice president of planning. Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a $1.2 billion settlement between PJM Interconnection and more than 80 parties for non-performance charges following Winter Storm Elliott. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-eastern-grid-operator-pjm-expects-clear-300-new-power-projects-2024-2023-12-21/
2023-12-21 22:38
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Refiner Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N) on Thursday named Maryann Mannen as its new president and John Quaid as its new chief financial officer, effective Jan. 1. Michael Hennigan will remain the company's chief executive officer. He will also continue as president and chief executive of the general partner of MPLX, a company formed by Marathon which owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets as well as fuel distribution services. Mannen, Marathon's first woman president, joined the company in 2021 as chief financial officer. She previously worked at TechnipFMC, a technology provider for the energy industry. Quaid was previously the CFO of MPLX. He joined Marathon in 2014 from U.S. Steel. Hennigan has been at the helm of Findlay, Ohio-based Marathon for more than three years, taking over from former Chief Executive Gary Hemminger, who spun off the independent refiner from Marathon Oil (MRO.N) and built it into the nation's largest refiner through a series of acquisitions. In the third quarter Marathon reported an adjusted net income of $8.14 per share, cruising past analysts' average estimate of $7.75 per share, according to LSEG data. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/marathon-petroleum-names-john-quaid-finance-chief-2023-12-21/
2023-12-21 22:38
Dec 21 (Reuters) - High-speed freight transportation company Hyperloop One will shut down, having failed to win any contract to build a working hyperloop, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday citing people familiar with the matter. The Los-Angeles-based firm, which completed the world's first passenger ride on a super high-speed levitating pod system in 2020, will sell off its remaining assets, while the employment for its remaining employees will end on Dec. 31 this year, according to the report. Hyperloop One did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. In a hyperloop system, which uses magnetic levitation to allow near-silent travel, a trip between New York and Washington would take just 30 minutes - twice as fast as a commercial jet flight and four times faster than a high-speed train. Elon Musk had reignited interest in the technology in 2013 by setting out how a modern hyperloop system would work. His own tunneling enterprise, The Boring Company, is seeking to send passengers packed into pods through an intercity system of giant, underground vacuum tubes known as the hyperloop. Hyperloop One was founded in 2014 and raised more than $400 million, largely from United Arab Emirates shipping company DP World and British billionaire Richard Branson. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/high-speed-transportation-firm-hyperloop-one-shut-down-bloomberg-news-2023-12-21/
2023-12-21 22:22
Dec 21 (Reuters) - The death toll from a blast and fire at an oil terminal in Guinea's capital, Conakry, has increased to 23 from 13 earlier, and the number of injured has risen to 241 from 178, the government said in a statement on Thursday. The statement said that 10 remains were still to be identified, adding that the government had received reports of several people still missing. The blast at the West African nation's main oil terminal that handles its fuel imports sparked fears of shortages. The government said in the statement that gasoline distribution was ongoing across the country. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/toll-explosion-fire-guinea-fuel-depot-hits-23-dead-241-injured-afp-2023-12-21/
2023-12-21 22:12
SAO PAULO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The EuroChem group, a global fertilizer supplier headquartered in Switzerland, on Thursday said it will start production of phosphate fertilizers in the first quarter of 2024 in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The announcement was made after the company obtained an operating license for a chemical plant in the vicinity of the Serra do Salitre mine. Eurochem said this is its first mining unit outside the European continent. The company says it will produce around 1 million tons of phosphate fertilizers per year in Brazil, which represents 15% of national production. "The operating license is a fundamental step towards transforming EuroChem into an important group in fertilizer production in Brazil and in South America," Gustavo Horbach, EuroChem's South America CEO, was quoted as saying in a statement. The company has invested $1 billion in the project, which it says will contribute to reducing Brazil's dependence fertilizers imports. The South American nation, a farm powerhouse, imports around 85% of its fertilizer needs. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/eurochems-brazil-unit-gets-nod-fertilizer-venture-2023-12-21/
