2023-11-05 15:09

PARIS, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A worker was killed in France's northwest region of Brittany while repairing damage to the electricity network caused by storm Ciaran, which has claimed two other lives in the country. The exact circumstances of the accident are not yet known, energy distribution network operator Enedis said in a statement. On Sunday afternoon, 247,000 French households were without electricity due to storms Ciaran and Domingos, Enedis said. Storm Ciaran was driven by a powerful jet stream that swept in from the Atlantic, unleashing heavy rain and fierce winds that have caused flooding in several western European countries. Storm Domingos hit the west coast of France overnight, disrupting rail transport in the region. Rail transport in western France and trains between Toulouse and Paris have been heavily impacted by trees falling on tracks due to storm Domingos, national rail company SNCF said. A train carrying around 500 passengers from Paris to Toulouse was stalled at 2am local time for six and a half hours in the region of Correze due to a tree on the tracks, French media reported. The worker was sent as back up from the Midi-Pyrenees region, the minister said, and was one of 3,400 Enedis staff mobilised to deal with the damage caused by the storms. "My condolences to their family, loved ones and all their colleagues touched by this drama. The energy sector is in mourning," France's energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday. In addition to the three deaths, nine people have been seriously injured due to the two storms, the French interior ministry said. Buildings have had their roofs torn off and have been impacted by flooding and falling trees, it added. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/worker-dies-while-repairing-damage-storm-ciaran-northwest-france-2023-11-05/

2023-11-05 15:03

MOSCOW, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Russia will continue the additional voluntary supply cut of 300,000 barrels per day from its crude oil and petroleum product exports until the end of December 2023 as previously announced, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday. Russia has agreed to undertake two separate reductions in oil supply: in April it decided to cut crude output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) until the end of 2024, while in August it said it would reduce exports by 300,000 bpd until the end of this year. "The additional voluntary cut is intended to strengthen the measures taken by OPEC+ countries to maintain the stability and balance of oil markets," Novak said. According to him, Russia will consider next month whether to deepen its voluntary export cuts or increase production. Saudi Arabia will continue with its voluntary output cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of December, an official source at the ministry of energy said on Sunday. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-continue-voluntary-cut-oil-oil-product-exports-until-year-end-2023-11-05/

2023-11-05 00:04

ACAPULCO, Mexico, Nov 4 (Reuters) - After days of uncertainty, Mexican authorities turned over the body of Jose Ramiro Castro, a sailor who died aboard a tourist boat during Hurricane Otis, a Category 5 storm which hammered the Pacific resort city of Acapulco last week. Loved ones were at last able to bury Castro on Friday afternoon in Acapulco, ten days after the record-breaking storm hit the city with severe flooding and winds of 165 miles per hour (266 kph), severing communications, devastating homes and businesses and shattering livelihoods. Nearly 50 people are known to have died due to Otis, which struck just after midnight in the early hours of Oct. 25. Another 59 are missing, Mexican authorities say. According to relatives, Castro and other crew members stayed on the Acarey, a well-known tourist boat that had become a fixture in the area, on the night Otis hit Acapulco. Castro stayed there to take care of the ship, relatives said. Other crew members also died, the family said. The late sailor's sister, Maria Jesus Castro, told Reuters that Castro had sent a video to her just after midnight, saying the sea was "getting very ugly." "I told him to get off," she said. Looking down at his coffin, she added, "Look at where the ship is, there are no signs of the ship, and look, my love, look where he is." The boat's owner could not immediately be reached for comment. It sank in Acapulco Bay, along with other boats. Maria showed Reuters a video of the ship, filmed by Castro on the night it sank, which has made rounds on social media, along with photos of the vessel before the storm. In the clip, the Acarey can be seen anchored, thrashing around in turbulent waves. She related how authorities told her that Castro's body had been admitted to a morgue in Acapulco on Oct. 27, seven days before the family was contacted. Reuters could not immediately confirm this independently. "It's not fair that they made us wait so long," she said. "It's not fair." https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/family-buries-sailor-lost-acapulco-storm-after-painful-wait-2023-11-04/

2023-11-04 17:58

MUMBAI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - India is planning to extend its free food grains programme by five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, as the government tries to shield consumers from rising prices of cereals ahead of a general election early next year. The extension will offer relief to consumers, but it will also lead to higher government spending and require New Delhi to procure more wheat and rice from farmers to sustain the welfare programme, which provides free grains to more than 800 million people. Modi confirmed the move at an election rally in Durg, a city in the central state of Chhattisgarh, where state elections are due this month. The grains programme, estimated to cost the government around 2 trillion rupees ($24.06 billion) this year, was due to expire at the end of the year. India, the world's second-largest producer of wheat and rice, has restricted exports of both cereals to curb rising prices at home. A Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house said the government would be forced to keep export restrictions in place for a longer period because it needs to purchase from farmers to run the programme. "Without export restrictions, local prices would rise above the government set floor prices, and they would fail to procure enough," he added. For the first time in eight years, India's rice output is expected to drop this year, raising the prospect that New Delhi will extend curbs on exports of the grain to keep a lid on food prices ahead of elections. Global rice prices jumped to a 15-year high after India, the world's biggest rice exporter that accounts for more than 40% of global rice exports, curbed exports of non-basmati rice varieties in July. India last year banned wheat exports in a surprise move after a heat wave curtailed output. ($1 = 83.1400 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-extend-free-food-grains-programme-by-five-years-says-modi-2023-11-04/

2023-11-04 17:23

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) on Saturday posted its first quarterly loss in a year as the prices of Apple (AAPL.O) and other stocks it owns fell, but said improved results from insurance helped boost operating profit to a record. Rising interest rates boosted yields in the third quarter on Berkshire's vast U.S. Treasury bill holdings above 5%, while fewer car accidents and a quiet Atlantic hurricane season bolstered the Geico car insurer and reinsurance businesses. Operating profit rose 41% to $10.76 billion, even as Berkshire's net loss more than quadrupled to $12.77 billion. Berkshire also signaled it remains cautious about stock valuations and the market environment. The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate's cash stake swelled to a record $157.2 billion, enough for one or more large acquisitions, as Berkshire sold $5.3 billion more stocks than it bought and slowed repurchases of its own stock to $1.1 billion. Berkshire also reported signs of caution among consumers, where confidence has been declining amid inflation worries, higher borrowing costs and political instability. Its BNSF railroad shipped fewer consumer goods, while lower homebuying hurt its namesake real estate brokerage and building products units such as Clayton Homes. Sales of Forest River RVs and Fruit of the Loom apparel also came under pressure. Jim Shanahan, an Edward Jones analyst who rates Berkshire "hold," said overall results were "pretty good" and exceeded his expectations, though the new "softness" in consumer businesses could persist for several quarters. Many consumer companies are experiencing higher input costs and "tepid" demand, said Cathy Seifert, a CFRA Research analyst who on Oct. 31 raised her Berkshire rating to "buy." "Against that backdrop it's not surprising that Berkshire's consumer and housing-related subsidiaries are seeing pressure," she said. Jazwares, a toymaker that makes the popular Squishmallows and which Berkshire bought one year ago, helped offset some of the weakness, generating $469 million of revenue in the quarter. 'CASH IS NOT TRASH' Investors watch Berkshire closely because its results often reflect broader economic trends, and because of the 93-year-old Buffett's reputation as one of the world's greatest investors. Many investors extol Berkshire's caution in spending cash even as they wait for Buffett to make a major acquisition. "Berkshire is disciplined," said Tom Russo, a partner at Gardner Russo & Quinn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania who has owned Berkshire stock since 1982. "It is not demonstrating a 'fear of missing out' by trading and buying businesses whose appeal may eventually appear illusory." Buffett himself has preached patience. "Cash is not trash," he said at Berkshire's annual meeting in May. Berkshire's $12.77 billion overall loss equaled $8,824 per Class A share, and rose from $2.8 billion a year earlier. Its $10.76 billion of operating profit equaled $7,444 per Class A share, and was up from $7.65 billion a year earlier. Overall results included $23.5 billion of investment losses, primarily reflecting a 12% decline in the stock price of iPhone maker Apple, where Berkshire had owned a $177.6 billion stake. Berkshire's net results swing widely because accounting rules require the company to report investment gains and losses even if it buys and sells nothing. Buffett says the volatility is usually meaningless, and Berkshire appears to have kept its Apple stake. Insurance operations generated $4.89 billion of profit, up from just $336 million a year earlier, when it lost $2.7 billion from Hurricane Ian alone. Geico swung to a $1.05 billion pre-tax profit from a $759 million pre-tax loss as fewer drivers submitted claims, even though significantly reduced advertising contributed to a 13% drop in overall policies. Shanahan said some insurers are resisting new business in larger states such as California, Florida, New Jersey and New York because premiums may be too low. "The question is whether Geico is positioned for growth given the retrenchment in policies-in-force," he said. PACIFICORP, PILOT BNSF, which often generates one-fifth of Berkshire's operating profit, saw net income fall 15% to $1.22 billion. Profit from energy businesses slid 69% to $498 million, as the PacifiCorp utility forecast more losses from litigation over wildfires in the western United States. Berkshire would not predict the impact of an Oct. 31 jury verdict awarding home sellers $1.78 billion over an alleged illegal antitrust conspiracy among several defendants, including its HomeServices of America unit, to inflate broker commissions. The Pilot truck stop unit, in which Berkshire took an 80% stake in January, added $183 million of profit. Its founders, the billionaire Haslam family, are suing Berkshire over how much the 20% they still own would be worth if they sold it. Berkshire also said geopolitical risks remain a concern, though its IMC metalworking unit, which makes many products in Israel, has not seen significant effects from the war between that country and Hamas. Buffett has run Berkshire since 1965. His $117.5 billion net worth ranks fifth worldwide according to Forbes magazine. Berkshire shares are up 14% this year, matching the Standard & Poor's 500 (.SPX). https://www.reuters.com/business/buffetts-berkshire-posts-loss-stocks-fall-operating-profit-rises-2023-11-04/

2023-11-04 14:08

PARAMARIBO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Suriname's government has launched a process to attract potential investors to develop bauxite projects in the so-called Bakhuis area in the west of the country, it said in a statement on Saturday. Bauxite is the world's main source of aluminum. Despite a number of failed attempts since the 1970s to develop bauxite projects in Suriname, the growing world population and need for climate adaptation will increase aluminum demand in the coming decades, the statement said. The government "is working to improve access to the area, create opportunities for vocational training and education there, and improve maritime accessibility," it said, adding that these steps will make the Bakhuis area more attractive than before. Developing the region will create socio-economic opportunities in west Suriname, the government said, adding that the priority is for investors to involve local communities and for the country to maintain it's green image. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/suriname-seeks-attract-investors-develop-bauxite-countrys-west-2023-11-04/