2024-07-23 06:41

July 23 (Reuters) - Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli (LISN.S) , opens new tab reported a 7% jump in its half-year organic sales on Tuesday, as customers bore the brunt of the historically high cocoa prices. The maker of chocolate bunnies and teddy bears reported organic sales of 2.16 billion Swiss francs ($2.43 billion) for the first six months of the year, while analysts polled by LSEG were expecting 2.1 billion francs. Price increases in the mid-single-digit percentage range contributed to the sales growth in the period, while volume/mix growth was broadly flat, the company said. Lindt added it would need to hike prices further, as cocoa prices have more than doubled this year due to limited crop supply and are now higher than those of many metals. It confirmed the full-year outlook for organic sales growth of between 6% and 8%, and said it expects its operating margin improvement to be at the upper end of the previous guidance for a 0.2 to 0.4 percentage point increase. "The company has a strong track record in managing input cost inflation and has all the levers in place to further increase returns, as demonstrated by these results," Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy said in a note. Lindt also said a legal dispute in North America had a positive one-time impact on the results. Bernstein analysts noted it was not clear whether this was factored in the annual guidance. The maker of Lindor chocolate balls said it would launch a new share buyback programme of up to 500 million francs from Aug. 2, to run until the end of July 2026 at the latest. It had completed a previous buyback of almost 1 billion francs in March. While the new plan has a lower target, Bernstein wrote in a note that it expects Lindt to shift to a steady continuous buyback programme going forward. Shares in Lindt were broadly flat at 0930 GMT. ($1 = 0.8888 Swiss francs) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/lindt-delivers-steady-sales-launches-share-buyback-2024-07-23/

2024-07-23 06:25

OSLO, July 23 (Reuters) - Oslo-listed Vaar Energi (VAR.OL) , opens new tab, majority-owned by Italy's Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab, posted a second-quarter operating profit below expectations on Tuesday and maintained its dividend payment level. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the April-June quarter rose to $992 million from $778 million a year earlier, but were below the average $1.04 billion forecast in a company-provided poll. Vaar remains on track to increase production to about 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), by the end of 2025, CEO Nick Walker said in a statement. The targeted startup of the Balder X project in the fourth quarter of 2024 is unchanged, the company said, with a decision on installation to be made at the end of August before the winter weather period. The Equinor-operated (EQNR.OL) , opens new tab Johan Castberg oilfield development in the Arctic Barents Sea, in which Vaar has a 30% stake, was on track to start in the fourth quarter, it added. Vaar reported on July 11 that its second quarter output was 287,000 boepd, up from 202,000 a year earlier, boosted by last year's acquisition of Neptune Energy's assets in Norway. It has previously said it aims to sustain its petroleum production off Norway at 350,000-400,000 boepd towards 2030 by developing more resources. Vaar guided for $270 million in quarterly dividend payments for the third quarter, the same as in the second quarter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/norways-vaar-energi-q2-operating-profit-lags-forecast-2024-07-23/

2024-07-23 06:16

NEW DELHI, July 23 (Reuters) - The Indian steel industry is in talks with the federal government for trade measures to combat rising imports particularly from China and Vietnam, JSW Steel Chief Executive Jayant Acharya told Reuters on Tuesday. India turned net steel importer in the fiscal year that ended in March and the trend continues with its finished steel imports scaling a five-year high in April and May, according to provisional government data. "Indian steel industry is in discussion with the government. I think there are measures which we would be requesting the government to take up," Acharya said, without elaborating on the possible measures being discussed. India's steel and trade ministries have been in talks over rising imports, Reuters had reported last month. EXPORTS, COKING COAL This year, JSW Steel expects its exports to be 10-15% of total sales, Acharya said, adding that international markets were "muted" as of now, while demand in India was "extremely strong". Separately, Acharya denied the company was in talks with Australian miner Whitehaven Coal for a stake in its Blackwater metallurgical coal mine. Whitehaven in January said it was exploring a potential sell-down of about 20% of Blackwater to global steel producers as strategic joint venture partners. However, JSW Steel continues to look for coking coal assets overseas, including Australia, and Canada, Acharya said. Acharya also said the company was open to importing coking coal from Mongolia but as of now there was "nothing on the radar". He also opposed a proposal from the trade remedies body against capping imports of low ash metallurgical coke, a steelmaking fuel. "Putting any kind of duties on materials which we don't internally have, doesn't make strategic sense," Acharya said. Last month, Reuters reported that India's steel ministry also did not favour limits on imports of met coke, citing risks to domestic output. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indias-jsw-steel-ceo-says-mills-talks-with-govt-trade-measures-against-imports-2024-07-23/

2024-07-23 06:01

JOHANNESBURG, July 23 (Reuters) - Anglo American's (AAL.L) , opens new tab South African iron ore unit said on Tuesday private investors could help fix South Africa's failing rail network as it continues to struggle with shipping products to ports for export. Kumba Iron Ore (KIOJ.J) , opens new tab said iron ore stockpiles at its mines swelled to 8.2 million metric tons in the first half of this year from 7.1 million during the same period last year as rail and port challenges worsen. The rail line and the ports, managed by South Africa's state-owned Transnet, have over the years been beset by derailments and equipment failure. The persistent logistics constraints will likely weigh on parent Anglo, which is restructuring its businesses after fighting off a $49 billion attempted takeover by the world's No. 1 miner, BHP Group (BHP.AX) , opens new tab. Anglo has said it wants to retain the South African iron ore business and maintain a presence in the country even as it spins off its platinum unit. It also plans to divest or sell its De Beers diamond business and its Australian steelmaking coal assets. "One of the key things that we would certainly like to look at it is the concessioning of the iron ore export channel and that would be both the rail and the port," Kumba CEO Mpumi Zikalala said on a conference call. To improve the system would require the government to continue to collaborate with mining companies, Zikalala said, adding that there needs to be "greater private sector participation" in the rail and ports network. Africa's top producer of iron ore hauls the product on an 861 km (535 mile) rail line that runs from its giant Sishen mine in South Africa's Northern Cape province to Saldanha port. The line continued to be constrained by a number of derailments and equipment failures in the first-half, Zikalala, said in an earlier results statement. While the company has been forced to trim its iron ore production over the next three years as one way of managing the stockpiles, it would want to produce more iron ore as the rail network improves, Zikalala said. Kumba's headline earnings per share in the six months ended June 30 slumped 26% to 22.27 rand, hit by softer iron ore prices and the logistics challenges. The miner declared an interim dividend of 18.77 rand per share. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/anglos-kumba-iron-ore-unit-stockpiles-swell-rail-port-constraints-persist-2024-07-23/

2024-07-23 06:01

July 23 (Reuters) - Out-of-control wildfires forced some 25,000 people to evacuate the picturesque tourist town of Jasper and its surroundings in Canada's Rocky Mountains early on Tuesday, as wildfires spread across the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Jasper National Park, which attracts more than two million tourists annually, was evacuated overnight and early on Tuesday along with the town. Officials said there were up to 15,000 visitors in the park at that time. Video posted on social media showed a long line of cars slowly driving out of Jasper. Evacuee Stephanie Goertz told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that it had taken her three hours to drive three km (1.9 miles). There are 170 wildfires burning in Alberta and a further 375 in neighboring British Columbia. Around 275 are classified as out of control and officials have warned the situation could worsen. Christie Tucker, Information Manager at Alberta Wildfire, said firefighters across the province were preparing for challenging conditions on Tuesday as a cold front moves in from the west and winds shift. "This will change the intensity of several of the wildfires in Alberta as well as the direction they may be moving," she told a news conference, adding there were extra firefighters and aircraft on standby to help in Jasper, if needed. Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said the wildfire was approximately 12 km south of Jasper on both sides of the river. The evacuation order was issued late on Monday and people were told to head west into British Columbia because the fires were threatening roads heading south towards Calgary, Alberta. Officials said the evacuation was progressing well. Scorching heat in the Northern Hemisphere has baked much of the Western U.S. and Canada since the start of July. Thousands have already had to evacuate their homes in Alberta and British Columbia. Wildfires are also burning near the key oil sands hub of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta. The oil sands region produces around two-thirds of Canada's 5 million barrels per day of production. Earlier this month Suncor (SU.TO) , opens new tab, Canada's second-largest oil company, temporarily curtailed some production and evacuated non-essential workers from its 215,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Firebag site because of a nearby fire. One of the only two highways out of Fort McMurray was closed due to wildfires on Tuesday, while the Alberta government warned the other could close at short notice due to a blaze nearby. In April, federal officials said Canada risked another "catastrophic" wildfire season amid higher-than-normal spring and summer temperatures across much of the country. Last year Canada endured its worst-ever fire season, with more than 6,600 blazes burning 15 million hectares (37 million acres), an area roughly seven times the annual average. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/wildfires-prompt-evacuation-orders-jasper-alberta-2024-07-23/

2024-07-23 05:59

July 23 (Reuters) - Profit at aluminium producer Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL) , opens new tab sank 18% in the second quarter as extrusion volumes for the metal, energy spot sales and recycling margins all fell and fixed costs climbed, the company said on Tuesday. Analysts expected profit to remain weak in the third quarter, weighed down by limp aluminium prices and demand. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter ended June 30 of 5.84 billion Norwegian crowns ($533 million) missed the average analyst forecast , opens new tab of 6.15 billion crowns, sending shares down 5.4% in morning trading. Norsk Hydro said among its challenges were weakened demand in European residential construction, a shortage of aluminium scrap and a slowdown in automotive extrusion tied to a drop in electric vehicle production. Profit fell in its energy segment on lower output and prices. Aluminium prices have dropped this year as China ramped up its production to nearly a decade high. Peaking at about $3,500 per ton in early 2022, prices have dropped along with demand, to $2,326 per ton. Those factors offset bright spots, including stronger results in Norsk's bauxite and alumina division, buoyed by higher alumina prices and sales volumes. Looking ahead, the termination of EV subsidies in German budget talks earlier in July will likely further rein in Norsk Hydro's European aluminium volumes. JP Morgan analysts expect a slower third-quarter due to falling aluminium prices and reduced demand in the extrusions segment. Norsk Hydro's new deal to supply low-carbon aluminium to Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) , opens new tab could face challenges after Porsche slashed its sales outlook due to an unexpected aluminium shortage from a supplier's flood-impacted facility. Recently appointed CEO Eivind Kallevik said in a statement , opens new tabthe company was "executing cost-saving measures and maintaining extrusion margins" to help prop up earnings. ($1 = 10.9549 Norwegian crowns) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/aluminium-producer-norsk-hydros-q2-core-profit-falls-below-expectations-2024-07-23/