2024-07-16 12:12

July 16 (Reuters) - PNC Financial (PNC.N) , opens new tab reported an increase in second-quarter profit on Tuesday as higher fees from underwriting and advising on deals helped the bank offset a decline in interest income. Lenders are seeing investment banking revenue recover after a dry spell that lasted roughly two years due to rising interest rates. Corporate clients are also re-evaluating deferred IPOs and large buyouts, boosting fees for underwriters and advisers. Capital markets and advisory revenue at PNC climbed 28% to $272 million in the quarter, while asset management and brokerage revenue rose 5% to $364 million. The company's net interest income (NII), or the difference between what a bank earns on loans and pays out on deposits, fell 6% to $3.30 billion. Most U.S. banks are expecting a decline in NII this year as elevated interest rates have stymied loan activity, while efforts to retain customers from chasing better returns elsewhere have pushed up deposit costs. PNC's net interest margin, a key measure of lending profitability, decreased 19 basis points to 2.60%. Average loans in the quarter fell 1% to $319.9 billion, while average deposits declined 2% to $417.2 billion. PNC forecast NII to be up between 1% and 2% in the third quarter, when compared with the second quarter. The bank now expects full-year NII to fall 4%. It had earlier forecast a decline between 4% and 5% in 2024 interest income. PNC's net income attributable to common shareholders rose to $1.36 billion, or $3.39 per share, for the three months ended June 30, compared with $1.35 billion, or $3.36 per share, a year earlier. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/pnc-financials-second-quarter-profit-rises-higher-fee-income-2024-07-16/

2024-07-16 11:56

July 16 (Reuters) - Cold storage real estate investment trust Lineage said on Tuesday it was aiming for a valuation of up to $19.16 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, in what would be this year's biggest listing. The REIT, backed by private equity firm Bay Grove Capital, is aiming to raise up to $3.85 billion by offering 47 million shares at a price range of $70 and $82 each. The proposed share sale could potentially surpass cruise operator Viking Holdings' (VIK.N) , opens new tab $1.54 billion offering, according to LSEG data. Lineage's story began in late-2008 with the acquisition of a cold storage warehouse, Seafreeze, in Seattle. Since then, it has grown to be the world's largest temperature-controlled warehouse operator with 116 acquisitions globally. Novi, Michigan-based Lineage, whose closest rival is Americold Realty Trust (COLD.N) , opens new tab, has 482 warehouses spanning 3 billion cubic feet of capacity across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Lineage works with food and beverage companies for the storage, handling and movement of frozen and perishable food around the world. The cold storage industry is grappling with lower warehouse throughput volumes as higher food costs have resulted in consumers buying less while spending the same or more. "Lineage is poised to be the largest global IPO of the year to date, so its debut will garner a lot of attention," said Avery Marquez, assistant portfolio manager at Renaissance Capital, a provider of pre-IPO research and IPO-focused ETFs. "We don't expect an explosive, tech-like pop on the first day - a modest gain and solid aftermarket trading would be a win." Lineage has raised equity capital worth more than $9 billion since inception from institutional investors such as BentallGreenOak, Stonepeak, Dan Sundheim's D1 Capital and Oxford Properties, according to its IPO prospectus. Norwegian wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management has indicated an interest in purchasing up to $900 million worth of shares sold in the offering. REITs typically offer a better hedge against inflation and market volatility during times of economic turmoil. But the sector has underperformed the broader equity markets over the past two years, pressured by rising interest rates. Analysts expect REIT valuations to be one of the prime beneficiaries when the U.S. Federal Reserve starts cutting rates. Lineage will list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "LINE". The IPO proceeds will be used to pay down debt. Bay Grove will continue to own a majority of the voting power in Lineage after the offering. The IPO is being underwritten by a group of more than 20 Wall Street banks, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan Securities and Wells Fargo Securities. KKR Capital Markets is acting as the lead financial adviser for the offering. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/cold-storage-reit-lineage-aims-raise-up-385-bln-us-ipo-2024-07-16/

2024-07-16 11:48

VILNIUS, July 16 (Reuters) - The power grid operators of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have signed an agreement to decouple from the Soviet-era joint BRELL power grid with Russia and Belarus in February 2025. The three Baltic countries are still relying on Russian operators to control frequencies and balance the grid. "We are leaving BRELL... In February, the Baltics will jointly test isolated work (of power grids) and decouple," Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys wrote in a post on Facebook on Tuesday. "We have always strongly known that, like we've become part of the European Union and NATO, so we will become part of the European power system", he added. After nearly a decade of negotiations, the Baltic countries signed an agreement in 2018 to connect their power grids to the EU by 2025. The EU has committed a total of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to prepare the region for decoupling, covering about three fourths of the costs, Lithuania's power grid operator Litgrid said in a separate statement on Tuesday. The decoupling will take place on Feb. 8, when the Baltic states will synchronize the frequency of their grids with that in continental Europe, through a power link with Poland, Litgrid said. ($1 = 0.9179 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/baltic-countries-leave-joint-power-grid-with-russia-belarus-2024-07-16/

2024-07-16 11:29

MOSCOW, July 16 (Reuters) - The speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament asked Russians in a poll on Tuesday whether they supported an outright ban on electric scooters, spurred by public concerns over safety after thousands of accidents last year involving scooters. The initiative by Vycheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, comes as deputies examine legislation to introduce fines for irresponsible riders of electric scooters, including penalties for speeding or riding while intoxicated. The threat of fines would hopefully curb traffic accidents and fatalities at the hands of "daredevils," Volodin has said. Scooters have surged in popularity in Russian cities. E-scooter firm Whoosh staged the country's only initial public offering in 2022, raising 2.1 billion roubles ($23.8 million). But pressure has mounted to crack down on scooters, which were involved in more than 3,000 accidents in 2023, according to a senator. Volodin's poll on the Telegram app asking if scooters should be banned showed many Russians in favour of the move. "Away with scooters on the streets," a woman wrote, joining a chorus of some 6,000 other users. "It's scary to walk, every day I risk my life, I'm afraid for children and grandmothers." Numerous cities around the world have passed legislation in recent years curbing the use of e-scooters, whose popularity has surged among delivery service companies, locals and tourists. Some cities, such as Paris, have banned them outright. "People are concerned about safety on the roads, especially in regards to children," Volodin wrote on Telegram last week. "The decision to increase the liability for electric scooter drivers should reduce the number of accidents on the roads and ensure the safety of our citizens." The first of three readings of the legislation, which would fine drunk riders up to 30,000 roubles ($340) and speedsters up to 5,000 roubles ($55), passed last week. Fines would also target multiple riders on a single scooter, transporting a child on a scooter and refusing a medical examination. Since the start of this year, authorities have logged more than two-and-a-half times the number of incidents involving scooters compared to a year earlier, Volodin said. Numerous Russian videos online show collisions involving scooters, and stories of other mishaps, including a culture ministry official being beaten in 2021 by a group of drunk men angered that he was riding a scooter on the pavement. ($1 = 88.0500 roubles) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-mulls-banning-electric-scooters-fining-daredevil-riders-2024-07-16/

2024-07-16 11:21

Number 2 grower in the midst of disastrous season Output undermined by weather, disease, mining and smuggling Major growing regions Ashanti and Western South hit hard ACCRA, July 16 (Reuters) - Ghana cocoa production reached 429,323 metric tons - or less than 55% of the average seasonal output - as harvesting neared completion at the end of June, data from marketing board Cocobod showed on Tuesday. Disastrous harvests in Ghana and Ivory Coast - the world's biggest producer - have driven up global cocoa prices since the start of the year. Together, the countries account for around 60% of global supply. The bulk of Ghana's cocoa harvest is usually completed by the end of June, and the Cocobod data roughly reflects this season's main crop output for the world's second largest producer. Both of the leading producers have been hit by adverse weather conditions and tree disease, while Ghana's cocoa production has also been hobbled the impacts of informal mining and smuggling. The Cocobod data obtained by Reuters does not capture production that may have been trafficked out of the country illegally. On June 21, Cocobod announced the start of Ghana's light crop - the smaller of its two annual harvests - which typically contributes less than 10% of the full season's production. Ghana's annual cocoa output averaged 800,000 tons over the last five seasons, according to International Cocoa Organization data, including a 2020/21 peak of over 1 million tons. But the Cocobod data reflects three successive seasons of decline. The marketing board declined to provide equivalent production data through June of the two previous seasons. Full season output, however, was 683,269 tons in 2021/22 and 656,140 tons the last season. Ghana's two leading cocoa growing regions - Ashanti and Western South - have been the biggest contributors to the overall drop in production, the data showed. Ashanti produced 103,976 tons of beans by the end of June, compared to a full season figure of 160,855 tons last season. Western South, meanwhile, recorded production of 96,810 tons by end-June, compared to 152,277 tons last season. Swollen shoot disease (CSSVD) and artisanal gold mining - known locally as galamsey - are largely responsible for the drop in production in the two regions, said Nana Kwesi Barning, coordinator of the Ghana Civil Society Cocoa Platform. "Galamsey and CSSVD are massive in there, especially the galamsey, per our analysis," he told Reuters. Nana Johnson Mensah Kagya, a major farmer in the Western South region with around 80 hectares of plantations, said over half of his cocoa had to be cut down and replanted due to swollen shoot. And illegal gold mining, he said, is drawing young men away from cocoa farming. "If galamsey continues to exist, cocoa has no future. Because of the galamsey, you will not get anybody to work on the cocoa farm," Kagya said. The Western North and Western South regions along the border with Ivory Coast and the eastern Volta/Oti region next to Togo are all vulnerable to smuggling and their output has shrunk over the last three seasons. Both Ghana and Ivory Coast sell forward their harvests. And this year's giant production shortfall has meant Ghana's Cocobod could not deliver enough cocoa to fulfil its contracts with exporters and traders. Sources told Reuters last month that Ghana was looking to delay delivery of up to 350,000 tons of beans to the next season, though Cocobod denied the scale of the contract roll-overs. Cocobod's CEO has said he expects cocoa output to bounce back to over 800,000 tons in the next season due to open in October. Industry players and analysts, however, have said the target is too optimistic. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/ghana-cocoa-output-is-half-average-with-harvest-almost-complete-2024-07-16/

2024-07-16 11:20

July 16 (Reuters) - Canadian miner Barrick Gold's (ABX.TO) New Tab, opens new tab second-quarter gold output edged up by almost 0.9% from the previous three months, helped by higher production at Turquoise Ridge in Nevada and expansion at its Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea, it said on Tuesday. The Porgera mine was placed on care and maintenance in April 2020 after a dispute over benefit-sharing terms between the government, local people and Barrick during negotiations for renewal of the mining lease. The company's total preliminary output was 948,000 ounces of gold for the quarter to June 30, up from 940,000 ounces in the first quarter. Barrick expects all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce of gold, an industry metric that reflects total expenses, to rise about 1% to 3% from the previous quarter's $1,474 per ounce, but expects a drop in the second half as production ramps up. The Toronto-based miner said its quarterly copper production also rose, increasing to 43,000 metric tons from 40,000 tons in the first quarter, helped by higher grades and recoveries at Lumwana in Zambia after a planned maintenance shutdown in the previous quarter. Barrick is expected to release second-quarter results on Aug. 12, with markets expecting guidance on developments on its contract negotiations in Mali. Chief Executive Mark Bristow said this month that the current economic and political climate in Mali has caused exploration companies to curtail or suspend operations in the country. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/barrick-gold-second-quarter-gold-output-rises-sequentially-2024-07-16/