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HSBC posted a pretax profit of $12.9 billion for the quarter ended March, versus $4.2 billion a year earlier. HSBC said the planned $10 billion sale, originally slated to be completed by the end of this year, will now only likely go through in the first quarter of 2024. HSBC reported deposits fell 0.6% to $1.6 trillion, excluding those it acquired by bailing out the UK arm of failed U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank and the reclassification of French retail deposits. Despite the surging profit, HSBC did not raise its key performance target of a return on tangible equity of at least 12% from this year onwards, which analysts were anticipating. Reporting by Selena Li ing Kong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said the results showed its strengths in a rising rate environment, and played down the risks of further contagion for the banking sector. HSBC posted a pretax profit of $12.9 billion for the quarter ended March, versus $4.2 billion a year earlier. The profit was much higher than the $8.64 billion average estimate of 17 analysts compiled by the bank. Despite the surging profit, HSBC did not raise its key performance target of reaching a return on tangible equity of at least 12% from this year onwards, while analysts were estimating the key metric would be lifted. Reporting by Selena Li ing Kong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Norway's sovereign wealth fund chief seeks state regulation of AI, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 28 (Reuters) - Norway sovereign wealth fund's CEO Nicolai Tangen has called upon governments to speed up the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), the Financial Times reported on Friday. The $1.4-trillion wealth fund, the world's largest, is set to reveal guidelines in August on how the companies it invests in should use AI ethically, Tangen told the newspaper in an interview. The Government Pension Fund Global operates under ethical guidelines set by parliament and excludes investments in companies that it says does not respect the guidelines. Norges Bank, the country's central bank, holds stakes in more than 9,200 companies globally through the wealth fund. Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Oil major BP braces itself for shareholder revolt after scaling back its climate targets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Dutch group Follow This, a small activist investor and campaign group with stakes in several Big Oil companies, has tabled a resolution at BP's shareholder meeting. It calls on the energy giant to align its climate targets with the landmark Paris climate accord and commit to absolute carbon emissions cuts by 2030. Those emissions cuts, Follow This says, should include emissions generated by customers' use of their oil and gas, known as Scope 3 emissions. Follow This says it expects BP's annual general meeting to be a "contentious" one, warning investors will be "rightfully concerned" about BP dialing back its climate strategy amid an ever-worsening climate crisis. Proxy advisors ISS and Glass Lewis have recommended that shareholders of BP vote against the resolution tabled by Follow This.

☆ Norway's DNB beats Q1 profit forecast as rates rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OSLO, April 27 (Reuters) - DNB (DNB.OL), Norway's largest bank, reported a bigger-than-expected rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday, following a trend among Nordic banks benefiting from recent rate hikes. Net profit rose to 10.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($989.43 million) in the January-March quarter, from 7.6 billion crowns a year earlier, while analysts on average had expected 8.9 billion crowns, according to a poll compiled by the bank. Loans to customers increased 0.6% in the quarter while net interest income surged 39.8% to 14.6 billion crowns, just above analysts' average forecast of 14.5 billion, thanks to both increased volumes and interest rates. DNB said it had net reversals of impairment of financial instruments of 79 million crowns in the quarter compared with net reversals of 589 million in the year-earlier period. The net reversals in the oil, gas and offshore industry segment was 515 million in the quarter.

☆ Carbon capture project in Norway temporarily halted by high costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"New cost calculations show that we cannot implement the original plans for the carbon capture project within the existing budget," Knut Inderhaug, head of project operator Hafslund Oslo Celsio, said in a statement. Investment costs for the Klemetsrud waste plant, which are being subsidised by both the Oslo city council and the Norwegian government, were initially set at 5.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($518.88 million). Celsio was also in contact with municipal and state stakeholders over how best to realise the project. The CO2 captured at Klemetsrud is part of Norway's prestigious Longship carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which also includes carbon capture at a cement plant and the Northern Lights transport and storage project. Klemetsrud was expected to capture round 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, corresponding to 14% of Oslo's overall emissions of greenhouse gases.

NTB/via REUTERSOSLO, April 25 (Reuters) - A former commander in Russia's Wagner mercenary group seeking asylum in Norway pleaded guilty on Tuesday to being involved in a fight outside an Oslo bar and carrying an air gun in public and said he felt "very ashamed." Medvedev pleaded guilty to fighting outside the Oslo bar on Feb. 22 and preventing a police officer from doing his or her duty. He also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in public on a separate occasion on March 14. He also said he had bought an air gun from a shop in Oslo for self-defence, because he feared somebody might attack him. Medvedev told Reuters in February he had fought in Ukraine, including in the region around Bakhmut, at the centre of months of fierce battles between Russian and Ukrainian forces that have all but destroyed the city.

[1/2] Hywind Tampen floating wind farm structures are being assembled at the Wergeland Base in Gulen, Norway, June 7, 2022. But by 2035, the LCOE for floating wind is expected to fall to about 60 euros/MWh. It plans to set a specific target for floating wind this year. Britain aims to have 5 GW of floating wind installed by 2030 but a report by the UK Floating Wind Offshore Wind Taskforce, said 34 GW could be installed by 2040 if ports were upgraded. "South Korea will be commercial the quickest," said Cole at Corio Generation, which has 1.5 GW of floating wind under development there.

Companies Bp Plc FollowOSLO, April 22 (Reuters) - Norway's $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund, one of the world's largest investors, said on Saturday it will vote against a resolution calling on British oil major BP (BP.L) to adopt tougher greenhouse gas targets. The Norwegian fund, itself built on oil and gas revenue, owned 2.73% of BP's shares worth some $2.8 billion at the end of 2022. BP's board has recommended that shareholders vote against the resolution saying it was "unclear" what it wanted the company to do. Investor advisers ISS and Glass Lewis also recommended BP shareholders oppose the resolution, while Britain's Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) asked investors to back it. In February BP rowed back on plans to slash its 2019 oil and gas output levels by 40% by 2030, and now it envisages a 25% cut, angering climate activists.

☆ Investor who helps manage the largest sovereign wealth fund discusses strategy and biggest fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Jason Gewirtz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The "Government Pension Fund" as it is widely known helps back up Norway's government spending. The fund was started in 1996 after massive offshore energy reserves were discovered off Norway's coast. A big part of the fund's concentration in recent years has been on renewable energy. Right now the Government Pension Fund has a mandate to invest at least two percent of assets in renewable energy. But Tronde, who's fund has stakes in more than 9,000 companies, is not overly concerned about all these threats.

☆ Norway's wealth fund posts $84 billion quarterly profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OSLO, April 21 (Reuters) - Norway's $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund, one of the world's largest investors, on Friday posted a 5.9% return on investment for the first quarter boosted by rising equity markets. The profit of 893 billion Norwegian crowns ($83.89 billion) contrasted with a loss of 653 billion a year earlier. The fund, which saves revenue from Norway's large oil and gas industry, received 217 billion crowns in fresh government funds during the quarter. Norway's central bank manages the fund, which owns 1.5% of all globally listed shares and has stakes in 9,200 companies. It posted a record loss of 1.64 trillion crowns last year.

☆ Norway sovereign fund backs Teck Resources in battle with Glencore
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] The logo of the Canadian mining company Teck Resources Limited is displayed as people visit the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) annual conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File PhotoOSLO, April 21 (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund, one of the world's largest investors, said on Friday it will support a plan by Canadian miner Teck Resources (TECKb.TO) to spin off its metallurgical coal business and focus on copper and zinc. Glencore on Wednesday said it was willing to improve its $22.5 billion offer for Teck, raising pressure on the Canadian miner to ditch a restructuring plan and sit down at the negotiating table. But the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, which does not own shares in Glencore due to the Swiss company's large thermal coal business, said it would vote in favour of Teck's plan. The Norwegian fund at the end of 2022, the last available data, owned a 1.48% stake in Teck Resources worth $287 million, while its share of voting rights under the miner's dual-class share structure stood at 0.59%.

☆ Russia has a plan to sabotage European wind farms, gas pipelines, and internet cables, report say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia has been using ships to spy in Nordic waters, a joint investigation by four countries' public broadcasters found. They are collecting intel on wind farms, gas pipelines, and power and internet cables, report said. Norway's NRK reported at least 50 Russian ships gathered intelligence there in the last ten years. DR reported that intercepted Russian navy communications showed Russian ships who had turned off their transmitters sailing in Nordic waters. One of the ships, Russian marine research vessel "Admiral Vladimirsky," sailed near current and future offshore wind farms, and stayed there for a few days, the outlets found.

☆ Norway’s giant sovereign wealth fund says there’s money to be saved by identifying ‘rotten apples’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Norges Bank Investment Management CEO Nicolai Tangen says it is becoming increasingly important to identify as many "rotten apples" as it can. Norway's gigantic sovereign wealth fund believes it is becoming increasingly important to identify as many "rotten apples" as possible, saying there is money to be saved by reducing risks to companies whose state of health is not all as it seems. "We think it's becoming more and more important to put resources into finding what I call the 'rotten apples.' The Jan. 24 report accused Adani Group companies of "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud" — allegations that the conglomerate has denied. We'll never be able to spot all of the 'rotten apples', but we can try to find as many as we can."

☆ Norway private-sector workers go on strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OSLO, April 16 (Reuters) - Almost 25,000 private-sector workers in Norway will go on strike with immediate effect after negotiations with employers broke down, and the conflict is set to escalate next week, two major labour unions said on Sunday. Another 16,000 workers are due to strike from April 21 unless an agreement is found, and the conflict could ultimately grow to around 200,000 workers, unions have said, but is not expected to affect Norway's production of oil and natural gas. The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) was negotiating on behalf of 185,000 members, while the smaller Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS) represented a further 16,000 in the talks. The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), representing employers, argued wages should not be allowed to rise to an extent that would risk inflation spinning out of control. Norwegian headline inflation is expected to ease to 4.9% in 2023 from 5.8% last year, according to a key report from a commission with members from labour unions, employers' federations and Statistics Norway.

☆ Rheinmetall wins subcontractor role on Norway's Leopard tank order
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 14 (Reuters) - Rheinmetall has been hired as a subcontractor in the Norwegian armed forces' order for 54 Leopard 2 battle tanks from Krauss-Maffei Wegman (KMW), the German manufacturer said on Friday. Rheinmetall said the contract was worth 129 million euros ($142.74 million) and could increase by 44 million euros if Norway executes an option to buy an additional 18 tanks. A key subcontractor to KMW, Rheinmetall will supply components such as main armaments, fire control technology and parts of the sensor suite over a period of around four years, it said in a statement. Norway had originally planned to acquire 72 tanks, but in recent months focused on a scaled-down purchase after its chief of defence recommended spending more on helicopters, drones and long-range artillery. ($1 = 0.9038 euros)Reporting by Andrey Sychev, Editing by Friederike HeineOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ European assets rally after data shows U.S. inflation slowing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - European stocks, currencies and bonds rallied on Wednesday after data showing headline U.S. inflation eased last month tempered expectations for further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. Other European currencies such as Norway's crown and the Swiss franc strengthened, with the franc reaching its firmest since June 2021. Germany's 10 year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone , fell and was last down 1 basis point at 2.293%. Bond yields move inversely to prices. Reporting by European markets team, editing by Harry RobertsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

OSLO, April 12 (Reuters) - A court in Oslo on Wednesday began hearing a gender discrimination case brought by an employee at Norway's $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund against her employer. Elisabeth Bull Daae, head of trading analytics at Norges Bank Investment Management, is suing the unit of the central bank managing the fund for 16 million crowns ($1.54 million) in compensation and damages. The central bank, which pushes the firms it invests in to have more women on their boards and to combat all forms of discrimination, denies the allegations. Or are we in front of a clear, systematic case of pay discrimination based on gender?" The lawyer representing the fund said the relationship between employee and employer had broken down despite its efforts to improve it.

EURNOK and inflationGoldman Sachs and UBS said that the rising cost of borrowing would likely support the Norwegian crown. But those daily sales are well down from the 4.3 billion crowns per day the central bank sold in October. "Any budget surplus that was generated from the commodity exports was basically being neutralized by the Norges bank," said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex. Much of the crown's fate could also depend on what the U.S. central bank does. If the Fed stops hiking rates, this would likely boost global equities, which have a strong positive correlation to the Norwegian crown.

☆ Norway's sovereign fund opposes Ferrovial's move to the Netherlands
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, April 11 (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign fund will oppose Spanish engineering firm Ferrovial's plan to relocate to the Netherlands at the firm's shareholders meeting to be held on Thursday. The $1.4 trillion fund, which holds a 1.49% stake in Ferrovial, said on its website it will vote against the planned reverse merger through which the company would be absorbed by its wholly-owned Dutch subsidiary FISE. The sovereign fund explained its decision on Ferrovial reminding of its general guidelines on corporate decisions. The Norwegian fund will support all the other proposals made by the board to the shareholders, it said. Proxy adviser Glass Lewis & Co said the proposed reverse merger would not have a significant effect on shareholder rights though it could have "negative reputational impact" in Spain.

☆ Koepka storms into Masters lead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Koepka, who shared the overnight lead with Norway's Viktor Hovland and Spain's Jon Rahm, returned a spotless five-under 67 to set a 12-under target for the afternoon wave that headed out under menacing skies. Resurgent Jason Day had looked poised to challenge Koepka until he stumbled to a double-bogey, bogey, par, bogey finish for a disappointing 72 that put the Australian in the clubhouse seven behind. While Rahm, winner of three events already this season, was always expected to contend at the year's first major, Koepka was not. "I just take it one shot at a time, one hole at a time, whatever I got in front of me," said Koepka. As Koepka was putting the finishing touches on his round, five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods was teeing off.

Iluka Resources/Handout viaApril 4 (Reuters) - Six projects outside China, which dominates global rare earth production, plan to extract the critical minerals from waste or byproducts. The projects will produce rare earths that are needed to fuel a green revolution of electric cars and wind turbines while trying to avert the shortages expected in coming years. Below are details of the companies and their projects, in order of output of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, the rare earths most in demand. ENERGY FUELS INC (UUUU.A)The main business of U.S. Energy Fuels is producing uranium, but it has moved into rare earths. VHM LTD (VHM.AX)Australia's VHM Ltd is working on the Goschen mineral sands project, which will also produce rare earths.

"From our point of view, Rostock with its overseas port and an existing ammonia terminal can become a hub for international hydrogen imports into eastern Germany," said Hans-Joachim Polk, board member for infrastructure and technology. In another cooperation, VNG is sounding out Algeria's state oil and gas producer Sonatrach with a view to possibly arranging green hydrogen imports into Rostock via Tunisian and Italian natural gas pipelines, Polk told a press briefing. As customers across Europe baulked at sky-high prices, VNG's gas sales fell 23% last year to 588 billion kilowatt hours (kWh). As well as gas sales to local utilities and industry, the group has a wide range of activities in high pressure and distribution gas pipelines, storage facilities and biogas. Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Rachel More, Friederike Heine and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Europe and the U.S. are scrambling to wean themselves off rare earths from China, which account for 90% of global refined output. Australia's RMIT University estimates there are 16.2 million tonnes of unexploited rare earths in 325 mineral sands deposits worldwide, while the U.S. Idaho National Laboratory said 100,000 tonnes of rare earths each year end up in waste from producing phosphoric acid alone. That, Adamas says, is equivalent to some 8% of expected demand for the two rare earths, vital for making permanent magnets to power EV and wind turbine motors. Reuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsQUICKER THAN NEW MINESRecovering rare earths from waste is much quicker than setting up new projects from scratch. The company will extract phosphorus for fertiliser, fluorine and gypsum in addition to rare earths.

☆ Scheffler gets late Masters tee time, LIV Golf players separated
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Frank Pingue | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

World number one Scheffler, bidding to become the fourth player to repeat as Masters champion, will go out in the third-last group at 1:36 p.m. Australian Smith, one of 18 players from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit in the field at Augusta National, will set off at 10:54 a.m. ET in the company of 2021 Masters winner Matsuyama on Japan and South Korea's Im Sung-jae. Among other notable LIV Golf players at the year's first major, three-times Masters champion Phil Mickelson will play alongside fellow American Tom Hoge and South Korea's Kim Si-woo. Dustin Johnson, who won the 2020 Masters before making the move to LIV Golf last year, will tee off with Canada's Corey Conners and England's Justin Rose.

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