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☆ Adani slashes growth targets amid rout sparked by Hindenburg, Bloomberg reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 12 (Reuters) - India's Adani group has halved its revenue growth target and plans to scale down fresh capital expenditure, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. Adani group will now shoot for revenue growth of 15% to 20% for at least the next financial year, down from 40% originally targeted, Bloomberg News said citing people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for Adani Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Adani group has also been a part of India's market regulator's investigation into the group's links to some of the investors in its scrapped $2.5 billion share sale. Earlier this month, India's ministry of corporate affairs started a preliminary review of Adani Group's financial statements and other regulatory submissions made over the years, Reuters reported, citing two senior government officials.

☆ Adani slashes growth targets amid rout sparked by Hindenburg - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

☆ Meta's Facebook, Instagram down for thousands of U.S. users - Downdetector
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc's (META.O) Facebook and Instagram were down for thousands of users in the United States on Wednesday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. More than 12,000 Facebook users reported errors and about 7,000 incidents were reported for Instagram, according to Downdetector.com. Users also reported issues with Facebook's online messaging service Messenger. Downdetector tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources, including user-submitted errors on its platform. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk says to attempt Starship launch in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 4 (Reuters) - SpaceX may attempt a Starship rocket system launch in March, its billionaire chief Elon Musk said in a tweet on Saturday. "If remaining tests go well, we will attempt a Starship launch next month," Musk said, in a response to a user's tweet about Starship. loadingMusk had in January said that there was a "real shot" at launching Starship in late February, adding that a March launch attempt appears highly likely. SpaceX, since last year, has been looking to launch its giant Starship into orbit for the first time, a pivotal demonstration flight as it aims to fly NASA astronauts to the moon. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ At least 10 children killed in Pakistan as boat capsizes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Jan 29 (Reuters) - At least 10 children were killed on Sunday when a boat carrying religious school students capsized in northwest Pakistan, officials said. Around eight students were still missing while seven injured had been taken to hospital, according to local officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the accident took place. Kohat's district commissioner Mahmood Aslam said around 50 students from a local religious school, had gathered near Tanda lake for a picnic. Twenty-five had ventured out on the water - which was closed by authorities for recreational trips - on a boat that capsized, he said. The accident came the same day as a bus accident in southern Pakistan that killed more than 40 people.

"Flybe has now ceased trading and all flights from and to the UK operated by Flybe have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled," it said. A spokesperson for administrators Interpath Advisory said about 75,000 Flybe customers had future bookings that would now not be honoured. Headquartered in Birmingham, Flybe operated flights on 21 routes to 17 destinations across the UK and Europe using a fleet of eight leased Q400 turboprop aircraft. A spokesperson for Interpath said 45 members of Flybe's 321-strong workforce had been retained for the time being. Louise Haigh, the opposition Labour Party's transport spokesperson, said Flybe's collapse was "devastating news" for staff and customers.

PARIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - French luxury goods group Kering (PRTP.PA) has appointed Sabato De Sarno, a senior fashion designer at Valentino, as creative director of its top brand Gucci, it said on Saturday. "I am touched and excited to contribute my creative vision for the brand.”He will present his debut Gucci runway collection at Milan Women's Fashion Week in September 2023. Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri said that having worked with a number of Italy's most renowned luxury fashion houses, De Sarno "brings with him a vast and relevant experience." "Gucci - and the Kering shareholders - need courage and an original point of view." "The eyes of the world will be on him to see if he also has the required creative genius."

☆ UK's Flybe enters administration, cancels all flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 28 (Reuters) - British airline Flybe entered administration for the second time and has cancelled all scheduled flights to and from the UK, the regional carrier said on Saturday. With Britain in lockdown during the pandemic, Flybe was among the first airlines to go into administration in 2020, putting around 2,400 jobs at risk at that time. The High Court has appointed David Pike and Mike Pink as joint administrators of Flybe, it said. Flybe, which was once the largest independent regional airline in Europe, operated between 81 airports, was sold to Thyme Opco, a firm controlled by Cyrus Capital, in 2021. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; editing by William Mallard and Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Kering appoints De Sarno as Gucci creative director
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/FilesPARIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - French luxury giant Kering (PRTP.PA) has appointed Sabato De Sarno, a senior fashion designer at Valentino, as creative director of its top brand Gucci, it said on Saturday. I am touched and excited to contribute my creative vision for the brand,” De Sarno said in Kering's statement. He will present his debut Gucci runway collection at Milan Women's Fashion Week in September 2023. Former creative director Alessandro Michele, known for his flamboyant and gender-fluid styles, left Gucci abruptly in November after seven years in the job, following tensions between with Kering's top management, sources told Reuters.

☆ Twitter, ad verification firms team up to give advertisers tweet-level analysis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc will team up with digital ad verification companies Integral Ad Science (IAS.O) and DoubleVerify Holdings Inc (DV.N) to provide advertisers tweet-level analysis on content appearing next to their ads, the companies said on Wednesday. IAS and DoubleVerify, who have both previously partnered with Twitter, use technology to independently verify that digital ads are viewed by real people. Advertisers use the services to ensure the ads they pay for are seen by potential customers and not automated bots. Musk has been fighting to retain clients as many companies, including General Motors (GM.N) and United Airlines (UAL.O), had paused or pulled back from advertising on the platform. Many advertisers including Dyson, Mazda, Forbes and PBS Kids suspended their marketing campaigns or removed their ads from parts of Twitter because their promotions appeared alongside tweets soliciting child pornography.

☆ Hindenburg shorts India's Adani Group, flags debt and accounting concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The report, which comes days ahead of a $2.5 billion share offering by flagship firm Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), sent shares in Adani group firms sliding. It also said that seven Adani listed companies have an 85% downside on a fundamental basis due to what it called "sky-high valuations". Adani Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh told media on Jan. 21 "Nobody has raised debt concerns to us. Refinitiv data shows that debt at all the Adani Group's seven key listed Adani companies exceeds equity, with debt at Adani Green Energy Ltd (ADNA.NS) exceeding equity by more than 2,000%. Shares in Adani Enterprises surged 125% in 2022, while other group companies, including power and gas units, rose more than 100%.

☆ Hindenburg says holds short positions in India's Adani
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Hindenburg Research said on Wednesday it holds short positions in Adani Group companies through U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments, sending shares of companies in the Indian conglomerate sliding. The company has repeatedly dismissed debt concerns. Adani Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh told media on Jan. 21 "Nobody has raised debt concerns to us. Shares in Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) slid 4.8% on Wednesday to their lowest level since mid-July while Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship company, dropped 2.5% to a 12-week low. Shares in Adani Enterprises surged 125% in 2022, while other group companies, including power and gas units, rose more than 100%.

☆ Hindenburg says holds short positions in India's Adani, flags risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Short-seller Hindenburg Research said on Wednesday it holds short positions in India's Adani Group companies through U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments. "Key listed Adani companies have also taken on substantial debt, including pledging shares of their inflated stock for loans, putting the entire group on precarious financial footing," Hindenburg said. Adani Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh said on Jan. 21 "Nobody has raised debt concerns to us. Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), the flagship company of ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group, has said it will raise $2.5 billion in India's largest follow-on public offering due this Friday. Shares of Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) surged 125% in 2022, while other group companies, including power and gas units, rose over 100%.

Hindenburg, known for having shorted electric truck maker Nikola Corp (NKLA.O) and Twitter, said it holds short positions in Adani companies through U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments. Shares in Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) fell 9%, Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) slipped 6.3% and Adani Enterprises ended down 1.5%. Adani Group's total gross debt in the financial year ended March 31, 2022, rose 40% to 2.2 trillion rupees. Refinitiv data shows debt at Adani Group's seven key listed Adani companies exceeds equity, with debt at Adani Green Energy Ltd (ADNA.NS) exceeding equity by more than 2,000%. Hindenburg also said it was concerned that a high proportion of equity held by promoters or key shareholders in Adani Group listed companies has been pledged for loans.

☆ Netherlands sticks to plan to close Groningen gas field by October - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 22 (Reuters) - The Netherlands remains convinced of the need to close production at Groningen, once one of Europe's largest gas fields, by October following earthquake risks which made it dangerous to keep operating, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Sunday citing a government official. Mining Deputy Minister Hans Vijlbrief said he would stick to the previously announced timetable and aimed to shut the earthquake-prone gas field by Oct. 1, with the option of keeping it operational one more year if there was a shortage of gas in Europe after the winter. I’m quite convinced it’s wise to close it down," Vijlbrief said to the FT.Netherlands on Friday said that it will stop the search for new onshore oil and gas fields in a drive to reach its climate goals and limit seismic risks. The Netherlands for decades was one of Europe's main gas suppliers through the Groningen field in the north of the country, until production there was cut to a minimum to limit the seismic risks. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru and Bart Meijer in Amsterdam; Editing by William Mallard and Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter has a headcount of about 2,300
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 21 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc has about 2,300 active employees, Elon Musk said in a Tweet on Saturday. CNBC on Friday reported that Twitter's full-time headcount has reduced to about 1,300 active, working employees, including fewer than 550 full-time engineers by title. There are about 2300 active, working employees at Twitter," billionaire Musk tweeted in a response to a tweet quoting CNBC. "There are still hundreds of employees working on trust & safety, along with several thousand contractors," Musk added. Musk took over Twitter in October and swiftly moved through a number of product and organizational changes.

☆ Western Digital, Kioxia in advanced talks for merger - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A Western Digital office building is shown in Irvine, California, U.S., January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mike BlakeJan 20 (Reuters) - Memory chip maker Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) and Japan's Kioxia Holdings Corp are in advanced talks for a possible merger which will involve a dual-listing, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. A combined Kioxia-Western Digital would control a third of the NAND flash market, putting it on par with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) . Western Digital and Kioxia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Kioxia, one of the biggest producers globally of flash memory and solid-state storage, is a key supplier to Western Digital.

☆ Spotify down for thousands of users -Downdetector
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Audio streaming platform Spotify (SPOT.N) was down for thousands of users on Friday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. Downdetector, which tracks outages through a range of sources including user reports, showed more than 38,000 affected users from the United States at the peak of the disruption. Thanks for your reports!" Spotify Status, an account that provides updates about the audio platforms's current status, said on Twitter. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter's laid-off workers asked to drop lawsuit over severance, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc has secured a ruling allowing the social media company to force several laid-off workers suing over their termination to pursue their claims via individual arbitration than a class-action lawsuit. Donato granted Twitter's request to force the five ex-employees to pursue their claims individually, citing agreements they signed with the company. The judge said that before asking workers to sign severance agreements waiving their ability to sue the company, Twitter must give them "a succinct and plainly worded notice". Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, and hundreds more subsequently resigned. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru and Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China moving to take 'golden shares' in Alibaba, Tencent units - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of Tencent is seen at Tencent office in Shanghai, China December 13, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoJan 13 (Reuters) - China is moving to take minority stakes with special rights in the local units of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), the Financial Times reported on Friday. Seeking influence, Beijing began taking these stakes, called "golden shares," in private online media companies - usually about 1% of a firm - more than five years ago. These golden stakes are bought by government-backed funds or companies which gain a board seat and/or veto rights for key business decisions. However, the specifics of the government's plan to take golden shares in Tencent remain under discussion, but they will involve a stake in one of the group's main China operating subsidiaries, the report added.

☆ China acquires 'golden shares' in two Alibaba units
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] The logo of Alibaba Group is seen at its office in Beijing, China Jan. 5, 2021. REUTERS/Thomas PeterBEIJING, China, Jan 13 (Reuters) - China has acquired minority stakes with special rights in two domestic units of tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK), business registration records showed, as Beijing extends a campaign to strengthen control over online content. Beijing has been taking 'golden shares' in private online media and content companies for more than five years, and in recent years expanding such arrangements to companies with vast troves of data. These golden shares, typically equal to about 1% of a firm, are bought by government-backed funds or companies which gain board representation and/or veto rights for key business decisions. Having such golden shares can be helpful to firms when they try to secure licences to disseminate online news and to show online visual and audio programmes, sources have told Reuters.

☆ Winklevoss says crypto broker Genesis negotiating in bad faith
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Gemini has a crypto lending product called Earn in partnership with DCG's crypto firm Genesis. Genesis halted customer withdrawals in November, following the collapse of major crypto exchange FTX. Winklevoss said Genesis owed more than $900 million to some 340,000 Earn investors, and that he had been trying to reach a "consensual resolution" with Silbert for the past six weeks. "However, it is now becoming clear that you have been engaging in bad faith stall tactics," Winklevoss wrote in an open letter to Silbert that was posted on Twitter. Winklevoss wrote that DCG owed Genesis $1.675 billion, which was money that Genesis in turn owed to Earn users and other creditors, adding "this mess is entirely of your own making."

☆ Twitter back online after global outage hits thousands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Reports of Twitter outages fell sharply by Wednesday evening, according to the website, with some users later commenting service had returned to normal. loadingDuring the outage, some users said they were unable to log in to their Twitter account via desktops or laptops. Hundreds of Twitter employees quit the social media company in November, by some estimates, including engineers responsible for fixing bugs and preventing service outages. Thousands of Twitter users were also hit by a global outages in February and July, before Musk's takeover. In July, a near 19-hour service outage at Canada's biggest telecom operator Rogers Telecommunications shut banking, transport and government access for millions.

☆ Getir buys grocery app rival Gorillas in $1.2 bln deal - FT
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Turkish fast delivery company Getir has closed its acquisition of German rival Gorillas in a deal that values the combined group at $10 billion, the Financial Times reported on Friday. The deal values Gorillas at around $1.2 billion, down from the $3 billion mooted in September last year, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter. Gorillas said in June it expected to be profitable at a group level within 12 months. Getir is also hoping to raise more funding early next year, the report said, adding the Turkish company was also cutting its own valuation by around a quarter. Earlier this year, Getir closed a $768 million funding round led by Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala that valued the company at around $12 billion.

☆ Russia considers setting oil price floor in response to G7 - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Russia is considering setting a price floor for its international oil sales as a response to a cap imposed by G7 nations, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. Moscow is considering either imposing a fixed price for the nation's barrels, or stipulating maximum discounts to international benchmarks at which they can be sold, the report added, citing two officials familiar with the plan. The G7 price cap on Russian seaborne oil came into force on Monday as the West tries to limit Moscow's ability to finance its war in Ukraine, but Russia has said it will not abide by the measure even if it has to cut production. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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