DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

SummarySummary Companies Travis Perkins falls, warns of downbeat profitUK inflation data, BoE rate decision due next weekFTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 flatJune 16 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 climbed on Friday, with defensive stocks such as utilities and healthcare leading the charge, while top building materials supplier Travis Perkins slumped after a profit warning. The internationally-focused FTSE 100 (.FTSE) gained 0.2%, posting a weekly gain of 1%, snapping a three-week losing streak underpinned by strength in mining stocks. Investors now look ahead to domestic inflation data and a probable 25-basis-point rate hike from the Bank of England next week. "It looks like, at least at this point, that this is the central bank that's going to remain the most restrictive for the longest period of time." A BoE survey showed the British public's expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months cooled in May.

Persons: Travis Perkins, BoE, Julien Lafargue, Ankika Biswas, Shashwat Chauhan, Khushi Singh, Sherry Jacob, Phillips, Shailesh Organizations: U.S . Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of, ECB, Barclays Private Bank, FTSE, Britain's, Thomson Locations: Bank of England, Bengaluru

☆ Micron warns of bigger revenue hit from China ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The company said it now expects an impact on about half of its revenue from China-headquartered firms, which equates to a low-double-digit percentage of its total revenue. It had neither provided details on what risks it had found nor what Micron products would be affected. It also added that several customers, including mobile manufacturers, were being contacted by Chinese government representatives about the future use of Micron products. Micron's revenue from companies headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong, including direct sales as well as indirect sales through distributors, accounts for about a quarter of its total revenue. ($1 = 7.1218 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sanjay Mehrotra, Chavi Mehta, Shailesh Organizations: Micron Technology, Micron, Cybersecurity Administration, Thomson Locations: China, U.S, Beijing, Washington, Hong Kong, Xian, Bengaluru

☆ United Air CEO sees pilot deal adding over $8 bln in costs - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The move comes at a time when pilots in North America are pushing for better pay and working conditions during their talks with company managements over new employment contracts. Delta Air Lines' (DAL.N) landmark pilots contract, which offers $7 billion in higher pay and benefits in March has put pressure on rival carriers to hand out similar deals ahead of a busy summer travel season. United's CEO Scott Kirby told Bloomberg News that the company has been negotiating weekly to reach a formal agreement with the union. United did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Scott Kirby, Priyamvada, Shilpi Majumdar, Shailesh Organizations: United Airlines Holdings Inc, Bloomberg, Delta Air Lines, Bloomberg News, Thomson Locations: U.S, North America, Bengaluru

☆ United Air expects new pilot offer to add over $8 bln in costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Delta Air Lines' (DAL.N) landmark pilots contract in March, which offers $7 billion in higher pay and benefits, has put pressure on rival carriers to hand out similar deals ahead of a busy summer travel season. Earlier this month, the company's pilots union voted to authorize a strike vote - a bargaining tactic unions have been using in contract negotiations. However, Kirby did not reveal details included in the proposal, other than to say United would top the recent deals agreed to by its two biggest rivals. "We have disagreed with the company on the costing of items and they, in our opinion, have inflated many. Meanwhile, shares of United Airlines rose 3.5% in afternoon trade, benefiting from broader market gains.

Persons: Scott Kirby, Kirby, Priyamvada C, Nathan Gomes, Allison Lampert, Shilpi Majumdar, Shailesh Kuber, Pooja Desai Organizations: United Airlines Holdings Inc, Delta Air Lines, Bloomberg, Air Line Pilots Association, Reuters, United Airlines, Thomson Locations: North America, Chicago

☆ Restaurant chain Cava raises IPO valuation target to $2.23 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 12 (Reuters) - Cava Group Inc, which operates a chain of Mediterranean fast-casual restaurants in the United States, said on Monday that it is now aiming for a valuation of up to $2.23 billion in its U.S. initial public offering. Cava now intends to sell roughly 14.44 mln shares to raise $289 million based on the top end of the new proposed range, up from $274.4 million last week. The company is expected to debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CAVA" on Thursday. Cava logged a net loss of $59 million in fiscal 2022 compared to $37.4 million in the prior year. Reporting by Manya Saini and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Manya Saini, Savyata Mishra, Shailesh Organizations: Inc, New York Stock Exchange, Cava, Thomson Locations: Cava, United States, Bengaluru

☆ Salesforce unveils AI Cloud offering, doubles fund for AI startups to $500 mln
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 12 (Reuters) - Salesforce (CRM.N) on Monday doubled its venture capital fund for generative AI startups to $500 million and unveiled the AI Cloud service that hopes to attract enterprises by offering the company's AI-powered products under one umbrella. AI Cloud will include Salesforce's products from the Einstein service to workplace-messaging app Slack and data analysis software Tableau. The move underscores the race among technology companies to incorporate their tools with generative AI, which can create new text, imagery and other content based on inputs from past data. Along with the company's own offerings, AI Cloud will host the large-language models (LLMs) - the core software of artificial intelligence systems - from providers such as Amazon Web Services, Anthropic and Cohere. Salesforce said it plans to ensure data privacy for businesses using such offerings by helping prevent the LLMs from retaining sensitive customer information.

Persons: Marc Benioff, Salesforce, Einstein, OpenAI, Slack, Tiyashi Datta, Shailesh Organizations: Amazon Web Services, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Dollarama beats sales estimates on strong demand for essentials
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - Canadian discount store chain Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) beat market expectations for quarterly sales on Wednesday, benefiting from strong demand for its cheaper groceries and household supplies. The company's U.S. counterpart Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR.O), however, trimmed its annual profit forecast in May, while Dollar General Corp (DG.N) cut its annual profit and sales forecast, both citing slowing demand for discretionary goods. Last month, retail bellwether Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said it saw strong demand for its low-priced groceries and other essentials, and is expecting this trend to continue in the back half of the year. Dollarama on Wednesday reaffirmed its fiscal 2024 same store sales forecast and gross margin at 5.0% to 6.0% and 43.5% to 44.5%, respectively. The company's sales rose to C$1.29 billion ($964 million) in the first quarter, from C$1.07 billion a year earlier, compared with analysts' average estimate of C$1.25 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Persons: Dollarama, Juveria Tabassum, Aatrayee Chatterjee, Shailesh Organizations: Inc, Dollar, Corp, Walmart Inc, Thomson Locations: U.S, Refinitiv, Bengaluru

☆ Ford recalls 125,000 vehicles over engine failures that can cause fires
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Ford Motor Co FollowWASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Tuesday it is expanding and issuing a new recall for 125,000 sport utility vehicles and trucks because engine failures may cause a fire. Ford said isolated engine manufacturing issues can cause the engine to fail prematurely and in that event engine oil or fuel vapor may be released, increasing the risk of fire and injury. Ford said on Tuesday it had reports of at least three vehicles that suffered fires after getting the 2022 recall fix. Ford and NHTSA advised owners to park and shut off the engine if they hear unexpected engine noises, notice a reduction in vehicle power, or see smoke. Ford said last week that dealers will add an in-line fuse to the battery monitor sensor power circuit.

Persons: Ford, David Shepardson, Mrinmay Dey, Nathan Gomes, Shailesh Kuber, Jason Neely Organizations: Ford, Ford Motor, Lincoln Corsair, National, Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, United States, U.S, Washington, Bengaluru

☆ Cancer drugmakers rise as industry meet fuels investor interest
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 5 (Reuters) - Shares of several cancer drug firms surged on Monday after the companies reported positive clinical trial data from their therapies at an ongoing industry conference in Chicago. ImmunoGen Inc's experimental drug, Elahere, to treat a type of ovarian cancer showed 35% reduction in the risk of tumor progression or death compared to chemotherapy in a late-stage study. Shares of Evaxion rose 5.4% to $1.55 after the smaller drug developer said its vaccine to prevent a type of skin cancer met safety goals in an early-stage study. Shares of Blueprint Medicines Corp (BPMC.O) fell 9.4% to $52.76 after analysts flagged potential safety issues about its experimental drug to treat a type of lung cancer. Reporting by Manas Mishra and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: William Blair, Manas Mishra, Mariam Sunny, Shailesh Organizations: Immunogen Inc, Evaxion, Therapeutics, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Arcus, Medicines Corp, Thomson Locations: Chicago, Bengaluru

☆ Surf Air Mobility reveals revenue jump in listing paperwork
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 5 (Reuters) - Surf Air Mobility's revenue for a unit jumped nearly 72% in 2022, the electric aviation and regional air travel company's regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list its shares in New York showed on Monday. The company said its unit Surf Air generated $20.27 million in revenue for the year ended Dec. 31, compared with $11.8 million, a year earlier. It had confidentially filed for a direct listing in the United States after terminating its $1.42 billion merger deal with a blank check firm. The company intends to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'SRFM'. Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Manya Saini, Shailesh Kuber Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Surf, U.S, New York Stock Exchange, Thomson Locations: New York, United States, Bengaluru

☆ FedEx reaches tentative deal with pilot union
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 30 (Reuters) - FedEx Corp (FDX.N) has reached a tentative agreement with pilots of its air delivery unit who had voted in favor of a strike earlier this month seeking higher pay, the package delivery company said in a statement on Tuesday. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) had voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of a strike if needed, when it had entered the final stages of a contract negotiation with the company. FedEx did not provide any further details on the agreement. The agreement prevents a possible strike after 99% of about 6,000 FedEx Express pilots that ALPA represents voted in favor of one, as they asked the company to meet recently improved industry standards for pilot pay. Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam and Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: ALPA, Bharat Govind Gautam, Priyamvada, Shailesh Kuber, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: FedEx Corp, Air Line Pilots Association, FedEx, FedEx Express, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ India poised to deny funding for Vedanta-Foxconn chip venture - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A man walks past the logo of Vedanta outside its headquarters in Mumbai, India January 31, 2018. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui//File Photo/File PhotoMay 31 (Reuters) - The Indian government is poised to deny crucial funding for Anil Agarwal's chip venture, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, a setback to the billionaire's ambition to build India's 'own Silicon Valley.' The venture's application seeking billions in government assistance hasn't met the criteria set by the government, the report said. Foxconn declined to comment on the report, while India's technology ministry and Vedanta did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. "India's own Silicon Valley is a step closer now," Agarwal had said last year after the announcement.

Persons: Danish Siddiqui, Anil Agarwal's, Taiwan's Foxconn, hasn't, Foxconn, Foxconn –, –, Agarwal, Anusha, Shailesh Organizations: Vedanta, REUTERS, Danish, Bloomberg, Hai Precision Industry Co, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, Gujarat, Bengaluru

☆ Gold set for monthly drop as US debt agreement saps appeal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Arundhati Sarkar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Gold set for first monthly fall in threeSilver, platinum, palladium face monthly lossGold defended support confluence zone at $1,940 level - analystMay 31 (Reuters) - Gold prices eased on Wednesday, set for a monthly drop, as progress in the U.S. debt ceiling deal and expectations that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates further eroded bullion's safe-haven status. Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,955.28 per ounce by 0243 GMT, and lost 1.7% so far this month. Gold prices have come off their recent near-record highs reached early in May. Higher interest rates dull the appeal for zero-yield bullion. A hawkish build in rate expectations has translated to some resilience in place, and until that reverses, upside for gold prices may continue to remain capped, Jun Rong added.

Persons: Gold, Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, Yeap Jun Rong, Jun Rong, Arundhati Sarkar, Shailesh Kuber, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: Federal Reserve, U.S, IG, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

May 30 (Reuters) - Unilever Plc (ULVR.L) said on Tuesday Chief Financial Officer Graeme Pitkethly would leave the consumer goods giant by the end of May 2024 after more than two decades. Pitkethly, who has been with the maker of Dove soap since 2002, succeeded Jean-Marc Huët as finance chief in 2015. The 56-year-old previously served as executive vice president of Unilever's UK and Ireland business, including head of M&A and head of treasury. Unilever, which did not say why Pitkethly planned to "retire from the company", said it would proceed with a formal internal and external search for his successor. "Eight years as CFO of a multinational is a decent time and retiring in May 2024 should enable a useful handover to a new CFO."

May 30 (Reuters) - Crown Resorts, the Australian casino operator bought by Blackstone Inc (BX.N) after three damaging inquiries, agreed to pay a A$450 million ($294 million) fine for breaking anti-money laundering laws, a step toward ending its darkest chapter. "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with AUSTRAC," said Crown Resorts CEO Ciarán Carruthers, who started in the role in September. "The company that committed these unacceptable, historic breaches is far removed from the company that exists today." Australian regulators over the recent years have penalised a slew of companies over breaches and non-compliances, with the country's "Big Four" banks fined the most. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye in Sydney and Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Penalties imposed on Australian companies over the recent years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are some of the major penalties imposed by the regulators:AMP LTD (AMP.AX)Troubled Australian wealth manager AMP Ltd was fined a court-mandated penalty of A$24 million in May for billing dead clients for insurance and financial advice. In October 2022, ANZ was penalised A$25 million for failing to provide certain benefits it had agreed to give customers. In October 2022, CBA's trading unit was fined A$20 million for compliance failures in delivering financial services. NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK (NAB.AX)National Australia Bank, the country's second-largest bank, was charged A$18.5 million penalty in August 2021 by a court for issuing misleading fee disclosure statements or none at all. WESTPAC BANKING CORP (WBC.AX)Australia's third-biggest lender, Westpac Banking Corp was ordered to pay A$113 million in penalties in April 2022 for multiple compliance failures across its businesses.

☆ Qantas expects international unit to be twice as profitable as tourism rebounds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Qantas planes are seen at Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney, Australia, March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File PhotoMay 30 (Reuters) - Qantas Airways (QAN.AX) on Tuesday forecast its international divisions to be twice as profitable in the post-COVID era on strong recovery in tourism, with earnings at domestic and loyalty divisions also projected to improve. Qantas also expects its Loyalty division to reach its fiscal 2024 earnings before interest and taxes target of A$500 -A$600 million, rising further to A$800 million to A$1 billion by fiscal 2030. Qantas reaffirmed its 2024 capital expenditure forecast provided in February of between A$3 billion and A$3.2 billion. Qantas shares were trading 1.8% higher as at 0300 GMT, marking their biggest intraday gain in nearly a week.

☆ Crown Resorts and Australian regulator agree to $294 mln penalty
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 30 (Reuters) - Crown Resorts has agreed to a A$450 million ($294 million) penalty after it failed to prevent money laundering and criminal activity at its casinos, Australia's financial crime regulator said on Tuesday. In reaching the agreement, Crown has admitted that it operated in breach of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act), AUSTRAC said. Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth casinos failed to appropriately assess the money laundering and terrorism financing risks they faced, and to identify and respond to changes in risk over time, the regulator added. "The company that committed these unacceptable, historic breaches is far removed from the company that exists today," Crown said in a statement. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ryanair posts near record FY profit, summer demand robust
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBLIN, May 22 (Reuters) - Ryanair (RYA.I) on Monday posted a near record profit of 1.43 billion euros ($1.57 billion) in the year to end-March and said it was cautiously optimistic that profits would rise modestly in the next 12 months, with summer demand notably robust. The low cost carrier flew a record 168.6 million passengers in the year through March 31, beating its previous annual record of 149 million reached before the pandemic. Ryanair hiked its after-tax profit forecast to 1.325 billion to 1.425 billion euros in January after stronger than expected Christmas traffic and fares. The final number compared with a forecast of 1.398 billion euros in a company poll of analysts. It made a loss of 355 million euros in the previous pandemic-hit financial year and the turnaround came close to topping the record 1.45 billion euro profit Ryanair made in the year to March 31, 2018.

☆ India's TCS receives $1.83 bln-worth advance purchase order from BSNL
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] A private security guard stands at the exit gate of the headquarters of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Mumbai, India October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Shailesh AndradeBENGALURU, May 22 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.NS) on Monday said it received an advance purchase order valued over 150 billion rupees ($1.83 billion) to deploy a 4G network across the country from Indian state-run telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL.NS). ($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane VenkatramanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Instagram readies Twitter competitor for summer release - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 19 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms' (META.O) Instagram is planning to release a text-based app that will compete with Twitter and may debut as soon as June, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. FDA approves Krystal Biotech's skin-disorder gene therapy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Pratik Jain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Krystal Biotech Inc's (KRYS.O) first-of-its kind topical gene therapy for patients with a genetic skin disorder, sending its shares up 7% in afternoon trading. Patients with the rare dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa disorder suffer from open wounds, causing skin infections and are at an increased risk of vision loss, scarring and skin cancer. The therapy, Vyjuvek, is expected to be available in the United States in the third quarter of 2023, Krystal Biotech CEO Krish Krishnan told Reuters ahead of the FDA decision. Our intent is to provide access to all the patients if possible in the United States," Krishnan said. About 9,000 to 10,000 people suffer from dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa globally, including a U.S. population of about 3,000 patients, according to Krystal Biotech.

☆ Factbox: Pilots, airlines seek to strike new contracts ahead of peak travel season
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO (LUV.N):The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) in May said its members at the company approved a strike mandate. It added that 98% of its members participated in the vote and 99% voted in favor of authorizing a strike. UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC (UAL.O):Last year, ALPA said 94% of the nearly 10,000 United Airlines pilots voted to reject a contract offer. SPIRIT AIRLINES INC (SAVE.N):In January, ALPA said pilots at Spirit Airlines voted to ratify a new contract. More than 97% of the union members took part in the vote and 99% of them authorized union leaders to call a strike, if needed.

REUTERS/Dado RuvicMay 17 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) is set to face a record European Union privacy fine related to data transfer of Facebook's EU users to U.S. servers for failing to comply with a warning by a top EU court, two sources familiar with the matter said. The penalty will be higher than the previous record 746 million euros ($821.20 million) fine for Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), according to the sources. Meta declined to comment, while the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) and the European Commission did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. EU regulators led by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon have been finalising a ban on the legal tool used by Facebook to transfer European user data because of concerns U.S. intelligence agencies could access the information. Europe's highest court ruled in 2020 that an EU-U.S. data transfer agreement was invalid, citing surveillance concerns.

☆ California's cannabis firms band together to address credit woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 16 (Reuters) - A coalition of cannabis firms, representing about 45% sales volume in California, on Tuesday started an effort to address credit issues that have plagued the state's legal cannabis market. Cannabis operators including Kiva Sales & Service, Lowell Farms, Nabis, Sunderstorm launched Financial Stability for California Cannabis (FSCC) and issued a public letter in support of Assembly Bill 766. The bill, dubbed "The Cannabis Credit Protection Act", seeks to establish regulatory safeguards around cannabis sales made on credit. Most U.S. banks do not service cannabis companies as marijuana remains federally illegal, despite several states like California legalizing its medicinal and recreational use, leaving the industry largely cash-based and capital-limited. The lack of capital means that the cannabis sales across the supply chain are largely made on credit terms with license holders agreeing to pay for goods and services at a specified later date.

Search resuls for: "Shailesh"

25 mentions found