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☆ Debt-ridden retailer Casino Q3 sales down 5.3% as France weighs
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A logo of French retailer?Casino?is pictured on a shopping trolley outside a?Casino?supermarket in Nantes, France, May 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Debt-burdened retailer Casino (CASP.PA) said on Tuesday group sales fell 5.3% in the third quarter, as weakness in its core French market outpaced robust growth in Brazil. Consolidated group net sales fell 5.3% on a same-store basis in the third quarter to 4.562 billion euros ($4.83 billion), the retailer said in a statement. Last week, Casino reported French retail sales fell 5.6% in the third quarter year on year on a same-store basis, reflecting an 18.6% fall in hypermarket sales and an 11.5% fall in supermarket sales. At September-end, Casino's group net debt stood at 6.2 billion euros, of which 5.6 billion euros was in France and 600 million euros in Brazil.

Persons: Stephane Mahe, Daniel Kretinsky, France's, Dominique Vidalon, Tassilo Hummel, Christopher Cushing Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Consolidated, Casino, Thomson Locations: Nantes, France, Brazil, Czech

☆ Albemarle pushed into corner, dumps $4.2 billion lithium play for Liontown
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Ernest Scheyder/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMELBOURNE, Oct 16 (Reuters) - U.S.-based miner Albemarle (ALB.N) said it had dumped a A$6.6 billion ($4.16 billion) buyout bid for Australian lithium developer Liontown Resources (LTR.AX), in part because of "growing complexities" around the transaction. Liontown went into trading halt just after making the announcement to the market, pending a finalisation of funding for its flagship Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia, which is due to start producing lithium next year. Liontown had last week granted the world's biggest lithium chemical maker an extra week to examine its books and allow Albemarle to put forward a binding offer. "Our engagement with the Liontown team has been meaningful and productive. Hancock has not yet approached Liontown which until now has been under an exclusivity deal with Albemarle, the source added.

Persons: Ernest Scheyder, Albemarle, Hancock, Gina Rinehart, Liontown, Kathleen Valley, Kent Masters, Melanie Burton, Scott Murdoch, Rishav Chatterjee, Lisa Shumaker, Sandra Maler, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Liontown Resources, Ford Motor, LG Energy, Thomson Locations: Silver, , Nevada, U.S, Albemarle, Western Australia, Melbourne, Sydney, Bengaluru

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - India is considering spending 600 billion rupees ($7.2 billion) to provide subsidised loans for small urban housing over the next five years, two government sources told Reuters. The scheme will offer an annual interest subsidy of between 3-6.5% on up to 0.9 million rupees of the loan amount. Housing loans below five million rupees availed for a tenure of 20 years will be eligible for the proposed scheme, the sources said. "The interest subvention will be credited upfront to the housing loan account of beneficiaries. Mails sent by Reuters seeking a response from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the Ministry of Finance remained unanswered.

Persons: Banks, Narendra Modi, Modi, Sarita Chaganti Singh, Anil D'Silva Organizations: NEW, Reuters, Indian, Ministry of Housing, Urban Development, Ministry of Finance, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, India, finalisation, New Delhi, Siddhi Nayak, Mumbai

☆ BNP Paribas facing potential fine as it resolves U.S. messaging probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, July 27 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) is set to resolve a U.S. probe into employees' use of unapproved messaging platforms, its mid-year earnings report showed on Thursday, which could see the French bank face a fine. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) later also examined the issue, bank disclosures showed. BNP set aside 125 million euros ($139 million) for an unspecified litigation in its earning report. "The proposed resolutions are subject to finalisation by the CFTC and SEC," BNP, the euro zone's biggest bank, added. French rival Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) said earlier this year that it, too, had been drawn into the probe.

Persons: Mathieu Rosemain, Jason Neely Organizations: BNP, Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Futures Trading Commission, CFTC, Societe Generale, Britain's HSBC, Thomson Locations: U.S, French

HONG KONG, July 10 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group (9988.HK) and Tencent (0700.HK) shares rose in Hong Kong on Monday after China's $984 million fine against the Jack Ma-founded Ant Group appeared to signal the end of a regulatory crackdown on the country's technology sector. Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares were up nearly 4% by 0230 GMT on Monday, outpacing a 1.3% gain for the broader market (.HSI), while Tencent's shares were up 1%. ANT GROUP VALUATION SLASHEDAlibaba, which spun off Ant 11 years ago and has a 33% stake, said on Sunday it was considering whether to participate in the buyback. Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares rose 8% on Friday after the penalty, one of the largest-ever fines for an internet company in China, was delivered. ($1 = 7.2310 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jack Ma, Ant, Dickie Wong, Oshadhi Kumarasiri, Scott Murdoch, Donny Kwok, Anne Marie Roantree, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Jamie Freed Organizations: Alibaba, HK, Ant, People's Bank of China, Kingston Securities, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Beijing, Alibaba's U.S, China, Sydney

☆ ION unlocks financing to finalise Italy's Prelios buy-sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ION has been in talks for months with U.S. investment fund Davidson Kempner to acquire Prelios, a bad loan specialist which DK took private in 2018. While not all of the banks have completed all the necessary internal steps to approve the financing the sources said the finalisation of the deal was imminent. A stalemate over the duration of the financing has been overcome through a 'bridge to bond' structure with a longer maturity than usual, one of the sources said. 'Bridge to bond' financing normally requires the borrower to tap markets within 12-18 months to repay the loan. ION has a single-B credit rating - below the 'BBB' investment grade threshold - by Moody's and S&P Global, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ EU restarts work on EU-UK regulatory forum after Northern Ireland deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 8 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive body said on Wednesday it will finalise a long-delayed discussion forum for EU and UK financial regulators, once the deal on Northern Ireland has been implemented by Britain. The forum, similar to what the EU already has with the United States, was due to have been created by March 2021, but was put on ice because of disagreements over trading relations with Northern Ireland. Those disagreements have been ironed out in last month's agreement, or Windsor Framework, which has yet to be formally implemented by Britain. "We are ready to start work on the finalisation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on financial services regulatory cooperation," a spokesman for the European Commission's financial services unit said on Wednesday. The forum has no mandate to decide on EU financial market access, but financial industry officials say it could improve strained cross-Channel relations in the sector, and help ease tension in areas, such as derivatives clearing.

☆ Sri Lanka's rate hike shows commitment to rapid disinflation - IMF
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COLOMBO, March 4 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's decision to raise interest rates shows the crisis-hit country's commitment to reducing inflation quickly towards single-digit levels, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday. In a surprise move, the South Asia nation's central bank raised rates by 100 basis points on Friday to battle inflation, which is at 50.6%. The central bank raised its standing deposit facility rate to 15.50% and its standing lending facility rate to 16.50%, and said it would relax its currency band to move towards a market-determined exchange rate as it seeks to secure the bailout. The bank raised rates by 950 bps in the first half of last year to contain the country's financial crisis. Sri Lanka is pushing for finalisation of a four-year Extended Fund Facility and is expecting IMF board level approval this month, its central bank chief said on Friday.

The bank raised its standing deposit facility rate and standing lending facility rate by 100 basis points each to 15.50% and 16.50%, respectively, it said in a statement. The country is awaiting approval of a $2.9 billion IMF bailout package as it endures its worst financial crisis since independence from Britain in 1948. The central bank raised rates by a record 950 basis points last year to tame inflation and then kept them steady until Friday's 100 basis point increase. "There have been some differences between the CBSL and IMF staff on the inflation outlook," the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said in its statement. But depends on whether the market reads this as positive for getting IMF (bailout) in March."

☆ South African cities scramble to keep the lights on
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Carien Du Plessis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Officials plan to procure up to 500 megawatts (MW) from private power companies by 2026 to provide roughly a third of the city's annual 1,500-1,800 megawatts (MW) electricity needs. [1/5] A woman tests LED lights on a solar panel at their factory called Ener-G-Africa, where they produce high-quality solar panels made by an all-women team, in Cape Town, South Africa, February 9, 2023. The neighbouring Ekurhuleni municipality has signed deals with 46 private power companies for 700 MW, according to its 2020/2021 annual report. Hill-Lewis said Cape Town also plans to change its energy policy to allow households and businesses that produce solar power to sell the excess to the city. In Cape Town, for those wanting to sell excess power to the city, a 12,000 rand feed-in meter is required.

☆ Yellen urges Zambia debt restructure after talks with China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signs a guest book at the State House during her visit, in Lusaka, Zambia, January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Namukolo SiyumbwaLUSAKA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday during a visit to Zambia that it was critically important to restructure the country's debt, and she believes progress could be made after her frank talks with key creditor China last week. Yellen added that Zambia's debt overhang was a drag on its whole economy and that China had been a barrier to resolving the southern African country's debt problem. "I specifically raised the issue with Zambia (with Chinese officials) and asked for their cooperation in trying to reach a speedy resolution. "We will continue to press for all official bilateral and private-sector creditors to meaningfully participate in debt relief for Zambia, especially China," she said.

☆ Russia installs shield over Zaporizhzhia nuclear storage site
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Summary This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. MOSCOW, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A shield is being set up over a storage site for spent nuclear waste at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine to protect it from shelling and drones, a Russian-installed official said on Saturday. Fighting over Europe's largest nuclear power station in 10 months of conflict has raised fears of a possible Chornobyl-style nuclear disaster. Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of recklessly shelling the plant, whose six reactors are all off line. Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pakistan, IMF begin talks on $7 bln loan review
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The IMF understands that the floods have changed the macroeconomic assumptions on which the programme was designed," the ministry told Reuters. Pakistan reserves stood at $7.8 billion as of Nov. 18, barely enough to cover imports for a month. ARY News reported on Monday that the IMF had asked Pakistan to reduce expenses before talks on the ninth review. The ninth review has been pending since September. The IMF told Reuters last week that finalisation of a recovery plan from the floods was essential to support discussions, along with continued financial support from multilateral and bilateral partners.

Global regulators have called on the EU and ISSB to make their climate disclosures interoperable to avoid competing norms confusing cross-border investors. An advisory body is due to present technical guidance to the European Commission on how to implement the disclosures. The ISSB hopes the EU could move towards its definition of materiality, which is drawn from accounting norms already being applied by EU companies in financial statements. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, however, is facing pressure to ditch Scope 3 from its draft climate disclosures. It said it will apply the ISSB's climate disclosure standard in its work.

☆ Explainer: What's at stake as Lebanon faces presidential vacuum?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

What makes electing a president so difficult, what's at stake, and who are the candidates? In the event of a vacuum, presidential powers should pass to cabinet led by Sunni Muslim Prime Minister Najib Mikati. The Maronite community is more politically fractured than others in Lebanon, giving rise to many presidential hopefuls. Anti-Hezbollah lawmaker Michel Mouawad has won the most votes in four unsuccessful presidential election sessions so far, but not enough to win. But analysts and political sources say he would face opposition, notably from the Maronite politician Gebran Bassil, President Aoun's son-in-law and a presidential hopeful himself.

☆ Somalia signs oil exploration agreement for seven blocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOGADISHU, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Somalia has signed a petroleum exploration agreement for seven offshore blocks with United States-based Coastline Exploration, the company said in a statement on Friday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterNo government officials were immediately reachable for comment. Coastline, an upstream oil and gas company focused on East Africa, said in a statement on Friday it had paid a $7 million signature bonus to the government and would now proceed with exploration. In 2019, Somalia passed a petroleum sector law paving the way for exploration, especially off its coast. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by George Obulutsa;Editing by Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Eutelsat sees OneWeb merger boosting yearly sales to $2 bln by 2027
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Q1 sales fall by 4.5% on like-for-like basisSees tie-up with OneWeb boosting yearly sales, profitsConfirms full-year targetsPARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Eutelsat Communications (ETL.PA), the world's third-biggest satellite operator by revenue, said on Wednesday it expected its planned tie-up with Britain's OneWeb to boost annual sales to 2 billion euros ($1.95 billion) by 2027. The French group expects annual sales to amount to about 1.2 billion euros in 2023, following the finalisation of the deal. The group's first-quarter sales fell by 4.5% on a like-for-like basis to 287 million euros, it said on Wednesday. It said the decline in sales matched its own targets and it confirmed its full-year targets, including an annual adjusted discretionary free cash flow of 420 million euros. ($1 = 1.0283 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Edited by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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