DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ India's Adani Group pre-pays over $900 million worth share-backed financing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, March 7 (Reuters) - Embattled Indian conglomerate Adani Group said it prepaid share-backed financing of 73.74 billion rupees ($901.16 million), as it looks to allay fears over leverage and debt since a U.S. short seller's critical report sparked a stock rout. Promoters of the group's flagship firm, Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), will release 31 million shares, or a 4% stake, while Adani Ports' (APSE.NS) promoters will release 155 million shares, or an 11.8% stake, the group said in a statement on Tuesday. Promoters of Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) and Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) will release 1.2% and 4.5% stakes in the respective companies. With Tuesday's repayment, the group has so far repaid around $2.02 billion of share-backed financing, it said. GQG's founder Rajiv Jain will meet clients and investors in Australia this week to explain its investment in the Adani group, the company said in a separate statement on Tuesday.

☆ UK's Home REIT says two tenant firms enter voluntary liquidation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 6 (Reuters) - UK housing provider Home REIT Plc (HOMEH.L) said on Monday two of its tenants have entered into creditors' voluntary liquidation, adding to worries for the firm as tries to fend off a short-seller attack and reviews a sale. The housing provider for the homeless said Gen Liv UK CIC and Lotus Sanctuary CIC have entered into voluntary liquidation and the company was in talks with prospective tenants to take on new leases for the two portfolios. It said Lotus Sanctuary CIC accounted for 12.5% of its annual rent roll while Gen Liv UK CIC accounted for 5.7%Lotus Sanctuary and Gen Liv did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. The company has missed a deadline to publish its annual results and trading in the firm's shares has been suspended since Jan. 3. Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; editing by Rashmi Aich and Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk recruits team to develop OpenAI's ChatGPT rival - The Information
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the automobile awards "Das Goldene Lenkrad" (The golden steering wheel) given by a German newspaper in Berlin, Germany, November 12, 2019. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File PhotoFeb 27 (Reuters) - Elon Musk has approached AI researchers in recent weeks about forming a new research lab to develop an alternative to OpenAI's ChatGPT, the Information reported on Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the effort. Tesla and Twitter chief Musk has been recruiting Igor Babuschkin, a researcher who recently left Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) DeepMind AI unit, the report said. Babuschkin added that has not officially signed onto the Musk initiative, according to the report. Musk and Babuschkin could not be reached immediately for comments.

☆ Tech service startup Bitwise Industries raises $80 mln in latest funding round
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Krystal Hu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Bitwise Industries, a tech service provider that trains workers in underrepresented communities, has raised $80 million in a funding round led by existing investors Kapor Center and Motley Fool, the company told Reuters. Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GS.N) and Citibank (C.N) also participated in the round, which brought its total funding to $180 million. Founded in Fresno, California by Irma Olguin Jr and Jake Soberal, Bitwise invests in tech real estate, runs apprentice programs for marginalized communities and sells managed tech services to government and traditional businesses. The company said it supported the training of over 10,000 individuals, 80% of whom have received technical employment. The training program, supported by government workforce upskill funding and tech corporate funding, usually takes about 12-18 months to complete.

☆ SoftBank, Ant discuss to sell Paytm stake via block deal - ET
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] The interface of Indian payments app Paytm is seen in front of its logo displayed in this illustration picture taken July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationFeb 27 (Reuters) - China's Ant Group and Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) have discussed selling stake in One 97 Communications, which operatesIndian digital payments firm Paytm (PAYT.NS), through a block deal, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Monday. SoftBank, Ant Group, Paytm and Bharti Airtel did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments. Ant and SoftBank are likely to offload shares gradually in the market as part of their plan to exit Paytm, the report said. China's Alibaba Group (9988.HK) earlier this month sold its remaining stake in Paytm for about 13.78 billion rupees.

☆ Adani in talks for $400 mln debt against Australian coal port assets - ET
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - India's Adani Group is in talks with global credit funds to raise up to $400 million in debt against a key Australian coal port assets that make up a large portion of its exports of the fossil fuel from Carmichael mine, the Economic Times reported. Adani Group and Farallon Capital did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments. Reuters recently reported Australia's corporate regulator said it would review a short-seller report that had flagged a wide range of concerns about the Adani Group. In Australia, the conglomerate operates the Carmichael coal mine and a related rail line, the North Queensland Export Terminal, which is a major port for Queensland coal exports, as well as a solar farm. Reporting by Sneha Bhowmik in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Blackstone's Ike leaves to start new investment firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Melvin Ike, a managing director in Blackstone Inc's (BX.N) tactical opportunities group, has resigned to start his own investment firm, the private equity firm told Reuters. Ike's resignation was announced during a meeting of Blackstone's tactical opportunities fund investors held last week in New York, the firm said in a statement on Tuesday. Ike's transactions for Blackstone's tactical opportunities unit include the sale of a majority stake in Wisconsin-based home improvement lender Aqua Finance for $1 billion to Apollo Global Management (APO.N) in 2021. He also led Blackstone's acquisition of a majority stake in collectibles authentication firm Certified Collectibles Group as well as the minority investments in digital marketing firm Recurrent Ventures and Cybersecurity firm Geocomply. Blackstone's tactical opportunities unit, which is run by David Blitzer, invests in assets that typically fall outside the scope of the firm's other funds, from timber and mines to oil tankers and satellites.

☆ Citigroup expects 'less hard' landing for global economy this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Citigroup economists on Wednesday raised their global growth forecast slightly and see a "less hard" landing but still expect the world's economy to grow at the slowest pace in 40 years. The Wall Street brokerage now sees global growth slowing this year to about 2.2%, 0.25% higher than their previous estimate due to improving macroeconomic trends, it said in a note by economists led by Nathan Sheets. "By our reckoning, global headline inflation is still running somewhere in the 6-7% range, well above central bank targets," Sheets said. But after more macroeconomic data pointed to sticky inflation, central banks including the Fed signalled more rate hikes. "It appears that 2023 will be the year when the effects of that hiking cycle more fully play through," Citigroup added.

☆ Holiday Inn-owner IHG profit jumps on holiday demand, higher room rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Holiday Inn-owner IHG Plc (IHG.L) reported higher full-year profit on Tuesday, helped by strong occupancy demand during the holidays and higher room prices, and said it would buyback shares worth an additional $750 million in 2023. The Crowne Plaza, Regent and Hualuxe owner said the Americas market saw the strongest recovery, with RevPAR in the year up 3.3% from 2019, while Greater China was down 38% as travel restrictions were still in place. Hotel chains were affected by uneven recovery in China as a rise in COVID-19 infections led to indefinite lockdowns. The latest additional buyback comes after the company said in August it would back shares worth $500 million. Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tesla sold out Model Y in U.S. for this quarter - Electrek
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has sold out its Model Y for this quarter in the United States, with no more production builds until April, Electrek reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. This comes after Tesla cut prices globally in January by as much as 20% with the Model Y priced at $52,990, down from $65,990 in the United States, according to Reuters calculations. But in February, the automaker raised the prices of its best-selling vehicle by $1000. Last month, Tesla also pushed back the expected delivery of its basic Model Y to customers in Germany to February-March. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Atos flags talks with Airbus after offer for minority share in Evidian
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - French IT group Atos (ATOS.PA) said on Thursday it had received an indicative offer from Airbus (AIR.PA) for Atos' minority stake of 29.9% in Evidian, adding that its board had decided to continue talks in view of a deal. "Atos does not intend to grant any exclusivity to Airbus, and no assurances can be made that the parties will successfully negotiate and enter into a definitive set of agreements," Atos said in a statement. Last year, Atos had said it planned to split into two publicly listed companies by spinning off its cybersecurity operations along with some other units into a new unit dubbed Evidian. In January, the company's shares rallied after first media reports about interest in Evidian. Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Tom Hogue and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ London's FTSE 100 muted as bank stocks fall; weaker pound limits losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) fell 0.1%, hovering near a record high. British lender Barclays (BARC.L) slid 8.3% to the bottom of the FTSE 100 and was set to post its biggest drop in nearly a year after reporting a 14% slump in full-year profit. The FTSE 350 banking index (.FTNMX301010) fell 1.9%, on track for its biggest one-day drop in more than two months. The pound edged lower after data showed British consumer price inflation fell more than expected in January and there were also drops in underlying measures of inflation that are being closely watched by the Bank of England. The FTSE 100 has had a stellar start to the year boosted by upbeat corporate earnings, rising more than 6% so far this year.

☆ UK's Hargreaves Lansdown profit rises as savers seek to boost returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Sinchita Mitra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"There is uncertainty and people want to make sure they are getting value from how they are managing their cash savings," Chief Executive Officer Chris Hill told Reuters. Hargreaves said its Active Savings unit had 1.7 billion pounds ($2.05 billion) in cash flows in the six months to Dec. 31, compared with 600 million pounds in the same period last year. Hargreaves reported profit before tax of 197.6 million pounds for the half year, compared with 151.2 million pounds a year ago. The company however, reported a 10% fall to 127.1 billion pounds in its assets under administration due to turbulence in financial markets. Net new business also fell 30% to 1.6 billion pounds.

☆ Online betting firm Flutter to start shareholder consultation on U.S. listing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 14 (Reuters) - World's top online betting firm Flutter Entertainment Plc (FLTRF.L) said on Tuesday it would start consulting shareholders for a U.S. listing. The London-listed company's plan for a listing in the United States comes at a time when its market-leading U.S. FanDuel business has become the group's largest in revenue terms. "The board has reached a preliminary view that an additionalU.S. listing of Flutter's ordinary shares will yield a number of long-term strategic and capital market benefits," the company said in a statement. Flutter said the benefits of the additional listing include access to much deeper capital markets and important U.S. indices. Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Insurance-tech firm Roadzen to go public via $965 mln SPAC deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Insurance tech firm Roadzen Inc has agreed to go public in the United States with a blank-check vehicle in a deal valued at about $965 million, the companies said on Monday. The deal with special purpose acquisition company Vahanna Tech Edge Acquisition I Corp (VHNA.O) values Roadzen at a pre-money equity value of $683 million and the combined company will be listed on the Nasdaq exchange, according to their joint statement. After the deal is completed, existing Roadzen shareholders are expected to own 73.2% of the combined entity, assuming none of the blank check firm's shareholders elect to redeem their shares. Roadzen, which uses advanced AI to provide data that helps insurers build auto insurance products, is expected to generate about $59 million and $118 million in total consolidated revenues for the fiscal years ending March 31, 2023 and 2024, respectively, the statement added. Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Most Gulf markets drop as oil prices fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Md Manzer Hussain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Most Gulf stock markets fell in early trade on Monday, in tandem with weaker oil prices and Asian peers as investors were cautious ahead release of crucial U.S. inflation data. Oil, which fuels the region's growth, declined around 1% with Brent crude was down $85.66 a barrel by 0743 GMT. In Abu Dhabi, the benchmark stock index (.FTFADGI) dropped 1.1%, dragged down by a 2.9% loss in Alpha Dhabi (ALPHADHABI.AD) and 1.9% fall in Al Dar Properties, while the largest lender by assets, First Abu Dhabi Bank slid 2.1%. The Qatari Stock index (.QSI) fell 0.2%, weighed down by losses in industry and energy sectors with Industries Qatar losing 2.9% and Qatar Fuel shedding 1.5%. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index (.TASI) opened on positive note trading 0.6% higher.

☆ Hilton misses 2022 room growth view on China COVID curbs; Q4 profit jumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Priyamvada C | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Hilton, which owns brands including Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, reported a net unit growth of 4.7% in 2022, below its earlier forecast of about 5% growth. China's strict COVID-19 curbs, which have now been lifted, had halted construction of some luxury properties and impeded travel to a key global tourism markets. "They probably for the first time in quite a while missed on unit growth blaming on China so that obviously one of the reasons that their unit growth has been a bit softer," Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke said. Hilton expects annual net unit growth between 5.0% and 5.5%. Capital returns are projected to be between $1.7 billion and $2.1 billion, compared with $1.7 billion last year.

☆ Hilton profit, revenue beat on high room tariff, travel demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] People enter a Hilton hotel in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., March 23, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoFeb 9 (Reuters) - Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (HLT.N) reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Thursday, as the hotel operator sold rooms at higher prices benefiting from strong travel demand. Hilton, which owns brands including Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, expects to post an adjusted profit per share between $5.42 and $5.68 per share for this year. For the fourth quarter, Hilton said revenue per available room, or RevPAR - a key metric for investors - rose 24.8% on a currency neutral basis from a year earlier. Excluding items, Hilton earned $1.59 per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, beating analyst expectations of $1.22 per share.

☆ UK's Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall to step down
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Crypto miner Argo Blockchain (ARB.L) said on Thursday founder Peter Wall would step down from his position as chief executive officer and interim chairman to "pursue other opportunities". Chief Operating Officer Seif El-Bakly has been appointed as interim CEO, effective immediately, while Matthew Shaw will take over as the board chairman. The struggling crypto miner managed to prevent bankruptcy at the end of last year after agreeing to sell its mining facility Helios and refinance a new asset-backed loan. Argo intends to engage an executive search firm to assist the search for its CEO, the company added. Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK-based IT firm Noventiq to list in U.S. through SPAC deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 9 (Reuters) - London-listed IT company Noventiq (SFTLq.L) said on Thursday it will combine with California-based blank-check firm Corner Growth Acquisition Corp for a Nasdaq listing. Noventiq said the current price of its listed global depository receipts (GDRs) was not a fair reflection of the value of the group and there continued to be very limited trading volume of its GDRs on the London Stock Exchange. Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are listed but have no business operations, except hunting for a private company to take public and allowing it to bypass the scrutiny that comes with a traditional IPO. Noventiq, which provides digital solutions, hardware and cloud services, said the parties expected to finalise the agreement in the coming weeks. Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Earnings, M&A chatter lift FTSE 100 to record high, Entain tumbles
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Sruthi Shankar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) rose 0.7% to touch a record high of 7,943.68, while the midcap FTSE 250 index (.FTMC) inched up 0.1%. AstraZeneca (AZN.L) jumped 4.3%, set for its best day in nearly a year, after the drugmaker forecast earnings growth in 2023. Unilever (ULVR.L) rose 0.4% after the consumer goods giant reported quarterly underlying sales growth above expectations. Watches of Switzerland Group (WoS) (WOSG.L) slumped 13.1% after it gave its quarterly trading update. (This story has been corrected to say Watches of Switzerland Group gave quarterly trading update, not full-year in the third bullet and last paragraph.)

☆ Alibaba-backed Pakistani e-commerce platform Daraz cuts workforce by 11%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Ariba Shahid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KARACHI, PAKISTAN, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Alibaba-owned e-commerce platform Daraz Group is reducing its workforce by 11% to prepare for the 'current market reality', Chief Executive Officer Bjarke Mikkelsen said. The group operates in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Daraz, Pakistan's largest e-commerce retail platform, was founded in 2012 in Pakistan and acquired by Chinese giant Alibaba (9988.HK) in 2018. Ehsan Saya, managing director of Daraz Pakistan, told Reuters that Pakistan is its biggest market and said that Pakistan has the most number of employees employed across Daraz markets. Saya confirmed to Reuters that the 11% employee cut across the group will also mean an 11% cut in Pakistan.

☆ FTSE 100 slips from record high as upbeat data stokes Fed rate jitters
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Sruthi Shankar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) fell 0.6% after hitting a record high of 7,906.58 in the previous session. Attractive valuation levels compared to overseas peers and the large divergence in performance between different parts of the market "create good opportunities for attractive returns from UK stocks in the next 3-5 years", he added. The domestically-focussed FTSE 250 (.FTMC) fell 0.8%, after climbing an eight-month peak last week. Online trading platform Plus500 Ltd (PLUSP.L) jumped 4.2% after it got licence to expand in the UAE. Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ First Quantum suspends copper concentrate loading at Panamanian port
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FM.TO) said on Monday it has suspended loading operations at a major port in Panama, blocking the Canadian company's path to export from the Cobre Panama copper mine and sending its shares down nearly 8%. The Panama Maritime Authority last month ordered the company's subsidiary Minera Panama to suspend copper concentrate loading at the port until it showed evidence that its scales were calibrated by an accredited company. First Quantum said that its subsidiary initiated the certification process by submitting the required proof to an accredited company on Feb. 3, but has not heard back from the Panama Maritime Authority. The process deviates from Minera Panama's previous approach of providing internationally accepted certifications to the Panama Maritime Authority, the company added. Cobre Panama represented more than half of First Quantum's earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in 2021.

☆ Chevron in talks with Algeria for energy exploration deal - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Chevron Corp FollowFeb 6 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp (CVX.N) has opened talks with Algeria to allow the U.S. oil firm to undertake energy exploration in the North African country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Chevron has sent representatives in government relations, security and business development to the capital Algiers, some of whom have met Algerian officials in the past two months, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter. Chevron plans to spend $17 billion on energy projects this year. State-owned Sonatrach is the third-biggest exporter to Europe after Russia and Norway. Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Search resuls for: "Rashmi"

25 mentions found