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Siemens Energy owns 67% in Siemens Gamesa and has launched a 4.05 billion euro bid, expected to run until Dec. 13, to buy the rest in an attempt to better integrate the division and fix quality issues at a next-generation turbine model. "In a challenging year we managed to again deliver solid results in our Gas and Power business, while Siemens Gamesa did not meet expectations," Siemens Energy Chief Executive Christian Bruch said in a statement. "The integration of Siemens Gamesa will help to improve profitability at our wind business and allow it to deliver to its full potential." Fourth-quarter sales were up 5.9% at 9.2 billion euros, the company said, higher than the 8.8 billion Refinitiv estimate. The company added that, at 97.4 billion euros, its order backlog had reached a new record.

☆ Retailers acclerate shift to forest friendly fibres at COP27
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Virginia Furness | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovLONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Retailers including H&M (HMb.ST), Kering <PRTP.PA and Inditex (ITX.MC) will purchase over half a million tonnes of low-carbon alternative fibres for clothing and packaging to help reduce global emissions, they said Monday. The announcement by 30 retailers coincides with COP27 climate talks taking place in Egypt until the end of this week to seek to step up ambition on curbing global warming. Retailers agreed to purchase 550,000 tonnes of alternative fibres - made from waste textiles and agricultural residues instead of forest fibres - which will prevent the release of around 2.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, NGO Canopy, which convened the group, said. Lower carbon fibres make up a tiny fraction of the 7.5 million tonnes of man-made fibres produced each year, which Rycroft said was in part because of the challenge of accessing finance to scale new technologies. The agreement will help to unlock finance for 10-20 low footprint pulp mills to produce these alternative fibres by securing offtake aggrements from retailers, Canopy said.

☆ Bank of Spain urges lenders to preserve capital as risks mount
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Jesús Aguado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Spanish banks need to preserve capital and keep a lid on mortgage loan costs to cope with a potential deterioration of the economic outlook, the Bank of Spain warned on Friday. The central bank said that risks to financial stability had increased since its last report on the matter in April. Though Spanish banks, including Santander (SAN.MC) and BBVA (BBVA.MC), posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings but they were overshadowed by higher loan-loss provisions. Spanish lenders have been increasing their shareholder remuneration through higher pay-outs averaging 40%-60%, share buy-backs or a combination of both. Echoing the ECB's non-binding opinion on Spain's banking tax proposal, the Bank of Spain said the levy would hurt banks' profitability and capital generation in 2023-24.

☆ Spain's Sacyr sees motorways fuelling double-digit core profit growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Motorways recently completed in several Latin American countries and in Italy, along with three more transport projects that will be ready by 2023, should provide the world's fourth-largest transport concession group with steady cash flow for the next 25 years. Most of Sacyr's concession contracts are tied to inflation and have a mechanism making them less dependent on traffic volumes. The divestment plan would bring additional funds to speed up growth in its concession infrastructure businesses mainly in continental Europe, Britain, Australia and Canada. The CFO ruled out a total exit from the water business as it looks to take advantage of opportunities for new water supply units in Central Europe, the United States and Australia amid widening droughts. ($1 = 0.9707 euros)Reporting by Corina Pons, editing by Andrei Khalip, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa misses full-year target
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa (SGREN.MC) said on Thursday it missed its full-year target as it saw a top line decline in the fourth quarter, which it said was mostly driven by supply chain disruptions on wind turbine manufacturing and delays in project execution. It also posted a net loss of 940 million euros ($943.48 million), citing higher-than-expected direct material cost inflation and component failures. Pandemic-related supply chain disruptions, sky-rocketing metals prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and cut-throat competition within the sector have made manufacturing wind turbine components a tough business in recent years, despite strong demand from governments banking on wind energy to wean themselves off fossil fuels. Siemens Gamesa said it reported net profit during the July-September period was 286 million euros, compared to a loss of 258 million euros during the same period last year. On Tuesday, main shareholder Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) formally launched a tender offer for the third of the shares it does not own in Siemens Gamesa.

☆ Spain's Iberdrola to invest $47 bln in energy transition in 2023-25
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Some 17 billion euros of the 47 billion total investment will go on renewables. In its last strategy update, Iberdrola said it planned to invest 75 billion euros in renewable energy, grids and retail operations from 2020-2025. Iberdrola currently has 40 GW of renewables capacity, new chief executive Armando Martinez told the compay's capital markets day in London. Net profit should increase to 5.2-5.4 billion euros by 2025 from an expected 4-4.2 billion euros in 2022, Iberdrola said. It also aims for earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 16.5 billion-17 billion euros by 2025, up from 13 billion euros in 2022 and above analyst consensus of 12.6 billion euros.

☆ Primark’s price freeze is risky inflation gambit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Primark is breaking with the pack to navigate soaring inflation. Its largest rival Inditex (ITX.MC), owner of Zara, is taking a different approach by hiking prices over the next year. AB Foods Chief Executive George Weston appears to be willing to sacrifice Primark’s near 10% operating margin to keep price-sensitive customers happy. Assume inflation shaves almost 3 percentage points off the retail unit’s operating margin next year, taking it down to 7%. The 4% bump in AB Foods’ share price on Tuesday suggests investors reckon the plan may work.

☆ Siemens Energy launches $4 bln tender offer for Siemens Gamesa
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) opened on Tuesday a 4.05 billion euro ($4.05 billion) bid for the third of the shares it does not own in its unit Siemens Gamesa (SGREN.MC), the German company said. The acceptance period will last 36 calendar days and is expected to end on Dec. 13 2022, said the company, after the Spanish stock market regulator authorised the deal on Monday. During the acceptance period, Siemens Gamesa's shareholders who wish to do so may tender their shares in exchange for 18.05 euros per share in cash. The price offered by Siemens Energy included a premium of 28% over the last unaffected closing share price of Spanish-listed Siemens Gamesa. Siemens Energy announced in May a plan to buy the remaining third of wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa to improve its control over operational problems at the division that issued three profit warnings in less than a year.

HOUSTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - A unit of Italian oil company Eni (ENI.MI) has been assigned two 1-million-barrel cargoes of Venezuelan diluted crude oil for November loading, according to a document from state-run PDVSA seen by Reuters on Monday. The cargoes mark the resumption of an oil-for-debt deal authorized by the U.S. government earlier this year as an exception to sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector. Eni plans to take the Venezuelan crude onboard the Suezmax tankers Africa and Gladiator. Africa was in Venezuelan waters on Monday waiting to load, while Gladiator is scheduled to depart from U.S. waters to Venezuela after discharging a previous cargo, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel monitoring data. Between June and July, Eni received a total of 3.6 million barrels of DCO.

PARIS/STOCKHOLM, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Telecom operators are pushing the European Union to implement new laws that would make Big Tech pay for network costs, following Australia's example, according to four sources close to the matter. "GSMA is coordinating a proposal that speaks to Big Tech contribution to European infrastructure investment," said John Giusti, GSMA's chief regulatory officer, without elaborating on the content of the proposal. Google, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Australia's recently-adopted laws in its own spat with Google and Facebook have emerged as the most-favoured weapon for telecoms operators in their dispute with Big Tech companies, the sources said. The rules, first aimed at compelling tech giants to pay for news content online, allow an Australian government-appointed arbitrator to set fees if Big Tech companies and news publishers fail to find a common ground over copyright.

From Nov. 15 this year, the bank will join other UK retail banks in limiting customer transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges. Santander customers will face limits of 1,000 pounds ($1,123) per transaction and 3,000 pounds in total in any rolling 30-day period, for transfers to crypto exchanges via mobile and online banking. Customers will still be able to receive payouts from crypto exchanges into their accounts. Santander has seen a "large increase" in UK customers becoming victims of cryptocurrency fraud in recent months, a notice on its website said. Faster Payments is the infrastructure which facilitates real-time bank transfers for most UK bank accounts.

☆ BNP defies French banks’ interest-rate malaise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A regulated savings rate, with roots tracing back to the French Emperor’s wars of conquest, is one reason why Gallic retail lenders could miss out on an interest-rate windfall that is boosting banks elsewhere. Ironically, 60 billion euro BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) looks set to escape the curse because of some international expansion of its own. One-third of Gallic lenders’ deposits sit in savings vehicles with regulated interest rates, Jefferies analysts reckon. Combined with other interest-rate regulations and the fact that many French mortgage borrowers are on fixed rates, the upshot is that Gallic retail lending margins don’t rise as quickly as they might in Spain or Britain. Chief Executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, who is approaching his 11-year anniversary in the role, deserves credit for helping BNP to defy the lending malaise at home.

☆ Factbox: Companies count the cost of ditching Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

INDITEX (ITX.MC)Zara owner will book a provision of 216 million euros after agreeing to sell its Russia stores to UAE-based Daher Group. TRATON (8TRA.DE)Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) truck division Traton in September said disposing of some assets in Russia would cause a 550 million euro loss. CREDIT AGRICOLE (CAGR.PA)Credit Agricole provisioned more than 500 million euros related to its Russian exposure in Q1. LINDEThe world's largest industrial gases company's exit from Russia recorded impairments of $993 million from its Russia exit. SIEMENS (SIEGn.DE)The Munich-based engineering and tech firm said in May it would take a 600 million euro hit in Q2 for exiting Russia.

☆ A first-of-its-kind exercise on a Michigan highway shows the aging A-10 Warthog can still make history
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This summer, the US Air Force conducted a first-of-its-kind test on a Michigan highway. Air Force aircraft landed on a civilian roadway for the first time during a similar exercise in August 2021. 'We own airfield ops'US Air Force combat controllers from the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Fort Polk in Louisiana in August 2013. Parker GyokeresThe success of the exercise in Michigan hinged on a little-known career field in the US special-operations community: Combat Controllers. "Setting up an airstrip is one of the most important skill sets" that Combat Controllers have, a former Air Force Combat Controller told Insider.

☆ Italy's antitrust body tells utilities to stop changing contracts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority has ordered Spanish utility Iberdrola (IBE.MC) and Germany's E.ON (EONGn.DE) to reinstate the original electricity and gas contracts they had with customers, it said on Friday. The watchdog also asked Italian utilities Iren (IREE.MI) and Dolomiti to stop what it alleged to be "illegitimate notices" regarding changes to the economic conditions of their offers. The authority, which opened an inquiry into utilities last week, said that companies must report within five days on the steps they had taken to comply with the precautionary measures. The watchdog last week accused Iren and Dolomiti of making unlawful unilateral changes in the electricity supply price. A spokesperson for E.ON reiterated it was cooperating with the Italian authorities, adding it believed to have acted legitimately and in compliance with current regulations.

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Having hiked mortgage rates after political turmoil drove up the cost of borrowing, British banks are now cutting home loan prices, albeit slowly, as markets calm since Liz Truss's government collapsed and Rishi Sunak took power. But as markets have stabilised and borrowing costs have fallen, the trickle of mortgage rate cuts has lagged behind. By contrast, average rates on two-year and five-year fixed-rate mortgages have fallen just 0.16 percentage points, Moneyfacts data shows. Reuters GraphicsFIXED RATESMortgage brokers say fixed-rate mortgage rates typically lag changes in swap rates, a trend which could be exacerbated this time as lenders focus on reintroducing products. Five-year mortgage rates have followed a similar pattern, Moneyfacts data shows.

☆ Unicaja's Q3 net profit rises 77% from a year ago on higher lending, fees
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MADRID, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Spain's Unicaja (UNI.MC) on Thursday said that its net profit in the third quarter rose 77% against the same period of 2021 thanks to rising income in fees and lending as well as lower costs. The lender reported a net profit of 95 million euros ($95.69 million) in the July to September period. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a net profit of 93 million euros. Unicaja's net interest income (NII), or earnings on loans minus deposit costs, rose 4.9% year-on-year to 263 million euros ($264.92 million) in the third quarter, as higher interest rates are boosting retail lenders' margins. Analysts expected NII to come in at 268 million euros.

LNG prices have soared this year as Moscow progressively cut piped natural gas supplies to Europe, which heavily depended on Russian imports. Western sanctions on Russia, which is among the world's leading oil and gas producers, in response to its invasion of Ukraine in February, helped to drive European gas prices to an all-time high in August. The world's biggest LNG trader Shell missed some of the benefit of the price rise after a fall in production following strikes at Australia's Prelude site. Gearing at Shell, which is on track for a record year of profits, increased slightly to 20.3%. Spain's Repsol (REP.MC) on Thursday reported a doubling of its profit to 1.48 billion euros ($1.49 billion).

[1/5] An oil pump jack is seen in an oil field near Lake Maracaibo, in Cabimas, Venezuela October 14, 2022. "Among those remaining in the partnerships, few hope to ever recoup pending dividends or commercial debts from PDVSA." Since TotalEnergies and Equinor in 2021 exited one of Venezuela's flagship oil upgrading projects, Petrocedeno, smaller firms have followed. With companies and workers leaving almost en masse, the abandonment of oilfields is visible near Maracaibo Lake, among Venezuela's oldest producing region. Between 2019 and 2021, PDVSA delivered oil cargoes to partners to reduce outstanding debt.

The bid amounts for the unit, known too as Banamex, were not disclosed by the sources. The sources also cautioned that no deal was guaranteed with any party and Citigroup could ultimately decide to sell Banamex shares on the Mexican Stock Exchange instead. Inbursa and Grupo Mexico declined to comment. Backed by Slim, Mexico's richest person, Inbursa was flagged as a strong contender when Citigroup put Banamex up for sale in January. However, mining tycoon Larrea has the firepower to compete as a candidate to buy Banamex, the sources said.

☆ Sabadell Q3 net beats forecasts on lending income, lower costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Jesús Aguado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The country's fourth-largest bank in terms of total assets reported a net profit of 317 million euros ($319.06 million) for the July-September period. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a net profit of 221 million euros. At a group level, third-quarter net interest income rose 10% from a year earlier to 965 million euros, compared with analysts' forecast of 917 million euros, and it also rose 7.4% against the previous quarter. Against that background, Sabadell revised the bank's net interest income guidance up to a double-digit growth for 2022 from a previous mid-single digit growth forecast on the back of higher interest rates. Total costs fell 30% in the third quarter against the same quarter a year ago though were 1% higher compared to the previous quarter.

Technology stocks (.SX8P) fell 1.8% to lead sectoral losses in Europe after their U.S. peers were dragged down by weak results from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O). The European banking index (.SX7P) fell 0.7%. read moreItaly's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) was a rare bright spot as its shares rose 3.9% after the bank raised its 2022 profit goal. "Nonetheless, we are likely to see some hesitation, with the economic implications of rising interest rates yet to be felt. read moreReporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Saumyadeb ChakrabartyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Iberdrola profit boosted by US, Brazil, offsetting Spanish woes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( David Latona | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Iberdrola reported a net profit of 3.1 billion euros ($3.09 billion) for the January-September period and said geographical diversification allowed it to maximise growth and benefit from positive currency swings. In Spain, however, profit fell by 14% as summer droughts hampered hydroelectric generation, which was almost 48% lower than last year, Iberdrola said. Galan said Iberdrola was not exposed to Russian gas, adding that world leaders have now realised gas market dynamics were "causing the problem and electricity is the solution". The company has invested 7.58 billion euros so far this year, a 14.2% increase compared to the same period in 2021. Iberdrola also reiterated its forecast for an annual net profit of between 4 billion and 4.2 billion euros and announced a 5.9% higher interim dividend of 0.18 euros per share, payable in January 2023.

☆ U.S., Brazil boost Iberdrola's profit, offset Spanish woes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The company reported a net profit of 3.1 billion euros ($3.09 billion) for the January-September period and said geographical diversification allowed it to maximise growth and benefit from positive currency swings. In Spain, however, net profit fell by 14%, hampered by summer droughts, Iberdrola said. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped by 17% to 9.53 billion euros. Iberdrola reiterated a forecast for an annual net profit of between 4 billion and 4.2 billion euros. ($1 = 1.0033 euros)Reporting by David Latona; editing by Inti Landauro and Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spain's Santander Q3 profit rises 11% compared to same period a year ago
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MADRID, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Spain's Santander (SAN.MC) said on Wednesday its net profit in the third quarter rose 11% compared to the same period a year ago as higher revenues across its markets offset a rise in loan loss provisions and costs. The euro zone's second-biggest lender in terms of market value booked a net profit of 2.42 billion euros ($2.41 billion), up from 2.17 billion euros in the same quarter last year. Analysts polled by Reuters expected Santander to post a net profit of 2.19 billion euros. ($1 = 1.0045 euros)Reporting by Jesús Aguado, editing by Inti LandauroOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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