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☆ Finland to 'take action' as more asylum seekers arrive via Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A view of the pilot border fence during a media event of the Finnish Border Guard RAJA at the Finnish-Russian border in Imatra, Finland October 26, 2023. Lehtikuva/Jussi Nukari/via REUTERS/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsHELSINKI, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Finland is seeing a rise in the number of third-country asylum seekers arriving at its border crossings from Russia and is preparing to "take action" to handle the situation, the Finnish interior minister said on Tuesday. Russian authorities have changed the way they work to allow travel to Finland despite a lack of documents, which is illegal entry," Minister of Interior Mari Rantanen told reporters. Around 60 asylum seekers had arrived from Russia since early on Monday, according to Finland's border guard authority. NATO member Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre (833-mile) border with Russia which also serves as the European Union's external border.

Persons: Lehtikuva, Jussi Nukari, Interior Mari Rantanen, Rantanen, Anne Kauranen, Essi, Terje Solsvik Organizations: Finnish Border Guard, Rights, Interior, NATO, Thomson Locations: Russian, Imatra, Finland, Russia

☆ Truck maker Scania to switch to zero-carbon steel by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The sky reflects on the window of a Scania truck at the IAA Transportation fair, which will open its doors to the public on September 20, 2022, in Hanover, Germany, September 19, 2022. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer Acquire Licensing RightsOSLO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Swedish truck maker Scania will switch to using steel made without carbon emissions in its heavy-duty vehicles before the end of the decade, it said on Monday. "Scania's purpose is to drive the shift towards a sustainable transport system," CEO Christian Levin said in a statement, adding that the truck maker was taking action across its value chain to cut emissions. SSAB is investing heavily in new production methods to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from its steel production, such as replacing traditional coking coal with zero-carbon electricity and hydrogen. The metal has the same quality and technical properties as traditional steel, including when recycled, according to SSAB.

Persons: Fabian Bimmer, Christian Levin, Terje Solsvik, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: IAA Transportation, REUTERS, Rights, Scania, Volkswagen's, Thomson Locations: Scania, Hanover, Germany, Rights OSLO, Swedish

☆ Sweden's SBB posts bigger Q3 loss
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Marie Mannes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSTOCKHOLM, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Debt-laden Swedish property group SBB (SBBb.ST) reported a widening of its pre-tax loss in the third quarter on Monday. The landlord, which owns properties across Sweden including hospitals and care homes, reported a pre-tax loss of 3.13 billion Swedish crowns ($287 million) for continuing operations, compared to a loss of a revised 2.56 billion a year ago. This was weaker than Carlsquare analyst Bertil Nilsson's expectation of a loss of 2 billion crowns. SBB slashed its property values by 3.52 billion crowns in the quarter, after analysts had warned property values in the sector could continue to see pressure from high interest rates. Its net operating income came in at 0.93 billion crowns, down from revised 1.02 billion a year earlier.

Persons: Marie Mannes, Bertil Nilsson's, Greta Rosen Fondahn, Terje Solsvik Organizations: SBB, REUTERS, Rights, Brookfield, Thomson Locations: Stockholm, Sweden, Rights STOCKHOLM, Swedish

The company's research and development (R&D) engine is intact and therefore it is unlikely to do transformative deals soon, Jorgensen said. It was the latest in a series of similarly-sized deals the company has done this year. Last week, when reporting quarterly earnings, it forecast another year of double-digit sales growth for its two most popular drugs: weight-loss drug Wegovy and diabetes Ozempic. To keep up with demand, Novo is racing to increase production of those drugs, which contain the same active pharmaceutical ingredient, semaglutide, and are delivered in self-injection pens. A healthcare banker, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters after the interview there were many companies in the cardiometabolic space with early-stage drugs that Novo Nordisk may be able to buy.

Persons: Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, Wegovy, Jorgensen, Novo, Novo's, Jacob Gronholt, Maggie Fick, Terje Solsvik, Emelia, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Novo, Novo Nordisk, Reuters, KBP Biosciences, Nordisk, Pedersen, Thomson Locations: Novo, COPENHAGEN, Singapore, Copenhagen, London

☆ Truckmaker Volvo to buy Proterra's battery business for $210 mln
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

The Volvo logo is seen in truck for sale in Linden, New Jersey, U.S., May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsSTOCKHOLM, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Swedish truckmaker Volvo (VOLVb.ST) said on Friday it had won an auction for the battery business of troubled Proterra in the United States with a $210 million bid. The auction was part of the electric vehicle part supplier's ongoing U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection process. Volvo said in a statement it aimed to finalise the acquisition, which is pending approval by the bankruptcy court, early next year. Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje SolsvikOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Anna Ringstrom, Terje Solsvik Organizations: Volvo, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Linden , New Jersey, U.S, Rights STOCKHOLM, Swedish, United States

☆ Weight-loss drug maker Novo Nordisk to invest $6 bln in expanding plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OSLO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) said on Friday it plans to invest more than 42 billion crowns ($6 billion) in the coming years as it seeks to meet booming demand for its Wegovy weight-loss treatment and other drugs. Novo Nordisk said in a statement investments include an expansion of its capacity for GLP-1 products, which include the active ingredients in Wegovy as well as the company's Ozempic diabetes treatment. "Our continued investment in global capacity demonstrates the belief we have in our current and future product portfolio," said Henrik Wulff, Novo's head of Product Supply, Quality & IT. A portion of the investment was included in a 25 billion crowns capital expenditure announced in February, Novo said. ($1 = 6.9904 Danish crowns)Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Essi Lehto and Anna RingstromOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Henrik Wulff, Novo's, Terje Solsvik, Essi Lehto, Anna Ringstrom Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Supply, Thomson Locations: OSLO, Denmark, Wegovy, Novo

☆ Estonia Says Chinese Ship Is Main Focus of Probe Into Cables Damage
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Andrius Sytas and Essi LehtoVILNIUS/HELSINKI (Reuters) - Estonian prosecutors said on Friday the Hong Kong-registered NewNew Polar Bear container ship was the main focus of their investigations into the damage of two subsea telecoms cables last month. It is the first time Estonia has said it was the primary scenario it was investigating. NewNew Shipping, the owner and operator of the NewNew Polar Bear, has previously declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Estonia's prosecutor general said on Friday the main lead they were following was that "damage to the telecom cables between Estonia and Finland and Estonia and Sweden is connected to the vessel Newnew Polar Bear flying the flag of Hong Kong". Reuters has reported that two vessels, the NewNew Polar Bear and the Russia-flagged Sevmorput, were present near the cables and pipeline around the time of the damage, according to data from MarineTraffic, a ship-tracking and maritime analytics provider.

Persons: Andrius Sytas, Triinu Olev, Risto Lohi, Elina Valtonen, China, Essi, Terje Solsvik, Christina Fincher, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Essi Lehto, NewNew Shipping, Reuters, NATO, Finland's Locations: Essi, Essi Lehto VILNIUS, HELSINKI, Hong Kong, Estonia's, Finland, Estonia, China, Baltic, Sweden, Russia, MarineTraffic, Vilnius, Helsinki

As the company's fortunes soar on demand for its popular weight-loss medicine Wegovy, Jorgensen said Novo sought to acquire companies working on medicines in the areas where it is already focused. The company's research and development (R&D) engine is intact and therefore it is unlikely to do transformative deals soon, Jorgensen said. It was the latest in a series of similarly-sized deals the company has done this year. Last week, when reporting quarterly earnings, it forecast another year of double-digit sales growth for its two most popular drugs: weight-loss drug Wegovy and diabetes Ozempic. To keep up with demand, Novo is racing to increase production of those drugs, which contain the same active pharmaceutical ingredient, semaglutide, and are delivered in self-injection pens.

☆ Finland Says It Has Informed Russia About Its Baltic Sea Gas Pipe Probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland has informed Russia about its investigation into the damage on Oct. 7 to the subsea Balticconnector gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland, the Finnish foreign minister said on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told a news conference Russia has not asked for Finland's help in investigating the damage to a Russian telecommunications cable that happened on the same night. The anchor was later found near the pipeline and was retrieved by Finnish investigators. Investigators have yet to establish who was responsible for blowing up Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic last year. (Reporting by Anne Kauranen and Simon Johnson, writing by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik)

Persons: Elina Valtonen, Anne Kauranen, Simon Johnson, Anna Ringstrom, Terje Solsvik Organizations: Rostelecom, Hong Locations: HELSINKI, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Russian, St . Petersburg, Russia's Kaliningrad, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Baltic

A damaged Balticconnector gas pipeline that connects Finland and Estonia is pictured in this undated handout picture in the Baltic Sea. "They (China) have promised full cooperation and we trust it," Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Reuters on the sidelines of a news conference in Helsinki. Two telecoms cables linking Estonia to Finland and Sweden were damaged on the same night between Oct.7-8, authorities said last month, and Russia's Rostelecom (RTKM.MM) on Tuesday revealed that one of its fibre optic cables had also been hit. Data from shipping intelligence firm MarineTraffic, reviewed by Reuters, showed that the NewNew Polar Bear passed over the pipeline and the telecoms cables in the space of less than nine hours. NewNew Shipping, the owner and operator of the NewNew Polar Bear, has previously declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Persons: China, Elina Valtonen, Russia's, Valtonen, Anne Kauranen, Simon Johnson, Anna Ringstrom, Terje Solsvik, Christina Fincher Organizations: Finnish Border Guard, REUTERS, Rights, Wednesday, Hong, Reuters, NewNew Shipping, Thomson Locations: Finland, Estonia, Baltic, Hong Kong, China, Helsinki, Sweden, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Stockholm

Two other Baltic telecoms cables were damaged on the same night of Oct. 7 along the route that the ship was travelling, according to shipping data reviewed by Reuters. NewNew Shipping, the owner and operator of the NewNew Polar Bear, has previously declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. TRAIL OF DAMAGEIn total, three Baltic telecoms cables and one pipeline were damaged in the space of less than nine hours. Data from shipping intelligence firm MarineTraffic, reviewed by Reuters, showed that the NewNew Polar Bear passed over a Swedish-Estonian telecoms cable at 1513 GMT, then over the Russian cable at around 2020 GMT, the Balticconnector at 2220 GMT and a Finland-Estonia telecoms line at 2349 GMT. Finnish police announced on Oct. 24 that they had found a ship's anchor near the broken gas pipeline.

Persons: Anton Vaganov, Rostelecom, Vladimir Putin, Gasgrid, Mark Trevelyan, Nerijus Adomaitis, Anne Kauranen, Terje Solsvik, Bill Berkrot, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Rostelecom, St ., Economic, REUTERS, Reuters, NewNew Shipping, Kremlin, Communications Ministry, St, Thomson Locations: St, St . Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Finland, Estonia, Baltic, Beijing, Ukraine, China, Swedish, Estonian, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, London

☆ Volvo Cars' sales of fully electric vehicles jump in October
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Volvo Cars' (VOLCARb.ST) sales in October grew 10% from a year earlier to 59,861 cars as fully electric car sales jumped but hybrid models fell, the Sweden-based group said on Friday. Volvo Cars said in a statement sales of fully electric cars rose 29% to account for 18% of all its cars sold in the month. Sales of hybrid cars, however, fell 8%. In total, all recharge models were up 7% to account for 36% of total sales. Volvo Cars said on Friday that sales in the biggest market Europe were up 13% in October.

Persons: China's Geely, Yves Herman, Jim Rowan, BEV, EVs, Anna Ringstrom, Terje Solsvik, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: Volvo, China's, HK, REUTERS, Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Brussels, Belgium, Europe, U.S, China

[1/2] Containers are seen on the Maersk's Triple-E giant container ship Majestic Maersk, one of the world's largest container ships, next to cranes at the APM Terminals in the port of Algeciras, Spain January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies Signals sharp downturn in demandTo review share buyback program for 2024Says industry facing overcapacity and lower prices, demandShares down 17.5% to lowest in three yearsCOPENHAGEN, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO), reported a steep drop in third-quarter profit and revenue on Friday and said it would cut at least 10,000 jobs in the face of overcapacity, rising costs and weaker prices, sending its shares tumbling. The industry invested heavily in new container ships during and after the pandemic to meet strong demand and benefit from record freight rates. A large number of new ships entered the market since the summer with no signs of idling or scrapping, said Clerc.

Persons: Jon Nazca, Moller, Vincent Clerc, Clerc, Morten Holm Enggaard, Maersk, Jacob Gronholt, Pedersen, Louise Rasmussen, Johannes Birkebaek, Terje Solsvik, Miral Fahmy, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Triple, Majestic, APM, REUTERS, Shipping, Maersk, Walmart, Nike, Jyske Bank, Revenues, Thomson Locations: Algeciras, Spain, COPENHAGEN, North America, Copenhagen

REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies Signals sharp downturn in demandTo review share buyback program for 2024Says industry facing overcapacity and lower prices, demandShares down more than 10% to lowest in three yearsCOPENHAGEN, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO), reported a steep drop in third-quarter profit and revenue on Friday and said it would cut at least 10,000 jobs in the face of overcapacity, rising costs and weaker prices. Shares in the Copenhagen-based group slid 11.1% by 0904 GMT, to their lowest level in three years. The group already warned in August of a steeper decline in global demand for shipping containers by sea this year. Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Louise Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik, Miral Fahmy, Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jon Nazca, Moller, Vincent Clerc, Morten Holm Enggaard, Maersk, Jacob Gronholt, Pedersen, Louise Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik, Miral Fahmy, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Triple, Majestic, APM, REUTERS, Shipping, Maersk, Walmart, Nike, Jyske Bank, Thomson Locations: Algeciras, Spain, COPENHAGEN, Copenhagen

Flags with the Novo Nordisk logo flutter outside their Danish company's offices in Copenhagen, Denmark, September 26, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCOPENHAGEN, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) on Thursday reported record sales and operating profits for the third quarter but said it would keep in place restrictions on supplies of its hugely popular Wegovy weight-loss drug. Wegovy sales totaled 9.6 billion Danish crowns ($1.36 billion) between July and September, up 28% from the previous quarter and up eight-fold from the same period last year. In August, Novo said the curbs on Wegovy supplies would most likely extend into 2024. Sales grew 29% year-on-year to 58.7 billion Danish crowns ($8.33 billion), while operating profit (EBIT) rose 33% to 26.9 billion, both in line with preliminary numbers released last month.

Persons: Tom Little, Wegovy, Novo, Eli Lilly, Jacob Gronholt, Pedersen, Terje Solsvik Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Danish, REUTERS, Rights, European Union, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Thomson Locations: Copenhagen, Denmark, U.S, United States

Meta and Facebook logos are seen in this illustration taken February 15, 2022. The ban on such advertising, which targets users by harvesting their data, is a setback for U.S. tech giant Meta Platforms (META.O), the owner of the two social media services, which has opposed efforts to curb the practice. The Norwegian data regulator, Datatilsynet, in September said it had referred the ongoing fine to the European regulator, as its fine was valid in Norway only and due to expire on Nov. 3. Norway is not a member of the EU but is part of the European single market. The decision affects some 250 million Facebook and Instagram users in Europe, Datatilsynet said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, EDPB, Datatilsynet, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Meta, REUTERS, EU, Facebook, European Union, European Economic, European Data Protection, Reuters, Economic, Big Tech, Thomson Locations: Norway, Ireland, Norwegian, Europe

Orsted, the world's largest offshore wind developer, said it would stop developing its 2,248-megawatt (MW) Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects in New Jersey. The offshore wind industry has found itself in a perfect storm of rising inflation, interest rate hikes and supply chain delays. Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL), BP's partner on those New York offshore wind developments, booked a $300 million impairment on the projects on Friday. Orsted, which in June announced plans to invest 475 billion crowns by 2030, said it was in the process of reviewing its investments and could introduce cost-saving initiatives. Orsted's share price has tumbled 52% since an August profit warning, cutting its market value to 112 billion crowns from 235 billion.

Persons: Joe Biden, Norway's, Mads Nipper, Nipper, Bernstein, Deepa Venkateswaran, Jacob Gronholt, Pedersen, Louise Rasmussen, Gursimran Kaur, Terje Solsvik, Michael Perry, Mark Potter Organizations: Wednesday, U.S, BP, Thomson Locations: U.S, New Jersey, New York, Danish, Copenhagen, Bengaluru

☆ Danske Bank profits beat forecasts on interest income boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COPENHAGEN, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Danske Bank (DANSKE.CO) on Friday reported a bigger than expected third-quarter profit, boosted primarily by high interest income, and narrowed its full-year earnings guidance, sending its shares up more than 6%. Danske Bank's results mirror those of rival Nordic banks SEB (SEBa.ST) and Swedbank (SWEDa.ST), which also beat analysts expectations when they published third-quarter results earlier this week. Danske, Denmark's biggest bank, narrowed its 2023 guidance for full-year net profit to a range of 19.5 billion-20.5 billion crowns, from 18.5 billion-20.5 billion previously. Danske's net interest income was up at 9.32 billion crowns from a year earlier 6.29 billion, and just above the 9.09 billion forecast by an LSEG poll of analysts. The bank said it expects net interest income to grow further based on the announced central bank rate hikes.

Persons: Danske, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik, Jane Merriman Organizations: Danske Bank, Thomson Locations: COPENHAGEN, Denmark's

[1/3] A scientist drives his snowmobile across an icefield of the arctic near Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Norway, April 10, 2023. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the opening of the station, in Tromsoe, northern Norway, in June, as a means for the US to have a "diplomatic footprint above the Arctic Circle", he said. Tromsoe is the largest city in Arctic Norway, located about 400km (250 miles) to the west of Russia. Tromsoe is also the seat of the Arctic Council, a polar body comprising the eight Arctic states of Russia, the US, Canada, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. Cooperation within the Arctic Council between Moscow and the Western Arctic states was put on hold after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Persons: Lisi Niesner, Antony Blinken, Andreas Oesthagen, Washington, Tromsoe, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Reuters, Arctic Council, Cooperation, Thomson Locations: Ny, Alesund, Svalbard, Norway, Rights OSLO, United States, Washington, Ukraine, Tromsoe, Oslo, Arctic Norway, Russia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Moscow

☆ U.S. Opens Its Northernmost Diplomatic Station, in Arctic Norway
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the opening of the station, in Tromsoe, northern Norway, in June, as a means for the US to have a "diplomatic footprint above the Arctic Circle", he said. Tromsoe is the largest city in Arctic Norway, located about 400km (250 miles) to the west of Russia. Norway and Russia share a border in the Arctic. Tromsoe is also the seat of the Arctic Council, a polar body comprising the eight Arctic states of Russia, the US, Canada, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. Cooperation within the Arctic Council between Moscow and the Western Arctic states was put on hold after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Andreas Oesthagen, Washington, Tromsoe, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Reuters, Arctic Council, Cooperation Locations: Fouche OSLO, United States, Washington, Ukraine, Tromsoe, Norway, Oslo, Arctic Norway, Russia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Moscow

☆ Volvo Cars' promise of EV boom falls on deaf ears as shares drop 12%
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Marie Mannes | Thomson Reuters | Stockholm-Based Company News Correspondent Who Mainly Covers Anything To Do With Retail | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

As the company reported third-quarter earnings, Chief Executive Jim Rowan told Reuters that he saw healthy demand for its cars, and was optimistic the margins would increase further in the fourth quarter. Volvo's BEV margins were 9% in the quarter, a sharp increase from the previous quarter's figure of 3%. Rowan said he expected the trend of falling prices of raw materials to continue, helping the company increase margins further for the fourth quarter. Investors proved unconvinced, as Volvo shares, down 10% by 1014 GMT, after having fallen as much as 12%, looked set for their biggest ever one-day drop. EV makers have engaged in stiff competition this year, after Tesla ignited a price war intensified by new Chinese players.

Persons: Aly, Jim Rowan, EVs, BEV, Rowan, Jefferies, Philippe Houchois, Houchois, Tesla, China's Geely, Marie Mannes, Greta Rosen Fondahn, Terje Solsvik, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Volvo, Auto Shanghai, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Benz, Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, China's, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights STOCKHOLM, EVs

☆ Telenor tops Q3 profit expectations, narrows 2023 outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsOSLO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor (TEL.OL) on Wednesday reported third-quarter earnings above expectations, supported by growing mobile service revenue and lower energy prices in the Nordics, and narrowed its full-year projections. Telenor's Nordics service revenue grew 4% and EBITDA by 8% in the quarter. Similarly, it expects EBITDA to grow by 3-4% this year, which earlier was also seen at "low-to-mid single-digit growth". Telenor reiterated it expects capital expenditure in the Nordics to be around 17% of revenues for the period. ($1 = 11.1481 Norwegian crowns)Reporting by Victoria Klesty; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Janane VenkatramanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Sigve Brekke, Telenor's, Victoria Klesty, Terje Solsvik Organizations: Telenor, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Rights OSLO, Norwegian, Asia, Nordic, Malaysia, Thailand

☆ Telenor CEO eyes strategic solution for Pakistan business by year-end
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

OSLO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor (TEL.OL) hopes to decide on a strategic solution for its Pakistan business before year-end, the company's CEO told Reuters on Wednesday. "We are in contact with many parties now, which is why I say I'm rather optimistic that we will by the end of the year have a final solution," CEO Sigve Brekke said. The three options are a merger similar to what Telenor has already done for other parts of its Asia businesses, a sale, or to continue but in a different operational model, he added. Reporting by Victoria Klesty, editing by Terje SolsvikOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sigve Brekke, Victoria Klesty, Terje Solsvik Organizations: Telenor, Reuters, Thomson Locations: OSLO, Norwegian, Pakistan, Asia

☆ Finland says gas pipeline likely broken by ship dragging anchor
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Essi Lehto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Investigators said they had now retrieved a lost anchor from the seabed location where the pipeline ruptured on Oct. 8, and were investigating whether it belonged to a Chinese container vessel. Police have previously said damage to the Balticconnector subsea gas pipeline and two Baltic Sea telecoms cables was cause by external mechanical force and were investigating whether this was a case of sabotage or caused by accident. Broad drag marks were seen on the seabed leading up to where the pipeline was broken, and the anchor was lying immediately after the damage spot. China called on Monday for an "objective, fair and professional" investigation into the pipeline damage. The incident cut pipeline gas supplies to Finland, although the country expects to manage with imports of liquefied natural gas via ship deliveries to its Inkoo port.

Persons: Investigators, Robin Lardot, Essi Lehto, Terje Solsvik, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Hong, Police, Baltic, Bureau of Investigation, NATO, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, Finland, HELSINKI, Baltic, Gulf of Finland, China, Germany, Russia

☆ Norway's wealth fund posts $34 bln loss in Q3
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A general view of the Norwegian central bank in Oslo, Norway March 6, 2018. The fund's return on investment was minus 2.1% for the July-September period, which was 0.17 percentage points stronger than the return on the fund's benchmark index. The fund invests the Norwegian state's revenues from oil and gas production in equities, bonds, property and renewable projects abroad. The fund had 70.6% of its value invested in equities by end-September, compared to 71.3% three months earlier. ($1 = 11.0656 Norwegian crowns)Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje SolsvikOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gwladys, Trond Grande, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Norwegian, Oslo, Norway, Rights OSLO

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