DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Danske Bank hikes guidance, resumes dividends
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Nikolaj Skydsgaard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COPENHAGEN, July 21 (Reuters) - Danske Bank (DANSKE.CO) on Friday raised its full-year profit guidance and said it would resume paying dividends to its shareholders after posting forecast-beating earnings in the second quarter. Denmark's largest lender now expects net profit for 2023 to land in the range of 18.5 billion to 20.5 billion Danish crowns ($2.77 billion-$3.06 billion), up from an earlier estimate of between 16.5 billion and 18.5 billion crowns. Danske's net profit for the April-June quarter rose to 5 billion Danish crowns from 1.7 billion a year earlier, above analysts' expectations in a company-compiled poll of around 4.6 billion crowns. The better-than-expected results mirror those of rival Nordic banks Nordea (NDAFI.HE), SEB, DNB (DNB.OL) and Swedbank (SWEDa.ST), which beat analysts expectations when they published second-quarter results earlier this week. "The losses are lower than expected, and 1.5 billion crowns in loan loss provisions for the whole year acts as a built-in buffer for a further positive guidance change," Nordnet analyst Per Hansen said in a note.

Persons: Carsten Egeriis, Egeriis, SEB, Per Hansen, Nikolaj Skydsgaard, Tom Hogue Organizations: Danske Bank, Thomson Locations: COPENHAGEN, U.S, Denmark

A dog named BradleyThe armored fighting vehicles are so admired by Ukrainian soldiers that running around Kach’s team’s camp barking is “Bradley” – the brigade press officer’s 6-month-old rescue puppy. Russian artillery started to pick off the vehicles sent out to de-mine the area. The 47th ran into trouble very quickly trying to pierce the Russian line in their newly acquired armor. Outside loud booms from Ukrainian artillery cannons sweep across the heavily damaged and now largely empty town. They have more guns, they have more shells and they have more people so we must counter that with our … professionalism.”These days, that means the slow grind of the exposed troops fighting from trench to trench, assaulting tree line to tree line under heavy fire.

Persons: Ukraine CNN —, ”, “, Kach, Bradley, “ Bradley ” –, Seb Shukla, “ It’s, Rob Lee, ” Lee, Tral, Stanislav, ” Stanislav Organizations: Ukraine CNN, Bradley, CNN, 47th Mechanized Brigade, US, Foreign Policy Research Institute, ” Locations: Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Kharkiv, American, Germany, Kach’s, Crimea, Donbas, Azov, German, “, Russian

"For China, it is 'bad news is good news' at the moment," said Jun Bei Liu, portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners in Sydney. Even before the latest disappointing growth data, a slew of soft economic indicators had shown China's recovery was falling short, slamming the brakes on nascent stock market rallies. Foreign money has been leaving, with worries over China's cyber-security crackdowns and Sino-U.S. flaps over chips and rare metals adding to growth concerns. REVIEWING CHINAGoldman Sachs analysts led by Kinger Lau also believe a 'tactical market recovery' thesis is compelling, and project a 15% 12-month return for the CSI300. "We are conservative about the extent of the policy support down the road," said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist, Asia Pacific at Natixis.

Persons: Jun Bei Liu, Liu, Marcella Chow, CHINA Goldman Sachs, Kinger Lau, it's, Mike Kelly, Alicia Garcia Herrero, Eugenia Victorino, SEB, Victorino, Ting Lu, Jason Xue, Tom Westbrook, Kim Coghill Organizations: Tribeca Investment Partners, CSI, Morgan Asset Management, CHINA, JPMorgan, PineBridge Investments, Nomura, Thomson Locations: China, Sydney, U.S, Asia, Natixis, Shanghai

☆ The Voice of the Tour de France Is Also Its Eyes
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Joshua Robinson | Photographs Patrick Wack For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/sports/tour-de-france-radio-tour-seb-piquet-pogacar-vingegaard-3f66d733

Persons: Dow Jones, seb, piquet Locations: france

Now it is at the epicentre of a property crash that threatens to engulf the Nordic state's economy. It has said it plans on selling roughly 6 billion Swedish crowns worth of assets this year. Speculators are betting that the stock price has further to fall. SBB shares are subject to more short-selling - a bet that the stock price will drop - than any other Swedish company, according to data from the financial regulator. "If, on the other hand, the SBB will be bought up, then the small shareholders will probably lose everything."

Persons: Maria De Geer, who've, Ilija Batljan, Batljan, Robert Bergqvist, SEB, Leiv Synnes, pare, De Geer, Pablo Mayo, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: SBB, Swedish Shareholders Association, Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Development, Asset Management, SBB Treasury Oyj, Reuters, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, FRANKFURT, Sweden, Swedish, Cerqueiro, London

☆ Wagner Insurrection to Pile Pressure on Russia's Struggling Economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The confrontation with the paramilitary Wagner Group is likely to erode confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin's government and pile more pressure on an economy already strained by Western sanctions, said Erik Meyersson, chief emerging market strategist at SEB Group. “There’s only one direction for Russian financial assets in the short term,” said Meyersson. “Even if you think this is a failed attempted coup...there’s clearly going to be a weakening of the Russian regime and that should put a sizable risk premium on Russian assets.”

Persons: Wagner, Vladimir Putin's, Erik Meyersson, SEB, “, ”, there’s Organizations: Wagner Group, SEB Group

☆ Oil Prices Expected to Jump on Conflict in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Oil traders and analysts are bracing for higher energy prices on Monday. "Internal turmoil is a risk for supply to global markets, if it turns out to be a proper civil war it would of course hamper oil supply," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at Nordic bank SEB.

Persons: Bjarne Schieldrop

☆ Beyoncé shows blamed for fueling inflation in Sweden
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Patrick Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Beyoncé performs onstage during the opening night of the “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” at Friends Arena on May 10, 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. Beyoncé has won a record number of Grammys, has become one of the best-selling musical artists in the world and is on a sold-out, record-breaking world tour. "So whilst Beyoncé may have caused a shock to one month's data, she's not the reason for inflation in Sweden that's well above the central bank's target," he said. As in many European countries, Sweden has faced sharp inflation and higher household costs since Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted the wholesale energy market and distribution networks. And as for Grahn, he is not expecting to remain of interest to either Beyoncé fans or the world's media.

Persons: Beyoncé, Queen Bey, Sweden's, Michael Grahn, It's, Grahn, hadn't, Bruce Springsteen, James Pomeroy, she's, Marcus Widén, I'm Organizations: Friends Arena, National, Denmark's Danske Bank, NBC, HSBC, Sweden that's, Entertainment, Nordic, European Union Locations: Stockholm, Sweden, United States, North Carolina, Europe, Swedish, Gothenburg, Ukraine

High debts, rising interest rates and a wilting economy has produced a toxic cocktail for Sweden's commercial property companies, with several cut to junk by rating agencies. Sweden and Germany are among the worst affected by a widening property slump on the continent, according to Eurostat. Swedish officials are worried that banks could compound property companies' troubled by cutting credit, triggering firesales that would further drag down the market. Financial markets minister Wykman said he had held discussions with banks, property companies and investors about the entire commercial property market. This week, analysts at JP Morgan said big banks in Sweden, which had 1 trillion Swedish crowns of property exposure, were 'ill-prepared' for losses.

Persons: Niklas Wykman, Wykman, Ilija Batljan, Batljan, JP Morgan, Finland's, SEBa.ST, Chiara Elisei, Sinead Cruise, John O'Donnell, Toby Chopra Organizations: Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Development, Financial, Reuters, Eurostat, OECD, Reuters Graphics, SBB, JP, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, FRANKFURT, Europe, Sweden, Germany, Stockholm, Swedish, Spain, Ireland, London

The currency later recouped some of its losses, standing at 23.33 against the dollar by 0542 GMT, after touching a record low of 23.39 overnight during illiquid trading hours. "There is no air of panic in the markets as in previous times when there were such high losses. The central bank's net forex reserves hit an all-time low of negative $4.4 billion last month as demand surged through the elections. Investors are now awaiting the appointment of a new central bank governor to succeed Sahap Kavcioglu, who has spearheaded Erdogan's rate-slashing drive since 2021. Erdogan is considering appointing Hafize Gaye Erkan, a U.S.-based senior finance executive, as central bank governor, Reuters reported on Monday.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan's, Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, Simsek, Erik Meyersson, SEB, Meyersson, Sahap Kavcioglu, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Ali Kucukgocmen, Jonathan Spicer, Gareth Jones Organizations: Lira, Reuters, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, Ankara, U.S

☆ Oil rises on Saudi plan to deepen output cuts from July
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Noah Browning | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] General view of Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. Both contracts extended gains of more than 2% on Friday after the Saudi energy ministry said the kingdom's output would drop to 9 million bpd in July from about 10 million bpd in May. Consultancy Rystad Energy said the additional Saudi cut is likely to deepen the market deficit to more than 3 million bpd in July, which could push prices higher in the coming weeks. "The immediate market impact of this Saudi cut is likely lower, as drawing inventories takes time, and the market likely already put some meaningful probability on a cut today," the bank's analysts added. In contrast, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was allowed to raise output targets by 200,000 bpd to 3.22 million bpd to reflect its larger production capacity.

Persons: Ahmed Jadallah, Brent, WTI, keener, Suvro Sarkar, Bjarne Schieldrop, Goldman Sachs, Noah Browning, Florence Tan, Emily Chow, David Goodman Organizations: REUTERS, Saudi, Brent, . West Texas, Saudi Arabia's, Organization of, Petroleum, DBS Bank, OPEC, Rystad Energy, United Arab Emirates, Thomson Locations: Saudi, Saudi Arabia, OPEC, Arabia, Russia, Nigeria, Angola, UAE

☆ The U.S. Fed will probably stay hawkish, strategist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe U.S. Fed will probably stay hawkish, strategist saysSean Yokota of SEB says that's because of the strong labor market and a consumer price index that will likely remain "relatively high."

Persons: Sean Yokota, SEB Organizations: U.S, Fed

LONDON/TOKYO, May 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose strongly on Wednesday to a more than two-month high after data showed European inflation is cooling quicker than expected and China's recovery is sputtering. That helped the dollar index , which measures the greenback against six major peers, climb to 104.63, its highest since March 16. Data on Wednesday showed inflation in France and some of Germany's biggest states is slowing quickly. Euro zone-wide inflation data is due out tomorrow. "European inflation is rolling back now and you're taking back some of the previously anticipated hikes from the ECB," said Carl Hammer, chief strategist at European bank SEB.

Persons: Carl Hammer, SEB, Hammer, Shusuke Yamada, Bart Wakabayashi, Sterling, Tayyip Erdogan, Harry Robertson, Kevin Buckland, Mark Potter, Helen Popper Our Organizations: U.S, Analysts, European Central Bank, ECB, U.S ., Bank of America, State, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, France, U.S, China, COVID, Tokyo

☆ Turkey stocks rally, lira slips to record low after Erdogan victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The nation is grappling with a cost of living crisis, a plunging currency and depleted foreign reserves. MARKET REACTION:LIRA: The Turkish currency touched a fresh record low of 20.105 on Monday. "In a scenario where Turkey ran out of foreign currency, lira’s value would likely collapse, inflation would explode and goods shortages could occur. A painful crisis affecting all assets is on the way, with very high inflation, very low interest rates and no net foreign reserves. Only the most optimistic would hope that Erdogan now feels sufficiently secure politically to revert to orthodox economic policy."

☆ Turkey's market rout deepens after Erdogan's strong election showing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Libgeorge Canan Sevgili | Canan Sevgili | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Ahead of the elections, opinion polls had showed Kilicdaroglu in the lead, and investors expected him to scrap some of Erdogan's economic policies, including costly efforts to prop up the lira currency. Longer-dated, dollar-denominated government bonds saw the biggest falls in fixed income markets, although key corporate and banking sector bonds also edged lower. Credit ratings agency Fitch said the political and economic uncertainty would continue at least until after the runoff. Banking stocks, which had surged in the week ahead of the election on hopes of a policy change, tumbled another 8% (.XBANK) to take their losses since the election to nearly 20%. The overall Istanbul bourse index (.XU100), which had notched a 6.1% fall on Monday, its largest daily percentage drop since early February, was mostly flat.

☆ Nordea Q1 profit tops forecast as interest rates rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HELSINKI, April 27 (Reuters) - The Nordic region's biggest lender Nordea (NDAFI.HE) posted a larger than expected gain in first-quarter operating profits on Thursday, on the back of rising interest rates and despite weaker Nordic currencies. The rise in results followed a similar trend among other Nordic banks such as Swedish rival SEB (SEBa.ST), which on Wednesday beat market expectations and reported higher net interest income. The bank saw its net fee and commission income decline 8% year on year to 765 million euros. Net interest income climbed 35% to 1.77 billion euros. Nordea said individual net loan losses remained low despite the Nordic economies slowing and kept its management judgement buffer unchanged at 585 million euros.

☆ Swedbank Q1 profits beats expectations on better deposit margins
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, April 27 (Reuters) - Swedish bank Swedbank (SWEDa.ST) reported first-quarter net profit above market expectations on Thursday and said higher deposit margins had boosted results, although credit impairments also rose. "The driving factor was higher net interest income, which strengthened thanks to higher deposit margins," he told a news conference. Higher interest rates have meant that Swedish banks have increased margins on their loan business. Swedbank, Sweden's biggest mortgage bank, said its net interest income, which includes revenues from mortgages, rose by 77% to 11.94 billion from a year-ago 6.76 billion, above the 11.37 billion expected by analysts. Swedbank said its credit impairments rose to 777 million crowns from 158 million a year ago, above the 386 million seen by analysts.

☆ Handelsbanken scores profit beat as interest income climbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM, April 26 (Reuters) - Swedish bank Handelsbanken (SHBa.ST) reported first-quarter net profit above market expectations on Wednesday on the back of climbing interest income and said its credit quality remained good against a backdrop of heightened uncertainty. Soaring inflation over the past year has seen central banks crank up key rates radically, boosting interest income for banks such as Handelsbanken, but also spurring their own costs and ramping up pressure on their customers and on property prices. The rival of Swedbank (SWEDa.ST), SEB (SEBa.ST) and Nordea (NDAFI.HE) said net profit totalled 6.81 billion Swedish crowns ($661.23 million) versus a year-ago 5.69 billion, topping a mean forecast 6.20 billion, according to Refinitiv estimates. The bank, whose main markets are Sweden, Norway and Britain, said its net interest income, which includes revenues from mortgages, rose to 11.49 billion from a year-ago 8.01 billion, above the 10.89 billion expected by analysts. Handelsbanken said its credit losses edged up to 30 million crowns from only 6 million a year ago, well below the 386 million seen by analysts.

☆ Swedish bank SEB's operating profit beats forecast in Q1
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM, April 26 (Reuters) - Swedish bank SEB (SEBa.ST) reported first-quarter operating profit above market expectations on Wednesday as higher interest rates boosted income from loans. SEB, Sweden's top corporate bank, said operating profit was 11.62 billion Swedish crowns ($1.13 billion) versus a year-ago 7.86 billion, easily beating a mean forecast of 9.49 billion, according to estimates provided by the company. Soaring inflation over the past year has seen central banks crank up key rates radically, boosting interest income for Swedish banks, while volatile markets have increased demand for risk management services. Commission income fell to 5.17 billion crowns from a year-ago 5.40 billion, below the mean forecast 5.26 billion. However, SEB said its net credit losses fell to 272 million the quarter from 535 million a year ago, below the 686 million seen by analysts.

☆ Sweden's economic gloom goes from bad to worse as government predicts steeper GDP contraction
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / Contributor / Getty ImagesThe Swedish government is now predicting a deeper than expected GDP contraction in 2023, according to data released Monday, worsening an already gloomy outlook for the country's economy. Sweden's Ministry of Finance estimated in December that GDP would shrink by 0.7%, but it now predicts a 1% downturn as it reassesses the "challenging economic environment." "We face major challenges, but we will get through them together," Sweden's Minister for Finance, Elisabeth Svantesson, said in a press release Monday. The latest CPI data shows inflation is finally starting to slow, but wages are limping behind and house prices are facing a serious downturn. Eroding real wagesMost European countries are experiencing sky-high inflation, leaving real wages lagging behind.

☆ 'We're not out of the woods': Sweden’s sliding house prices could be only halfway to the bottom
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Sweden's house prices are expected to continue to plummet. Danske previously projected a 20% drop, peak to trough, in Swedish house prices. The data shows house prices rose by 1% compared with February. When adjusted for seasonality, the increase translates into a small decline of 0.3%, with house prices typically growing slightly at the start of each year. SEB is maintaining its forecast of a 20% drop in Swedish house prices, but with downside risk.

☆ In Beijing, French business community welcomes Macron's overtures
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, April 6 (Reuters) - Among the French business executives travelling to Beijing with President Emmanuel Macron, the mood was cautiously sanguine on the thawing post-pandemic trade prospects with China, with some rejecting American-led calls for 'decoupling'. It shows the business community is supported by the president, it's very important vis-à-vis the Chinese authorities," Thierry de la Tour d'Artaise, chairman of French appliance group SEB (SEBF.PA), told Reuters. The size of Macron's business delegation was criticised by some commentators, though. "Three-quarters of the delegation are business leaders: the goal is first and foremost to sign contracts," Raphael Glucksmann, a left-wing member of the European parliament, wrote on Twitter ahead of Macron's visit. Operating in China still presented challenges for French businesses, China-based French expats said.

"The new cuts are underpinning that the OPEC+ group is intact and that Russia is still an integral and important part of the group," SEB analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said. Higher prices will likely spell more income for Moscow to fund its expensive war in Ukraine, upsetting Saudi-U.S. relations further, Schieldrop said. "The U.S. administration may also argue that higher oil prices will counter its efforts to put out the inflation fire," he added. [1/2] An OPEC flag is seen on the day of OPEC+ meeting in Vienna in Vienna, Austria October 5, 2022. "Producing countries apparently want to see oil prices rise to $90-$100/bbl, but higher oil prices also mean higher risk of economic downturn and sluggish demand," he added.

☆ Shares and bonds ride high after soothing euro zone data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Government bonds have gained as much as 5%, gold is 8% higher, while oil is down and the dollar has barely budged. The euro zone inflation numbers showed consumer prices rising 6.9% in March after an 8.5% increase in February, representing the sharpest deceleration since Eurostat started collecting data in 1991. Japan's Nikkei (.N225) also jumped 1% on Friday，as inflation data for the capital Tokyo highlighted broadening price pressures. The euro , which hit a one-week high against the dollar overnight on sticky German inflation data, dipped back under $1.09 again after the euro zone data but was still set for a 3% monthly rise. U.S. crude futures were flat at $74.40 per barrel, while Brent crude futures slipped 0.1% to $78.52 per barrel.

☆ CeCé Telfer: After a regulation change for transgender athletes, CeCé Telfer is determined to 'keep pursuing her dreams'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Interview Amanda Davies | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —CeCé Telfer calls it the moment her dreams seemed to be shattered as she questioned whether years of “blood, sweat and tears” were in vain. Last week, governing body World Athletics (WA) announced it would be prohibiting athletes who have gone through what it called “male puberty” from participating in female world rankings competitions. That includes Telfer, an American 400-meter hurdler who became the first out, transgender athlete to win an NCAA title in 2019. “The overriding feeling was definitely devastation for myself and for many around the world,” Telfer, speaking about her initial reaction to the announcement, tells CNN Sport in an exclusive interview. “I’m still going to keep pursuing my dreams and keep competing and keep running as much as I can, wherever I can, however I can,” Telfer adds.

Search resuls for: "seb"

25 mentions found