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☆ National Australia Bank's second-half cash profit falls as inflation persists
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Roushni Nair | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The National Australia Bank Logo is seen on a branch in central Sydney, Australia, February 8, 2018. But for the half-year ended Sept. 30, cash earnings sank as the impact of monetary policy tightening and inflationary pressures crippled households and the economy. The annual performance of its business and institutional banking divisions stood out with of 10.1% and 14.9% in cash profits respectively, while the personal banking division was a drag on its results, posting a 9.1% decline in cash earnings to A$1.45 billion. The bank reported a jump in its credit impairment charge for the year to A$802 million, up from just A$125 million a year ago, which it said reflected volume growth and worsening asset quality. The bank declared a final dividend of 84 Australian cents per share, up from 78 Australian cents apiece a year earlier.

Persons: Daniel Munoz, Ross McEwan, Roushni Nair, Archishma Iyer, Shounak Dasgupta, Jamie Freed Organizations: National, REUTERS, National Australia Bank, NAB, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Aussie 'big four' banks hike home loan rates after RBA decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

People use Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) bank ATMs in Sydney, Australia May 3, 2018. The National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) and Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX), the other three of Australia's "big four", had hiked their home loan rates on Wednesday by 0.25%. The rate hike by the National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) and ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) would be effective from Nov. 17, while Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) would raise rates from Nov. 21, the lenders said in separate statements on Wednesday. CBA said its home loan variable rate change would be effective from Nov. 17. Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee and Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Edgar Su, Rishav Chatterjee, Upasana Singh, Savio D'Souza, Rashmi Organizations: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, REUTERS, Thursday, National Australia Bank, ANZ Group Holdings, Westpac Banking Corp, Reserve Bank of Australia, Wednesday, CBA, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

A delay in the new mine's ramp-up would add to the growing stresses on the zinc raw materials supply chain. Low prices have resulted in a lengthening list of mine curtailments in recent months, resulting in falling smelter treatment terms and a rising refined zinc price. London Metal Exchange three-month zinc pricePRICE CASUALTIESThe LME zinc price hit a three-year low of $2,215 per metric ton in May, triggering a string of mine closures. By the end of September analysts at Macquarie Bank had already totted up closures totalling 300,000 metric tons of annual zinc capacity. It is designed to churn out around 345,000 metric tons a year of contained zinc, making it the single largest addition to zinc mine supply in 2024.

Persons: Ilya Naymushin, Boliden, Price, it's, David Evans Organizations: REUTERS, London Metal Exchange, Metals, Aeris Resources, Macquarie Bank, Fastmarkets, Study, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Angara, Novoangars, Russia, Swedish, Ireland, Queensland, Western Australia, Portugal, Mexico, Tennessee

☆ Abortion rights advocates, Democrats score wins in US elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Democrats and abortion rights advocates notched a string of electoral victories on Tuesday, including in conservative Ohio and Kentucky, an early signal that reproductive rights remain a potent issue for Democrats ahead of the 2024 presidential race. In Ohio, a state that voted for Republican Donald Trump by 8 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election, voters approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights, Edison Research projected. He also ran on protecting abortion rights, though he is powerless to overturn the state's near-total ban. Last year, abortion rights advocacy groups scored a series of victories by placing abortion-related referendums on the ballot, including in conservative states. Anti-abortion forces campaigned against the Ohio amendment as too extreme, while abortion rights groups warned that rejecting it would pave the way for a stringent ban to take effect.

Persons: Republican Donald Trump, Roe, Wade, Glenn Youngkin's, Andy Beshear, Edison, Joe Biden's, Biden, Beshear, Daniel Cameron, Megan Jelinger, Youngkin, Trump, Tate Reeves, Brandon Presley, Elvis Presley, Presley, Reeves, Cameron, Joseph Ax, Jason Lange, Eric Beech, Nandita Bose, Costas Pitas, Gabriella Borter, Colleen Jenkins, Aurora Ellis, Deepa Babington, Lincoln Organizations: Republican, Edison Research, Democratic Legislative, Democratic, Trump, Democrats, Kentucky, REUTERS, Ohio, Senate, Republican Mississippi, Biden, Edison, Thomson Locations: Ohio, Kentucky, U.S ., Virginia, Columbus , Ohio, U.S, Arizona, Florida

It said it would tender for a new external auditor as part of "best practice for audit firm rotation". PwC has audited Westpac since 2002, before which PwC partners and their ancestor firms had audited the bank since 1968. However, PwC's lead Westpac audit partner assumed the role less than two years ago, in December 2021, according to a Westpac governance statement this month. A PwC Australia spokesperson said the firm understood the board's decision and was proud of its time as Westpac's auditor. Renamed Scyne Advisory, roughly 1,400 of PwC Australia's more than 9,000 staff moved over to the new firm.

Persons: Loren Elliott, PwC, Lewis Jackson, Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel Organizations: Westpac, Central Business District of, REUTERS, Rights, Westpac Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC's, Google, Uber Technologies, Facebook, Meta, PwC, Scyne Advisory, Scyne, Thomson Locations: Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, PwC Australia

They argue that geopolitical tensions between the West and China risk the reliable supply of rare earth minerals. Aclara's Barua said that Western supply of rare earth elements will not develop if it depends on Chinese prices. "The price of any metal (rare earth or otherwise) that is coming from China or from western countries has the same pricing, so why should rare earth pricing be different?" The discussion on pricing has come up often in the Rare Earth Industry Association, said Veluri, who is also the president of the global organization with partners representing the whole rare earth value chain. "But for things like cobalt, copper, or rare earth metals there is a good strategic play to find with a mining partner."

Persons: Ramon Barua, Aclara's Barua, Veluri, Australia's, Tim Harrison, Harrison, Flavio Volpe, Volpe, Divya Rajagopal, Denny Thomas, Marguerita Choy Organizations: TORONTO, Reuters, Aclara, Earth Industry Association, Companies, Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, Thomson Locations: China, Chile, West, Beijing, Badrinath, Denmark, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar

☆ Australia to investigate Optus internet and phone outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Australia said on Thursday it would launch an investigation into a 12-hour national outage at telco Optus that cut off internet and phone connections to nearly half of its population, hitting critical services including payments, transport and hospitals. The federal government would undertake a post-incident review into the outage, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said, describing its impacts as "particularly concerning." Australia's media regulator will conduct a separate review into the outage after emergency triple zero ("000") calls went down on Optus landlines, Rowland added. Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), has not given the cause for the unprecedented outage, one of the biggest the country has witnessed. The outage happened 14 months after Optus was hit by one of Australia's biggest cyber breaches.

Persons: telco, Michelle Rowland, Rowland, Renju Jose, Jamie Freed Organizations: SYDNEY, Optus, Optus landlines, Singapore Telecommunications, Telstra, Australian Broadcasting Corp, Thomson Locations: Australia, Sydney

Renamed Scyne Advisory, roughly 1,400 of PwC Australia's more than 9,000 staff have moved over to the new advisory firm. It said it would tender for a new external auditor as part of "best practice for audit firm rotation". PwC has audited Westpac since 2002, before which PwC partners and their ancestor firms had audited the bank since 1968. However, PwC's lead Westpac audit partner assumed the role less than two years ago, in December 2021, according to a Westpac governance statement this month. A PwC Australia spokesperson said the firm understood the board's decision and was proud of its time as Westpac's auditor.

Persons: Lewis Jackson, PwC, Robert Birsel, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Wednesday, Scyne Advisory, Scyne, Google, Uber Technologies, Facebook, Meta, WESTPAC, Westpac Group, Westpac, PwC's, Thomson Locations: Barangaroo, Australia

☆ Tales That Crackle With Vitality, With or Without a Puppeteer
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Laura Collins-Hughes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hurlin and his sound designer, the superb Dan Moses Schreier, are inviting us to take in their clues and envision a story as well. And why does her prim, princess-sleeved dress seem from a different wardrobe than the clothes hanging up? ***Over at La MaMa proper, on nearby East Fourth Street, my favorite festival performance of last weekend was Tom Lee’s mesmerizing “Sounding the Resonant Path,” upstairs at the Ellen Stewart Theater. Entering with an ax slung over one plaid-shirted shoulder, he walks slowly and deliberately along a curving wooden track, ostensibly alone. Never mind the puppeteer (Lee) seated just behind him, dressed in black and scooting along on a small, wheeled box.

Persons: Dan Moses Schreier, prim, Tom Lee’s, Ellen Stewart, Lee Organizations: La, Ellen, Ellen Stewart Theater Locations: bunraku

☆ First US polls close as contests in Ohio, Virginia offer preview of 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Beshear faces Republican state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who would be Kentucky's first Black governor. In Mississippi, Republican Governor Tate Reeves is seeking another four-year term. Last year, abortion rights advocacy groups scored a series of victories by placing abortion-related referendums on the ballot, including in conservative states. Anti-abortion forces campaigned against the Ohio amendment as too extreme, while abortion rights groups warned that rejecting it would pave the way for a stringent ban to take effect. Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin said he would pursue a 15-week abortion limit if Republicans take control of the legislature.

Persons: Ohioans, Andy Beshear, Republican Donald Trump, Daniel Cameron, Beshear, Tate Reeves, Brandon Presley, Elvis Presley, outraised Reeves, Joe Biden, Reeves, Cameron, Megan Jelinger, Glenn Youngkin, Trump, Biden, Joseph Ax, Jason Lange, Colleen Jenkins, Aurora Ellis, Deepa Babington Organizations: Abortion, Virginians, Republican, Kentucky, Beshear, Democratic, Trump, REUTERS, Ohio, Senate, Republicans, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Kentucky, Kentucky , Mississippi, Mississippi, Ohio, Columbus , Ohio, U.S, Arizona, Florida, Virginia, House

☆ Gold mining ETFs fail to keep pace with benchmark bullion fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Suzanne Mcgee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD.P), which tracks the price of gold, has rallied 9.82% this year, driven by concerns about inflation and economic growth as well as geopolitical turbulence. Yet those gains have not been reflected in the share prices of gold miners: the iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING.O) and the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX.AX), which track the shares of gold producers, are up only 2.28% and 1.7% respectively. "Gold prices can only help so much, if you can't produce the gold in the first place," said Islam. Even Barrick Gold, which reported a 3% gain in gold production in the third quarter, said overall output in 2023 won't meet expectations. "Investors seem very wary of stocks as a whole, and gold miners have been tracking that rather than what's happening in gold itself," said Casanova.

Persons: Shannon Stapleton, Imaru Casanova, Casanova, Roxanna Islam, George Milling, Stanley, Suzanne McGee, Ira Iosebashvili Organizations: United States West Point Mint, REUTERS, Gold Miners, World Gold, Gold, Newmont Corp, State Street Global Advisors, Barrick, Thomson Locations: West Point , New York, Mexico

☆ Abortion rights at center of Ohio and Virginia elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Peter Range, the executive director of Ohio Right to Life, speaks to members of the Clark County Republican Party about the state's upcoming referendum on abortion rights, in Springfield, Ohio, U.S., October 26, 2023. In Mississippi, Republican Governor Tate Reeves is seeking another four-year term. Last year, abortion rights advocacy groups scored a series of victories by placing abortion-related referendums on the ballot, including in conservative states. In addition to Tuesday's amendment in Ohio that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, similar ballot measures are advancing in several states for 2024, including swing states Arizona and Florida. Anti-abortion forces have campaigned against the Ohio amendment as too extreme, while abortion rights groups have warned that rejecting it would pave the way for a stringent ban to take effect.

Persons: Peter, Ohio, Joseph Ax, Andy Beshear, Republican Donald Trump, Daniel Cameron, Beshear, Tate Reeves, Brandon Presley, Elvis Presley, outraised Reeves, Joe Biden, Glenn Youngkin, Trump, Biden, Jason Lange, Colleen Jenkins, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Clark County Republican Party, REUTERS, Republicans, Democrats, White House, U.S, Republican, Kentucky, Beshear, Democratic, Trump, Voters, Senate, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Clark, Springfield , Ohio, U.S, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, U.S ., , Kentucky, Mississippi, Arizona, Florida, House

SYDNEY, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Millions of Australians were left without a phone or internet connection on Wednesday after the country's second-largest telecommunications provider experienced an unexplained nationwide outage. "Our teams are working urgently to restore services. The government had sought further information from Optus including when they expected to restore services. Melbourne's train networks were forced to shut down for about 30 minutes due to the outage, resulting in delays during the morning rush, media reported. A cyber breach last year hit Optus, exposing personal details of millions of its customers, including their home addresses, driver licence and passport numbers.

Persons: telco, Michelle Rowland, Rowland, Renju Jose, Praveen Menon, Stephen Coates Organizations: SYDNEY, Optus, Singapore Telecommunications, Commonwealth Bank, CBA, Reuters, Federal Communications, ABC Radio, Thomson Locations: Sydney

☆ Peru miners say copper output could climb without impact from protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Marco Aquino Acquire Licensing RightsLIMA, Nov 7 (Reuters) - The head of Peru's mining guild on Tuesday said that while copper mining investment might be slow to recover next year, the Andean country could still see growth in production of the metal if large-scale mines are not affected by social protests. Victor Gobitz, president of SNMP - the top mining guild for the world's No. 2 copper-producing country - said 2024 output could hit 2.7-2.8 million metric tons, up from 2.6-2.7 million tons forecast for this year and 2.45 million tons hit in 2022. Mining output was slammed by stoppages early this year during nationwide protests against the government of President Dina Boluarte after the ouster and arrest of her predecessor, Pedro Castillo. Peru's copper output has reached 1.77 million tons through the first eight months of this year, according to official data.

Persons: Marco Aquino, Victor Gobitz, Gobitz, Dina Boluarte, Pedro Castillo, Sarah Morland, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, SNMP, BHP, Mitsubishi, El, Thomson Locations: Tapairihua, Peru's Andes, Teck

☆ Proxy firm ISS recommends vote in favour of Brookfield-led consortium's Origin Energy bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Scott Murdoch | Thomson Reuters | Scott Murdoch Has Been A Journalist For More Than Two Decades Working For Thomson Reuters | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended investors vote in favour of a Brookfield-led consortium's $10.5 billion bid for Australia's Origin Energy (ORG.AX). Brookfield and EIG Partners has offered A$9.53 per share for Origin Energy. AustralianSuper, which holds a 15.03% stake, has said it believes the consortium's bid substantially "undervalues" Origin and will vote against the offer. Brookfield will take ownership of Origin's energy markets business if the vote is in favour of the bid, while EIG's MidOcean Energy will gain a 27.5% stake in Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG). In that scenario, EIG will own Origin and sell the energy markets business to Brookfield, meaning remaining shareholders, including AustralianSuper, will own only APLNG.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Scott Murdoch, Paul Simao Organizations: Brookfield, REUTERS, Rights, Services, Origin Energy, EIG Partners, Shareholders, Energy, Australia Pacific LNG, Thomson Locations: Brookfield, Australia, Sydney

The results show how Australia's retail banks are leaning into businesses outside their traditional earnings engine of mortgages as higher interest rates raise the cost of repayments, spurring competition which has flattened profit margins. Sydney-listed Westpac said profit from its consumer division, which has just over one-fifth of Australian mortgages, shrank 7% in its full-year to end-September. Westpac gave no profit forecasts but said April-to-September trading was "more challenging" than the previous six months and "this is expected to continue into 2024". "If that does eventuate, interest rates will probably need to be higher than what we're thinking," he said on a call with analysts and media. Westpac declared a final dividend of 72 Australian cents per share, up from 64 Australian cents a year earlier.

Persons: David Gray, Azib Khan, Peter King, We've, Byron Kaye, Roushni Nair, Upasana Singh, Andrew Heavens, Josie Kao, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Australia's Westpac Banking Corp, REUTERS, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ, Sydney, midsession, P Capital, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Ukraine, Bengaluru

The funds available for deals are growing as investors including pension funds, sovereign wealth and insurance firms look for meaty returns hard to find in today's equity markets, especially in the beaten-down real estate sector. Australian real estate specialist Qualitas (QAL.AX), whose backers include the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, has nearly doubled funds under management to A$8 billion ($5.07 billion) since mid-2022, with roughly half the increase since this June. U.S.-based PGIM Real Estate expects to deploy a further $1 billion in the country over the next few years, said its head of Australian real estate Steve Bulloch. Lenders are expanding into residential and commercial construction as banks slow lending or exit, a March report from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said. JUICY RETURNSInvestors can expect returns from 9% to 11% with the added security of loans pledged against real assets like condos or warehouses, often with a 30% to 40% equity buffer, said Paul Notaras, executive director at Barings Real Estate Australia.

Persons: Stella Qiu, meaty, Steve Bulloch, JUICY, Paul Notaras, Notaras, Qualitas, Andrew Schwartz, Bonds, We've, Schwartz, Lewis Jackson, Rae Wee, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, Abu, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ Group, International Monetary, Reserve Bank of Australia, Australia, prudential, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Thomson Locations: Parramatta, Sydney, SYDNEY, Australian, Abu Dhabi, Australia, Qualitas, Singapore

Nov 6 (Reuters) - EIG Partners Chief Executive Blair Thomas said on Monday he is confident a Brookfield-EIG consortium can win support for its $10.5 billion bid for Origin Energy (ORG.AX) despite opposition from the Australian electricity and gas firm's top shareholder. Pension fund AustralianSuper said on Monday it had increased its stake in Origin to 15.03% from 13.67% and the A$9.53 per share bid remained "substantially" below its estimate of long-term value. Origin will hold a shareholder meeting on Nov. 23, where it will urge investors to vote in favour of the deal. If the deal is successful, Brookfield will take ownership of Origin's energy markets business, while EIG's MidOcean Energy will gain a 27.5% stake in Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG). Thomas confirmed both Brookfield and EIG had discussed with AustralianSuper the possibility of it participating in the deal earlier this year.

Persons: Blair Thomas, AustralianSuper, Thomas, EIG, Scott Murdoch, Lewis Jackson, Archishma Iyer, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: EIG Partners, EIG, Origin Energy, Brookfield, Energy, Australia Pacific LNG, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Brookfield, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Lendlease, Google end development deals for $15 bln San Francisco Bay Area projects
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Himanshi Akhand | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: A sign is pictured outside a Google office near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 8, 2019. Under the project, Lendlease was to develop up to 15 million square feet of residential, retail and hospitality space and Google would develop office space. As of June-end, 12,900 of the planned housing units were approved for development in San Jose and Mountain View, according to Google. Lendlease said it will remove the San Francisco Bay project, which was expected to commence construction in fiscal 2026, from its development pipeline. Lendlease retained its forecast for fiscal 2024, with core operating return on equity at the lower end of its 8%-10% range.

Persons: Paresh Dave, Lendlease, Himanshi, Ayushman Ojha, Sonia Cheema, Rashmi, Sohini Organizations: REUTERS, Lendlease, Google, San Francisco Bay Area, Francisco's, Alexa Arena, San, UBS, Thomson Locations: Mountain View , California, U.S, San Francisco Bay, Sunnyvale, San Jose, Mountain, Westfield, Bay, Hayes, San Francisco, Americas, Bengaluru

☆ 2 prominent conservative judges have quashed an investigation into their former clerk — and friend of Clarence Thomas — for texting 'I hate black people'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementThe federal courts have spiked an investigation into racist text messages sent by a conservative activist-turned-law clerk who got jobs working alongside two federal judges with the full-throated support of Clarence Thomas . She also landed clerkships with two federal judges — Judge Corey Maze, a federal district judge in Alabama, and Judge William Pryor, an influential appellate judge. Last year, a federal judicial panel ordered that an investigation take place into whether Clanton actually sent the texts. After finishing law school, Clanton clerked for Maze, a federal judge in Anniston, Alabama from 2022 to 2023. Judge Debra Livington, the Second Circuit's chief judge, wrote in 2022 that Judges Pryor and Maze simply concluded that the New Yorker's reporting wasn't true.

Persons: Crystal Clanton, Clarence Thomas, —, Charlie Kirk's, Donald Trump's, Clanton, Clarence, Ginni Thomas, Corey Maze, William Pryor, Pryor, Maze, William Hodes, Clarence Thomas's, Mediaite, George Mason University's Antonin Scalia, Thomas, Pryor didn't, Jane Mayer, Judge Pryor, clerkships, Debra Livington, she'd, Charlie Kirk, Gabby Fe, Jack Newsham Organizations: Service, Fox News, New Yorker, Washington Post, Starbucks, George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, Atlanta, Circuit, Appeals, Media, Second Circuit, Judicial, Judicial Conference, Yorker Locations: Alabama, America, Anniston , Alabama, New York

☆ Macquarie sends shareholders a sell signal
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Chief Executive of the Macquarie Group Shemara Wikramanayake, is seen in this handout picture taken in Sydney, Australia in 2022 released on May 5, 2023. Macquarie Group and Alice Boshell/Handout via REUTERS. Acquire Licensing RightsMELBOURNE, Nov 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Macquarie (MQG.AX) boss Shemara Wikramanayake knows how to time the market. The two moves seem designed to calm any shareholders nervous about the bank’s dip in fortunes. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Alice Boshell, Shemara Wikramanayake, Macquarie, Antony Currie, Aston Martin, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Macquarie Group, REUTERS, Acquire, Rights MELBOURNE, Reuters, X, Pfizer, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Handout, Macquarie

☆ Australia's Albanese to highlight trade on China visit as ties warm
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A quarter of Australia's export earnings come from China, more than the next three trade partners, the United States, South Korea and Japan combined, Albanese said on Tuesday. "Trade as an anchor provides stability and certainty to allow greater engagement while we navigate uncertain currents and obstacles that lie beneath," said Australia China Business Council president David Olsson. Chairman of the Business Council of Australia's global engagement committee, Warwick Smith, said Albanese would highlight the complementary nature of bilateral trade in a speech on Sunday to 500 business people. DIFFICULT TOPICSChina has lauded the visit's timing, on the 50th anniversary of the first to China by an Australian leader, then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Although the Albanese government has put dialogue at the centre of its approach to China, most policy remains the same, he said.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Albanese, Xi Jinping, Richard Marles, David Olsson, Li Qiang, Fortescue, " Olsson, Warwick Smith, Gough Whitlam, Penny Wong, Xiao Qian, Richard Maude, Thomas, Maude, Kirsty Needham, Robert Birsel Organizations: SYDNEY, Australia China Business, Fortescue Metals, Rio Tinto, BHP, Business Council, Asia Society Australia, America, Thomson Locations: China, Shanghai, South, Beijing, Australia, United States, Canberra, Britain, Washington, South Korea, Japan, Rio, CIIE, Philippines, Taiwan

The Sydney-based financial conglomerate has not had a steeper first-half profit drop in more than a decade. The results capped a run of "exceptional conditions" last year in the company's commodity trading and asset management segments, buoyed by energy market volatility and ripe conditions for asset sales, respectively, Chief Financial Officer Alex Harvey told Reuters. Macquarie said the asset management division's income should rebound in the second half to about the A$940 million it reported in the same period last year. The company said fees and commissions at investment banking arm Macquarie Capital were in line with the previous comparable period. Profit fell 28% to A$430 million.

Persons: David Gray, Alex Harvey, Macquarie, Shemara Wikramanayake, Wikramanayake, Barrenjoey, Lewis Jackson, Roushni Nair, Rishav Chatterjee, Jamie Freed Organizations: Macquarie Group Ltd, REUTERS, Macquarie, Reuters, Citi, Investment, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, SYDNEY, Ukraine, North America, Israel, Bengaluru

REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Santos (STO.AX) said on Thursday an Australian court has granted an interim injunction preventing it from starting work on laying undersea pipelines on its $3.6 billion Barossa gas project off northern Australia. Australia's offshore regulator ordered Santos in January to evaluate the environmental risks to underwater indigenous cultural heritage before starting pipeline work though it did not prohibit the start of work. Santos has said, citing an independent expert, that there were no specific underwater cultural heritage sites along the planned route of the pipeline. A Santos ship was hours away from beginning work on the pipeline, lawyers for Munkara told the court. Santos said the vessel will remain at its current location but no pipeline works will be conducted during the interim injunction.

Persons: Santos, Chris Helgren, Simon Munkara, Munkara, Renju Jose, Ayushman, Mrigank Dhaniwala, Rashmi Aich, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Federal, Environmental, Office, EDO, Woodside, Thomson Locations: Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada, Australia, Tiwi, Munkara, Barossa, Scarborough, Sydney, Bengaluru

☆ Albemarle cuts annual forecast on slumping lithium prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A lithium evaporation pond is seen at Albemarle Lithium production facility in Silver Peak, Nevada, U.S. October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 1 (Reuters) - Albemarle (ALB.N), the world's largest producer of lithium for electric vehicle batteries, trimmed its annual forecast on Wednesday and reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit amid slumping prices for the ultralight metal. That is reflected in lithium prices, which have tumbled more than 60% this year. Albemarle reported third-quarter net income of $302.5 million, or $2.57 per share, compared to $897.2 million, or $7.61 per share, in the year-ago period. For the year, the company trimmed its net sales forecast to a range of $9.5 billion to $9.8 billion.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Albemarle, Hancock, Gina Rinehart, Ernest Scheyder, Chris Reese, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Liontown Resources, Thomson Locations: Albemarle, Silver, , Nevada, U.S, Charlotte, North Carolina, Argentina

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