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☆ KKR reports 42% drop in earnings on lower asset sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter after-tax distributable earnings dropped 42% year-on-year, driven by asset sale declines in its private equity portfolio and lower transaction fees in the capital markets division. KKR and other private equity firms struggled to sell assets for top dollar for much of the last year due to market volatility, rising inflation, recession worries and geopolitical tensions. Transaction fees from its capital markets business, which collects lucrative fees for arranging financing for KKR portfolio companies, declined by 55% to $144.4 million. During the quarter, KKR said its private equity portfolio was flat in value, while opportunistic real estate funds depreciated by 8%. By contrast, Blackstone Inc (BX.N) had reported that its opportunistic and core real estate funds depreciated by 2% and 1.5%, respectively, while its corporate private equity funds gained 3.8%.

☆ Boeing says it will cut about 2,000 white-collar jobs in finance and HR
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Lindsey WassonWASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) expects to cut about 2,000 white-collar jobs this year in finance and human resources through a combination of attrition and layoffs, the U.S. planemaker confirmed Monday. The company confirmed a Seattle Times report Monday it expects "about 2,000 reductions this year primarily in finance and HR through a combination of attrition and layoffs." Boeing also confirmed it is outsourcing about one third of those jobs to Tata Consulting Services (TCS.NS) in India. Last month, Boeing said it will "lower staffing within some support functions" - a move meant to enable it to better align resources to support current products and technology development. Last year, Boeing said it planned to cut about 150 finance jobs in the United States to simplify its corporate structure and focus more resources into manufacturing and product development.

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

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

☆ South Korea, Australia central banks renew currency swap agreement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] The logo of the Bank of Korea is seen on the top of its building in Seoul, South Korea, March 8, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File PhotoSEOUL, Feb 6 (Reuters) - South Korea's central bank said it renewed on Monday a currency swap agreement with its Australian counterpart, valued at 9.6 trillion won or A$12 billion, for five years until early 2028. The agreement, first signed in 2014, allows either party to exchange funds in own currency for the other currency under pre-set terms. The Bank of Korea and the Reserve Bank of Australia have since renewed the agreement several times. ($1 = 1,246.9200 won)($1 = 1.4432 Australian dollars)Reporting by Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sixth Street preparing bid for German football media rights - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - U.S. investor Sixth Street is among the companies preparing to bid for a portion of the German football league's media and commercial rights, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report comes as Germany's soccer governing body is pressing on with plans to sell parts of the Bundesliga media rights for the country's first and second leagues to private investors. The German football league was initially expected to sell a 20% stake in a newly created company handling the Bundesliga's media rights in October, but pushed it to this year after a lack of consensus among the league clubs. The business is valued at between 15 billion euros and 18 billion euros, with a 20% stake priced at about 3.6 billion euros ($3.89 billion). Sixth Street declined to comment on the Financial Times report, while DFL and Bundesliga did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

☆ Pension schemes advised to sell LDI funds after gilt chaos - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Pension schemes that invested in liability-driven investment (LDI) funds run by BlackRock and other managers are being advised to sell their holdings, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday. Investment advisers XPS Pensions and Barnett Waddingham have cut their ratings on some pooled LDI funds to their lowest ranking, according to the report, adding that the downgrades had been communicated to multiple pension funds. The downgrades only affected "pooled" fund arrangements, or a large group of pension schemes invested together, rather than individual scheme funds, the report added. XPS confirmed that it has downgraded three LDI managers pooled funds off the back of the research undertaken during December and January. LDI funds have been used by pension schemes to ensure they can meet payouts to pensioners in future years.

☆ Investor Ryan Cohen takes stake in Nordstrom - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The billionaire investor believes it is inappropriate for Tritton, who used to work at Nordstrom from 2009 to 2016, to be deciding compensation for Nordstrom family members who are executives at the company, as he used to work around them, according to WSJ. Cohen has previously traveled to Seattle, where Nordstrom is based, to meet with members of the family and learn more about the business, WSJ said. Both Cohen and Nordstrom did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. The department store chain in September last year adopted a "poison pill" to prevent investors from amassing 10% or more of its shares, after Mexican department store chain Liverpool (LIVEPOLC1.MX) disclosed a 9.9% passive stake in Nordstrom. Cohen also had a 9.8% stake in Bed Bath & Beyond, which he sold in August, following a stunning rally in the stock.

☆ Pinterest cuts about 150 jobs, Bloomberg News reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The digital-search company that lets users create online pinboards informed the impacted employees on Wednesday, the report said, citing a person familiar with the company. The job cuts came from teams across the San Francisco-based company, though not all were affected to the same degree. "We're making organizational changes to further set us up to deliver against our company priorities and our long-term strategy," a company spokesperson told Reuters, confirming job cuts. The official, however, declined to confirm the number of job cuts. Pinterest will support all impacted employees with separation packages, benefits and other services during the transition, the spokesperson added.

☆ Microsoft rolls out ChatGPT-powered Teams Premium
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Wednesday rolled out a premium Teams messaging offering powered by ChatGPT to simplify meetings using the AI chatbot that has taken Silicon Valley by a storm. The premium service will cost $7 per month in June before increasing to $10 in July, Microsoft said. OpenAI-owned ChatGPT will generate automatic meeting notes, recommend tasks and help create meeting templates for Teams users. ChatGPT on Wednesday announced a $20 per-month subscription plan, which will let subscribers receive access to faster responses and priority access to new features and improvements. Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nomura's Q3 profit grows despite investment banking slump
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Makiko Yamazaki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T), Japan's biggest brokerage and investment bank, reported an 11% rise in quarterly net profit on Wednesday, as a partial stake sale in an affiliate offset a slump in investment banking. Nomura's wholesale division, which houses its investment banking and trading businesses, logged a pretax loss of 1.9 billion yen ($14.58 million), its first loss since the April-June quarter of 2021. read moreEven as Nomura's investment banking business was underpinned by relatively solid dealmaking activity in Japan, it confirmed layoffs of bankers in Europe and Asia. Kitamura said the company would stick to its strategy of beefing up its investment banking business, however. ($1 = 130.3400 yen)Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Subhranshu Sahu and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Japan's Nomura Q3 net profit rises 11%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T), Japan's biggest brokerage and investment bank, reported an 11% rise in quarterly net profit on Wednesday, as a partial stake sale in an affiliate lifted otherwise weak earnings. Profit came in at 66.9 billion yen ($513.51 million) for the October-December period, up from 60.3 billion yen a year earlier. Nomura's profit of 28 billion yen from a partial sale of its stake in affiliate Nomura Research Institute (4307.T) helped underpinned the earnings. The wholesale division, which houses its trading and investment banking businesses, reported a pretax loss of 1.9 billion yen, compared with a profit of 40.8 billion yen in the same period a year earlier. So far, Nomura appears relatively unscathed thanks to relatively solid dealmaking activity in Japan, Nomura's home market.

☆ China's MMG flags production halt at Las Bambas in Peru due to protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Chinese copper miner MMG Ltd (1208.HK) said on Monday its Las Bambas mine in Peru would likely have to halt production from Feb. 1 due to a shortage of "critical supplies" leading to a slowdown of operations. The Melbourne-headquartered miner said the shortage of supplies was due to transport disruptions from protests in Peru. Peru, the world's second-largest copper producer, has been gripped by growing unrest following weeks of sometimes violent anti-government protests triggered by the ouster of the country's former president last month. Glencore (GLEN.L) suspended operations at its Antapaccay copper mine on Jan. 20 after protestors attacked the premises for a third time. A source at MMG had told Reuters production would continue as long as there was a stock of supplies, but MMG said on Monday that supplies were running low.

☆ Texas oil regulator advises pipeline operators to prepare for severe winter conditions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 29 (Reuters) - The Texas oil regulator on Sunday advised oil and gas pipeline operators to secure equipment and facilities after forecasts for severe weather over the next several days. The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), which oversees the state's oil and gas industries, issued the notice after the National Weather Service forecast wintry precipitation and ice accumulations across several parts of the state. The oil regulator advised the operators to secure all personnel, equipment and facilities to prevent injury or damage, and monitor and prepare operations for potential impacts. It also asked the operators to "heed" all watches, warnings and orders issued by local emergency officials and monitor weather reports. Some sleet will be possible," the National Weather Service said in a forecast for portions of north central, northeast and south central Texas.

☆ Wells Fargo CEO Scharf's 2022 pay unchanged at $24.5 mln
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) Chief Executive Officer Charles Scharf's total compensation for 2022 was unchanged at $24.5 million, the Wall Street bank said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. Scharf's compensation consisted of $2.5 million in base salary, $5.4 million in cash incentive, $10.8 million long-term performance share award and $5.8 million in restricted share rights, the filing showed. Wall Street's biggest banks saw profits dwindle in 2022 as they stockpiled more rainy-day funds and struggled to contain costs after aggressive interest rate hikes softened demand for mortgages and car loans while raising deposit costs. Walls Fargo peer JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) last week said it paid its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, $34.5 million for 2022. Reporting by Jaiveer Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Gold slips as dollar firms ahead of U.S. inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Ashitha Shivaprasad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,923.33 per ounce, as of 0648 GMT, shedding 0.2% so far in the week. Gold is seeing a pull-back as the dollar is on the higher side and the U.S. GDP data is also slightly pressuring prices, said Ajay Kedia, director at Kedia Commodities, Mumbai. Data on Thursday showed the U.S. economy grew at a faster pace in the December quarter than economists had expected, prompting bets the Fed would keep rates higher for longer. Investors are now awaiting U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, at 1330 GMT for cues on the central bank's path forward. A downside surprise in the data may point towards a less-hawkish Fed, which could drive gold prices higher in the longer run, said IG Market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

☆ Dubai lender Emirates NBD 2022 net profit up 40%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Emirates NBD (ENBD.DU), Dubai's biggest lender, reported a 40% jump in 2022 net profit to 13 billion dirhams ($3.5 billion) on Thursday, helped by higher interest rates and transaction volumes which boosted overall income. The bank, majority owned by the government of Dubai, made a profit of 3.9 billion dirhams in the fourth quarter, up 94% from a year earlier. Higher interest rates and increased transaction volumes supported a 36% jump in 2022 total income to 32.5 billion dirhams, boosting profit. Total assets grew 8% to 742 billion dirhams. Total deposits grew 10% in 2022 to 503 billion dirhams.

☆ Meta's social media apps back up after brief outage, Downdetector says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc's (META.O) social media apps appeared to be back up after facing a brief disruption in the United States on Wednesday, data on outage tracking website Downdetector.com showed. At the peak of the outage, more than 17,000 user reports had indicated issues with Instagram in the United States, as of 2352 GMT. Over 13,000 incidents were reported for the Facebook app and outage reports also briefly spiked for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger around the same time. Downdetector tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources including user-submitted errors on its platform. Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU regulator accepts Biogen-Eisai's Alzheimer's treatment lecanemab for review
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Eisai Co Ltd (4523.T) and Biogen Inc (BIIB.O) said on Thursday the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had accepted a marketing authorization application for their Alzheimer's disease drug for review. The drug, lecanemab, was recently granted accelerated approval in the United States. Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Provident Financial CEO Le May to step down
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 26 (Reuters) - British subprime lender Provident Financial (PFG.L) said on Thursday Malcolm Le May would step down as its chief executive officer and Bank of Ireland UK chief Ian McLaughlin would take the helm. The London-listed company, which also plans to change its name to Vanquis Banking Group, said McLaughlin would replace Le May as CEO in the summer. Reporting by Anchal Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ IG Group extends share buyback by 50 mln pounds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Online trading platform IG Group (IGG.L) said on Thursday it was extending its share buyback by 50 million pounds ($61.98 million) to 200 million pounds and that it expected its full-year performance to be in line with expectations. The group said profit before tax for the six months ended Nov. 30 dipped 2% to 240.5 million pounds, weighed down by softer client activity as market volatility spurred in part by the Ukraine crisis eased. ($1 = 0.8068 pounds)Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tech drags European stocks lower on earnings jitters
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ankika Biswas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) fell 0.3%, heading lower for a second day with technology (.SX8P) and telecom (.SX8P) declining the most. "The weak outlook painted by Microsoft is weighing on the wider tech sector," said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets in London. European stocks came under pressure on Tuesday, as an improvement in economic activity spurred speculation that the European Central Bank (ECB) might have more room to raise interest rates to tackle inflation. Boosting UK stocks, EasyJet PLC (EZJ.L) jumped 10.6% after projecting it would beat current market expectations for 2023 and deliver a full-year profit. Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Microsoft cloud outage hits users around the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Akriti Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Microsoft Teams app is seen on the smartphone placed on the keyboard in this illustration taken, July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationJan 25 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Wednesday was hit with a networking outage that took down its cloud platform Azure along with services such as Teams and Outlook, potentially affecting millions of users globally. "We've determined the network connectivity issue is occurring with devices across the Microsoft Wide Area Network (WAN)," Microsoft said. During the outage, users faced problems in exchanging messages, join calls or use any features of Teams application. Among the other services affected were Microsoft Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, according to the company's status page.

☆ European shares slip as investors weigh earnings reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - European stocks inched lower on Wednesday as investors assessed a slew of earnings reports including chip equipment maker ASML's, while fears of more interest rate hikes kept investors on edge. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) fell 0.2% by 0816 GMT, with technology (.SX8P) and financials declining the most. Shares of ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS) lost 2% and were among the top drags on the STOXX 600, despite forecasting sales growth of more than 25% for 2023. Lonza Group AG (LONN.S) fell 2.8%, even as the Swiss drug contract manufacturer reaffirmed its longer-term growth prospects. Investors will monitor Germany's 2023 annual economic report in Berlin due at 1315 GMT amid easing fears of a recession in the euro zone's largest economy.

☆ DOJ poised to sue Google over digital ad market dominance - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is poised to sue Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google as soon as Tuesday regarding its dominance over the digital advertising market, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department lawsuit filed against Google in 2020 focuses on its monopoly in search and is scheduled to go to trial in September. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Google declined to comment on the report. Google had previously argued that the ad tech ecosystem was competitive with Facebook Inc (META.O), AT&T (T.N), Comcast (CMCSA.O) and others. While Google remains the market leader by a long shot, its share of the U.S. digital ad revenue has been eroding, falling from 36.7% in 2016 to 28.8% last year, according to Insider Intelligence.

☆ Crypto news site CoinDesk hires banker to explore potential sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Crypto outlet CoinDesk Inc is exploring a full or partial sale of its business and has hired investment bank Lazard Ltd (LAZ.N) to lead the process, the media company's chief executive said on Wednesday. The crypto industry is going through one of its worst phases, with prices of major tokens at two-year lows and a string of bankruptcy filings from top players. "My goal in hiring Lazard is to explore various options to attract growth capital to the CoinDesk business, which may include a partial or full sale," CEO Kevin Worth told Reuters in a statement. The development comes amid an industry turmoil, which began with the crash of stable coins TerraUSD and Luna early last year. The company is wholly owned by crypto-focused venture capital firm Digital Currency Group, which also has interest in Coinbase, according to its website.

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