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☆ Australia's Latitude Group says 7.9 million driver licence numbers stolen in data theft
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 27 (Reuters) - Digital payments and lending firm Latitude Holdings (LFS.AX) said on Monday it has determined that 7.9 million Australian and New Zealand driver licence numbers were stolen in a large-scale information theft on March 16. Apart from the 7.9 million driver licence numbers stolen, the Australian fintech firm also identified about 53,000 passport numbers were stolen and less than 100 customers had a monthly financial statement stolen. A further 6.1 million records dating back to at least 2005 were also stolen. Customers who choose to replace their stolen ID document will be reimbursed, the company said in a statement. Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Payments firm Block's Australian shares slump after Hindenburg report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Navya Mittal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 24 (Reuters) - Australia-listed shares of Block Inc , led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, plunged 16.3% on Friday after Hindenburg Research alleged that the payments firm overstated its user numbers and understated its customer acquisition costs. Block, which is currently exploring a legal action against the short-seller, said the report was "factually inaccurate and misleading". Shares of the San Francisco-headquartered company led losses in Australia's benchmark ASX 200 Index (.AXJO) and hit their lowest since January 2023 at A$91.28. Block's $29 billion buyout of the Australian buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay "was designed in a way that avoided responsible lending rules in its native Australia," the U.S. short-seller said in its report. ASX-listed Block shares plunge post Hindenburg's reportReporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hong Kong makes new rules for specialist tech firm listings, cuts rev threshold
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 24 (Reuters) - The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) said on Friday it had framed new listing rules for specialist technology companies, adopting a lower revenue threshold for these firms set out in earlier proposals. The bourse operator, a unit of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (0388.HK), said it would welcome applications operating in frontier industries, including new energy, robotics, semiconductors, quantum computing, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and new food and agriculture technologies. A commercialised company should have no less than HK$6 billion ($764.38 million) in market capitalisation, according to the rules, lower than HK$8 billion stipulated in a consultation last October. These rules are designed to retain the attractiveness of Hong Kong's capital markets amid continued geopolitical tensions. ($1 = 7.8495 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Poonam Behura in Bangalore and Selena Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rio Tinto staff's personal data may have been hacked - memo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 23 (Reuters) - Personal data of Rio Tinto Ltd's (RIO.AX) former and current Australian employees may have been stolen by a cybercriminal group, according to a staff memo seen by Reuters on Thursday. "Investigations now indicate a possibility that Rio Tinto data may be impacted," it said. The cybercriminal group threatened to release the data onto the dark web and investigations into the incident were ongoing, the Anglo-Australian mining giant added. The stolen data relates to an attack on GoAnywhere - a managed file transfer (MFT) software offered by cybersecurity firm Fortra - which also provides its services to Rio. As GoAnywhere is a cloud-based vendor, there is no operational impact or risk to the Rio Tinto network, the memo said.

☆ Tonic maker Fevertree to raise prices as glass costs soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Radhika Anilkumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Fevertree, which sells most of its upmarket mixers in glass bottles, warned in January its profits this year would be hit by an estimated 20 million pound ($25 million) increase in glass production costs. The London-based company, which supplies to about 85 countries, did not say by how much it would raise prices, nor give details of its U.S. production plans. Fevertree, founded in 2003, said it was working with glass suppliers to mitigate costs wherever possible. Coca-Cola HBC AG (CCH.L), one of Coca-Cola's many bottlers worldwide, said in February it would also increase prices to tackle rising costs. Fevertree reported a 37% fall in adjusted core profit to 39.7 million pounds for the year ended Dec. 31, in line with its guidance.

☆ Tonic maker Fevertree to hike prices to cushion high glass costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 22 (Reuters) - British tonic maker Fevertree Drinks Plc (FEVR.L) said on Wednesday it plans to hike product prices and ramp up its U.S. production to help cushion the pressures faced from high costs of manufacturing glass. Energy and commodity prices have increased since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, sending companies across the globe scrambling for ways to rein in costs, while households struggle to manage their bills. The 20-year old company reported a 37% fall in its adjusted core profit to 39.7 million pounds ($48.66 million) for the year ended Dec. 31. Revenue was 11% above the previous year's levels at 344.3 million pounds, in line with analysts' expectations. ($1 = 0.8159 pounds)Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SummarySummary Companies Latitude marks worst intraday dropLatitude among latest in slew of corporate cyberattacks in AustraliaMarch 22 (Reuters) - Shares of Latitude Group Holdings (LFS.AX) slumped to their all-time low on Wednesday after the fintech firm unearthed further evidence of large-scale information theft affecting former and current customers across Australia and New Zealand. Latitude said it was attempting to identify the number of customers affected and the type of personal information stolen by the hacker. Latitude had said last week that personal information of around 328,000 customers, including copies of drivers' licences, was stolen. It took its platforms offline on Monday and said the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre were looking into the attack. Latitude GroupReporting by Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Gold listless as investors strap in for Fed rate verdict
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies All eyes on Fed statement at 1800 GMTFed seen hiking rates by 25 bpsHawkish Fed, rates repricing could undermine gold prices - analystMarch 22 (Reuters) - Gold prices traded in a narrow range on Wednesday as some investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and policy outlook. Spot gold was flat at $1,939.59 per ounce, as of 0318 GMT, after dropping 2% on Tuesday. Investor attention is now on the Fed's decision scheduled at 1800 GMT, followed by a press conference by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. "Key focus is on how the Fed communicates its forward guidance, in particular 'the higher for longer' rhetoric and dots plots," OCBC's Wong said. "If we do get higher dots plot, then that represents a still-hawkish Fed that is determined to fight inflation ... a potential hawkish repricing could undermine gold prices."

☆ BHP, engineering firm Hatch to design electric smelting plant in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 23 (Reuters) - BHP Group (BHP.AX) on Thursday signed an agreement with an engineering and project management firm Hatch to design an electric smelting furnace pilot plant in Australia in an attempt to slash its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. The facility will help lower carbon dioxide intensity in steel production using iron ore from the global miner's Pilbara mines. The plant will be able to produce steel from iron ore using renewable electricity and hydrogen replacing coking coal. Last October, the mining giant teamed up with steelmaker ArcelorMittal (MT.LU) and two others to test a new technology to reduce carbon emissions in steelmaking at two plants in Belgium and North America. Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Gold prices ease as market focus turns to US Fed meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FUNDAMENTALS* Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,977.69 per ounce, as of 0044 GMT. * Gold tends to benefit from low interest rates as it reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. * The dollar edged up 0.1%, making bullion less attractive for buyers holding other currencies. * SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.38% to 924.55 tonnes on Monday from 921.08 tonnes on Friday. * Spot silver edged down 0.1% to $22.49 per ounce, platinum was flat at $988.33 and palladium was listless at $1,413.97.

☆ Alliance Aviation says Australian regulator delays Qantas deal review again
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] FILE PHOTO: Qantas aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Melbourne International Airport in Melbourne, Australia, November 6, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo/File PhotoMarch 20 (Reuters) - Australia's Alliance Aviation Services Ltd (AQZ.AX) said on Monday the country's competition regulator has delayed a review until April 20 of the proposed acquisition of the charter operator by Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX). This marked the fourth delay so far by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) on the carrier's A$610.8 million ($409.97 million) acquisition offer of Alliance Aviation. Last May, Qantas announced plans to buy the remaining 80% stake in Alliance Aviation in an all-stock deal to expand its footprint in the charter business. Under the agreement, Qantas said the number of wet-lease aircraft options available from Alliance Airlines, a unit of Alliance Aviation Services, will be up to 12 additional Embraer E190 aircraft.

☆ European stocks slide as Credit Suisse buyout fails to soothe investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 0.8% by 0807 GMT, after having recorded its biggest weekly decline of the year on Friday. Shares of Credit Suisse slumped 62.3% after rival UBS Group AG said it will pay 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) for the 167-year-old bank and assume up to $5.4 billion in losses, in a package orchestrated by Swiss regulators on Sunday. Investors were also spooked by news that Credit Suisse additional tier-1 bonds - or AT1 bonds - with a notional value of $17 billion will be valued at zero, angering some of the holders of the debt who thought they would be better protected than shareholders. The wider European banking index (.SX7P) slid 3.2% to hit its lowest level in three months. Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Gold lacklustre as Credit Suisse-UBS deal spurs risk-on mood
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was down 0.7% at $1,973.44 per ounce, as of 0404 GMT, after sliding 1% earlier in the session. On Sunday, UBS agreed to buy 167-year-old Credit Suisse for $3.23 billion and assume up to $5.4 billion in losses in a deal backed by a massive Swiss guarantee. Credit Suisse was caught up in a widening crisis triggered by the collapse of U.S.-based Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month, following which gold rallied over 8% or by $160 on safe-haven demand. Therefore, it may take much more for gold to reverse its current bullish trend," IG's Yeap said. Bullion is considered a hedge against economic uncertainties, although higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.

☆ Gold in tight range with focus on Fed's rate-hike moves
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,903.64 per ounce as of 0316 GMT, trading in a $6 range. The dollar index was down 0.1%, making bullion less expensive for overseas buyers, while U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher. "Investor allocation to gold remains low," analysts at ANZ said in a note, but added they expect the banking turmoil to "reinvigorate investor demand over the longer term." Spot silver rose 0.6% to $21.81 per ounce, platinum added 0.5% at $987.64 and palladium firmed 0.3% at $1,510.92. Reporting by Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Broker TP ICAP hikes dividend as annual profit surges on market volatility
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - TP ICAP (TCAPI.L) hiked its dividend payout on Tuesday after the world's biggest inter-deal broker reported a nearly five-fold rise in its annual profit, underpinned by volatile trading in stocks and foreign exchange and improved investor confidence. Trading platforms such as TP ICAP, which match buyers and sellers in the financial, energy and commodity markets, saw a revival in volumes and client activity levels last year as the Ukraine war and risks of a recession due to tightening monetary policies kept financial markets volatile. The London-listed firm reported full-year pretax profit of 113 million pounds ($137.40 million), compared with a profit of 24 million pounds last year. Analysts had expected pretax profit of 108 million pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus. ($1 = 0.8224 pounds)Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Goldman Sachs' Canute Dalmasse to retire after 21 years - memo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SYDNEY, March 14 (Reuters) - Canute Dalmasse, Goldman Sach's (GS.N) co-head of Asia Pacific equities distribution and execution, will retire after nearly 21 years with the bank, according to a memo seen by Reuters. Dalmasse joined Goldman Sachs in 2002 as an international sales trader in New York and relocated to Hong Kong in 2006, the memo said. He was previously the head of Hong Kong equities sales trading and later became the co-head of execution services in the Asia Pacific region. The memo said he was named managing director in 2009 and appointed in 2016 as a partner, the most senior position in Goldman Sachs. A Goldman Sachs spokesperson confirmed the contents of the memo.

☆ India's Tech Mahindra soars 10% as Infosys veteran to join as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, March 13 (Reuters) - Shares of Tech Mahindra Ltd (TEML.NS) surged nearly 10% on Monday after the Indian information technology services firm appointed Infosys Ltd (INFY.NS) veteran Mohit Joshi as its new managing director and chief executive officer. Joshi has been with rival Infosys for 22 years, and is currently the president at the company. Shares of Tech Mahindra (TEML.NS) were up 8.2% at 1,148.80 rupees, Infosys (INFY.NS) fell 1.1% to 1,455.05 rupees. At least three brokerages indicated it is a welcome move for Tech Mahindra. The current average rating of 39 analysts covering Tech Mahindra is "buy" and the median price target is 1,143 rupees, according to data from Refinitiv.

☆ FTSE 100 hits two-month low as banks stretch losses in SVB aftermath
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies HSBC falls after taking over SVB's UK armBritish American Tobacco down after JPM downgradeBank sector index hits over two-month lowFTSE 100 down 2.4%, FTSE 250 off 2.9%March 13 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 fell on Monday, with banks extending losses as shock waves continue to reverberate through financial markets after U.S. regulators closed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) lost 2.4%, falling to an over two month low. UK banks (.FTNMX301010) slid 4.3%, hitting an over two-month low and extending last week's declines of over 6%. The focus is now shifting to UK's spring budget due to be unveiled later in the day. Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chip equipment maker ASMPT draws takeover interest - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 10 (Reuters) - Semiconductor and electronics equipment maker ASMPT Ltd (0522.HK) is attracting takeover interest from private-equity companies, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. ASMPT did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while PAG declined to comment. Shares of the equipment maker rose as much as 5.2%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng benchmark (.HSI) dropped 3.2%. The market capitalization of ASMPT stood at nearly 30.5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($3.89 billion), as of Friday. ($1 = 7.8496 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Meta explores decentralized social network app for text updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 10 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) is exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates, a company spokesperson said on Friday, in what could be a direct competitor to billionaire Elon Musk's Twitter Inc."We're exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there's an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests," a Meta spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement. The report said Meta's new content app would support ActivityPub, the decentralized social networking protocol that powers Twitter-rival Mastodon and other federated apps. Meta's new app would be Instagram-branded and will allow users to register or login through their Instagram credentials, according to the Moneycontrol report. Reporting by Shubham Kalia and Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Meta exploring plans for Twitter rival
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 10 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) is exploring plans to launch a new social media app in its bid to displace Twitter as the world's "digital town square". "We're exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. A Twitter-like app would allow Meta to take advantage of the current chaos at the Elon Musk-led company, where cost-cutting has been rampant. Twitter has been struggling to hold on to its advertising base since Musk's takeover of the platform late last year. "They're just trying everything... at least with a mini blogging site like Twitter, there's some expectation that it could start to make money out of much quicker timeline than the metaverse investment."

☆ UK stocks slip as investors gauge prospects of U.S. rate hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Susan Mathew | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index (.FTSE) fell 0.6%, and the mid-cap index (.FTMC) lost 0.7%, extending losses for a third straight session. Strengthening the case for hikes, data showed U.S. job openings fell less than expected in January. The FTSE 100 is up more than 6% so far this year, but is off more than 2% from all-time highs hit last month as investors try to assess the impact of rising interest. Among individual stocks, Rio Tinto (RIO.L) dropped 0.6% as the miner traded without dividend eligibility. Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonia CheemaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Palantir lands $99.6 mln deal with U.S. State Department
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 8 (Reuters) - Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR.N) has won a contract to sell up to $99.6 million worth of software to the U.S. Department of State for monitoring the health of the diplomatic corps, the company told Reuters ahead of a Wednesday announcement. The bureau has sought software to record health incidents, predict risks, manage medical-evacuation missions and handle other tasks, according to a government document. Palantir told Reuters the State Department has already paid the company $10 million as part of the purchase agreement, and it will book the remaining value over the next five years. The Denver, Colorado-headquartered company said the deal continues a pilot dating back to 2021 and other State Department work since 2017. Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Palo Alto, Calif.; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australian regulator to monitor rapid growth in digital platforms sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 8 (Reuters) - The Australian competition regulator said on Wednesday it would probe the country's fast-evolving ecosystem of digital platform service providers as part of a five-year inquiry into the sector. "Interconnected products ... can provide consumers with a seamless experience that simplifies everyday tasks, but it's important that competition and consumers are not harmed as digital platforms invest across different sectors and technologies and expand their reach," ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said. ACCC also published an issues paper, seeking feedback from consumers, businesses and relevant stakeholders concerning the investment choices made by digital platforms and the potential effect on competition and consumers. This follows the ACCC announcing in January that it had conducted a sweep to identify misleading testimonials and endorsements by social media influencers across a range of digital platforms. Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Indonesian arm hit by cyber attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 8 (Reuters) - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) said on Wednesday its Indonesian unit, PT Bank Commonwealth (PTBC), had been hit by a cyber incident. The incident involves unauthorised access of a web-based software application used for project management, the country's top lender said, adding that its Australian systems were segregated from PTBC's systems. Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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