2025-07-22 06:54

July 22 (Reuters) - Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli (LISN.S) , opens new tab on Tuesday raised its organic sales growth forecast citing customer loyalty despite steep price hikes, with a growing taste for more premium products especially in Europe. Shoppers continued to bear the brunt of high cocoa prices as Lindt raised prices of its products by another 15.8% in the first half of 2025. Sign up here. The maker of Lindor chocolate balls said it expected organic sales growth of between 9% and 11% for the full year, after previously guiding for 7% to 9%. It posted sales of 2.35 billion Swiss francs ($2.95 billion) for the January-June period, up 11.2% organically. That beat the mean estimate of 2.30 billion from analysts polled by LSEG. Analysts have said Lindt benefits from its premium positioning and strong pricing power despite cost challenges, and its performance should be further supported as the cocoa inflation eases. London cocoa futures (.LCCc2) , opens new tab have nearly halved after reaching historic highs in 2024, but despite the sharp drop, cocoa prices remain clearly above the historical average. Growth in the first half was driven by a dynamic performance of core products such as Lindor and Lindt Excellence and product innovation including the Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate, it added. Europe showed strong organic growth of 17.7%, while North American sales grew just 3.6%, below the company's expectations, amid a weak consumer sentiment. Lindt continues to evaluate its sourcing strategy ahead of the expected imposition of new U.S. tariffs on August 1, a company spokesperson told Reuters. It produces 95% of the chocolates it sells in the U.S. at its five factories in the country, which also supply less than half of the products sold in Canada. Lindt had said in March it would supply chocolate made in Europe to Canada to avoid reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods, but later said it had not adapted the strategy yet, after several changes to tariffs placed on imports and exports from the U.S. ($1 = 0.7975 Swiss francs) https://www.reuters.com/business/lindt-lifts-outlook-shoppers-taste-chocolate-trumps-high-prices-2025-07-22/

2025-07-22 06:53

UK reaches final investment decision Canadian pension fund La Caisse takes 20% stake UK to hold 44.9% in project LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Britain gave the final go-ahead for the 38 billion pound ($51 billion) Sizewell C nuclear plant in eastern England on Tuesday after it secured investment from British and international investors including Canadian pension fund La Caisse. Under the deal the British state will be the largest shareholder in the project with a 44.9% stake, La Caisse will hold 20%, UK energy firm Centrica 15% and London-headquartered Amber Infrastructure taking an initial 7.6%, joining France's state-owned EDF which had already announced its 12.5% stake. Sign up here. Britain needs to build new nuclear plants to replace its ageing fleet, boost energy security, reach its climate targets and create new jobs. "Delivering next generation, publicly-owned clean power is vital to our energy security and growth," finance minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement. The announcement of La Caisse as the second biggest shareholder comes as a surprise after months of speculation that Canadian investor Brookfield was in pole position to invest. Sizewell will be only the second new nuclear plant built in Britain in more than two decades, after French state-owned EDF's Hinkley Point C. That has been beset by delays and cost overruns, and is not due to start operating until about 2030. First proposed in the early 2010s, Sizewell C was originally going to be developed by EDF with China General Nuclear Power Group, but the UK government bought out the Chinese firm's stake in 2022 amid security concerns. France's EDF has said it is investing around 1.1 billion pounds in Sizewell, while Centrica said in its statement it had committed to construction funding of 1.3 billion pounds. The government statement said Britain's National Wealth Fund would provide the majority of the debt finance for the project, alongside a debt guarantee from France’s export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export. ($1 = 0.7424 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/uk-greenlights-sizewell-c-nuclear-plant-after-la-caisse-investment-2025-07-22/

2025-07-22 06:51

UK borrowing in June 20.7 bln pounds Deficit pushed up by jump in inflation in April Reeves struggling to hit fiscal targets Borrowing in April-June 57.8 billion pounds Year-to-date deficit in line with official forecasts LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Britain borrowed more than expected in June as high inflation pushed up the government's debt costs, according to data that is likely to add to speculation about the need for fresh tax increases by finance minister Rachel Reeves. Public sector net borrowing totalled 20.7 billion pounds ($27.88 billion) last month, the data showed, higher than a median forecast of 16.5 billion pounds in a Reuters poll of economists, and the second highest for June on record. Sign up here. The borrowing was also higher than expected by Britain's budget watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, which forecast borrowing of 17.1 billion pounds in June when it published its outlook in March. That was before a strong inflation reading in April had the effect of pushing up inflation-linked government bond payments. Tuesday's data from the Office for National Statistics showed interest payable on central government debt was 16.4 billion pounds in June, the third highest since monthly records began in 1997. Reeves is expected to raise taxes in a budget statement towards the end of 2025 in order to remain on track to meet her targets for fixing the public finances. That job was made harder by the government dropping its plans to save money from the welfare bill due to stiff opposition from within Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party. Slow economic growth is also adding to Reeves' problems. "Recent U-turns on welfare and persistent growth headwinds could open a gap against fiscal targets, which could require further tax rises or spending cuts in the Autumn Budget," Dennis Tatarkov, senior economist at KPMG UK, said. Darren Jones, a deputy to Reeves at the Treasury, said the government remained committed to its fiscal rules, chief among them a promise to cover day-to-day spending with tax revenues by the end of the decade. Over the first three months of the fiscal year which began in April, Britain borrowed 57.8 billion pounds, 15% more than in the same period last year and the third-highest April-to-June deficit on record. However, the figure was in line with the three-month forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, offering some comfort to Reeves. The public finances have been bolstered by her increase in social security contributions paid by employers. Compulsory social contributions - mostly National Insurance Contributions - jumped by 18% in the April-to-June period to 48 billion pounds. ($1 = 0.7425 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-borrowing-climbs-inflation-adds-debt-bill-reeves-headache-2025-07-22/

2025-07-22 06:41

MADRID, July 22 (Reuters) - Spanish gas grid operator Enagas (ENAG.MC) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it booked a net profit of 176 million euros ($205.66 million) in the first half of the year after a capital loss on the sale of an asset in the U.S. plunged it in the red a year ago. Gains from a disposal and the upwards revision of the amount it was awarded in an arbitration on an investment in Peru also contributed to the swing. Sign up here. Enagas had booked a net loss of 211 million euros in the first half of 2024, dragged by a 360 million euro capital loss on the sale of an asset in the U.S. The Spanish firm is diversifying into managing a network of hydrogen infrastructure, while also targeting ammonia and CO2 capture. To this end, earlier this year it pledged to invest more than 4 billion euros by the end of the decade, with more than three quarters of that earmarked for hydrogen infrastructure. Enagas made a 41.2 million euro gain from a decision by the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to raise the amount the company was entitled in an arbitration process over an investment to build a natural gas pipeline in Peru, known as Gasoducto Sur Peruano (GSP). Gains from a disposal in Mexico generated another 5.1 million euros, it said. The company said it is on track to achieve its targets for the year. ($1 = 0.8558 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/spains-enagas-swings-first-half-net-profit-2025-07-22/

2025-07-22 06:37

BANGKOK, July 22 (Reuters) - Vitai Ratanakorn, the incoming governor of the Bank of Thailand, by his own admission, will start his new job in October at a difficult time. Growth in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy has stalled, tense negotiations with the United States over trade tariffs continue, industrial sentiment is tepid and critical sectors, including tourism and manufacturing, aren't firing. Sign up here. "We must accept that the Thai economy is not doing so well," Vitai, who has been approved by the cabinet as the next central bank chief but awaits royal endorsement, told reporters last week. "And what is worrying is the sluggishness that may be prolonged." The 54-year-old, who currently serves as president and chief executive of the Government Savings Bank, Thailand's largest state-owned lender, has a prescription: more rate cuts. The central bank late last month left the key interest rate unchanged, underlining the need to save some policy ammunition, after cuts in October, February and April. Those reductions brought the one-day repurchase rate (THCBIR=ECI) , opens new tab to 1.75%, the lowest in more than two years. "Proactive easing is important," Vitai told Thai financial daily Krungthep Turakij on June 20, when he was locked in the race for the top job with central bank insider Roong Mallikamas. "It's not just another one or two cuts. We may have to reduce them for a long time and more deeply. So, from 1.75%, if you ask me personally, I think it can go down much further." Thailand's ruling Pheu Thai party, which took power in 2023, has been at loggerheads with current Bank of Thailand chief Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput for not cutting rates enough to support a sluggish economy. In May last year, before she became prime minister, Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the central bank's independence was an "obstacle" in resolving economic problems, underlining the scale of the friction. Vitai's stance will likely tone down some of that conflict, but it has also raised questions about his own ability to lead the central bank without succumbing to pressure from the ruling party - an issue he has publicly addressed. "I am confident that I can make decisions independently, based on principles and prioritising the nation's interests, free from the influence of any groups," Vitai wrote on his Facebook page on July 8. Vitai studied economics and law at Thailand's Chulalongkorn and Thammasat universities, and finance at Drexel University in the United States, and entered the Thai private sector, where he worked at Charoen Pokphand Group and budget carrier Nok Air. A former colleague, who worked alongside Vitai at a private firm, described him as a team player who preferred to work with consensus. "He is more of a practicalist than a theorist, focusing on getting the job done," he said, asking not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to media. In 2018, Vitai was appointed the Secretary-General of the Government Pension Fund, which manages assets worth about 1.4 trillion baht ($43 billion), and two years later became the head of the Government Savings Bank. Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, a former Thai finance minister, said Vitai's long experience as a government banker should help him manage relationships with senior finance ministry leadership. "However, his lack of work experience and zero exposure to high level macro public policy is a cause for concern," Thirachai told Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailands-next-central-bank-chief-champions-rate-cuts-revive-growth-2025-07-22/

2025-07-22 06:23

HONG KONG, July 22 (Reuters) - Heavy rain in China's eastern province of Shandong killed two people and left 10 people missing after half a year's worth of rain fell in five hours, drenching the Laiwu district in the city of Jinan, the local government reported on Tuesday. The area saw maximum precipitation of 364 millimeters (14.3 inches) that fell from midnight on Tuesday till 5am local time, half of Jinan's average yearly precipitation of 733 millimeters (28.9 inches). Sign up here. Flash floods occurred near Jinan's mountainous villages of Shiwuzi and Zhujiayu, washing away or damaging 19 houses. Rescue efforts are underway and all efforts were being deployed to rescue missing people, authorities said. The deluge is part of a broader pattern of extreme weather across the country due to the East Asia monsoon which has caused disruptions in the world's second largest economy. Southern regions have also been inundated with heavy rain after Typhoon Wipha pounded Hong Kong on Sunday. Extreme rainfall and severe flooding, which meteorologists link to climate change, increasingly pose major challenges as they threaten to overwhelm ageing flood defences, displace millions and wreak havoc on a $2.8 trillion agricultural sector. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/two-dead-10-missing-after-colossal-rain-chinas-shandong-2025-07-22/