2025-10-28 20:50

Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas producer Expand Energy (EXE.O) , opens new tab reported a profit for the third quarter on Tuesday, compared with a year-ago loss, driven by increased output and stronger commodity prices. Average U.S. natural gas prices jumped more than 26% year-on-year during the quarter, driven by strong liquefied natural gas exports and growing demand fueled by the rapid expansion of AI-focused data centers. Sign up here. Expand Energy was formed after Chesapeake Energy's acquisition of Southwestern Energy last year, creating the biggest independent natural gas producer in the U.S. The company's total production averaged 7.33 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (bcfed) during the quarter, up from 2.65 bcfed a year earlier. Average realized price of natural gas was $2.81 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), compared with $2.51 Mcf a year earlier. Expand Energy also signed a 15-year agreement with Lake Charles Methanol to be the sole supplier of natural gas to the clean-energy project, beginning 2030. Piper Sandler analyst Mark Lear said the Lake Charles supply agreement highlights Expand's geographic advantage and premium pricing opportunity. The company also expanded its footprint in the Western Haynesville and Southwest Appalachia, located in the Marcellus shale and rich in natural gas deposits, during the second half of the year by acquiring roughly 82,500 acres. Expand Energy expects net production to be 7.15 bcfed for the current year, higher than the midpoint of its previous forecast of 7 bcfed to 7.2 bcfed. It aims to produce 7.5 bcfed in 2026. The company also reduced its full-year capital investment expectations by roughly $75 million to $2.85 billion. Expand Energy reported a profit of $547 million, or $2.28 per share, for the quarter ended September 30, compared with a net loss of $114 million, or 85 cents per share, a year earlier. Its shares rose 3.3% in trading after the bell. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/natgas-producer-expand-energy-posts-profit-third-quarter-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 20:48

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Mondelez International (MDLZ.O) , opens new tab forecast a steeper decline in annual profit on Tuesday, as consumers scaled back on purchases of its pricey chocolates and snacks in North America, while higher cost of key ingredient cocoa added further pressure. Consumers in the U.S. have been seeking healthier snacking options as they turn more conscious of their protein and sugar intakes, forcing packaged food companies to rethink their portfolios. Sign up here. "Although we anticipate challenging conditions to continue in some markets, we are encouraged by recent moderation in cocoa prices, as well as promising signs for a strong cocoa crop this fall," Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put said in a statement. The company hedges against a rise in cocoa prices. The commodity saw a steep rise in costs last year due to supply disruptions in West Africa, impacting chocolate makers such as Mondelez and Hershey (HSY.N) , opens new tab. Cadbury maker Mondelez's shares were down 4% in extended trading. They have risen about 3% so far this year. The company has taken a few rounds of price hikes to counter the effect of higher cocoa prices in key markets such as Europe and the U.S. However, inflation and economic volatility have turned consumers more price conscious, weakening demand for Mondelez's products. Overall volumes fell 4.6 percentage points in the third quarter, while prices rose 8 pp. That compared with a 1.5 pp drop in volume and a 7.1 pp increase in price in the second quarter. The company expects 2025 adjusted earnings per share to decline about 15%, compared with its prior target of a 10% fall. Mondelez's quarterly net sales of $9.74 billion edged past analysts' average estimate of $9.71 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Its adjusted earnings per share of 73 cents also beat estimates by 2 cents. Mondelez also tempered its expectation for annual organic net revenue growth to 4% plus, from about 5% it forecast in July. https://www.reuters.com/business/mondelez-international-forecasts-bigger-decline-annual-profit-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 20:44

MEXICO CITY, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Grupo Carso is reviewing the feasibility of the Lakach deepwater natural gas project in collaboration with state energy company Pemex and conducting new analyses to determine how to proceed, a company official said Tuesday. The company signed an agreement last year to partner with Pemex to develop the project in the Gulf of Mexico, aiming to revive a venture that the state-owned company had twice before abandoned. Sign up here. "What is being reviewed is the feasibility in terms of cost versus benefit, because gas prices do not match the investment required," Arturo Spinola, Grupo Carso's Chief Financial Officer, said during a call on the company's third-quarter results. Pemex and companies that form part of the empire of Mexican billionaire investor Carlos Slim have been in talks over at least two of the country's most promising fields, Reuters revealed , opens new tab earlier this year. In February, Slim described the Lakach project as "complicated," noting that the depth of the resource offshore adds to the difficulty. The field, located about 90 kilometers from the port of Veracruz, holds an estimated 900 billion cubic feet of gas, according to available data. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/carlos-slims-grupo-carso-is-reviewing-feasibility-deepwater-gas-field-project-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 20:41

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed higher on Tuesday, boosted by a robust technology and material shares rally, while investors awaited pivotal central bank decisions. Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab closed up 143.92 points, or 0.48%, at 30,419.68. Sign up here. The technology sector (.SPTTTK) , opens new tab rose 1.6%, helped by gains in Celestica (CLS.TO) , opens new tab, which jumped 7.3% after raising its 2025 revenue forecast, and an 8% rise in Dye & Durham (DND.TO) , opens new tab, which late on Monday said the sale of its unit Credas is expected to close by January to help with debt reduction. The biggest winner was Cameco (CCO.TO) , opens new tab, which jumped 22.9% after the announcement that the uranium supplier Westinghouse Electric and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO) , opens new tab will build at least $80 billion of new nuclear reactors across the United States in a partnership with the U.S. government. The materials sector (.GSPTTMT) , opens new tab rose 0.8%, led by gains in Hudbay minerals (HBM.TO) , opens new tab and Discovery Silver (DSV.TO) , opens new tab. Energy shares (.SPTTEN) , opens new tab fell 1.1% decline as oil prices tumbled nearly 2%. Investors continue weighing the implications of U.S. sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies against potential OPEC+ production increases. Global investors are optimistic that U.S. President Donald Trump will strike a long-awaited trade deal with China during his Asia tour. Trump has signed a deal with Japan to mine and process critical minerals and rare earths. "There is some optimism more globally, not necessarily in Canada, that some of the trade tensions are easing," said Angelo Kourkafas, a senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones. For Canada, however, trade relations deteriorated last week when Trump announced an additional 10% tariff on Canadian imports, citing what he called a misleading tariff-related advertisement. Investors will also focus on central bank policy decisions scheduled on Wednesday, with both the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve widely expected to implement a quarter-point interest rate cut. "The focus is going to be on the trade front and the impact on the economic health within the labor market for Canada," Kourkafas said. https://www.reuters.com/business/tsx-futures-dip-commodity-prices-fall-across-board-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 20:23

Plane could help pave way for faster commercial air travel Aircraft built to break sound barrier with sonic 'thump' Designed to cruise at Mach 1.4 at altitude of 55,000 feet First test flight was subsonic, Lockheed says PALMDALE, California, Oct 28 (Reuters) - NASA's X-59 supersonic-but-quiet jet soared over the Southern California desert on Tuesday in the first test flight of an experimental aircraft designed to break the sound barrier with little noise, paving the way for faster commercial air travel. The sleek aircraft, built for NASA by aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) , opens new tab, took off about an hour after sunrise from a runway at Plant 42 of the company's Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, about 60 miles (100 km) north of Los Angeles. Sign up here. After a steep climb over sod fields just east of the runway, the plane was seen banking to the north on a trajectory toward Edwards Air Force Base, where it landed safely about an hour later near NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. It was accompanied by a NASA chase plane. The plane's unique shape is designed to greatly reduce the explosive-like sonic boom normally produced when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier, lowering the volume to a muffled "sonic thump" no louder than slamming a car door. Perfection of such low-decibel flight technology is aimed at overcoming one of the primary obstacles to supersonic commercial flight, long restricted over populated areas on land due to noise concerns, according to Lockheed. Getting the plane off the drawing board and into the air was not inexpensive. NASA has paid Lockheed more than $518 million since 2018 to develop and demonstrate X-59, according to agency contracting data. The single-engine jet - measuring just under 100 feet (30 meters) from nose to tail - flew at subsonic speeds on its first flight, as expected, reaching 230 mph (370 kph), according to Lockheed Martin. Its peak altitude during the flight was 12,000 feet (3,660 meters). About 200 aerospace workers and their families watched the takeoff from a safe distance parked along a nearby highway. "X-59 successfully completed its first flight this morning," Lockheed Martin spokesperson Candis Roussel told Reuters in a brief emailed statement, hailing it as a "significant aviation milestone." NASA's lead X-59 test pilot Nils Larson was at the controls in the single-crew cockpit for the flight, Roussel said. The X-59, a one-of-a-kind experimental aircraft, is built to reach a cruising speed of 925 mph (1,490 kph), or Mach 1.4, at an altitude of 55,000 feet (16,764 meters), more than twice as high and nearly twice as fast as conventional airliners fly, the company said. Data derived from research with the X-59 will inform development of new sound thresholds for supersonic flight over land, the company said. The supersonic Concorde aircraft began scheduled transatlantic flights with British Airways and Air France in 1976. But the plane was retired in 2003 due to high operating costs, limited seating and sluggish passenger numbers following a fatal crash in July 2000 and the September 11 attacks in 2001. In press materials posted online last month, NASA said the X-59's first flight would be a “lower-altitude loop at about 240 mph (386 kph) to check system integration, kicking off a phase of flight testing focused on verifying the aircraft’s airworthiness and safety.” During subsequent test flights, the X-59 will travel higher and faster, eventually exceeding the speed of sound - approximately 761 mph (1,225 kph) at sea level. The California Manufacturers & Technology Association earlier this month named the X-59 as 2025's "Coolest Thing Made in California" in its annual statewide technology contest. "This work sustains America's place as the leader in aviation and has the potential to change the way the public flies," U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who is also acting NASA administrator, said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/quiet-supersonic-x-59-jet-soars-over-california-unofficial-first-test-flight-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 19:54

Democratic-led states sue to block November 1 SNAP cutoff during shutdown USDA says it will not use contingency funds for food aid Lawsuit says benefit halt violates federal law, risks hunger for millions BOSTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - A coalition of Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, seeking to avert what would be a historic lapse in food aid for millions of Americans that is set to begin November 1 amid an ongoing government shutdown. The lawsuit represents a critical challenge , opens new tab to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision not to use $6 billion in contingency funds to pay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, which costs about $8 billion monthly. Sign up here. At stake is whether more than 41 million low-income Americans will receive their November benefits, which would mark the first time payments have lapsed due to a government shutdown in the program's 60-year history. "The federal government has the money to continue funding SNAP benefits — they’re choosing to harm millions of families across the country already struggling to make ends meet," Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a social media post about the lawsuit filed in Boston federal court by attorneys general and governors from 25 states and the District of Columbia. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama. She set a hearing for Thursday on whether to issue a temporary restraining order forcing the USDA to use available contingency funds for November SNAP benefits. The USDA's shutdown plan had included the potential use of contingency funds for SNAP, but on Saturday the department updated its website to say no benefits would be issued on November 1 as scheduled, stating "the well has run dry." The lawsuit argues the suspension of benefits is arbitrary and being carried out in violation of the law and regulations governing the program, which requires that “assistance under this program shall be furnished to all eligible households." The lawsuit, led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, Arizona and Minnesota, says the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 makes clear that the contingency funds should be used when necessary to carry out program operations. "Millions of Americans are about to go hungry because the federal government has chosen to withhold food assistance it is legally obligated to provide,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture in a statement said Senate Democrats are approaching an inflection point where they either "hold out for the far-left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments." SNAP benefits are available to Americans whose income is less than 130% of the federal poverty line, or $1,632 a month for a one-person household, or $2,215 for a two-person household in many areas. SNAP benefits are paid out monthly, although the exact date payments are distributed varies among states, which are responsible for the day-to-day administration of the benefits. The shutdown also threatens benefits for nearly 7 million participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/states-sue-over-trump-administration-suspending-food-benefits-during-shutdown-2025-10-28/