2025-09-19 00:53

Zijin Gold to offer shares in IPO at HK$71.59 apiece Cornerstone investors have subscribed to about half of shares Company's IPO in Hong Kong comes as gold price gains Zijin Gold will list on Hong Kong bourse on September 29 Sept 19 (Reuters) - China's Zijin Gold International, keen to make the most of bullish sentiment for the precious metal, is aiming to raise $3.2 billion in a Hong Kong IPO that is set to be the city's largest in four years. Adding to a strong recovery for Hong Kong's equity capital market, the offering could garner as much as HK$28.7 billion ($3.7 billion) at a valuation of $24.6 billion if an overallotment of shares is fully exercised. Sign up here. Gold, which tends to perform well during periods of uncertainty and in low-interest rate environments, has gained nearly 39% so far this year. "A $24 billion market cap for Zijin Gold is reasonable," said David Blennerhassett, a strategist of Ballingal Investment Advisors, who publishes on SmartKarma, in a Friday research note. "This is a total bull market for gold plays. Momentum is strong. You have long-only support," he said. Zijin Gold, a wholly owned unit of China's Zijin Mining (601899.SS) , opens new tab that operates all of the group's gold mines outside China, is selling 349 million shares at HK$71.59 apiece, its prospectus showed on Friday. Trading is set to commence September 29. It would be the largest IPO in Hong Kong since JD Logistics' (2618.HK) , opens new tab May 2021 float which raised $3.6 billion, Dealogic data showed. If the overallotment is exercised it would be the largest since Kuaishou Technology (1024.HK) , opens new tab raised $6.2 billion in January 2021. Its offering follows one from automaker Chery this week that aims to raise up to $1.2 billion. Hong Kong has seen total funds raised from new listings reach $18.5 billion so far this year, exceeding 2024's full-year figure of $11.3 billion, Dealogic data showed. Booming demand for Chinese AI and tech stocks has seen a raft of Chinese companies listed in the mainland also sell shares in Hong Kong. Zijin Gold said in the prospectus that it is planning to use the proceeds over the next five years to upgrade existing mines. It added that it expects global gold demand to grow steadily at a compound annual growth rate of 3.2% from 2024 to 2030. Cornerstone investors have subscribed to about $1.6 billion worth of shares, according to the prospectus. Singapore wealth fund GIC (GIC.UL) and private equity firm Hillhouse will each buy $150 million worth of shares while asset managers BlackRock (BLK.N) , opens new tab and Schroders (SDR.L) , opens new tab will each take $120 million worth. A wholly owned unit of industry peer Zhaojin Mining (1818.HK) , opens new tab has also subscribed to $30 million worth of shares. Morgan Stanley and CITIC Securities are the joint sponsors of the offering. Zijin Mining's shares in Shenzhen rose 0.8% while its shares in Hong Kong rose 0.5% in Friday afternoon trade. ($1 = 7.7771 Hong Kong dollars) https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/zijin-gold-launches-32-billion-hong-kong-ipo-2025-09-18/

2025-09-18 23:20

LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Britons became more gloomy this month and the prospect of tax increases in finance minister Rachel Reeves' budget in November threatens to damage confidence levels further, a survey showed on Friday. Market research firm GfK said its consumer confidence index sank to -19 in September from -17 in August which had been its highest since December, and slightly below the -18 forecast in a Reuters poll. Sign up here. Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, said all five measures of confidence dipped this month and a separate gauge of savings intention fell sharply. An index measuring sentiment about the economic outlook now stands at -32, way down from -11 in June last year, shortly before Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party won a parliamentary election. "With tax rises expected in the November budget, the risk is that confidence inevitably falls," Bellamy said. Reeves is expected to raise taxes in her annual fiscal statement on November 26 in order to remain on course to meet her budget targets, having ordered employers to pay higher social security contributions in October last year. The GfK survey was based on a poll of 2,003 individuals conducted between September 1 and September 11. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-consumers-turn-more-wary-economic-worries-mount-gfk-says-2025-09-18/

2025-09-18 23:19

LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - British finance minister Rachel Reeves risks "a major fiscal issue" if she misses her ambitious plans to make public services more efficient, a think tank warned on Friday, underscoring yet another challenge for Reeves ahead of her November budget. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimated that Reeves' spending plans implied average productivity growth in the public sector of 1.0% a year between now and the 2028/29 tax year. Sign up here. That compares with historical averages of 0.7% per year between 2009 and 2019 and just 0.2% per year between 1997 and 2019, the non-partisan IFS said. The economy's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and possible efficiency gains from artificial intelligence offered some grounds for optimism, it said. "But it is very possible that productivity targets will be missed," the IFS said in a report published on Friday. "This would be a major fiscal issue since these plans underpin the departmental budgets set out at the June Spending Review." Failure to meet the efficiency targets would add to demands on public spending at a time when Reeves is struggling to meet her targets for improving the public finances. She is widely expected to increase taxes for the second time in just over a year when she announces her annual budget on November 26. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-reeves-faces-major-fiscal-issue-if-she-misses-efficiency-target-ifs-says-2025-09-18/

2025-09-18 22:43

Sept 18 (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday that he believes he has the votes to pass a stopgap funding bill on Friday that would avert a government shutdown. House Republicans hope to pass the stopgap, known as a continuing resolution or "CR," on Friday and send it on to the Senate, which would also need to approve the measure before Republican President Donald Trump could sign it into law. Sign up here. "I believe we have the votes to do it," Johnson said during an interview on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier." "We'll do the right thing: keep the government open," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-speaker-tells-fox-news-he-believes-he-has-votes-pass-funding-bill-2025-09-18/

2025-09-18 22:32

Sept 18 (Reuters) - Homebuilder Lennar (LEN.N) , opens new tab reported a 46% decline in third-quarter profit and forecast fourth-quarter home deliveries below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as inflationary pressures continued to weigh on housing demand. Shares of Lennar fell 4.4% in after-hours trading. Sign up here. Elevated interest rates and affordability challenges have pressured U.S. homebuilders' profitability in recent quarters. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday despite a rate cut, reversing losses seen in June. Lower yields could have eased mortgage rates, potentially improving affordability. Analysts at BofA Securities said on Thursday that the Fed's rate cut is unlikely to significantly impact the housing market in the short term, as homebuilder stocks and mortgage rates had already priced in the move following June's announcement. Lennar's profit margins remain under pressure due to sales incentives such as mortgage rate buydowns and cost adjustments amid weakening home demand. The company does not expect to be impacted by tariffs and will focus on improving margins, Lennar Co-CEO and Chairman Stuart Miller told CNBC. The second-largest U.S. homebuilder by sales expects fourth-quarter home deliveries in the range of 22,000 to 23,000 units, below analysts' estimates of over 25,000 units, according to data compiled by LSEG. Lennar reported earnings of $2.29 per share for the third quarter, compared with $4.26 per share a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter ended August 31 fell 8.7% to $8.25 billion, below analysts' estimates of $9 billion. https://www.reuters.com/business/lennar-reports-lower-quarterly-profit-affordability-pressures-weigh-home-buyers-2025-09-18/

2025-09-18 21:46

Sept 18 (Reuters) - The owners of Revolution Wind said the Trump administration's reasons for stopping work on its Rhode Island offshore wind farm were "factually incorrect" and only disclosed after it had ordered a halt to the project, according to court documents filed on Thursday. The filing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is part of a lawsuit brought earlier this month by joint venture partners Orsted (ORSTED.CO) , opens new tab and Skyborn Renewables challenging a stop-work order issued to Revolution Wind by the Department of the Interior in August. Sign up here. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized wind energy as ugly, unreliable, and expensive, and his administration is leaning on multiple federal agencies to rein in wind development. Revolution Wind is seeking a preliminary injunction to restart work on the project. A hearing is scheduled for next week. The August stop-work order from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the project was being halted due to unspecified national security concerns. But in a reply to Revolution Wind's complaint last week, the administration for the first time publicly offered more detail on its reasoning, saying the project had failed to comply with some conditions of its permit. Those conditions include requirements to coordinate with Navy vessels at sea during construction and mitigate risks to military operations from fiber sensing and acoustic monitoring equipment used by the project. The Trump administration also alleged that the project has failed to outline efforts to mitigate its impact on scientific surveys conducted by government scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Revolution Wind said it has coordinated with the Navy and NOAA, adding that the administration's filing "belatedly asserts - for the first time - purported failures that were not mentioned in the Stop Work Order or identified to Revolution Wind until they were newly advanced in this litigation, and each of which is factually incorrect." Revolution Wind is 80% complete with all offshore foundations in place and 45 out of 65 wind turbines installed, according to Orsted. The project was scheduled to be completed next year, and was expected to produce enough electricity to power 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-justification-rhode-island-offshore-wind-project-halt-is-wrong-developer-says-2025-09-18/