2024-09-05 12:13

Sept 5 (Reuters) - JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) , opens new tab raised its third-quarter revenue forecast on Thursday, citing improved operational performance and strong summer travel demand, sending its shares nearly 7% higher in premarket trading. The airline said the improved outlook was due to stronger bookings in Latin America, one of its major markets, and on gains from previously announced cost cuts and cancelling routes that were less profitable. Bookings from travelers, who were affected by the global cyber outage in July that forced multiple airlines to halt flights, also helped, the airline added. JetBlue was not one of the primary carriers affected by that outage, which stranded thousands of passengers across the nation. The carrier now expects revenue in the range of a 2.5% decline to 1% growth year-on-year in the July-September quarter. The company had earlier forecast revenue to drop somewhere between 1.5% to 5.5% for the quarter. Since the termination of its proposed $3.8 billion merger with ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines (SAVE.N) , opens new tab in March, Jetblue has taken several measures to improve its financial performance. It deferred deliveries of 44 new jets from Airbus (AIR.PA) , opens new tab, reducing planned capital expenditures by about $3 billion between 2025 and 2029. The company also decided to exit some routes that were not living up to its financial expectations. JetBlue now expects current quarter unit costs excluding fuel to grow between 5% and 7%, compared with a previous forecast for a 6%-8% rise. The airline also expects fuel costs to fall as jet fuel prices moderated in the quarter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/jetblue-boosts-third-quarter-revenue-forecast-strong-summer-demand-2024-09-05/

2024-09-05 12:08

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Global physically backed gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) saw the fourth consecutive month of inflows in August due to additions to holdings by North America- and Europe-listed funds, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday. Gold ETFs, storing bullion for investors, are a major category of investment demand for the precious metal , which touched a record high of $2,531.60 per ounce on Aug. 20 amid bets on upcoming U.S. interest rate cuts. However, gold ETFs had three consecutive years of outflows amid high global interest rates, and the latest four months of inflows only managed to trim the year-to-date losses to a net outflow of 44 metric tons. Gold ETFs saw the inflow of 28.5 tons, or $2.1 billion, in August, bringing their collective holdings to 3,182 tons, the WGC, an industry body grouping global gold miners, said in a research note. A stronger gold price and recent inflows pushed the total assets under management to a month-end peak of $257.3 billion in August. The WGC estimates that global gold trading volumes fell in August by 3.2% month-on-month to $241 billion a day due to lower exchange-traded activity on COMEX, however average trading volumes in the opaque over-the-counter (OTC) market rose by 5.9% to $158 billion. With the gold price up 21% so far this year and rising expectations of the U.S. rate cuts, speculators increased their total net long position on COMEX by 17% from July to 917 tons by the end of August, the highest level since February 2020. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/global-gold-etfs-saw-fourth-month-inflows-august-says-wgc-2024-09-05/

2024-09-05 12:01

KYIV, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine and U.N. nuclear agency IAEA have agreed that the agency's experts will monitor the situation at key Ukrainian substations in addition to nuclear plants, Ukraine's chief nuclear inspector said on Thursday. More than half of the electricity consumed in the country is generated at three nuclear power plants, but Russian missile and drone attacks on substations threaten the stable operation of nuclear power plants, Oleh Korikov told a televised briefing. "It was agreed that IAEA would expand its functionality, its presence in Ukraine, and that electrical substations, which are important for the safety of nuclear power plants, would also be subject to international monitoring," Korikov said. The first visit of the monitoring mission to one of the substations would take place next week, he added. Ukrainian authorities hope inspectors' presence will prevent attacks on substations. Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, is in Ukraine now and visited Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was seized by Russian forces soon after Russia's February 2022 invasion. Moscow and Kyiv have regularly accused each other of attacking the plant and risking a nuclear accident. Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been subjected to increased Russian missile and drone attacks in recent months and officials have said the country has lost about half of its generating capacity and now relies mainly on nuclear energy. Moscow, which denies targeting civilians, says damaging Ukraine’s energy system is a legitimate military goal. NUCLEAR POWER UNITS DISCONNECTED The Ukrainian mission to the IAEA said last week that a Russian drone and missile attack in late August forced Ukraine to disconnect several nuclear power units from the grid, posing a risk to the nuclear power sector. It said the attack was intended to paralyse the operation of power facilities. "Russia, while not directly striking nuclear power plants, is threatening their safe operation through attacks on energy infrastructure facilities," Korikov said. As a result of Aug. 26's attack, three out of four power units at the Rivne nuclear power plant in western Ukraine were disconnected from the grid, as was power unit 3 of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant. Ukrainian nuclear power firm Energoatom this week said the capacity was reduced at one unit of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant after Russian attacks damaged the country's Ukrenergo electricity transmission system. It said the output was reduced after "hostile shelling of Ukrenergo's infrastructure" and "significant fluctuations in the parameters of the grid". Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/un-nuclear-agency-will-supervise-ukraines-key-power-substations-kyiv-says-2024-09-05/

2024-09-05 11:56

STOCKHOLM, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The negative impact on maritime shipping and global supply chains from attacks in the Red Sea continues to intensify as traffic is rerouted away from the Suez Canal, Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) , opens new tab said on Thursday. Attacks in the Red Sea by Iran-aligned Houthi militants have disrupted a route vital to east-west trade, with prolonged rerouting of shipments, pushing freight rates higher and causing congestion in Asian and European ports. Maersk said recent data showed that the number of ships crossing through the canal has fallen 66% since carriers began diverting their vessels around Africa. Maersk did not elaborate on the data. "These disruptions have led to service reconfigurations and volume shifts, straining infrastructure and resulting in port congestion, delays, and shortages in capacity and equipment," it added. Maersk in July said disruption to its container shipping via the Red Sea had extended beyond trade routes between the Far East and Europe to its entire global network, and warned of a "cascading impact" causing congestion. "The timeline for easing these disruptions and returning to 'normal' remains uncertain," it said on Thursday. It added that demand for container shipping remains robust. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/maersk-says-impact-red-sea-situation-continues-intensify-2024-09-05/

2024-09-05 11:52

DUBAI, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Oil tanker Kriti Samaria has been approved for entry into Libya's Zueitina port on Thursday evening or Friday to load 600,000 barrels of crude oil and will head to Italy, engineers told Reuters. Libyan crude exports have been halted for more than a week amid a political showdown over control of the central bank which controls the country's oil revenue. The tanker will be permitted to load oil from storage, the engineers said, without providing further detail. Libya's two legislative chambers said on Tuesday they had agreed a mechanism for resolving the dispute over control of the central bank. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/oil-tanker-approved-entry-into-libyas-zueitina-port-engineers-say-2024-09-05/

2024-09-05 11:25

Sept 5 (Reuters) - Canada's First Majestic (AG.TO) , opens new tab has agreed to buy Gatos Silver (GATO.N) , opens new tab for $970 million in an all-stock deal, the miners said on Thursday, against the backdrop of surging prices of the metal. Gatos has a 70% interest in a joint venture with Japan's Dowa Metals & Mining (5714.T) , opens new tab for the Cerro Los Gatos underground silver mine in Mexico. "Mexico is a country that First Majestic has operated in for over 20 years," CEO Keith Neumeyer said in a statement. Gatos shareholders will receive 2.550 common shares of First Majestic, or $13.49, for each share they own. Shares of Gatos rose 7.5% to $12.49 in premarket trading, while U.S.-listed shares of First Majestic fell 5.1% to $5.02. Silver prices have climbed nearly 21% this year, tracking gold prices, but also from strong demand from a variety of industries such as solar panels and electronics. Electrum Group, which owns roughly 32% of Gatos' common shares, has voted in favor of the transaction, which is expected to close in early 2025. Combined annual production from all the mines is estimated to be 30-32 million ounces of silver-equivalent ore, including 15-16 million ounces of silver. Costs of mining could edge up to $18-$20 per silver-equivalent ounce, from the roughly $15 reported by First Majestic in its second quarter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/canadas-first-majestic-buy-gatos-silver-970-mln-2024-09-05/