2024-08-26 23:59

BHP reports full-year underlying profit of $13.66 bln Beats analyst consensus of $13.26 bln Miner focuses on South Australia, Argentina copper provinces MELBOURNE, Aug 27 (Reuters) - BHP Group (BHP.AX) , opens new tab reported a better-than-expected 2% rise in annual underlying profit on Tuesday after a strong performance at its iron ore and copper businesses and said it was comfortable with raising its debt levels to fund growth. The world's biggest listed miner is pushing hard to expand in copper given the commodity's outsize role in the energy transition and a tougher outlook for its top revenue generator, iron ore as China's economic growth slows. BHP walked away from a blockbuster $49 billion bid to take over Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab in May that would have significantly boosted its copper business and is now turning to other options. BHP unveiled more details around its spending and growth plans for two key copper provinces, in Argentina and in South Australia after it posted an underlying attributable profit for the year ended June 30 of $13.66 billion. That beat a Visible Alpha consensus of $13.26 billion and was ahead of the $13.42 billion profit , opens new tab a year ago. Andy Foster, a portfolio manager at Argo Investments, said BHP's results showed its cash flow was pretty strong and its balance sheet was in good shape. "They have clearly laid out capex and growth expectations for copper where they are still looking at copper as a key commodity, clearly," he said. "It's just been so hard to execute large-scale acquisitions so you have to make the most of your existing assets and then look at other opportunities." BHP said July said it would jointly take over developer Filo Corp (FIL.TO) , opens new tab for its copper growth projects near the Argentine-Chilean border, paying C$4.5 billion ($3.25 billion) with Canada's Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) , opens new tab. UK regulations bar BHP from making another offer for Anglo until November, should it still have interest in doing so. BHP said it was keeping its balance sheet flexible. "We are comfortable to move above our net debt target temporarily to execute value accretive opportunities in the portfolio," BHP said. Its net debt stood at $9.1 billion as of June 30, roughly at the midpoint of its target range of $5 billion and $15 billion. The miner said it would lift its capital and exploration spending to about $10 billion in the current 2025 financial year and an average $11 billion a year in the medium term from the 2026 financial year, up from $9.3 billion last year. BHP's profit was underpinned by record iron ore output for a second year and resilient prices, which offset weak coal prices and the sale of two of its coal mines. BHP declared a dividend of $0.74 per share, below the prior year's $0.80 a share, for a full-year dividend of $1.46 per share. That was its lowest full-year dividend since the 2020 financial year but still among the top four it has declared in its history. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/bhps-annual-profit-rises-2-iron-ore-copper-growth-2024-08-26/

2024-08-26 23:57

Canada to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese-made EVs Canada also announces 25% tariff on Chinese steel PM Trudeau says more punitive measures possible Tesla shares closed down over 3% Announcement follows similar move from United States OTTAWA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Canada, following the lead of the United States and European Union, said on Monday it would impose a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles and announced a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum from China. The duties apply to all EVs shipped from China, which would include those made by Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab, a Canadian government official said. Shares of the most valuable global automaker closed down 3.2%. Canadian imports of automobiles from China to its largest port, Vancouver, jumped 460% year over year to 44,356 in 2023, when Tesla started shipping Shanghai-made EVs to Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa was acting to counter what he called China's intentional, state-directed policy of over-capacity. "I think we all know that China is not playing by the same rules," he told reporters. The tariffs will be imposed starting Oct. 1. "What is important about this is we're doing it in alignment and in parallel with other economies around the world," Trudeau said on the sidelines of a three-day closed-door cabinet meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 'PROTECTIONISM' A spokesperson for China's Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday that Canada's move "will disrupt the stability of global industrial and supply chains," and seriously undermine the global economic system and economic and trade rules. "The Canadian side claims to support free trade and the multilateral trading system based on World Trade Organization(WTO) rules, but it flagrantly violates WTO rules, blindly follows individual countries, and announces that it will adopt unilateral tariff measures, which is typical trade protectionism," the spokesperson said in a statement. The action also seriously impacts China-Canada economic and trade relations, and damages the interests of enterprises of the two countries, the spokesperson added. China is Canada's second-largest trading partner, although it trails far behind the United States. Tesla does not disclose its Chinese exports to Canada. However, vehicle identification codes showed that the Model 3 compact sedan and Model Y crossover models were being exported from Shanghai to Canada. "It is a 100% surtax on all Chinese-made EVs. If companies currently making vehicles in China choose to move their production to a different country, they would no longer be captured by this tariff," the government official said. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. US IMPORTS AN ALTERNATIVE "In response to the tariffs, I would expect Tesla would shift its logistics and potentially export autos to Canada from the U.S.," said Seth Goldstein, equity strategist at Morningstar. "The market is likely reacting to the tariffs and weighing a potential profit impact if Tesla has to export vehicles to Canada from its higher-cost production base in the U.S.," Goldstein said referring to the drop in shares. The EU softened its stance on Tesla this month when it imposed tariffs on Chinese-imported EVs and imposed a rate of 9% for Tesla, lower than the up to 36.3% it had imposed on other Chinese EV imports. FURTHER MEASURES Ottawa will continue to work with the United States and other allies to ensure that customers around the world are not unfairly penalized by non-market practices of countries such as China, Trudeau said. Ottawa is looking at further punitive measures such as tariffs on chips and solar cells, Trudeau said, without giving details. China's top imports from Canada last year consisted of around $4 billion worth of petroleum, $3.5 billion of rapeseed, and just over $2 billion in iron ore, in addition to almost $14 billion of non-monetary gold, Chinese customs data shows. The world's largest agriculture importer also bought in sizeable quantities of numerous other crops and commodities, giving Beijing options were it to retaliate, as it has done with the EU. Canada is not among the top 10 export destinations for Chinese steel and aluminium. U.S. President Joe Biden in May announced a quadrupling of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to 100%, a doubling of duties on semiconductors and solar cells to 50%, as well as new 25% tariffs on lithium-ion batteries and other strategic goods including steel, to shield firms from Chinese excess production. Ottawa is trying to position Canada as a critical part of the global EV supply chain and had come under pressure from domestic industry to act against China. Canada has inked deals worth billions of dollars to attract top European automakers in all parts of the EV supply chain. "We feel vindicated and motivated. Let's now get to the business of defending our market with the best of Canadian innovation and resolve," Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, said via email. Implementation of the U.S. tariffs has been delayed until September and there is a possibility that planned duties might be softened this week. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/trudeau-says-canada-impose-100-tariff-chinese-evs-2024-08-26/

2024-08-26 23:35

PDD Holdings slumps after quarterly revenue miss Oil shares up on supply disruption fears, Middle East tensions Boeing slips as NASA picks SpaceX over Starliner S&P 500 -0.32%, Nasdaq -0.85%, Dow +0.16% Aug 26 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 finished lower on Monday, with AI heavyweight Nvidia dipping ahead of its quarterly report this week, while investors awaited inflation data for clues about the path of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also declined, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average was supported by gains of about 1% each in Caterpillar (CAT.N) , opens new tab and American Express (AXP.N) , opens new tab and finished just slightly up. Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab dropped 2.25% ahead of its report on Wednesday in what is set to be the U.S. stock market's most closely watched event of the week. Some investors worried that anything short of a stellar forecast from Nvidia could shatter Wall Street's rally in AI-related companies, including Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab, Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab and Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab. "Nvidia could disappoint. I think when you get to the point where the majority doesn't even suspect that there could be a piece of bad news, that's typically where you get it," warned Jake Dollarhide, chief executive of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. U.S.-listed shares of PDD Holdings (PDD.O) , opens new tab tumbled almost 29% after the Temu-owner missed market expectations for second-quarter revenue. Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab lost 3.2% after Canada, following the lead of the U.S. and European Union, said it would impose a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles. The S&P 500 declined 0.32% to end the session at 5,616.84 points. The Nasdaq declined 0.85% to 17,725.77 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.16% to 41,240.52 points. Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, six declined, led lower by information technology (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab, down 1.12%, followed by a 0.81% loss in consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) , opens new tab. The energy sector index (.SPNY) , opens new tab jumped 1.11% following reports of oil supply disruptions amid the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East lifted crude prices. Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab slipped 0.85% after NASA picked SpaceX over the planemaker's Starliner to return its astronauts from space next year. Wall Street rallied on Friday, with the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab nearing record highs after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said "the time has come" to lower borrowing costs in the light of a diminishing upside risk to inflation and moderating labor demand. Money markets suggest traders see a 70% chance of a 25 basis point interest rate cut and a 30% chance of a 50 basis point cut in September, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. Friday's highly anticipated Personal Consumption Expenditure data for July, the central bank's preferred inflation gauge, could provide more insight into the policy easing trajectory. Results from Dell (DELL.N) , opens new tab, Salesforce (CRM.N) , opens new tab, Dollar General (DG.N) , opens new tab and Gap (GAP.N) , opens new tab are on tap this week. Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) , opens new tab by a 1.1-to-one ratio. Across the U.S. stock market (.AD.US) , opens new tab, declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by a 1.2-to-one ratio. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 9.5 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 11.9 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-up-september-rate-cut-hopes-nvidia-results-view-2024-08-26/

2024-08-26 23:20

BRASILIA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Four men have been arrested on suspicion of setting fires that have destroyed thousands of hectares of sugarcane plantations in Brazil's northern Sao Paulo state, the government said on Monday. The fires spread rapidly into the weekend through parched fields at the peak of the country's dry season in a region that has not had rain for months. Clouds of smoke cloaked nearby cities where outdoor activities were restricted, and highways and airport operations disrupted due to low visibility. "We had an explosive combination of three factors: high temperature, very strong winds and very low relative humidity in the last few days. So, anything could cause an ignition," Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas said at a press conference. He said three suspects were arrested in the region with containers of gasoline to start fires and a fourth man was arrested on Monday when he was caught setting fire to grass. Federal police are investigating the fires for suspected arson. Dry weather has increased the frequency of wildfires across Brazil this year, including in the Amazon region. Environmental experts said higher temperatures brought by climate change and widespread deforestation have contributed to the doubling of the number of fires this season. In the Xingu Park, Chief Megaron Txucarramae called for help to control a fire raging in Brazil's most famous Indigenous reservation. "Help! Send firefighters and planes that throw water," he pleaded on television. Sao Paulo's governor said there were no new fires burning in the sugarcane fields but dozens of towns were still on high alert for more blazes. In Ribeirao Preto, a city in the most affected region in the west of Sao Paulo state, school classes were canceled on Monday due to the smoke-filled atmosphere. Freitas estimated the damage to farm crops from the fires at more than 1 billion reais ($182 million). Sao Paulo is the largest sugar-producing state in Brazil, the world's top producer and exporter of the sweetener. Brazil's largest sugar group Raizen SA (RAIZ4.SA) , opens new tab said it resumed operations at its Santa Elisa mill on Sunday. The plant had to be evacuated on Thursday due to the proximity of fires. ($1 = 5.4968 reais) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/three-arson-suspects-arrested-setting-fires-brazil-farmland-2024-08-26/

2024-08-26 23:02

WARSAW, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Estonian renewable energy producer Sunly has raised 300 million euros ($334.71 million) in debt financing to accelerate the construction of 1.3 gigawatts of solar, wind and storage capacity across the Baltics and Poland, the company said in a statement. The financing provided by Rivage Investment, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Norway's Kommunal Landspensjonskasse takes the total capital raised to 765 million euros, it said on Tuesday. Sunly wants to develop hybrid installations combining wind, solar and energy storage and a direct line to consumers, improving the stability of supply for industrial clients and boosting energy security. The power grids of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania plan to decouple from the Russian and Belarusian grid in February to increase the region's energy independence and security. The first projects to benefit from the funding will be the 244 megawatt (MW) Risti solar farm in Estonia and four solar projects in Latvia with a combined capacity of 553 MW, Sunly said. Separately, Norway's sovereign wealth fund said on Monday it would commit 900 million euros ($1.01 billion) to CIP's latest renewable energy fund. ($1 = 0.8963 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/sunly-raises-300-mln-euros-renewable-projects-baltics-poland-2024-08-26/

2024-08-26 22:18

GEORGETOWN, Aug 26 (Reuters) - An Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab consortium's crude output in Guyana has been fully restored at two floating production facilities after workers completed a natural gas pipeline tie-in, a company spokesperson said on Monday. Output had fallen to between 400,000 and 500,000 barrels per day from July 2 through the end of the month, government data showed, a sign that planned work on the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facilities had begun. Oil production was at 669,000 barrels per day as of June 30, the official data showed. "We safely executed shutdowns of the Liza Unity and Destiny FPSOs to facilitate pipeline tie-ins for the gas-to-energy project," the spokesperson said by email. "Both FPSOs are back online at full production levels." Exxon said earlier this year it would shut two offshore oil production vessels in Guyana for two weeks each between July and August to connect a natural gas pipeline that would feed planned onshore power plant and gas-processing facilities. Oil output at one of Exxon's FPSOs was halted from July 2-15, while the second FPSO suspended operations on July 19-31. The consortium's third facility was unaffected, the data showed. The associated production volumes were deferred, not lost, Exxon said. The Exxon-led consortium, which includes Hess (HES.N) , opens new tab and CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK) , opens new tab, is responsible for all production in the South American nation. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exxon-consortiums-guyana-oil-output-drops-some-450000-bpd-gov-data-says-2024-08-26/