Faurecia Eyes Rising Profitability This Year; Agrees Deal to Sell Assembly Business
Faurecia SE on Monday backed its financial targets for the coming years, as sales rose above expectations in 2022.
The French auto supplier's sales rose 17% at constant currency and scope to 25.46 billion euros ($27.23 billion) for the year, beating analysts' expectations for EUR25.07 billion, according to a poll compiled by FactSet. This includes eleven months of sales from newly acquired business Hella, the company said.
Anglo American Platinum 2022 Revenue, Earnings Fell Amid Supply-Chain Disruptions
Anglo American Platinum Ltd. said Monday that revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell in 2022 as the operating environment was affected by macro-economic challenges and supply chain disruptions.
The South African precious metals company, which is majority owned by Anglo American PLC, said that revenue for the year was 164.1 billion South African rand ($9.09 billion) compared with ZAR214.6 billion a year prior.
Pernod Ricard launches $320 million share buyback
Pernod Ricard SA will begin a share buyback worth up to 300 million euros ($320.9 million) Monday, part of a EUR750 million program for the fiscal year.
The French distiller FR:RI will buy back the share over a period extending to April 6 at the latest. The price paid per share will be a maximum of EUR320, Pernod Ricard said.
GLOBAL NEWS
Chinese Shares Lead Gains as U.S. Breaks for Presidents Day
Stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong rose Monday, giving a strong start to global equities on a day when U.S. markets are shut for a public holiday.
China's broad CSI 300 index closed up 2.5%, its biggest single-day rise this year. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.1%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.8%.
China's Benchmark Lending Rates Kept Unchanged
China's benchmark lending rates were kept unchanged, the country's central bank said Monday, as the world's second-largest economy showed more signs of recovery from its Covid reopening.
The one-year loan price rate remained unchanged at 3.65% and the five-year LPR was steady at 4.3%, said the People's Bank of China.
Investors Worry Too-Hot Economy Will Put Fed on More Aggressive Rate Path
The U.S. economy doesn't look anywhere close to a recession.
Investors are starting to worry that may ultimately be bad news for markets.
Will recession slam the stock market? Here are 3 'landing' scenarios as Fed keeps up the inflation fight.
You don't have to be an economist to run the Federal Reserve. But a pilot's license might come in handy.
After all, aeronautical terms are regularly thrown around by investors, economists and even policy makers as they discuss whether the Fed can bring down inflation without dropping the U.S. economy into a recession.
It's Hard to Play the Market With Bed Bath & Beyond. These Meme Stock Investors Are Trying.
Hordes of rookie traders kicked off 2023 by piling into Bed Bath & Beyond stock. They are paying the price now.
Going Private Again Is All the Rage Among Newly Public Companies
A growing number of newly public companies are racing back to private ownership after discovering that an IPO isn't always all it's cracked up to be.
Of the hundreds of companies that went public in the boom years of 2020 and 2021, 10 have already agreed to sell themselves to private-equity firms, according to Dealogic. Of those that went public in 2018 or 2019, only eight have gone private in the ensuing years.
More Auto Payments Are Late, Exposing Cracks in Consumer Credit
The U.S. economy is on a steady footing and the unemployment rate is superlow. Yet a rising number of Americans are falling behind on their car payments.
Some 9.3% of auto loans extended to people with low credit scores were 30 or more days behind on payments at the end of last year, the highest share since 2010, according to an analysis by Moody's Analytics.
Venture Fundraising Hits Nine-Year Low
Fundraising by venture-capital firms hit a nine-year low in the fourth quarter, as the macroeconomic pressures that already weighed on technology startups began to affect the investors who underpin the industry.
Venture firms raised $20.6 billion in new funds in the fourth quarter. That was a 65% drop from the year-earlier quarter and the lowest fourth-quarter amount since 2013, according to data firm Preqin Ltd., which tracks venture-fund data. The amount was also less than half the level raised in the preceding three months, the first time fundraising volumes decreased from the third to fourth quarter since 2009, the data show.
Workers' Pay Globally Hasn't Kept Up With Inflation
Wage growth across advanced economies is plateauing or declining from high levels. For central banks, it is good news: There are no signs of a spiral in which wages push up prices, which push up wages again. That makes it more likely inflation could decline without a significant increase in unemployment.
For workers, though, it is less positive. Wages rose faster last year than in the previous two years, but not as much as prices across major advanced economies, according to projections by the International Labour Organization. Workers' purchasing power-their average inflation-adjusted wage-was lower last year than in 2019, before the pandemic, according to the report. So despite strong demand for workers and ultralow unemployment, labor's share of economic output shrank in many advanced economies.
President Biden Visits Ukraine for First Time Since Russia's Invasion
KYIV-President Biden made an unannounced visit to Ukraine Monday and met with the nation's leader President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital city of Kyiv just ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In joint remarks with Mr. Zelensky in Mariinsky Palace, he reflected on the resilience of the Ukrainian resistance as the war enters its second year, noting how the international community initially feared Kyiv would fall in the face of Russia's invasion on Feb. 24 last year.
U.S. Warns China Against Supplying Arms to Russia in Ukraine War
U.S. officials are warning China against supplying Russia with arms and ammunition, as Moscow struggles to gain ground in Ukraine despite deploying almost the entirety of its ground forces in its smaller neighbor.
Concerns that China was considering providing lethal assistance to Russia first surfaced in meetings between officials late last year and early this year, officials said. U.S. officials put their Chinese counterparts on notice in videoconferences and at in-person meetings that China is "nearing a red line" in assisting Russia's war, the officials said.
Blinken, China's Top Diplomat Hold First Meeting Since Balloon Incident
MUNICH-Senior officials from the U.S. and China traded accusations over the downed Chinese balloon in a tense atmosphere of public speeches and a secret meeting Saturday between the countries' top diplomats.
Wang Yi, China's most senior foreign-policy official, used a morning speech at the Munich Security Conference to criticize the "nearly hysterical" reaction of Washington to the appearance of its balloon over U.S. territory.
North Korea Fires Missiles in Response to Air Drills by U.S. and South Korea
SEOUL-North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast, as the sister of leader Kim Jong Un warned the U.S. and South Korea against holding military drills and deploying strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula.
The country fired two short-range ballistic missiles shortly after 7 a.m. local time on Monday from the Sukchon area of the North's South Pyongan province, Seoul's military said. North Korea used 600 mm multiple-rocket launchers to fire two projectiles, which flew between 200 and 250 miles and landed in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Firing the missiles demonstrated the military's readiness against air drills conducted by the U.S. and South Korea, the North's state media said.
U.N. Inspectors Detect Near-Weapons-Grade Enriched Uranium in Iran
United Nations atomic agency inspectors have detected uranium that has been enriched to near weapons-grade in Iran in recent weeks, three senior diplomats said Sunday, a finding that will deepen concerns about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Iran has been producing highly enriched, weapons-grade material of 60% purity since early 2021, but the material found was of 84% purity, according to the diplomats. Weapons-grade enriched uranium is generally considered to be from around 90%-enriched uranium.
Syria Says Israeli Missile Strikes Kill at Least Five in Damascus
Syria accused Israel of carrying out a deadly missile strike on Sunday, the first such attack to target the key Iran ally since earthquakes devastated swaths of the country earlier this month.
Five people were killed and 15 people were injured in the missile attack on the Kafar Sousah neighborhood of Damascus, said Syria's state-run news agency, or SANA. The neighborhood is known to house members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Chinese Drones Still Support Russia's War in Ukraine, Trade Data Show
More than a year after Western authorities sought to shut down the pipeline supplying Russia in its war in Ukraine, exports of small, nimble Chinese drones are still providing the Kremlin with an effective way to target Ukrainian forces, according to Western officials, security analysts and customs data.
Some of the commercial drones are arriving on the front lines from Russian distributors supplied by Shenzhen, China-based Da-Jiang Innovations Science & Technology Co., known as DJI, according to customs records, while others are transported through the United Arab Emirates.
With Ukraine War at Its Doorstep, Poland Becomes West's Firebrand
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02-20-23 0634ET
