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Saudi chemical group SABIC reports a Q1 loss of $323 Million
SABIC, the Saudi chemicals giant, reported on Sunday a net loss for the first quarter of 1,21 billion Saudi Riyals ($323m), citing an increase in operating costs as well as high feedstock prices. This compares to a loss of 0.25 billion Riyals in the same time period last year. Chemicals industry is struggling with low demand and high input cost, which has led to lower prices and squeezed profit margins. SABIC announced in February that it would cut costs and look for new investment opportunities after reporting lower-than-expected fourth quarter results. On Sunday, CEO Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh pointed out the challenges facing the global economy, including the slowdown of global GDP. He said that the oversupply of production capacity in petrochemicals is still a problem. SABIC said in a press release that the results were affected by an increase in operational expenses due to a one-time cost of 1.7 billion Saudi Riyals ($453.22 millions) relating to a strategic reorganization initiative. Al-Fageeh stated that restructuring was ongoing but the last one had a larger scale and a greater impact. He added that he expects to complete the restructuring this year. SABIC reported that the losses were also affected by a decline of 1.05 billion riyals in gross profit due to higher feedstock costs. The company reported 34.59 billion Riyals in sales for the first quarter. This is a 5.8% rise from 32.69 riyals one year ago. Click here to view the source text More company coverage: (1 dollar = 3.7509 Riyals) (Reporting and editing by Conor Humphries; reporting by Pesha Magd)
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Report: China's Ant Group will list its overseas unit in Hong Kong
Chinese media, citing anonymous sources, reported that Ant Group, a subsidiary of China's ecommerce giant Alibaba Group, plans to list Ant International on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Caixin reported, citing sources close to the company that Ant was in communication with regulators regarding the possible listing. The report didn't specify whether discussions took place with regulators from China or other countries. Ant International is a Singapore-based company. Alibaba controls 33% of Ant, which was founded by Jack Ma. It runs China's ubiquitous Alipay mobile payment app. Chinese authorities pulled Ant's $37-billion IPO in Shanghai & Hong Kong in 2020. They also cracked down on Ma’s business empire shortly after Ma’s speech in Shanghai, October of that year. He had accused financial watchdogs for stifling innovations. This led to the Chinese regulators fining Ant nearly $1 billion and forcing Ant into a forced restructure. Ant is currently pursuing a licence for a financial holdings company, which could help it achieve its IPO goals. (Writing and editing by Toby Chopra; Marius Zaharia)
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Four sources claim that OPEC+ will continue to increase oil production.
OPEC+ will increase oil production and may unwind the voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels a day by the end October if the members don't improve their compliance with their production quotas. OPEC+ surprised the oil market by accelerating its unwinding of cutbacks in April, despite low prices and weak demand. Sources have claimed that the move was intended by OPEC+'s leader Saudi Arabia as a punishment for some members who failed to meet their quotas. OPEC+ (which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, as well as allies like Russia) agreed on a major output increase for June, bringing the total of the production it intends to release in May, April and June up to almost 1 million bpd. Four anonymous OPEC+ sources who were briefed about the situation said that OPEC+ would likely continue the trend, and in June will agree to release another 411,000 bpd for July. OPEC, Saudi Arabia's government communications office and Alexander Novak's office in Russia did not respond immediately to a comment request. Sources said that the group would likely approve accelerated increases for August, September, and October. The idea is to unwind the rest of the voluntary cuts in the event that Iraq, Kazakhstan, and other laggards fail to improve their compliance and deliver compensation reductions. One source said that if compliance did not improve by November, the voluntary reductions would be unwound. This was referring to the voluntary cuts of OPEC+ by eight members, which totalled 2.2 million bpd. OPEC+ continues to cut output by nearly 5 million bpd, and many of these cuts will remain in place through the end of 2026. In December, OPEC+ agreed that the voluntary portion of the total reductions would be phased out gradually by the end September 2026. However, they agreed to speed up this process in April. The oil price fell to a 4-year low below $60 per barrel in April on accelerated OPEC+ increases and U.S. president Donald Trump's new tariffs, which raised concerns over a global slowdown. Reports this week stated that Saudi officials had informed allies and officials from the oil industry that they were unwilling to support the oil markets by cutting further supplies. Kazakhstan's energy minister defied OPEC+ by saying he would put national interests ahead of those of OPEC+ when deciding the level of oil production. Kazakhstan's oil production in April exceeded its OPEC+ quota despite a 3% drop. (Additional reporting by Alex Lawler and Yousef SABA; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Editing by Frances Kerry.)
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RPT-Buffett will step down from his position as CEO of Berkshire after 60 years, and pass the baton to Abel
Warren Buffett, perhaps the most famous investor in the world, is retiring at the end 2025. He will hand over Berkshire Hathaway's reins to vice chairman Greg Abel. This move marks the end of an era at Berkshire following Buffett's 60-year reign, during which he became a household brand, a multibillionaire, and an American success. Buffett, who is 94 years old, stated on Saturday that "I believe the time has come where Greg will be the CEO of the company by year's end." He wrapped up Berkshire Annual Meeting in Omaha Abel would have the final word, he said. He would "hang around" and "possibly be useful" in some cases. An announcement was made. Buffett receives a flurry of praise from CEOs and Investors Jamie Dimon is the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. "Warren Buffett represents all that's good about American capitalism, America, and America herself - investing with integrity, optimism and common sense in our nation and businesses," Dimon said. Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, said in a blog post: "There has never been anyone like Warren. His wisdom has inspired countless people including myself." It has been a great privilege to know him. Abel will be thrust into the spotlight by Buffett's decision at Berkshire. Abel is the long-time successor of Buffett, according to Berkshire. He may not have Buffett's star power, but he will preserve the culture at the conglomerate. Buffett claimed that Abel, and the majority of Berkshire’s board of directors were unaware of his plans before his announcement. Buffett did however inform his two children, who are also directors. He said that the Berkshire board of directors would meet on Sunday in order to discuss this transition. Abel is 62 years old and has been vice chairman of Berkshire since 2018. He was named Buffett’s likely successor in the role of chief executive for 2021. Abel said to shareholders, "I could not be more honored and humbled to be a part of Berkshire in the future." Buffett said that he has "zero intention" of selling his Berkshire shares, and nearly all will be donated to charity after his death. Buffett stated that the decision to retain every share was an economic one, as he believed Berkshire's prospects would be better under Greg’s management. RUN REMARKABLE Buffett's decision to retire caps off a 60-year journey that saw him transform Berkshire Textiles from a failing company into a conglomerate worth $1.16 trillion with businesses in the U.S. Forbes magazine reports that Buffett's fortune is $168.2 Billion, and almost all of it is Berkshire Stock. Cole Smead is the chief executive officer of Smead Capital Management. After Buffett announced his decision, he said to Bill Smead who founded the company: "Well, this is the end of an age." It's sad but life goes on. Berkshire stock has risen by 19% compared to a 3% decline in Standard & Poor 500. Investors have seen Buffett and the conglomerate as a refuge from the uncertainty surrounding the economy and President Donald Trump's policies on tariffs. The question is, will Berkshire continue to have a Buffett Premium when Buffett leaves? Cathy Seifert is an analyst with CFRA Research. You're getting a stock, and the investing skills of a legendary investor. What is the value of that legend? 'GREG CAN DON BETTER" Abel was already taking on Buffett's many responsibilities, such as capital allocation. Abel responded to a question during the meeting about how his management of Berkshire’s 189 businesses would differ. "More proactive, but hopefully, in a positive way." Buffett said Berkshire’s board could arrange for the transfer in the next few month, and that he "could be useful in some cases" once Abel takes the helm. Buffett said to shareholders that "just because you're doing well, doesn't mean Greg couldn't be better." Berkshire’s annual shareholder week, which Buffett refers to as "Woodstock for Capitalists", annually attracts tens and thousands of people from all over the world to Omaha for both the shareholder meeting, along with a variety of other events in the city. The company intends to continue hosting the weekends. Many shareholders have stated that they will continue to attend after Buffett leaves. However, many others believe attendance will decrease. Buffett, with the help of his friend and business partner Charlie Munger who died in November 20,23, took over Berkshire and turned it into a success story in America. Berkshire has close to 200 companies including Geico auto insurance, the BNSF railway, industrial and chemical firms, utilities, Dairy Queen ice-cream, Fruit of the Loom Underwear, and See's Candies. Apple, American Express, and Bank of America all ended the month with $264 billion in stocks. 'ORACLE of OMAHA' Buffett is known as "the Oracle of Omaha" because of his investment success, his folk wisdom and his modest lifestyle. Buffett has never left the home he bought in 1958 for $31,500. Buffett was a student of Benjamin Graham, an economist and former professor. Graham stressed the importance of fundamentals of companies and the need to avoid overpaying for assets. This approach made it difficult to use Berkshire's ever growing cash hoard of $347,7 billion as at the end March. Abel began working for the former MidAmerican Energy (now known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy) in 1992, 8 years before Berkshire Hathaway took over. Later, he led the business for 10 years. Buffett's wealth would have been greater if he hadn't given more than half of his Berkshire stock to charity since 2006. The rest of his estate is expected to be placed in a new trust for charitable purposes, which will be overseen by Howard, Peter and Susie. Abel faces many challenges, including how to grow Berkshire without paying too much for acquisitions. He will also have to decide whether or not to pay out a dividend as well as how to use the cash. Howard Buffett (70) is expected to succeed his father, Berkshire's nonexecutive Chairman, in the future, helping to preserve the company culture.
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Greg Abel, Warren Buffett's replacement, is seen maintaining Berkshire culture
Greg Abel, who will succeed Warren Buffett as the head of Berkshire Hathaway by the end of the year, is expected to maintain the culture of the company even if he doesn't have the same star power as his legendary boss. Analysts and investors expect Abel, who is now vice chairman of Berkshire, to continue the company's tradition of investing for the long term and not paying dividends to shareholders. Berkshire has been planning since decades for the day when Buffett will no longer be running the company. Buffett has led the company, Berkshire, since 1965. Buffett's announcement on Saturday that Abel would replace him as CEO was a shock. The Oracle of Omaha hadn't previously indicated a clear intent on when he would step down. Buffett has alluded for years to his age and, before announcing the departure of Berkshire at its annual shareholder meeting held in Omaha, Buffett said that Abel would be better suited to the task than he himself. Buffett stated that "it works better with Greg Abel because I don't work as hard as Greg Abel does." Abel was asked what his approach to managing subsidiaries would be. He replied, "More actively." Abel also praised Buffett. He said "Warren is obviously a remarkable educator, and I've benefited from this for years." A DETAILS MANAGER Gregory Edward Abel, a member of a working class family, was born on June 1, 1962 in Edmonton, Alberta. According to the Horatio Abel Association of Distinguished Americans (an education non-profit) that recognized Abel in 2018, Abel worked odd jobs cleaning discarded bottles and filling fire extinguishers. In a video on the Horatio Alger site, Abel described his childhood as a "real working-class family" where people sometimes had jobs and other times didn't. "You realized that we all worked hard to improve our family." Abel graduated in 1984 from the University of Alberta and worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers and energy firm CalEnergy. He became the chief of MidAmerican Energy in 2008, after Berkshire Hathaway Energy took over MidAmerican Energy. Abel oversees Berkshire Hathaway's non-insurance businesses, including BNSF and Berkshire Hathaway Energy, as well as dozens of chemical and industrial operations, retail and wholesale operations. In the past year, he has also taken on some of Buffett's capital allocation responsibilities. Buffett stated last year that he wanted Abel to be the final decision maker on Berkshire's public stock portfolio, which was a task previously believed to be reserved for others. Abel is described by many executives as a sharp questioner, who pays close attention to financial metrics. He also wants to understand how businesses are run. Abel's question "ensures you are thinking about directives and plans for your company", said Chris Kelly. Kelly is the chief executive of HomeServices of America - the largest residential real estate brokerage in America. "You leave the conversation smarter." (Reporting from Koh Gui Qing, Omaha; additional reporting and editing by Jonathan Stempel, Carolina Mandl and Megan Davies)
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Buffett steps down as Berkshire CEO; Abel will take over
Warren Buffett announced on Saturday that he would step down from his role as Berkshire Hathaway's chief executive at the end the year and give the reins over to Vice Chairman Greg Abel. Buffett, who is 94 years old, told Berkshire's Annual Meeting that "I believe the time has come for Greg to become the CEO of the company by year end." Buffett told his children about his plans, but Buffett said Abel wasn't aware. Abel is a vice chairman of Berkshire since 2018 and Buffett's likely successor in the role of chief executive will be Abel. Buffett said that he has "zero intention" of selling his Berkshire shares, and nearly all will be donated to charity after his death. Buffett's decision to retire caps off a 60-year journey that saw him transform Berkshire into a massive conglomerate, with businesses in every sector of the U.S. Buffett, with the help of his friend and business partner Charlie Munger who died in November 20,23, took over Berkshire and turned it into a success story in America. Berkshire Hathaway, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska where Buffett and munger grew up today, is a conglomerate worth more than $1 trillion with over 200 companies including Geico auto insurance, the BNSF railway, industrial and chemical firms, utilities, Dairy Queen ice-cream, Fruit of the Loom Underwear, and See's Candies. Buffett is known as "the Oracle of Omaha" for his investment success, his folk wisdom and modest lifestyle. Buffett has never left the home he bought in 1958 for $31,500. Buffett was a student of Benjamin Graham, an economist and former professor. Graham stressed the importance of fundamentals of companies and the need to avoid overpaying for assets. This approach made it difficult to use Berkshire's ever growing cash hoard of $347,7 billion as at March 31. Abel began working for the former MidAmerican Energy (now known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy) in 1992, 8 years before Berkshire Hathaway took over. Later, he led the business for 10 years. Buffett joked that he did all the work and I took the bows in a television interview from April 2023. Forbes magazine estimates Buffett's fortune at $168.2 Billion. It would be much higher if he hadn't given away over half of his Berkshire stock to charity since 2006. The rest of the remaining is expected to be used for a New charitable trust Susie, Howard and Peter are his sons. Abel faces many challenges, including how to grow Berkshire without paying too much for acquisitions. He will also have to decide whether or not to pay a dividend as well as how to use the cash. Buffett acknowledged in 2024 that the size of Berkshire would likely affect its growth prospects. Berkshire has multi-billion dollar stakes in Apple, American Express, and Bank of America, among others. Howard Buffett (70) is expected to succeed to his father in Berkshire as the non-executive Chairman, helping to preserve the company's cultural.
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QUOTES -Buffett quotes from Berkshire Meeting: Trade, Opportunities, United States
Warren Buffett presiding over the 60th Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, Warren Buffett gave his views on everything ranging from investment opportunities to trade. Here are some Buffett quotes: ON TRADE Trade can be a war act. We should trade with other countries in the United States. "We want a prosperous and peaceful world." On U.S. EXCEPTIONALISM "The day I was conceived was the luckiest of my life, because I was born in America." "I'm just lucky... I've been through all sorts of things... You know, if I were born today, I'd just keep negotiating until they said I could be in the United States. "We're all very lucky." "The United States of America has changed since my birth in 1930." We've been through many things. We've experienced great recessions and wars. We've seen the development of an Atomic Bomb that we could not have imagined (when I was born). "So I wouldn't get discouraged." On Opportunities: Not that long ago, we were very close to spending $10 Billion. We would spend $100 billion. The investment business has a problem in that it is not a well-organized industry. "We're running an opportunistic business." Investing in securities vs real estate: In the United States, the opportunity in the real estate market is much greater than in the security sector. In real estate, you are dealing with...usually...a single owner or family who owns a property. Maybe they have had it for a long while, or maybe they have borrowed too much money on it. The population trends may be against them. It's a huge decision for them. For a 94-year-old man, it isn't the most exciting thing to be involved in negotiating if it could take years. On CURRENCIES "Obviously, we would not want to own anything we believed was in a money that was going to hell." "There could... There are things that happen in the United States... which make us want to have a lot more currencies. "I suppose that if we were to make a very large investment in a European country, we might have to finance a great deal of it using their currency." UNITED STATES FINANCIAL POLICY "The fiscal policy in the United States is what makes me afraid." The recent movements of the stock market This period has been... It's nothing. This isn't a dramatic bear market. If you are scared by a market decline, and excited when the stock markets rise... People have feelings. But you need to leave them outside when investing. How to Make Money: You only need to be rich once. You don't...want to do anything risky. (Reporting and editing by Diane Craft, Jon Stempel, Carolina Mandl; Megan Davies, Suzanne McGee)
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Berkshire supports Japanese trading houses and could hold them "forever"
Warren Buffett gave his full support on Saturday to five Japanese trading companies in which his conglomerate is involved. Berkshire Hathaway Has invested. Buffett spoke to Berkshire shareholders at their annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. This was 1-1/2 months after Berkshire announced that it had increased its stakes in Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo as high as 9,8%. Berkshire had invested $23.5 billion in these companies by the year 2024. Buffett stated, "We won't even consider selling them in the next 50-years." "We were treated very well by these five companies ..... Our main activity was to cheer and clap." Greg Abel is a Berkshire vice-chairman who will succeed Buffett in the role of chief executive. He said that Berkshire would own trading houses "forever" or for at least 50 years. He said that "we're building relationship" and "we really hope to achieve big things with them." Japanese trading houses, also known as "sogo-shosha," trade a wide range of products, materials and foods, often acting as intermediaries and providing logistical support. The real economy is also very important to them, including commodities, shipping and the steel industry. Berkshire started investing in trading houses in 2019 and revealed 5% ownership stakes at Buffett's 90th Birthday the following August. Buffett has said that he prefers not to engage in businesses he doesn't understand and has compared trading houses to his conglomerate.
Four sources claim that OPEC+ will continue to increase oil production.
OPEC+ will increase oil production and may unwind the voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels a day by the end October if the members don't improve their compliance with their production quotas.
OPEC+ surprised the oil market by releasing cuts faster than expected in April, despite low prices and weak demand. Sources have claimed that the move was intended by OPEC+'s leader Saudi Arabia as a punishment for some members who failed to meet their quotas.
On Saturday, the group, including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, such as Russia agreed to another major output increase for June, bringing the total of the production it plans to release between April, may and June to almost 1 million bpd.
Four anonymous OPEC+ sources who were briefed about the situation said that OPEC+ would likely continue the trend, and in June will agree to release another 411,000 bpd for July.
OPEC, Saudi Arabia's government communications office and Alexander Novak's office in Russia did not respond immediately to a comment request.
Sources said that the group would likely approve accelerated increases for August, September, and October. The idea is to unwind the rest of the voluntary cuts in the event that Iraq, Kazakhstan, and other laggards fail to improve their compliance and deliver compensation reductions.
One source said that if compliance did not improve by November, the voluntary reductions would be unwound. This was referring to OPEC+ voluntary cuts of 2.2 million bpd by eight members.
OPEC+ continues to cut output by nearly 5 million bpd, and many of these cuts will remain in place through the end of 2026.
In December, OPEC+ agreed that the voluntary portion of the total reductions would be phased out gradually by the end September 2026. However, they agreed to speed up this process in April.
In April, oil prices dropped to a 4-year low below $60 per barrel due to accelerated OPEC+ increases and U.S. president Donald Trump's new tariffs.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo stated that the market would take this news as a negative, so long as crude oil exports did not indicate an improved compliance with OPEC+.
Reports this week stated that Saudi officials had informed allies and officials from the oil industry that they were unwilling to support oil markets by cutting further supply.
Kazakhstan's energy minister defied OPEC+ by saying he would put national interests ahead of those of OPEC+ when deciding the level of oil production. Kazakhstan's oil production in April exceeded its OPEC+ quota despite a 3% drop. (Alex Lawler, Yousef Sabah and Dmitry Zhdannikov contributed additional reporting; Dmitry Zhdannikov wrote the article. Frances Kerry and Helen Popper edited it.)
(source: Reuters)