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Citgo reports $82 million loss for Q1 despite weak margins
Citgo Petroleum, a refiner owned by Venezuela, reported a $82 million loss for the first quarter of this year. This compares to a $410 million profit in the same period the previous year. The company based in Houston said that the result was due to the weak margins in refining. Citgo, which is being pursued for its assets by Venezuelan expropriated firms and bondholders who defaulted through an auction organized by a U.S. Court, has registered red numbers once again in its most recent period. This follows a loss of $146 million in the fourth quarter. In a press release, CEO Carlos Jorda said that despite the low prices, the refinery achieved a quarterly crude processing rate record. The average throughput of the seventh-largest U.S. oil refining company in the first quarter of 2008 was 833,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd), with 768,000 bpd of crude running, for a crude utilization of 95%. This is lower than the 98% recorded in the previous quarter. The refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana saw its utilization rise to 99%. However, the refinery in Corpus Christi (Texas) fell to 83%, down from 96% the previous quarter, as planned maintenance was carried out. Profits plummeted by Last year, $305 Million was spent The auction in Delaware is expected to bring in less than the $2 billion profit that was anticipated for 2023. This has caused some investors and creditors to change their expectations about the amount they can expect. After a failed bid round last year the court has launched a second round of bidding by selecting a $3.7 billion Starting bid Last month. After rival bids have been received, and the winner has been selected in the coming months, a final sale hearing will be held for July. Citgo reported that the volume of marketing sales in the first quarter fell slightly, to 423,000 Bpd. Citgo reported $35 million in equipment and turnaround expenses between January and the end of March. The company's liquidity at quarter-end, an important indicator for the auction, fell to $2.1 billion compared to $3.8 billion by the end of the last quarter. Reporting by Marianna Pararaga, Editing by Chris Reese & Marguerita Choy
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MP Materials suffers a quarterly loss due to rising production costs
MP Materials, a U.S. rare-earths producer, announced on Thursday it had swung into a loss in the first quarter due to rising production costs as well as interest expenses. However, results were within expectations. These are the first results since the Las Vegas company announced last month that it would no longer ship the minerals to China to be processed in response to Beijing’s tariffs. The company's revenue will be affected by this move, but not until the second quarter results are released in August. The company reported a loss of $22.6m, or 14c per share for the first quarter ending March 31. This compares to a profit of $16.5m in the same period last year. According to IBES from LSEG, the company's loss per share was 12 cents, which is in line with analysts' expectations. After-hours, shares of the Las Vegas based company dropped by 1.3%. MP reported that its cost of sale, excluding depreciation, and other related items, had increased by approximately $13.3 million. This was due to higher production costs, which were associated with a low level of utilization of its refinery facilities. The company is increasing its use of these facilities. Interest costs for MP also increased by almost $5 million, largely due to the rising expenses associated with a convertible debt due in 2030. MP sells rare earth concentrates to refiners around the world, including China. It refines rare Earths in California. The company produced 12213 metric tonnes of this concentrate in the third quarter, which is 10% more than the previous period. MP's California refinery produced more than four-times the amount of rare earths (NdPr and Neodymium) during the first quarter. The actual prices of rare earths concentrates rose by 12% during the third quarter compared to the same period last year, while the prices for NdPr dropped by 16%. (Reporting and editing by Michael Perry; Ernest Scheyder)
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Pope Leo was critical of Trump and Vance before he became pontiff
The first U.S. Pope has some thoughts on the American President. According to posts made on the X page of Robert Prevost's account, which was his name before he became the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV has a long history of criticizing the policies of President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance. He reposted in February an article that had the headline "JDVance is wrong: Jesus does not ask us to rate our love for others." Prevost posted a comment in April when Trump met El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele to discuss the use of a prison, where alleged abuses of human rights took place, to hold suspected gang members who had been flown into the United States. The comment included: "Do not you see the suffering?" Are you not troubled by your conscience? The account was created in 2011, but it is not known who runs it. We contacted the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Diocese in Chiclayo, Peru, where Prevost lived for many years, as well as the Peruvian Embassy in the Holy See, to verify its authenticity. Its handle, @drprevost, includes messages asking for prayers in the final months of Pope Francis' life. Pope Leo will follow the path of Francis who was a champion for immigrants and the poor, but also had disagreements with the Trump Administration. Vance, the man who met Francis the day before his death at the Vatican, downplayed the differences that they had after the meeting. But the differences were significant. Francis called Trump's immigration policy a disgrace. The U.S. President congratulated the newly appointed Catholic leader. Trump posted on his social media that it was an honor to be the first American pope. What excitement and what an honor for our country! I am looking forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. "It will be an important moment!" Vance, who is a Catholic himself, said that he believed millions of American Catholics, as well as other Christians, would pray for Leo’s success. "May God bless him!" Vance wrote on X. White House officials didn't offer any further comment. A spokeswoman from Vance referred to his posting on X, when asked about criticisms of Prevost’s account. Trump and the new pope share some similar policies. Trump and Vance are also against abortion. According to a Facebook post encouraging followers to sign the Catholic Climate Petition, he is in favor of fighting climate change. Trump has removed the United States' participation in the Paris Climate Accord, which fights global climate change. (Reporting and editing by Caitlin Wallis and Daniel Wallis; Additional reporting and editing by Andrea Shalal, Rachael K. Kennedy and Rachael Shalal; Reporting and Editing by Jeff Mason and Jasper Ward)
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The dollar rises in global stock indexes on the back of trade optimism following US-UK agreement
The global equities market rose on Thursday. Wall Street was the best performer, and the dollar and Treasury yields were also up after the United States announced a new trade agreement with the United Kingdom. The U.S. and UK trade agreement also helped boost the cryptocurrency market. It was the first trade deal announced this month after U.S. president Donald Trump began a 90-day suspension of trade tariffs in order to allow for negotiations. The agreement, announced by Trump and British Premier Keirstarmer, maintains a 10% duty on imports from the UK, but reduces prohibitive U.S. tariffs on UK auto exports. The UK agreed to reduce its tariffs from 5.1% to 1.8% and allow greater access to U.S. products. Investors waited with anticipation for the planned talks between U.S. officials and Chinese officials to take place in Switzerland this weekend. This could be a first step towards reducing the trade war that has been raging between the two largest economies of the world. Mona Mahajan is the head of investment strategy for Edward Jones. She said that there was growing optimism about trade deals. Not only the UK deal announced today but also what could happen over the weekend. The S&P 500 index has increased sharply since April's lows. The sectors that were leading higher during that period of time have been procyclical and pro-growth segments, such as financials, and even discretionary products to a certain extent. At 02:52 p.m. on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 513.68, or 1.25% to 41,627.65. The S&P 500 also rose by 70.15, or 1.25% to 5,701.43, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 314.61 points or 1.77% to 18,052.77. The S&P 500 index rose for the first time above its intra-day high of April 2, which was the last session prior to Trump's announcement of tariffs against the largest U.S. trading partner on Liberation Day. The CBOE Volatility Index, also known by Wall Street as its fear gauge, reached its lowest level since the beginning of April. MSCI's global index of stocks rose by 4.60 points or 0.55% to 848.63. The pan-European STOXX 600 closed earlier up 0.4%. The U.S. Federal Reserve waited and saw on Wednesday about interest rates, and warned of the risks associated with higher inflation and unemployment as it navigated through the uncertainty brought by Trump's new trade policies. The U.S. Dollar gained against the safe haven currencies of the yen, and the Swiss Franc, as the market was calmed down by the U.S./UK agreement. Sterling reversed its gains after the Bank of England cut interest rates. Sterling fell 0.14% to $1.327. The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket of currencies, including the yen, the euro and others) rose by 0.75%, reaching 100.64. Will Compernolle is a macro-strategist at FHN Financial, Chicago. He said that there is optimism about this deal being a model for future deals. However, it is not going to change the U.S. economic response in a dramatic way. The dollar gained 1.43% against the Japanese yen to reach 145.88. The central banks of Sweden and Norway have hinted that they may also lower rates in the second half of this year. The Swedish crown fell 0.58% against the dollar, to 9.727. Bitcoin rose 4.75%, to $101,365.21. Etherium rose 14.73%, to $2,063.37. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes increased 9.4 basis point to 4.369% from 4.275% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, 30-year bond rates rose 5.9 basis to 4.8305%. The yield on the 2-year note, which is typically in line with Fed policy regarding interest rates, increased 10 basis points from late Wednesday to 3.893%. Crude futures rose on hopes for a breakthrough in the trade talks between China and the United States, the two world's largest oil consumers. Brent crude ended the day at $62.84 a barrel, up by 2.81% or $1.72. This erased the previous days losses. The UK-U.S. agreement has raised the prospect of other deals. Spot gold dropped 1.7% to $3307.02 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures dropped 2.29% to an ounce of $3,304.10. Reporting by Sinead carew, Gertrude Chavez, Marc Jones, Editing by Chizu nomiyama Will Dunham, Nia Williams
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Starmer celebrates second win in trade after UK's tariff agreement with Trump
Keir starmer, British Prime Minister, secured a second deal in three days with U.S. president Donald Trump. He claimed a political victory which removes the threat of some of UK's most vulnerable industrial sectors. The U.S. agreed that Britain would lower tariffs on American beef, ethanol and British cars in exchange for the U.S. lowering their tariffs. Starmer said that the deal was worthwhile so companies in the affected sectors could plan without worrying about 25% or higher tariffs, although a larger deal to reduce baseline tariffs by 10% is still under discussion. Starmer, a reporter in London, said: "We'd like to go even further with tariffs but it's important that we have been able get this deal through now because we've protected, saved and enhanced jobs right here and right now." Kemi Badenoch, leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party, criticised the deal. Nigel Farage, leader of the anti immigration Reform Party, who is close with Trump, initially welcomed it. Farage, a pro-Brexit activist, said: "We can go much further with a pro-Britain American president." "It is a Brexit benefit for us to be able do this... This is a huge step in the right directions." The British business community and sectors such as the auto industry and steel production were also very supportive. The companies said that it would offer some relief to those affected by tariffs, without giving away too much in return. The future of British steel has been questioned, as the government has stepped in to maintain blast furnaces. Meanwhile, car manufacturers have spoken out about the threat of tariffs on their business plans. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders called the agreement "great news" for the industry and said it would bring "much-needed relief". National Farmers Union welcomed the deal, praising Starmer's government on not lowering standards for agricultural products in a deal which provides beef with reciprocal access to markets. The U.S. also indicated that Britain would be given preferential treatment when it comes to other sectors, including pharmaceuticals - an issue of great importance for AstraZeneca & GSK. Trump also suggested taxing the movie industry to encourage more Hollywood movies to be made. However, as no formal review has been conducted to determine whether tariffs would be imposed, this sector was not included in the deal announced on Thursday, according to officials. Starmer's entire political strategy is based on economic growth. The U.S. tariffs added pressure to his government, as the British economy was struggling to grow. He suffered a brutal set of local elections last week. The results were blamed on the unpopular decision by his government to cut winter fuel payments or welfare payments. (Reporting and editing by Andrew MacAskill, Alistair Smout)
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Enel to focus on buyback of shares after strong Q1
Enel's management announced on Thursday that it is focusing on introducing an share buyback program and negotiating a renewal of its network license in Italy. This follows steady results for the first quarter. The state-controlled group, following the example of oil majors will ask shareholders to approve at its annual meeting on 22 May a plan to buy back up to 3.5 billion euro ($3.9 billion). Investors will vote the same day on an option that allows them to cancel shares acquired without reducing group share capital. This is another way to reward shareholders, in addition to dividends. Enel Chief Financial Officer Stefano De Angelis said to analysts in a conference call following the results that he hoped "the plan would be approved on May 22." De Angelis said that the company was in talks with Italian authorities to extend its power distribution licence for 20 years. The CFO stated that Enel may deploy capital in Spain and will use some of the financial space created by the reduction of its net debt for the renewal. The group reported earnings before taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which were 5.97 billion euro for the first three months, slightly higher than the analyst consensus of 5,90 billion compiled on LSEG. The ordinary EBITDA of the first quarter last year has been revised down to 5.87 billion Euros, from 6.09 billion Euros, in order to remove the effects of recent dispositions. The utility's decision to cut electricity prices in Italy by 30-40% in order to retain customers, led it to lower its EBITDA than expected. De Angelis stated that the group anticipates its retail business to stabilise in Italy in the next quarters. Flavio Cattaneo the Chief executive, who was appointed in January 2012, stated that the period between January and March marked the seventh consecutive positive quarter for financial results. Enel has confirmed that it expects its EBITDA to be between 22,9 billion and 23,1 billion euros in 2025.
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Citigroup faces $1 billion lawsuit for alleged fraud by Mexican oil companies
A U.S. court of appeals ruled Thursday that Citigroup will have to face a lawsuit alleging it caused over $1 billion in losses by orchestrating a fraud at the Mexican oil and gas service company Oceanografia. Three judges of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Miami said that 30 Oceanografia vendors, creditors and bondholders adequately alleged that Citigroup substantially aided the fraud. A lower court judge erred by dismissing this nine-year-old case. Circuit Court of Appeals, Miami, said that 30 Oceanografia vendors and creditors, as well as bondholders, adequately alleged Citigroup's involvement in the fraud. A lower court judge erred by dismissing the case nine years ago. Danielle Romero Apsilos, Citigroup's spokeswoman declined to comment. Juan Morillo said that his clients were pleased with the ruling. Citigroup's Banamex division had advanced cash to Oceanografia which provided drilling services for Mexico's state owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, and collected interest on the advances. The plaintiffs include shipping and leasing companies as well as investment funds, and Rabobank in the Netherlands. They claim that Citigroup advanced $3.3billion to Oceanografia from 2008-2014 despite knowing it had too much debt, and was forging Pemex's signatures on authorization documents. Citigroup was fined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for Banamex's lack of internal controls in 2018. Former Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat claimed that the bank terminated 12 employees. Mexican regulators confirmed that 10 employees of the bank were held criminally responsible under Mexican law. Circuit Judge Britt grant found in an 82 page decision that there were sufficient allegations to prove that Citigroup had withheld important information about Oceanografia, and the interest payments provided a financial incentive. She added, "Citigroup, as one of the most sophisticated financial institutions in the world, is a difficult conclusion to draw if the plaintiffs' claims are true. Citigroup was unaware of Oceanografia's activities." The case was returned to U.S. district judge Darrin Gayles of Miami who dismissed it on August 20, 2023. Otto Candies LLC et al v Citigroup Inc., 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Circuit Court of Appeals No. 23-13152. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, New York; Editing and production by Richard Chang
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Document: Mali is pressed to pay an 'enormous debt' for a regional dam
A letter obtained by reveals that Mali owes over $94 million to an entity which manages a dam, which provides electricity to Senegal, Mauritania and other countries. The debt is "a matter of life or death" to its ability to operate, the letter states. The funding gap is a warning sign of further electricity supply problems for Mali. Outages have weakened public support in recent years for the military-led government which took power in coups in 2020-2021. Manantali Dam and Power Plant was installed in 2002 with a capacity of 200 Megawatts. Its production is distributed to Mali, Senegal and Mauritania. According to a letter sent by SOGEM on April 25 to the director general of Mali's electricity utility, Energie du Mali (Mali), Mali owes SOGEM "an enormous amount" of more than 54 billion CFA francs (94.12 millions) for the management of Manantali, among other projects. The letter was signed by Mohamed Mahmoud Sid'Elemine, the director general of SOGEM. Energy du Mali admitted in a Thursday statement that it owed SOGEM 43.8 billion CFA Francs and another 11.9 billion CFA Francs to an entity separate involved in the operation and maintenance of the dam. When asked why SOGEM had not paid the sums, they said that SOGEM projects - such as other dams – had "experienced substantial delays" which had affected Mali’s energy sector. It said that the utility "had no choice but to resort to expensive solutions such as leasing generators from private operators" to make up for its expected production shortfall. The SOGEM letter touts the Manantali Project as a success for regional co-operation that cost hundreds billions of CFA Francs to implement. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger were members of the Alliance of Sahel States. They announced their departure from the West African political and economic bloc called ECOWAS last year. $1 = 573.7500 CFA francs (Reporting and writing by Idrissa Singare; Editing and proofreading by Ayen Deng Bior and Aiden Lewis)
Dollar gains and optimism about US/UK trade deal boost global stock markets
Dollar and Treasury yields rose on Thursday, after U.S. president Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Britain a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve opted to wait and see on interest rates.
Bitcoin gained 4.83%, reaching $101,440.22. Ethereum grew by 14.72%, to $2 063.23. The U.S. and British trade agreement is the first announced deal since Trump initiated a 90-day pause in tariffs imposed by his administration on many U.S. Trading Partners a month earlier to give time for negotiations with other countries. Investors also await planned talks between U.S. officials and Chinese officials scheduled for the weekend in Switzerland. This could be a first step to reducing the damaging trade conflict between the two largest economies in the world.
Investors have shown signs of frustration over the lack concrete details this week, despite being enthusiastic about the Trump administration's signals that it is in trade negotiations over the last month.
Gene Goldman said that investors are relieved to see that progress is being made on trade agreements. He added that it "seems like the administration is going in the right direction."
Goldman added that the U.S. and British agreement, which is still under development, "provides some optimism heading into weekend negotiations with China." Indexes on Wall Street extended gains following the announcement. At 11:51 am (1551 GMT), Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 573.16, or 1.39 percent, to 41.685.11, S&P 500 gained 77.14, or 1.37 percent, to 5,708.56, and Nasdaq Composite increased by 311.92, or 1.76 percent, to 18,050.09.
The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 5.72 points or 0.68% to 849.75, while the pan-European STOXX 600 rose by 0.44.
Investors are still digesting Wednesday's U.S. Federal Reserve policy update, in which it maintained its interest rate range at 4.25%-4.5% for the third consecutive meeting.
As it navigated the economic uncertainty caused by Trump's policies, the U.S. Central Bank warned of increased risks for higher inflation and unemployment.
The pound has lost ground in terms of currencies after the recent trade agreement and the widely anticipated quarter-point cut by the Bank of England. Sterling fell 0.14% to $1.327.
The dollar index measures the greenback in relation to a basket including the yen, the euro and other currencies.
The price of 100.44 rose by 0.55%.
The dollar gained 1.16% against the Japanese yen to reach 145.49. Sweden and Norway have also hinted that they may also lower rates in the second half of this year. The Swedish crown fell 0.48% against the dollar, to 9.704.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes increased 5.5 basis point to 4.33% from 4.275% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the 30-year bond's yield increased 2.9 basis points, to 4.8011%.
The yield on the 2-year note, which moves typically in line with Fed expectations for interest rates, increased 7.3 basis points from 3.793% to 3.866%. On the commodities market, oil futures, which had dropped by more than $1 Wednesday, rose on Thursday on hopes that the United States will reach a trade agreement with China, the two biggest oil consumers in the world.
U.S. crude climbed 3.29%, to $59.98 per barrel. Brent rose to $62.93 a barrel, up by 2.96% for the day.
Spot gold dropped 1.09% to $3.327.49 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures dropped 1.48% to an ounce of $3,331.30. (Reporting and editing by Sinead carew, Johann M Cherian and Marc Jones, with Chizu Nomiyama, Will Dunham, and Will Dunham).
(source: Reuters)