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Consolidated Edison exceeds profit expectations for the fourth quarter on higher electricity prices
Consolidated Edison, a utility company, beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter profit on Thursday due to higher electricity rates. Rate case proceedings are used by utilities to increase their rates. They base their appeals on the investments they have made or expenses they have incurred when delivering their services. The New York company's revenue for its electricity segment increased 7.6% to $2.72 billion compared to a year ago. Consolidated Edison is divided into three segments: Consolidated Edison Company of New York (CENY), Orange & Rockland Utilities, and Con Edison Transmission. New York provides gas and electricity service to approximately 1.1 million city residents. The company expects to achieve a profit adjusted for 2025 between $5.50-$5.70 per share. This is below the Wall Street estimate of $5.63. Consolidated Edison anticipates capital expenditures of $5.12 billion by 2025, and $8.07 in 2026. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the company reported a profit adjusted of 98 cents for the quarter ending December 31. This compares with an average analyst estimate of 95 cents. Reporting by Tanay in Bengaluru, and editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi
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MP Materials' fourth quarter loss exceeds Wall Street expectations
MP Materials, a rare earths producer, said that its fourth-quarter losses widened in part due to higher production costs associated with the refining the minerals. However the results surpassed Wall Street's predictions. In after-hours trading, shares of the Las Vegas based company increased 1% to $23,40. MP reported a loss of $22.3m, or 14c per share for the quarter ended December 31, compared with a loss of $16.3m, or 9c per share in the previous quarter. Without one-time items such as depreciation or costs related to environmental obligations, MP lost a loss of 12 cents per share. According to IBES from LSEG, analysts had expected a loss per share of 13 cents. MP sells rare earth concentrates from its California mine to refiners throughout China and other countries. It refines rare Earths in California. During the third quarter, the company produced 11,478 tons of this concentrate. This is 24% more than in the previous period. MP's California refinery produced 413 tons of neodymium, praseodymium, and other rare earths (NdPr), the two most sought-after rare earths, during the third quarter. This is nearly triple what was produced in the same period last year. The prices of NdPr and rare earth concentrates fell in the third quarter. MP expects to start manufacturing permanent magnets in its Texas facility before the end of 2025.
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US agency staff are not allowed to talk with Congress, a lawmaker claims
In a letter to agency administrators sent on Thursday, Chellie Pingree, a Representative, said that the Trump administration had instructed staff at the U.S. Farm, Environment and Interior agencies not to speak to members of the U.S. Congress. Pingree (a Democrat) said that the interruption in communication strayed away from longstanding relationships between agency staff and Congressional decision makers. "These employees have always shown professionalism and integrity. Since President (Donald Trump) took office, almost all communication has stopped. Pingree sent letters to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. J. Elizabeth Peace, spokesperson for the Interior Department, said that the agency doesn't comment on communications from Congress. A spokesperson for the EPA said that the agency is reviewing the letter. Requests for comments from the USDA were not immediately responded to. Pingree, the leading Democrat in the House of Representatives appropriations committee that oversees Interior, Environment and other agencies. The letters expressed their "outrage" over the firings thousands of federal employees across three agencies. They requested information on the number and breakdown of terminations by program office, location, and other details by February 27, 2019. The letter said that "the chaotic way in which these mass shootings were carried out will only make the Federal Government more inefficient." Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency fired thousands of federal employees in just a few days. (Reporting and editing by Sandra Maler, Diane Craft and Sandra Maler; Additional reporting and editing by Valerie Volcovici)
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Newmont's profit exceeds expectations for the fourth quarter on higher gold prices and production
Newmont exceeded analysts' estimates for the fourth quarter profit on Thursday as it benefited from an increase in production and a rise in gold prices. The average price of gold rose over the last few quarters, and reached multiple all-time-highs between October and December as the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. Presidential election and Middle East tensions fuelled demand for this safe-haven investment. Newmont's quarterly production of gold increased 9.2% compared to the previous year, reaching 1.90 million ounces. The price also rose 31.9%, at $2,643 an ounce. All-in-sustaining-costs for gold, an industry metric reflecting total expenses, were down 1.5% at $1,463 per ounce, also aiding the company's earnings. Newmont expects to produce about 5.9 millions ounces of gold in the current fiscal year, which is above Wall Street's estimate of 5.87. Newmont, after purchasing Australia's Newcrest for $17.14billion, announced in February 2024 it would divest its non-core assets, and reduce its workforce, to reduce debt. As of December 31, the amount of debt was $5.31billion. The company announced late last year that it would sell the Eleonore Mine in Canada to UK-based Dhilmar Ltd. for $795 millions and its Musselwhite Gold Mine, located in Ontario, to Orla Mining. Discovery Silver, a gold miner, announced last month that it would purchase Newmont's Porcupine Operations stake in Ontario, Canada for $425,000,000. According to LSEG, Newmont's adjusted earnings per share were $1.40 for the quarter ending December 31 compared to analysts' average estimates of $1.08, according LSEG data. Reporting by Tanay dhumal, Bengaluru. Editing by Shilpa Majumdar
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US power company Southern Co increases capital investment plan by 30%
Southern Co executives said that they have increased their base capital investment plan through the end decade by about 30%. The proposed increase in spending is dominated by transmission projects. On a recent earnings call, Southern Co executives stated that the demand for electricity from artificial intelligence data centres and population growth in the U.S. South has driven Southern Co's demand up and increased overall electricity consumption. Southern provides service to nearly 9 million customers across Alabama, Georgia and Illinois as well as Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia Southern's pipeline for data centers and other large energy users is over 50 gigawatts. Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern, has a share of about 40 gigawatts. Around 10 gigawatts are already committed to projects. In 2024, the U.S. will have a record-high demand for electricity due to the expansion of technologies such as generative AI that require giant data centers. Southern Co shares rose about 2% by mid-afternoon. Southern missed Wall Street's expectations on Thursday for its fourth-quarter profits despite a rising demand. It was also hit by higher U.S. rates. Southern Co's quarterly interest costs rose from $634 to $693 millions. Operating and maintenance costs increased 14.6%, to $1.99 billion. Reporting by Laila K. Kearney, New York Vallari Srivastava, Bengaluru. Edited by Leroy Leo & Richard Chang
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Russia extends gasoline export ban for six months, exempting producers
The Russian government announced on Thursday that it has extended the six-month ban on gasoline exports, but with exemptions for producers. The government released a statement saying that the Deputy Prime Minister, "Alexander Novak" supported the decision to prohibit gasoline exports to non-producing companies from March 1, to August 31, this year. This was to help balance the market in the period of high demand. The refineries and the oil companies who own them will now be allowed to export gasoline. A measure that was implemented nearly a year back prohibits traders and resellers from exporting gasoline. The first ban was imposed to combat a steep rise in wholesale prices of fuel and a possible shortage on the domestic markets. This excludes fuel supplies to the Moscow led Eurasian Economic Union (a group of former Soviet states), and to other countries, such as Mongolia, with whom Russia has intergovernmental agreements for fuel supply. Nigeria, Libya and Tunisia are the top importers of Russian gas. (Reporting and Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva, Maxim Rodionov and David Evans; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and David Evans)
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Ferrexpo's Poltava mine to be nationalised by Ukraine
Ukraine announced on Thursday that it has nationalised the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant, the largest mine owned by London-based Iron Ore Pellets producer Ferrexpo. This follows investigations into alleged misappropriation funds related to illegal mining. Ferrexpo has faced a number of investigations in the last few years into its largest shareholder, Kostyantyn Zovago, a sanctioned Ukrainian politician and businessman. This was as Ukrainian authorities continued to crackdown on corruption after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigations announced on Thursday that it was preparing an appeal to be filed with the Justice Ministry of Ukraine at the High Anti-Corruption Court requesting nationalisation of assets as well as corporate rights of the Poltava Plant. According to the investigation, it was found that the management of the plant had misappropriated more than 370 million hryvnias (8.86 million dollars) and that all corporate and property rights were frozen in preparation for trial. Ferrexpo said in a press release that it had not received a formal notification about such a claim. It is currently working with its lawyers to better understand the situation. The bureau announced that it was proposing to nationalize 541 real property objects owned by the factory, as well as the 172 land parcels which are currently under an early lease for 49 years. The court should also consider the transfer to the state of corporate rights in the amount of 49.5% the authorised capital for Poltava Mining and Processing Plant. Ferrexpo stated in January that it was aware of media reports about accusations made by the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office against senior managers at its FPM unit over an alleged illegal sale and mining of waste products. The group claimed that the legal case did not affect its operations, and the FPM considered the accusations to be "without merit". Zhevago repeatedly denied accusations made against him. (Reporting and editing by Aids Lewis, David Evans and Anastasiia Mlenko; Additional reporting by Prerna Bdi)
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If Trump's tariffs are implemented, Cameco will see uranium prices increase for US customers.
Canadian uranium producer and miner Cameco has warned that prices could increase by 10% for U.S. consumers if tariffs imposed by President Trump are implemented. This would be a major blow to a country which relies heavily on imports. The company's executives said on its earnings call that they may also look at diversifying away from the U.S. and into other markets. They have already done this with their new customers in Central & Eastern Europe. Trump is planning to impose 10% tariffs on all energy imports from Canada starting March 4. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Canada will be the U.S.'s largest uranium supplier in 2023. It supplied 27% of the uranium. Australia and Kazakhstan followed with 22% each. Grant Isaac, Chief Financial Officer at Cameco said that a 10% tariff proposed by a major source of supply like Canada would effectively increase the price of uranium by 10%, because U.S. demand for contracted volumes is inelastic. Tariffs are the hammer that our neighbor in the south discovered. Cameco said that this also allowed the company's market to be looked at without fear of trade action. Isaac continued, "I believe the U.S. is putting out these threats at the risk to their security of supply. This then brings me back to my initial point that this doesn't seem to be consistent with an energy-dominant strategy." Reporting by Seher dareen in Bengaluru, and Divya rajagopal in Toronto. Editing by Vijay Kishore.
Gold gains continue as Trump tariffs drive safe-haven flows
Gold prices rose on Tuesday for the second consecutive session, but they traded below their recent highs as concerns about economic growth and flows to safe havens such as bullion were fueled by uncertainty over President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs.
As of 0714 GMT, spot gold was up 0.6% to $2,913.79 per ounce. Last week, it reached a record-high of $2.942.70.
U.S. Gold Futures increased by 0.9% to $2.925.50.
Nikos Tzabouras is a senior financial writer for trading platform Tradu. He said that Trump's disruptive mode of operation, aggressive rhetoric, and tariffs (whether actual or threatened) could disrupt global trade and complex supply chains.
Gold is expected to benefit from central bank purchases and risk-off flows in the Trump 2.0 era.
Since taking office, Trump has quickly redrawn global trade battle lines with a series tariffs. Plans are in motion to impose sweeping tariffs on any country that taxes U.S. goods.
Gold continues to be supported by the uncertainty around the tariff policy of the U.S. The central bank purchases should continue, even if no new data is available on this", Commerzbank analysts wrote in a note.
The focus of the market has now shifted towards the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that are due on Wednesday, for clues about the central bank's future interest rate path.
Ricardo Evangelista is a senior analyst with brokerage firm ActivTrades. He said that "price gains are supported by the growing expectation that the Fed would cut rates in 2025 – a sentiment which gained further traction after last week's disappointed U.S. Retail Sales figures."
Bullion is a good investment because of the geopolitical and financial uncertainties as well as price pressures. However, higher interest rates reduce its appeal.
Spot silver dropped 0.9% to 32.50 cents an ounce. Platinum rose 0.9% to $985.20, and palladium increased 1.6% to $978.00.
(source: Reuters)