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Seven & i: founding family unable of securing funding for $58 billion purchase
Seven & I Holdings, a Japanese company, said that the Ito family's founders could not secure financing for a management buyout of $58 billion. It would instead consider a competing offer from Alimentation Couche-Tard in Canada. 7&i said that it was not able to take action on any proposal made by Mr. Junro Ito or Ito-Kogyo at this point. "7&i is committed to exploring every opportunity to unlock value for its shareholders. We continue to evaluate a range of strategic options, including Alimentation Couche-Tard's proposal." Itochu announced in a press release that it no longer considered participating in the Seven & I founder family's proposed buyout. The failure of this management buyout increases the likelihood that Couche-Tard will pull off a massive acquisition of 7-Eleven, one of Japan's most popular and well-known retailers. Seven & i shares fell 12% while Itochu's rose more than 6% on Thursday morning in Tokyo after the retailer confirmed a Yomiuri report that they were abandoning the management buyout. The $47 billion bid by Circle K convenience store owner Couche-Tard for Seven & I in recent years is one of many examples of international interest in Japanese assets. A return to deflation, and a deepening of corporate governance reforms, have attracted more investors into a market that was once considered untouchable by foreigners. A spokesperson from the Canadian retailer stated on Wednesday that Couche-Tard remained dedicated to achieving a transaction that was mutually beneficial for both parties. Seven & i’s founding family began talks after receiving a takeover offer from Couche-Tard in the past year. If successful, it would have been the biggest management buyout ever in history. Couche-Tard initially offered $38.5 billion but increased it to $47.4 billion when Seven & I refused the bid. (Reporting and editing by Leslie Adler, Jamie Freed and Leslie Adler; Additional reporting and editing by Mariko Katsuyama and Kantaro Sugiyama)
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Panama delays Cobre Panama copper mine decision pending social security reform
After a meeting, a Cobre Panama supplier said that the Panamanian President Jose Mulino would only make a decision about the future of the mine once he had resolved the issue of social security in the country. Abel Oliveros is among a group that met Mulino in this week's meeting to discuss a possible resolution to the public protests which led to the closing of the mine. The president's office did not respond immediately to a comment request. The government has ordered the closure of the Cobre Panama copper mine owned by Canadian miner First Quantum. This mine was once the largest and the newest in the world. It closed after protests over environmental issues and a ruling from a court. Even though the company has filed an arbitration seeking damages in excess of $30 billion, the government is yet to make a decision on the future of this mine. First Quantum said that arbitration was its last option, and they would rather resolve the dispute by finding a solution and reopening the mine. Before a decision is made on the mine, the government must approve the preservation plan and safety management plan which would allow First Quantum the export of 120,000 tons copper concentrate stuck in the mine. Copper prices could be affected by the release of this copper. Mulino, who took over in 2024 said that his first priority would be to pass a reform of social security and he'd make a decision about the mine during the first quarter in 2025. In the Panamanian Assembly, three rounds of discussion are required to reform. However, only one has been held. Oliver said that Oliver wanted to leave the Social Security Fund. After he did, he would bring up the topic of the mine. Oliver said that "there is no way to know how they will do things." A senior executive from Cobre Panama said on Tuesday that the company is willing to share royalties with the Panamanian government. Next week, Panama will hold a carnival where the majority of official work is suspended. Reporting by Elida Mehro and Divyarajagopal from Panama City. Editing by Lincoln Feast.
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Musk announces more cuts during cabinet meeting
Elon Musk, the downsizing czar at Trump's inaugural cabinet meeting, vowed to continue to cut spending. A new memo from the administration instructed agencies to submit by March 13, plans for a "significant" reduction in staffing. The federal workforce was already feeling the effects of Musk's wave of layoffs, and cuts to programs. The memo did not specify the number of layoffs desired. The memo was signed by White House Budget Director Russell Vought, and Office of Personnel Management Acting Head Charles Ezell. It represents a major step in Trump and Musk’s campaign to reduce the size of U.S. Government. So far, layoffs have primarily targeted probationary workers. These workers have less experience in their current positions and have fewer protections. Next, the vastly larger pool of experienced civil servants would be targeted. Trump announced at the cabinet meeting that Lee Zeldin will be the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Cut to 65% More than 15,000 of his employees. A source in the Interior Department told U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs are preparing for staff reductions of 10% to 40%. Since Trump's election, 100,000 civilian federal employees have been terminated or bought out. Musk was invited to a cabinet meeting by Trump, who gave him a remarkable sign of support. He asked Musk to talk about his Department of Government Efficiency which oversees the overhaul. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, wearing a "Make America Great Again", black baseball cap, and a "tech support" T-shirt in front of cabinet secretaries, expressed his confidence that he could cut the $6.7 trillion annual budget by $1 trillion. This extremely ambitious goal would probably mean significant disruptions to government programs. Musk stated that "the country would go de facto bankruptcy" without such deep cuts in spending. Trump also signed an executive directive on Wednesday directing agencies and DOGE to review all "unnecessary contracts" and terminate them. He also instructed the General Services Administration (which manages government real estate) to develop a plan to dispose of any unwanted property. Trump and Musk are yet to slow down the pace of spending. According to an analysis, the government has spent 13% extra during Trump's first full month in office compared to the same period last year. This is largely because of higher interest payments and the rising costs for health and retirement incurred by a growing population. Trump reiterated that he would not cut popular retirement and health benefits, which account for almost half the budget. Trump said, "We won't touch it." Trump wants Congress to extend his 2017 tax cuts. These are the most important legislative achievements of his first term and will expire by the end of the year. According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the 2017 tax cuts increased the debt of the country by $2.5 trillion -- it is now at $36 trillion. The report estimated that the extension of tax cuts would cost over $5 trillion in a decade. Republicans are considering cuts in food and healthcare aid to the poor as a way to pay for tax cuts. Specifics have yet to be revealed. TRUMP SAID SOME WORKERS WERE 'ON THE BUBBLE' Musk warned that if the demand was not met, the federal employees would be terminated. Some agencies instructed employees to ignore the order, causing confusion for days about whether Musk or Trump would be able to make good on their threat. Musk, the richest man in the world, said that his email was a way to check if government salaries were actually going to workers. He said without supplying any evidence that "we think there are some people on the payroll of the government who are dead". Trump said that workers who didn't respond to Musk’s email could lose their jobs. He used a slang expression to describe a situation with an uncertain outcome. Trump and Musk’s unprecedented government overhaul also froze foreign aid, disrupted scientific research and construction projects. According to a source briefed about the issue, the GSA (also known as the landlord of the government) plans to cancel 1,100 office leases by the end the year. The person stated that the terminations would target "soft-term" leases which no longer have cancellation penalties and are easily terminable. The GSA oversees approximately 2,800 "soft-term" leases and thousands of "firm-term", leases which cannot be terminated without cause. (Additional reporting from Nathan Layne; editing by Ross Colvin and Deepa Babington)
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Morocco, a country suffering from drought, asks its citizens to refrain from slaughtering sheep during Eid al-Adha
The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, asked Moroccans to refrain from slaughtering sheep this Eid al-Adha due to the decline in the herd after years of drought. Eid al-Adha is a celebration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son at God's will. It takes place in June. Muslims celebrate the occasion by killing sheep or goats. The meat is then shared with family members and donated to the needy. According to official statistics, the Moroccan cattle and sheep herds will have declined by 38% between 2025 and 2009 due to successive droughts. The King stated in a letter that was read by his religious affairs minister Ahmed Taoufiq to state television Al Oula, "We are committed to helping you fulfill this religious ritual in the best possible conditions. However, we must also consider the economic and climatic challenges our country faces. These have resulted in a significant decrease in livestock numbers." The King, the supreme religious leader of Morocco, said that performing the rite under these circumstances would cause harm to a large segment of our population, particularly those with low income. This year's rainfall was 53% less than average for the past 30 years. The result is a shortage of pastures to feed livestock. The meat production has decreased, resulting in higher prices on the local market, and increased imports of red meat, live cattle and sheep. Recently, the country signed an agreement to import 100,000 sheep from Australia. Morocco's 2025 budget suspended import duties on cattle, sheep and camels, as well as a value added tax, to maintain prices in the domestic market. (Reporting and editing by Richard Chang; Ahmed Eljechtimi)
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Nvidia's AI boom is not dead yet
Nvidia announced higher revenue for the first quarter on Wednesday. The company said that orders for its Blackwell semiconductors are "amazing" and cited continued demand for artificial-intelligence chips. The company's projection helps to allay any doubts about a slowdown on spending for its hardware, which emerged last month after Chinese AI startup DeepSeek claimed that it had developed AI rivaling Western competitors at a fraction the cost. Nvidia’s forecast for gross margins in the current quarter is slightly lower than expected. However, the Blackwell chip rampup has a negative impact on Nvidia’s profit. Nvidia predicted first-quarter gross profit margins would fall to 71%. This is below the 72.2% Wall Street forecast, according to LSEG data. After closing 3.7% higher in regular trading, its shares gained 1% during choppy extended trades. Nvidia shares have risen more than 400% in the past two years, making it the largest beneficiary of the rally among AI-related stocks. Jensen Huang, CEO of Blackwell, said in a press release that the demand for Blackwell was "amazing". "We have successfully scaled up massive production of Blackwell AI Supercomputers and achieved billions in sales in the first quarter." Colette Kress, Nvidia’s Chief Financial officer, said that the Santa Clara-based company had generated $11 billion in revenue in the fourth-quarter from Blackwell-related products. This was about 50% of Nvidia’s total data center revenue. According to LSEG, the company is expecting revenue of $43 billion plus or minus 2% in the first quarter. This compares with an average analyst estimate of $41.78billion. Third Bridge analyst Lucas Keh, who is referring to the large cloud computing companies, said that despite DeepSeek's breakthroughs, Nvidia seems to be continuing its momentum with Hyperscalers. Chinese companies are increasing orders for Nvidia H20 AI chips due to the booming demand for DeepSeek AI's low cost model, according to reports on Monday. As companies compete to be the leaders in this new technology, the demand for Nvidia advanced chips has increased. These chips can process large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. Generative artificial intelligence is a form of artificial intelligent that can improve with time and learn from data. John Belton said that the forecast was "a positive read on AI demand and investment cycles." Wall Street's optimism has waned in the shadow of DeepSeek’s innovations, which could fuel the AI rally that is sputtering. Nvidia's adjusted profit per share was 89 cents. This compares to estimates of 84. Revenues for the fourth quarter increased 78%, to $39.3 Billion. This was higher than expected at $38.04 Billion. The data-center segment, where Nvidia generates most of its revenue, saw sales grow 93% in the quarter ending January 26 to $35.6 billion, above the estimated $33.59 billion. In the previous quarter, this segment had grown by 112%. Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco and Stephen Nellis, Arsheeya Bajiwa in Bengaluru. Editing by Shounak dasgupta and Rod Nickel.
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FirstEnergy forecasts downbeat 2025 earnings, misses quarterly profit estimates
FirstEnergy has forecast lower earnings for the current financial year, after it missed Wall Street expectations for its fourth-quarter profits on Wednesday due to mild weather. In extended trading, shares of the company fell 3.2% to $41.69. FirstEnergy reported that heating degree days, an indicator of the energy demand for heating in space, were 10% lower than normal. This had a negative impact on the results from the quarters October-December compared to a year ago. Utility now expects a current-year profit of between $2.4 and $2.6, below Wall Street's estimates of $2.89 a share. Capital expenditures for this year are expected to reach $5 billion. This is about 11% more than the previous year. FirstEnergy serves approximately 6 million customers through its three segments: distribution, integrated and stand-alone Transmission. These areas include Ohio, Pennsylvania New Jersey West Virginia and Maryland. However, the Akron-based company reported a net profit of $261 millions in the third quarter. This was up 49% compared to a year ago, thanks to higher electricity rates. According to LSEG, the company reported an adjusted profit per share of 61 cents for the quarter that ended on December 31. This was below Wall Street expectations of 70 cents. Reporting by Tanay in Bengaluru, and editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi
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Trump: EPA chief to reduce workforce by 65%
The U.S. president Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin plans to reduce 65% of the agency's staff. This was a surprising move for agency employees. Elon Musk, Trump's downsizing czar, announced that he would act quickly to reduce federal spending. Trump stated, "I spoke to Lee Zeldin and he believes he will be cutting 65 percent or more of the environmental workers." "We're also going to accelerate the process at the same." The EPA didn't specify the details of Trump's potential workforce reduction figure, but stated that the agency was focused on cutting federal grant, "reassessing its real estate footprint" and "delivering organization improvements to the personnel system." An EPA spokesperson stated that "President Trump, and EPA Administrator Zeldin, are working together to create a more effective and efficient federal government." The news of Trump's 65% target caught the agency staff by surprise. Their union leadership said they had not received any advance notice of the desired reductions. Joyce Howell is the executive vice president of AFGE Council 238 which represents EPA employees. She said that Mr. Zeldin pledged to 'enthusiastically uphold' the EPA mission and support career staff members who are dedicated to the mission. Which is it?" Which is it? The EPA has terminated almost 400 probationary employees, and placed about 200 others on leave. These employees worked on environmental justice issues within the agency. A memo issued ahead of the Cabinet meeting called for "significant reductions" but did no specify how many workers would be laid off. This was in addition to the 100,000 civilian federal employees who had already been terminated or bought out. The unprecedented government reform has fired over 20,000 employees, frozen foreign aid and disrupted scientific research and construction projects, but it hasn't slowed down spending yet.
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Expand Energy's profit beats expectations for the fourth quarter on higher production and prices
Expand Energy, a U.S. natural-gas producer, surpassed its fourth-quarter profit expectations on Wednesday after a slight rise in gas prices. The natural gas price rose during the first quarter of this year, reaching a record high. This was due to an increase in gas flow to export plants for liquefied gas. Prices were also boosted by the forecast of continued cold weather in January which increased heating demands. The Oklahoma City company that acquired Southwestern for $7.3 billion and became the largest independent U.S. natural gas producer reported a fourth-quarter production rate of 6.41 billion cubic foot equivalent per day (bcfepd), nearly double what it was last year. The average realized gas price increased by 1.4%, to $2.91 per 1,000 cubic feet. Expand Energy plans to invest $2.7 billion in order to produce 7.1 bcfepd this year. It also intends to operate 12 rigs. As artificial intelligence data centres continue to increase energy demand in the U.S., natural gas producers will benefit. Expand Energy has also announced that it will increase its target for 2025 synergies by $175,000,000 to approximately $400,000,000. Separately it announced that it would allocate approximately $500 million for net debt reduction. The natgas manufacturer now expects capital spending of around $3 billion this year, which is above the Wall Street estimate of $2 billion. According to LSEG, the company reported an adjusted net profit of 55 cents a share for the three-month period ended December 31. This was higher than the 48 cents analysts expected per share. Reporting by Tanay in Bengaluru, and editing by Alan Barona
CRH, a building materials manufacturer, forecasts continued profit growth in 2024 after a 12% increase in 2024
CRH projected core profit growth between 6% and 12% by 2025, after the largest building material producer in Europe and the United States posted 12% growth in 2024 due to strong non-residential and infrastructure activity.
The Irish-based U.S. listed firm stated that it does not expect any slowdown in these two segments in North America where it earns about 75% its profit. Similar trends are evident in Europe, as well as some signs of residential improvement.
CRH has benefited from an increase in capital expenditure in the U.S. that is still affecting projects. Jim Mintern, the new CEO of CRH, said he expects this to continue under Trump's administration.
"The new Secretary for Transport, Secretary (Sean Duffy), has come out and said he wants big infrastructure built and he also wants to remove some bureaucracy. Mintern said: "We're happy to see this."
Mintern, who took over the role of Chief Financial Officer at the end last year, stated that CRH did not assume any impact of potential tariffs when it came to its 2025 forecast, as its heavy products rarely cross border.
He said that the rise of global protectionist policies in trade could provide a boost to "reshoring", or the relocation of manufacturing facilities like data centres, pharmaceutical factories and chip factories.
This trend has been a boon to CRH as well, who are currently working with Intel, Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology.
CRH anticipates a full-year adjusted EBITDA of $7.7 to $7.3 billion by 2025, up from the $6.9 billion it achieved in 2024.
CRH's record earnings for the last quarter fell within the range that was previously predicted in November, which ranged from $6.87 to $6.97 Billion.
The industrial giant's full-year revenue rose by 2%, to $35.6 billion. Its EBITDA margin increased 180 basis points, to 19.5%. This is the 11th consecutive year that the EBITDA has increased. (Reporting and editing by Lisa Shumaker, Jamie Freed and Padraic Halpin)
(source: Reuters)