Western Europe

Shell has chosen PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) ?as its next auditor after a ?tender process, with PwC set ?to replace ?EY from 2027, the oil major said on Friday. The Financial Reporting Council of Britain announced in December that it had launched an investigation into EY’s audit of Shell's financial statements for 2024 due to possible breaches regarding audit partner rotation rules. Shell stated in a regulatory filing from July that EY violated the rules that require accounting firms to change their lead audit partners 'every five or seven years. Shell announced that it would amend the 2023 and 2024 reports, but...

On Friday, hundreds of protesters rallied in Milan to voice their opposition to the presence of "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the 'closure of streets and schools in the 'city' ahead of the opening ceremony for the Milano Cortina Winter Games. Last week, the U.S. State Department announced that ICE and other federal agencies would assist in protecting visiting Americans. This decision sparked protests immediately in Milan. Italian authorities blocked some areas of the city and ordered that schools in central Milan remain closed on Friday to ensure security and reduce traffic disruptions. Students with signs saying "ICE...

The Olympic flame arrived at Milan's gothic giant cathedral on Thursday, amid cheers and protests on the eve before the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Winter Games. Nicoletta Mani, a 'leading 'ballet dancer from the nearby La Scala Theatre, carried the torch to a platform under the cathedral, where it was lit a brazier. The majority of people who packed the Piazza del Duomo, or Cathedral Square in the light rain cheered and took photos on their smartphones as the torch passed. The torch was brought to the square through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. In solidarity with Gazans, a...

The Italian tyremaker Pirelli has said that it opposes any spin-off of its 'cyber tyre' activities. This was in response to a proposal put forward by Sinochem, a Chinese shareholder, to settle a governance issue. Directors are against "any project or initiative that might lead to any form of compartmentalization, separation and/or segregation, even only partially, and of any nature," ?Pirelli said in a statement. It added that the board supported the position by a vote of 9-5, with five directors appointed in China voting against. Sinochem, a Beijing-controlled company, is the largest shareholder in Pirelli with a stake of...

By America Hernandez PARIS, February 5, 2019 - French oil giant?TotalEnergies signed two agreements to supply Airbus with 3.3 terawatt hours of electricity. The companies stated that this amount would cover half the sites’ power needs in the next decade. Germany and Britain are key growth markets for Total. Total is focusing on markets that have deregulated electricity markets, where it can own and build renewable assets and sell directly to clients. The company has a'strategy' that includes owning gas-fired plants and signing supply deals to provide continuous power sourced both from renewables and gas assets. These contracts, which are...

Italian nuclear startup newcleo announced on Wednesday that it had raised 75 million euros ($88.60) in a new funding round with contributions from new investors including Italian iron and steel group Danieli and Cementir Holding. The company has raised more than 105 million euro in the last 12 months. Total funding since the?2021 foundation is 645 million euros. This funding will help strengthen our research and technology infrastructure in Europe and accelerate our expansion into the United States, said newcleo CEO Stefano Buono in a press release. Buono said recently that the developer?of small modular reactors? aimed to capitalize on...

Spain's Competition Watchdog announced on Tuesday that it would impose fines of 20.5 million euro ($24.2million) on three companies within the Repsol group for what it called a "abusive margin-squeeze" strategy which harmed low-cost and independent fuel stations. The CNMC stated that Repsol had a dominant position on the wholesale market in Spain for automotive fuels sold to service stations. This has a duty to not restrict competition. The'regulator' found that Repsol increased wholesale prices to rival stations from?April until December 2022 while simultaneously reducing effective retail prices for its own network of stations - mainly truckers. Repsol said that...

Greenpeace, an environmental advocacy group, has called for Winter Olympics organizers to end their partnership with Italian oil giant Eni. The group's fossil fuel operations are a threat to efforts to protect sports that depend on snow as the climate heats up. Eni, a state-controlled company, is one of the major sponsors for these Games. Environmental groups claim that Eni's operations contribute to global warming by accelerating the loss in?natural snow coverage and glacier mass of the Alps, and other winter sports areas. Greenpeace stated that the Winter Olympics "needs snow, not fossil-fuels" in a video which showed an avalanche?of...

Pope Leo expressed his concern about the rising tensions between Cuba and the United States on Sunday, and called for a "sincere and effective dialog" to prevent violence and further suffering of the Cuban people. Last week, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that tariffs would be placed on imports of oil from countries that provide Cuba. This is a way to increase the pressure?on Washington's old enemy after ousting Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January, who was a key ally for Cuba. Trump claimed that the tariff threat was necessary to protect the "U.S. National security and foreign policies from...

Investors became cautious in anticipation of the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate announcement, and UK blue-chips index fell on Wednesday. It was weighed down by banks and healthcare companies, as it missed a 'tech-led rally' that had boosted Wall Street's indexes. The FTSE closed down by 0.5% while the domestically focused FTSE 250 ended little changed. Axel Rudolph is a senior financial analyst with IG. He said that there was a shift away from European and U.K. stock to U.S. tech stocks before earnings, which weighed down the FTSE 100. The FTSE 100 is a relatively smaller technology share compared...

The oil prices rose on Wednesday, as supply concerns remained after a winter storm that disrupted U.S. crude exports and production. Middle?East tensions also contributed to the increase. Brent crude futures increased 11 cents or 0.2% to $67.68 per barrel at 0725 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 19 cents or 0.3% to $62.58 per barrel. Both benchmarks rose by about 3% Tuesday. Analysts and traders estimated that the storm had caused the U.S. to lose up to 2,000,000 barrels of oil per day, or 15% of the nation's output, over the weekend. Ship tracking service Vortexa reported that...

On Wednesday, oil prices were mixed. Brent was down slightly while the U.S. contract edged higher. Supply concerns increased after a winter storm disrupted production and stopped Gulf Coast exports at the weekend. Brent crude futures dropped 6 cents or 0.1% to $67.51 a 'barrel' by 0122 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude rose 4 cents or 0.1% to $62.43 a 'barrel. Both benchmarks rose by about 3% Tuesday. Analysts and traders estimate that U.S. oil producers lost as much as 2 million barrels of crude oil per day, or 15%, over the weekend due to the storm straining the?energy...

Australian Rio Tinto shareholders have welcomed the decision of the mining giant to end merger discussions with Glencore. They said that now it is up to the company's new strategy, which they had placed so much emphasis on. The proposed merger, first announced in January, was intended to create the largest mining company with a value of more than $200 billion. Rio announced on Thursday that the two companies were unable to reach a deal which would have provided shareholders with enough value. Rio's investors feared that the miner could overpay Glencore to make a deal. Sources said that Glencore...

The price of copper fell again on Thursday as rising stocks and a stronger dollar weighed down the prices. As of 1731 GMT, the benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was down 1% to $12,917.50 a metric ton. Copper fell by as much as 2 percent to $12,783 earlier this week. Industrial metals also joined the broader sell-off across all asset classes. Silver, for example, lost around 13% due to a stronger dollar and an easing of U.S. China trade tensions. Dollar-denominated commodities become more expensive to holders of currencies other than the dollar. LME copper stocks...

Pandora has switched to platinum-plated items to reduce its exposure to the wild swings of the silver market. This comes after a speculative frenzy drove the metal's prices to record highs over the last year. Silver's sharp movements have become a major factor in the share price of the Danish company. Last week's drop in the metal sparked a surge in the stock. In an interview, CEO Berta De Pablos Barbier said: "We must decouple the performance of the company from the value of its shares." "We are not a trader of silver, we are a jewellery company." Pandora's most...

ArcelorMittal reported a fourth-quarter core income that was above the?market?forecasts, on Thursday. The company expects lower imports of steel into Europe to help restore profitability for its mills in Europe. In the first hour of trading, its shares rose by more than 3% and reached their highest level since August 2011. Since the beginning of the year, they have gained about 25%. According to LSEG, the multinational group headquartered in Luxembourg posted earnings of $1.59bn for the quarter. This was higher than analysts' estimates of $1.51bn. EU MEASURES ARE A BONUS?FOR DOMESTIC INDUSTRIES Even though global trade volatility hurt visibility...

The prices of commodities such as crude oil, silver, and gold, all fell on Thursday after the leaders of China, the United States, and Iran spoke by phone. Investors reduced their positions due to a stronger dollar in which commodities are priced. Silver fell almost 15%, while gold, crude and copper dropped about 2%. Tony Sycamore is an analyst at broker IG. He said, "We have seen extreme volatility this week in precious metals, other commodities, and we are now experiencing some aftershocks." He added that "talks between Iran and United States seem to be on track again, which has...

Maas Group, an Australian company, announced on Thursday that it would be selling its building materials division up to A$1.70billion ($1.19billion) in order to pivot to artificial intelligence infrastructure. This caused its shares to drop by more than 26%. Maas Group is selling its Construction Materials (CM), a?unit, to Heidelberg Materials' local subsidiary, HMA. It will also invest A$100m in Nvidia AI infrastructure?firm Firmus Group, for a 1.7% share. The conglomerate was founded by former rugby player Wes Maas over 20 years ago. It is now selling an unit that generated approximately half of the A$219 millions in core operating...

The copper price fell on Wednesday as traders downplayed Chinese plans to increase strategic reserves. This was due to a stronger dollar, and a rise in metal availability at the?exchange. Benchmark three-month Copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 3% to $13,065.50 per metric tonne by 1700 GMT. It was just above the 21 day moving average which provides technical support at $13,048. Since speculators began buying gold and silver in greater quantities, copper has dropped 10%. This is despite analysts warnings about weak demand, increasing stockpiles, and the possibility of higher supplies. Anant Jatia, an investment manager who specialises...

Tianqi Lithium Corp announced on Wednesday that it would raise approximately HK$5,86 billion ($750m)?via a convertible bond and share placement, and hoped to sell a?small stake?in Chilean'miner SQM?to bolster liquidity. The Chinese lithium producer listed on the Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock exchange announced that it had struck a deal with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to issue 65,000,000 new H shares for HK$45.05 per share, or a discount equivalent to 9% of Tuesday's closing HK$49.50. This is worth approximately HK$2.9billion. Tianqi has also entered into a'subscription agreement' for 2.6 billion yuan ($375m) in zero-coupon convertible bonds due February 9, 2027. These...

Francois-Henri Pinault might not have gotten as much as he wanted last week when he sold the controlling stake of his family in Puma, to China's Anta, for $1.8 billion. According to two sources familiar with the matter, there was a "anti-embarrassment clause" in the agreement that sealed the deal. Artemis, Pinault's family company, initially reacted with a cold reception to Anta's cash offer of 35 euros per share for the 29% stake. However, one source said that the Hong Kong listed company agreed to pay more if an even higher offer was made. Hong Kong Stock Exchange filings reveal...

T&E, an advocacy group for clean transport, said that electric vehicles could make up as much as 85% of all new car sales by 2035. This is based on the EU's plans to lift its 'effective ban' on new combustion engine models. However, this % share may drop to as little as 50%. In December, under pressure from automakers, the European Commission proposed that CO2 emissions be reduced by 90% in 2035 compared to 2021, rather than zero, for all new cars and vans. T&E criticised the EU for its biggest retreat from green policies in years. The proposals would...

A Trump administration official who is familiar with the plan revealed that President Donald Trump will launch a?strategic critical minerals stockpile? with $12 billion of seed money from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The investment is a 'last ditch effort by Washington to counter what they perceive as Chinese price manipulation for minerals such as lithium, nickel, and rare earths, which are vital to items like electric vehicles, high-tech weapons, and many other products. Bloomberg News reported that the project, Project Vault will combine private financing with a $10 Billion loan from the EXIM Bank in order to stockpile minerals for...

Greenland's Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen warned Monday that despite the fact that Donald Trump, U.S. president has disclaimed military force, Washington is still attempting to gain control of the Arctic island. Trump increased his calls for U.S. sovereignty over Greenland in the beginning of the year. He cited national security concerns relating to Russia and China. Some European NATO allies defended Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland, and said Trump’s pressure threatened the NATO alliance. Since then, the U.S. President has backed away from threats of violence and claimed that he secured U.S. total access to Greenland through a NATO deal....