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Belgian National Strike disrupts Schools, Flights and Public Transport
On Wednesday, the third and final day in a Belgian national strike, most flights were grounded at Brussels Airport. Public transport was also disrupted. The latest protest against the coalition led by Prime Minister Bart De Wever is the strike organised by the main unions in the country. Demonstrators are against the proposed reforms to the labour market and pensions by the government. Brussels Airport has cancelled 110 outgoing flights and all 203 planned inbound flights. Charleroi Airport, Belgium's second largest airport, said on its website it expected a significant amount of disruptions due to staff shortages. It would also be unable guarantee scheduled landings or takeoffs. Local media reported the final day would be the most disruptive, with disruptions to schools, public transportation, and private sector. On Wednesday, a protest will be held in Brussels. Around 80,000 people attended a similar protest in October. The socialist union ABVV-FGTB posted a statement on its website that said, "The budget message of the De Wever Government is harsh: Work longer and harder to get less security in terms of pensions and health care and less purchasing power." Gert Truyens of the ACLVB, the liberal union in Belgium, said to the Belgian broadcaster VRT that he regretted the fact that the national government had not consulted the unions. Truyens stated that "agreements aren't made on the street at picket lines, they happen at the negotiation table. But you have to be given a chance." The strike will still take place despite the fact that the government has reached a budget agreement for next year after months of intense negotiations. The government is planning to increase taxes on airline tickets, natural gas and bank deposits. This, along with spending cuts, should reduce the deficit of the government by 9,2 billion euros (10.6 billion dollars) by 2029. According to the central banks, the budget deficit for the sixth largest economy in the eurozone is expected to reach 4.5% of its gross domestic product, and the debt will be 104.7%. This is well above the EU budget rules' maximum limit. (Reporting and editing by Alison Williams; Additional reporting by Alessandro Parodi)
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Safran France expects India's annual revenue to triple, to more than $3 billion by 2030
Safran, a French aerospace company, said Wednesday that it expects the annual revenue of India, which is the fastest-growing aviation market in terms of growth, to triple by 2030 to reach more than 3 billion Euros ($3.48 billion). Safran CEO Olivier Andries announced in a press release that half of this revenue would be generated in India by the company's facilities. The announcement was made at the opening of a LEAP engine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), shop in Hyderabad, a southern Indian city. The facility is expected to become operational in 2019. Safran, a co-producer of LEAP engines, with GE Aerospace, through their CFM International joint venture, reported a revenue of 27,32 billion euros by 2024. The LEAP-1A is a competitor to Pratt & Whitney for the Airbus A320neo while the LEAP-1B powers the Boeing 737 MAX as the sole engine. Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, said that he met with the Safran Board. The Indian Prime Minister asked Safran to consider setting up design facilities for aircraft engines and components in India, as part of a larger push by his government. Indian airlines have ordered more than 1,500 new planes, increasing the demand for maintenance and repairs. Modi stated that 85% of the current maintenance and repair work is done by facilities located outside India, which increases costs and turnaround times.
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Tesla CEO Musk claims Austin robotaxi fleet will double in the next year
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, said on Tuesday the number of robotaxis will double in Austin, Texas in December. This follows the launch of the company's self-driving services in the city back in June. Musk wrote in a blog post for X that the Tesla Robotaxi fleet should double in Austin next month. Tesla does not disclose how many robotaxis it operates. Tesla's robotaxi is currently available in Austin and San Francisco Bay Area. Safety monitors are still required on the vehicles. Last week, the company also received a license to operate a ride hailing service in Arizona. Musk stated in October that robotaxis will be operating without safety drivers in large areas of Austin by the end the year. He said that he expects Tesla robotaxis will serve half of the U.S. populace by the end of this year. The robotaxi industry is on the rebound after years of broken promises, company closures, and tight regulations.
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Chapecoense returns to Serie A after nine years of tragedy
Chapecoense, which was promoted to Brazil's top division Serie A last Monday, had fans swarming the pitch. This marked their return to this elite competition after nine years of an airplane crash that killed the majority of the players and staff. Chapecoense, relegated to the lower leagues in 2021, regained their top-flight status with a 1-0 victory over Atletico Goianiense. In November 2016, the small-town team made headlines when their plane crashed on its way to Colombia for Copa Sudamericana Final, killing 71 out of 77 passengers. This included most of the players and staff. After the accident, the club recovered rapidly and maintained top-flight status for 2017 and 2018. The club's performance deteriorated in the following seasons, resulting in relegation in 2019 and 2020. Chapecoense was promoted to Serie A from Serie B in 2013. They stayed in the top flight for six years and will be able to regain their place in 2020, after winning Serie B. This is the eighth Serie A campaign in the club's long history. (Reporting and editing by Thomas Derpinghaus in Bengaluru, Suramya kaushik)
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FAA probes Amazon after delivery drone snaps internet cable in Texas, CNBC reports
CNBC reported Tuesday that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation into Amazon after one its delivery drones damaged a cable in central Texas, last week. The spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), who was quoted by CNBC, said this. CNBC was informed by the e-commerce giant that the incident occurred after the drone clipped the internet cable. The drone then performed a safe contingent landing. The network reviewed video footage of one of Amazon's MK30 Drones as it was ascending out of a customer yard. One of the six propellers got entangled with a utility wire. The motors of the drone were shut off, which led to a controlled descent. The National Transportation Safety Board said that it was not conducting an investigation into the incident. Amazon and FAA didn't immediately respond to requests for comments. The NTSB and FAA announced in October they would be investigating a separate incident in which two Amazon Prime Air drones had collided in Arizona with a crane's boom. Amazon began delivering prescription medication by drones to College Station, Texas customers in 2023 in partnership with Amazon Pharmacy. By the year 2030, the e-commerce company aims to deliver 500 million packages per annum by drone.
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Shares of Workday fall after a lukewarm quarter subscription revenue
Workday's third-quarter subscription revenues were in line with Wall Street expectations on Tuesday. This signaled a softer market and sent its shares down by nearly 7% during extended trading. A sluggish higher education market, which heavily relies on federal funding, also affected the forecast for subscription revenue in the fourth quarter of this human resources software provider. Workday is a payroll provider that competes with Oracle and SAP. Customers include United Airlines, Visa, and FedEx. Some customers, in an uncertain economic climate, are reassessing their budgets and timing. They may also reduce spending on Workday. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the company anticipates fourth-quarter revenue from subscriptions of approximately $2.36 billion. This compares with an average analyst estimate of $2.35billion. The company's third-quarter revenue increased 12.6%, to $2.43 Billion, slightly exceeding the estimates of $2.42 Billion. The quarter ended October 31 saw subscription revenue rise 14.6%, to $2.24 Billion. This was in line with expectations. The company reported a profit per share adjusted of $2.32, which was higher than the estimate of $2.18. (Reporting and editing by Jaspreet in Bengaluru, Alan Barona).
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Zscaler exceeds its quarterly forecasts on the strength of cybersecurity demand
Zscaler's cloud-based security solutions and strong demand for them drove the company to beat Wall Street expectations for revenue and profit for its quarter on Thursday. As digital threats became more sophisticated, enterprise spending on cyber-protection solutions increased. Zscaler’s flexible buying program helped it to sign multi-year platform agreements with larger enterprise clients. The company has also raised its revenue outlook for the full year to approximately $3.28 to $3.30 Billion, up from its previous forecast of $3.27 to $3.28 Billion. The company now anticipates a fiscal 2026 adjusted earning per share between $3.78 and $3.82 compared to the previous forecast of $3.64 - $3.68. The shares of the company fell by more than 7% during extended trading, despite a rise of nearly 61% in this year. RBC analysts stated in a report that, although the company raised its annual revenue forecasts by a small amount compared to the revenue growth in the first quarter. Zscaler's revenue jumped 26% to $788.1M in the first quarter ending October 31. This was higher than analysts' estimates of $773.8M, according to LSEG data. The adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter was 96 cents, which is above expectations of 86 cents. Palo Alto Networks, a larger competitor, also increased its annual revenue forecasts last week and reported a rise in the first quarter. Zscaler competes primarily in the market for secure access service edges (SASE), which combines network and security into one platform that connects users, devices, and applications anywhere. SASE is one the fastest growing segments in cybersecurity, as cloud adoption and artificial intelligence continue to transform network architectures.
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Ackman's Pershing Square aims for $5 billion IPO of closed-end funds
Two people with knowledge of the matter say that hedge fund manager Bill Ackman plans to raise $5 billion to launch a closed-end U.S. fund at the same time as he plans on listing his hedge fund company, Pershing Square Capital Management. The billionaire investor who has cemented his reputation of an activist investor through his advocacy for companies such as Chipotle Mexican Restaurant and the railroad Canadian Pacific, now known as Canadian Pacific Kansas City is starting his new fund after years. He plans to give investors a share in his hedge fund. The closed-end funds, which were first prepared to be listed last year, are expected to mirror Ackman's hedge fund while offering lower fees and faster access to capital. The fund would appeal to a wider pool of investors including pension funds and endowments, as well as retail investors. Sources said that the initial public offerings of Pershing Square Capital Management and the closed-end funds could both happen early in 2026. Bloomberg News was the first to report on the target fundraising goal. The people who were not allowed to talk about the plans privately said that investors in the new fund will also get free shares of Pershing Square. People warned that plans are still being discussed, and they could change depending on the market conditions. Pershing Square's spokesman declined to comment. Ackman began laying the foundations for the closed-end funds in early 2024. However, he cancelled the launch of Pershing Square USA on July 20, 2024 a few days before the fund was scheduled to start trading at the New York Stock Exchange. After initial reports from people who were familiar with the situation suggested that the fund could raise up to $25 billion, he has reduced the size of his plans for the initial public offering several times. This would make it one of the largest IPOs ever. Pershing Square purchased nearly half of Howard Hughes, a real estate firm. Pershing Square has about $21 billion of assets under management. The majority is invested in Pershing Square Holdings - the closed-end London fund. The fund's returns since January have been 17.2% and double-digit returns are expected in 2024 and even 2023. Analysts and investors say that Ackman's musings have become nearly as popular as his investment skills in recent years. The fund manager's 1.8 million followers on X often share his opinions about topics such as dating advice, sugary food, political races and higher education. Reporting by Svea Autumn-Bayliss, with additional reporting from Ateev Bhhandari in Bengaluru. Editing by Arun K. Koyyur and Deepa B. Babington.
Tesla expects Indian Model Y buyers to recoup a third of the price within 4-5 years
Sharad Agarwal, India's General Manager at Tesla, said that the company expects Indians to recoup a third of the Model Y’s $67,000 price tag over the next four to five years in fuel and maintenance costs.
Tesla entered India in India in July, and its Model Y was priced about 70% more than it would be in the United States because of high taxes.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Elon Musk's firm, has said that India has the highest import tariffs in the world.
Agarwal, a representative of the Indian Automobile Association, said that Indians can save up to 2 million rupees by purchasing a Model Y, in terms both of fuel and maintenance costs.
"Plus, it has a very high resale price." He added that the cost of home charging was one tenth as much as petrol prices. $1 = 89.2575 Indian Rupees (Reporting and writing by Aditi in Delhi, Abinaya by Vijayaraghavan, Editing by Himani by Sarkar).
(source: Reuters)