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Safran opens new Airbus engine assembly plant in Morocco
Officials from the French aerospace group Safran confirmed that they signed agreements with Morocco on January 29th to establish a new assembly line for Airbus Jets, and a maintenance and repair facility near Casablanca. Morocco has been encouraging investment from aerospace suppliers over the past few years in order to replicate its success in automobile manufacturing. This is done by creating hubs that will shorten supply chain and share expertise. Ross McInnes, chair of Safran, said that the company will invest 120 millions euros in the construction of an assembly line which will provide 25% or 350 LEAP-1A engine output annually. McInnes, after the signing ceremony presided by King Mohammed VI, said: "This will Safran's sole assembly line outside France. It will be finished in 2028." Safran and GE Aerospace jointly produce LEAP engines through CFM International. The LEAP-1A is a competitor with Pratt & Whitney for the Airbus A32neo while the LEAP-1B powers the Boeing 737 MAX. China's COMAC uses a third variant of the LEAP-1C for its C919. (Reporting and additional reporting by Tim Hepher, editing by Lisa Shumaker; Reporting by Ahmed El Jechtimi)
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Urals Diffs Stable Despite Low Activity
The differential between Brent and Urals crude oil dated on Monday remained unchanged due to low activity, as the majority of October cargoes were cleared. OPEC's monthly data revealed that Russian oil production increased in September by 148,000 barrels per day compared to August. This is due to the fact that world oil producers continue to increase production. PLATTS WINDOW There were no bids or offerings reported on Platts Monday for Urals, Azeri BTC Blend or CPC blend crude. * The Caspian Pipeline Consortium has increased its oil exports by 9% per day from August, to 6.6 millions metric tons or 1.75million barrels of oil per day. Data from industry sources showed that Russia's seaborne product exports dropped 17.1% from August to 7,58 million metric tonnes in September due to a decrease in fuel production, as several refineries were affected by drone attacks. (Reporting and Editing by Lisa Shumaker).
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UK stocks rise as Trump softens tone on China tariffs; gold miners shine
London's stocks ended higher on Monday led by the miners after U.S. president Donald Trump lowered his rhetoric about trade tensions with China. Worries over this had caused a sharp drop on Friday. After Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods, fears of a global trade war were reignited. Trump's tone was more conciliatory over the weekend. He posted that "it'll be fine", and that the U.S. did not intend to "hurt China". Gold broke through $4100 an ounce on Monday, and precious metal miners closed up almost 10%. Fresnillo, and Endeavour rose 9.1% and 11,3% respectively. The industrial metals miners grew by 3.1% in line with the increase in copper prices. Anglo American and Glencore, two mining giants, rose between 2% to 4.1%. This helped boost the blue-chip index. Investor sentiment improved further after Megan Greene of the Bank of England, who voted with the majority of members of the Monetary Policy Committee to keep the central rate at 4% in the last month, stated that interest rates will probably continue to fall. She warned that inflation in Britain could be slowing down. The latest round of mergers & acquisitions has lifted mid-cap shares, while the broader FTSE 250 Index is up 1.2%. Blackstone, a U.S.-based private equity firm, said that it is in the preliminary stages of considering an offer to purchase Big Yellow Group. This boosted the shares of the self storage company by 15.4%. Rival Safestore also rose 9.4% in response to the news. Tritax Big Box gained nearly 3.8% following Blackstone's agreement to purchase a 9% stake of the UK real estate trust. Tritax has agreed to purchase Blackstone's UK logistic assets for $1.39 billion. The overall real estate sector grew by 2.6%. Oxford Instruments, among other stocks, fell 7.6%. The company expects its first-half revenues to fall and said that it is unlikely the shortfall will be recovered. Reporting by Avinash and Sanchayaita in Bengaluru, Editing by Sahal Muhammad and Jan Harvey
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Airbus' supply is improving, and the Spirit deal will be closed in Q4
Airbus' suppliers have shown a marked improvement in their confidence and performance. They are all ready to help the company achieve its target to increase deliveries by 7%, to 820 jets, this year. Florent Massou Dit Labaquere is the executive vice president for operations at the European planemaker. He told reporters that they are also working towards a long-term goal to increase their production of narrow-body aircrafts from 75 per month today to 75 in 2027. Massou spoke as the largest planemaker in the world Prepare to inaugurate Mobile, Alabama will host a second assembly line in the U.S. for jets of the A320neo family later Monday. Airbus plans to expand in China as well in the coming weeks. He said that the 10 additional assembly lines will be enough to meet the production targets despite the shift in demand to the larger A321neo which takes more time to construct. Airbus announced plans in 2021 to double the production of narrow-body aircraft from 40 per month to 75 per month by 2025. The company has maintained the target, but has pushed back the date by two years because of industry-wide changes. Bottlenecks and delays Airbus, according to industry sources, struggled to convince some suppliers to increase investments in plans that might not come to fruition as targets were continually extended. Massou said that suppliers are more optimistic. He said, "I have seen a totally different picture. I've met a lot more suppliers who understand our situation and can attest to the stability in planning we experienced over the past few months." Massou stated that Airbus hopes to have the separation of Spirit AeroSystems from Boeing by the end the year. He told reporters that the deal was progressing and they expected to close it in Q4. (Reporting and editing by Tomasz Janovski and Louise Heavens.)
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Warburg Pincus will buy Germany's PSI company for more than 700 million Euros
The firms announced on Monday that private equity firm Warburg Pincus had struck a deal with German PSI Software to purchase it for over 700 million euros (811 million dollars), while shareholder and customer E.ON remains a strategic investor. First reported both the near takeover of PSI and Warburg Pincus offer for the maker software for energy network networks last week. After a Friday jump of nearly 11%, PSI shares have gained another 35% and are now trading at 44.9 Euros each - the highest since January 2022. This was close to Warburg Pincus’ offer of 45 euros per shares, which is a premium around 50% over the closing price of the company on Thursday. BERLIN HQ MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE TO BE MAINTAINED PSI, a company that makes software for power grids and gas transmission grids - the backbone of the energy infrastructure - as well as factories - has announced it is seeking funding to upgrade its products. The group was hampered for weeks last year by a cyberattack, which forced them to take down most of their IT systems, exposing the vulnerability in software supply within critical infrastructure. In 2024, PSI will have a loss of 15,2 million euros (17.6 millions dollars) before interest and tax. PSI's board said it supported the offer of its suitor and intended to recommend it to shareholders. After the close of the deal, PSI intends to withdraw from the German Stock Exchange. PSI also added that Warburg Pincus will maintain the company's current management structure, including its Berlin headquarters. E.ON STAYS KEY SHAREHOLDER Max Fowinkel, Warburg Pincus' managing director, and Ryan Dalton, its vice president, said that they believed Warburg Pincus was the best partner for PSI to help it grow in the future. PSI announced that Warburg Pincus had signed agreements with anchor shareholders for approximately 28.5% equity in PSI. In the statement, it was stated that an unnamed investor will reinvest a portion of its proceeds with Warburg Pincus in PSI's holding structures. Norman Rentrop, a German newsletter publisher and businessman, is PSI's biggest shareholder, with 23%, while E.ON, Europe’s largest energy network operator, is the second largest investor, with about 18%. The firms stated that for the purposes of the transaction E.ON would be considered to have acted jointly with Warburg Pincus. Goldman Sachs manages the sales process.
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President Serba says that Serbia will protect their interests in relation to NIS Oil Company
Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's president, said that Serbia would do all it could to protect its own interests if the U.S. imposed sanctions on Serbian-based NIS oil company, which is owned by Russia. Washington announced sanctions against NIS in January, Serbia's largest oil importer, and one of Russia’s last remaining energy assets within Europe, for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. NIS announced last week that there would be no further delays. "Our Russian Friends have understood our message." We knew their interests. We will do all we can, both tactically and strategically, to serve the interests of Serbia", said Vucic on Instagram. Vucic's post was a result of "frank, sincere and open talks" between Alexander Dyukov (CEO of NIS parent company Gazpromneft) and Pavel Sorokin, Russia's deputy minister for energy. He added that there would be no energy shortages, no shortages in crude oil or its derivatives. Vucic didn't specify what measures Serbia can take to ensure unhindered crude oil supplies. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury made a decision Thursday to reduce shipments of crude oil to the NIS refinery in Belgrade via the JANAF pipeline, which is a neighbouring country. Vucic warned last week that without deliveries NIS, Serbia's sole refinery which accounts for around 80% all of its oil products, from jet fuel to gasoline, will struggle to continue operating beyond November 1. (Reporting and editing by Aleksandar Vasovic, Susan Fenton and Joe Bavier).
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Virgin Atlantic names Koster new CEO after Weiss steps down
Virgin Atlantic announced Corneel Kster as their new CEO on Monday. The current Chief Operating Officer will be promoted to the top position in January next year, as the incumbent Shai Weiss steps down after seven years as the UK airline's leader. The company stated that Weiss decided to resign, but didn't give any reason. Koster returned to Virgin Atlantic in 2019 as its chief commercial officer after working for Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and Delta Air Lines. Between 2010 and 2013, he was Virgin Atlantic's Director of Operations and Security. Koster stated in a press release that it was an "incredible privilege" to assume the role of CEO. Koster will be appointed CEO of the company on January 1, 2026. According to Weiss' LinkedIn profile, he has been working in the Virgin Group since 2001 when he was hired as the managing director of Virgin Media. Weiss was Virgin Atlantic's Chief Financial Officer and then its Chief Commercial Officer before he became CEO in 2019. (Reporting and editing by Sarah Young, Joanna Plucinska and Susan Fenton).
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Blackstone considers a bid for Big Yellow after selling UK logistics assets worth $1.3 billion
Blackstone announced on Monday that it would sell UK logistics assets worth about $1,3 billion to Tritax Big Box for cash and a 9.9% stake. It was also weighing up a bid for UK Self-Storage firm Big Yellow. The Wall Street giant has been investing and pursuing deals in Britain and Europe. In July, the U.S. Private Equity firm, which pledged to invest in Britain 100 billion pounds over the next decade won a bid war against Tritax Big Box for logistics specialist Warehouse REIT at a price of nearly 500 million pound. Blackstone is a major player when it comes to logistics in Europe, as the boom in online shopping has increased demand for warehouses. It has agreed to transfer about 41 of the logistics assets in a larger British portfolio. However, when it acquires a 9% share it will become its largest shareholder. Tritax will pay Blackstone in cash 632 million pounds. Tritax shares rose 3% in the last few days following this news. BLACKSTONE CONSIDERES BID FOR BIGYELLOW SELF STORAGE FIRM Blackstone also said that it was considering an offer in cash for Big Yellow Group, which has a capitalisation of around 1.9 billion pounds. This boosted the shares of London-listed company by up to 22%. Big Yellow Group stated that after Blackstone’s statement, it had met a few parties to discuss options including a possible sale but had not yet received an approach. In recent years, the UK real estate market has been consolidated as rising borrowing costs have affected property values. However, some investors still believe in a recovery. Primary Health Properties, a rival firm, has acquired British healthcare real estate developer and NHS landlord Assura after a long battle with private equity company KKR.
Uber pays US car owners to change to other transportation modes for 5 weeks
Uber will pay $1,000 in credits to particular commuters in the U.S. and Canada who ditch their automobiles for five weeks in favor of public and other transport services, it said on Thursday, in its most current effort to drum up organization and help reduce emissions.
The ride-hailing and food shipment platform operator has, for numerous years, batted for the adoption of eco-friendly electric lorries and has promised $800. million to support its driver partners' shift completely to EVs by. 2040.
It has actually partnered with rental cars and truck business Hertz to. offer Tesla cars as a rental option for its chauffeurs in. the U.S. and Europe, although it is unclear how much of its. overall fleet presently makes up EVs.
Under the One Less Automobile initiative, Uber will choose approximately. 175 cars and truck owners in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Miami,. San Francisco, Toronto, and Vancouver, based on particular. eligibility, for the five-week program start 22 July.
They will get $500 in credit redeemable on the Uber app, a. $ 200 coupon for automobile leasing or carshare services and $300 for. use on alternate modes such as public transport.
A similar initiative by Uber in Australia in 2015 revealed. that commuters mainly required to strolling, biking and ride-share. after dumping their cars.
The move comes as transport operators, consisting of major U.S. airlines, expect robust traveler activity and travel this summertime.
According to Uber, the U.S. has 233 million personal. vehicles, about 80 countless which are driven less than 10. miles a day usually.
(source: Reuters)