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Pakistan will receive bids in a televised auction for the privatisation of PIA
The auction was held on a televised basis in Pakistan as the government tries to implement a long-delayed IMF reform. Officials said that the bids for a'majority stake' in PIA will be conducted in two phases. The first phase is a televised auction, and the second one is a public opening ceremony. This is Pakistan's 2nd attempt to sell the once-storied flag carrier. Televised bidding collapsed last year when one bidder offered a price far below that of the government. The result was the failure of what would have been Pakistan's 1st major privatisation for nearly 20 years. In an interview with digital media outlet?Nukta last week, Privatisation Minister Muhammad Ali said that three domestic bidders will be participating in Tuesday's?auction following the withdrawal of the military's Fauji Fertilizer from the process. Local media reported that the government was willing to sell up to 100% stake in PIA. Any stake above 75% would be subject to a premium of 15%. Try again The government set a price minimum of $305m for a 60% stake last year. However, only one bid was received, from Blue World City. They declined to increase their offer due to concerns about PIA's finances, and "significant leakages". At the time, officials from pre-qualified groups said they did not bid because of concerns about policy continuity, unattractive conditions and doubts over the government's capacity to honour long-term agreements, especially after Islamabad decided to renegotiate contracts with sovereign guarantees. PIA has seen its prospects?improved since then. Islamabad assumed the majority of the airline's debt. The carrier posted its first?pre tax profit in 20 years. Britain and the European Union lifted a ban on PIA that was in place for five years. Analysts and government officials said that the reopening could "substantially" increase revenues and allow for a higher value than last year's auction. The sale of the?airline is part of a larger privatisation drive under Pakistan's IMF bailout. This includes plans to sell stakes in state owned banks, power distribution firms and other loss making enterprises, as the government tries to curb fiscal deficit and restore investor trust.
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Azul, a Brazilian company, launches a share offer to raise $1.33 Billion
Brazilian airline Azul launched on Monday a 'primary share offer' to raise around 7.44 billion reais (1.33 billion dollars) to settle financial debts. The filing indicated that Azul is offering 724 billion ordinary shares and 724 billion preferential share. Azul filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at New York in May. The company wanted to reduce its debts and increase the resilience of their business to market challenges such as fluctuations in fuel prices and currency rates. A U.S. bankruptcy court judge approved the debt restructuring of the Brazilian airline earlier this month. This allowed the airline to reduce?more than 2 billion dollars in debt, and raise capital via a new equity right offering and an investment from American Airlines. Azul offers preferential shares as allotments of 10,000 at a price of 101.45 reais each, whereas ordinary shares will be sold in groups?of one million shares for a price?of 135.27 reais per group. The bookrunner for the offering is UBS BB, whose final conclusion will be ratified on January 6 by Azul's Board. Azul also offers?subscription bonuss, which can later be converted into shares, for investors who take part in the offering.
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Raychaudhuri: The rally in Indian stocks could hide a slew bargains for the end of the year
India's flagship equity indices Sensex, and Nifty 50 are at all-time records, despite outperforming their Asian counterparts. This exuberance masks another reality, however: Many stocks are currently trading at or near their 52 week lows. These "beaten-down" names could offer investors attractive year-end deals. This rally, which has seen Indian stocks rise by 9.5% this year is concentrated in a small number of companies. As of December 5, when looking at 828 Indian companies that had a market value of more than $500,000,000, 109 stocks were within 5% from their 52-week?lows, and another 139 only slightly exceeded this level. These two categories of stocks that are flagging together represent roughly twice as many large Indian companies trading near 52-week highs. In many cases, it's easy for investors to assume that these stocks are low-priced because they have good fundamentals. Earnings growth forecasts for many of these laggards are strong, their balance sheet is healthy, and the valuations remain reasonable. According to FactSet's consensus, 14 out of 109 stocks that have been beaten down are able to meet a high standard. They all have a forecasted earnings growth per share of over 10% through 2027. Four companies are worth more than $1 billion, and they include Inox Wind, HFCL (a telecommunications company), Tata Chemicals?and logistics giant Blue Dart. Blue Dart, the company with the lowest projected growth at 28%, is still a strong stock. What sank THEm? Why have they lagged behind? Investors' narrow focus and idiosyncratic issues are the main reasons for this. Inox Wind began the year with a PE of 29,6. Its July share issue, priced below market, raised concern about dilution to minority shareholders. Blue Dart was also concerned about valuation at the start of 2025 when it traded at a lofty ratio of 41 times earnings. The mood deteriorated after the government demanded additional taxes for one of its subsidiaries in September. Tata Chemicals also suffered from a fall in the price for soda ash, its main product, and an outage in its U.S. plant. HFCL disappointed investors as they started the year with a P/E of 36,4 only to have revenue drop by 24% within the first nine-months. Its owners also borrowed money, using more than 50% of their shares as collateral, which raised concerns that lenders would sell the shares if they fell any further. These issues are not insurmountable but, in an year where India lost favour with foreign investors, small concerns can have a large impact on the stock market. YEAR-END ?BARGAIN-HUNTING The artificial intelligence theme has also been a key factor in the performance of Indian stocks this year. It has taken over investor attention, to the detriment other themes and companies. During these single-theme periods, markets often misprice the stocks, which allows "weaker shares" to outperform if underlying fundamentals remain strong. In India, many companies that had been heavily liquidated in 2024 turned out to be outstanding performers in 2025. By 2024, 98 of these stocks will be trading at or close to their 52-week lows. 18 of these companies were "quality" firms, with solid balance sheets, strong earnings forecasts and growth-adjusted values. Nine of the 15 companies had market capitalisations exceeding $5 billion. They have all beaten the 9.5% returns on Indian markets this year. These companies, except for Reliance Industries, had strong earnings forecasts and their P/Es were either at or below the expected growth rates. Their 'impressive performance in the year 2025 is therefore not surprising. This pattern is unlikely to repeat itself this year, given the high level of trade tensions between India and the U.S. In addition, it is harder to find good investment opportunities in markets which have experienced a sharp rally. In reality, even in a strong stock market, it is possible to find high-quality shares whose prices are lagging behind. You just have to look hard and in the right place. You like this column? Check out Open Interest, your new essential source of global financial commentary. ROI provides data-driven, thought-provoking analysis on everything from soybeans to swap rates. The markets are changing faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X.
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Amtrak's new high-speed trains are delayed due to planning and track issues, according to a report
A Senate report released late Monday stated that the next generation of 'high-speed'?Acela trains from U.S. passenger rail Amtrak were delayed for more than four year due to issues with planning, design, and track, as well as a desire to increase speeds, which has not been realized. Ted Cruz, Republican chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, stated that Amtrak lost $287m in revenue and unplanned maintenance due to the extended use of its older Acela fleet. According to the report, the Biden administration purchased Amtrak cars in order for them to run on tracks that were not yet constructed. This was deemed an "irresponsible decision" by the committee. The Trump administration has rescinded over $4 billion for California's long delayed high-speed rail, leading California to file a lawsuit. Amtrak refused to comment immediately on the Senate report. The Senate report stated that the passenger railroad "began rolling out new trainsets" in August, but these trains are currently running at a slower pace than their predecessors. Amtrak should "prioritize procuring proven trainsets and technology that allows manufacturers to compete based on price instead of requiring idiosyncratic specifications," according to the report. It also argues for "shorter, more reliable schedules, and not marginally higher speeds." Roger Harris, Amtrak's president, said in an interview last month that it is necessary to retire older Acela trains first before the railroad can begin increasing speeds. The signaling system cannot be optimized until then. He estimated that the faster speeds would start in late 2026. Harris said that the speed would only be marginally higher due to the curvature of certain railroad bridges along the Boston-Washington corridor. Amtrak achieved a record in?November for revenue and ridership, while cutting losses by 15%, to $598 millions. It aims at operational profitability by the year 2028. Amtrak is planning to replace regional trains next year, and it's now looking at new trains for long distance service. Amtrak received $22 billion of the $66 billion allocated by Congress for rail projects. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Stephen Coates, and David Shepardson from Washington)
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California investigates incidents of Waymo robotaxis stalling after San Francisco power failure
Top California regulators are investigating incidents where 'robotaxis' from Alphabet Unit Waymo stopped in certain parts of San Francisco on Saturday due to a power outage which caused gridlock and snarled the traffic. Waymo paused its service on Saturday night following a fire that broke out at a PG&E power substation, knocking out electricity to about one-third the city. This affected approximately 130,000 people and forced some businesses to temporarily close. Social media posts showed multiple videos of a?Waymo roboticaxis at intersections, with the hazard light on because traffic lights had stopped working. The?incident raised concerns about the unforeseen situations which can arise as autonomous vehicle operators race to deploy driverless?taxis throughout the U.S. Waymo has a fleet that includes more than 2,500 cars in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. It also operates in Metro Phoenix in Arizona, Austin in Texas, and Atlanta in Georgia. On Sunday,?a week after temporarily suspending its operations, it said that the ride-hailing services in the San?Francisco Bay Area had resumed. California Public Utilities Commission spokesperson said, "We are aware and looking into the specifics" in an email. The message was referring to Waymo cars stalling. The regulator didn't provide any details about what they were examining. Waymo has not responded to our requests for comment on the CPUC statement. Due to high costs of investment, strict regulations and the investigations that followed collisions which forced many companies shut down, commercializing robotaxis proved to be more difficult than expected. Self-driving taxis are back in the spotlight after Tesla introduced a service earlier this year in Austin, Texas and Waymo accelerated its expansion. The CPUC and California's Department of Motor Vehicles regulate and issue permits for the testing and commercial deployment of roboticaxis. Waymo stated in a Monday statement that while the Waymo Driver, the company's fully automated driving system, is designed to "treat non-functional traffic signals as four way stops", the scale of the outage caused vehicles to remain stationary for longer than normal. A spokesperson for the company said that the company is incorporating lessons learned from this event, and committed to improving its technology to adapt to traffic conditions when there are similar disruptions.
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Governor of Odesa says Russian forces have attacked Odesa in second regional strike within 24 hours
The regional governor said that Russian forces attacked Ukraine's Black Sea Port of Odesa on?Monday evening and damaged port infrastructure and a vessel. This was the second attack in the region within less than 24 hours. Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram that emergency crews are tackling the aftermath after the latest attack, but did not provide any further details. He stated that no injuries were reported. A previous overnight attack on port and energy infrastructure hit Odesa Region, causing a fire in a major Port and disrupting the electricity supply to tens if not thousands of people. Ukraine's Black Sea port is crucial to its export-driven economic system and its security and functionality have been vital to the country's survival during nearly four years of war since Russia's invasion in February 2022. Oleksiy Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, said in a Telegram message that "Russia is trying to disrupt maritime logistic by launching systematic attacks on port and energy infrastructure." "Last evening, ports and energy infrastructure were again targeted." Kuleba reported that, following the attacks in Pivdennyi, an fire broke out and 30 containers of flour or vegetable oil were on fire. The fire was being tackled by emergency services and port workers. He said that because of the damage to the energy grid, the electricity supply to more than 120,00 customers in Odesa was disrupted. The interior ministry reported that one person was injured in the attack. Russia has not yet commented on the attacks. Officials from Ukraine said that in the past few weeks Russia has intensified its attacks on Odesa and the surrounding area, attempting to restrict Ukraine's access the Black Sea, and disrupt the?critical logistic routes leading to the border of Moldova. Ukraine is also targeting Russia's maritime logistic, focusing more on the shadow fleet of oil tankers used to circumvent sanctions imposed by Russia due to the war. (Reporting and editing by Timothy Heritage, Ron Popeski and OlenaHarmash)
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Repairs at CPC Terminal continue, despite a steady decline in Urals.
Market sources reported that the differential between Urals crude and CPC Blend remained unchanged on Monday. However, export volumes of CPC Blend remained uncertain due to?repairs continuing on single-point mooring units (SPMs)?at CPC Terminal. CPC is loading oil into SPM-1. SPM-2 has been taken out of service due to a drone attack by Ukraine, and SPM-3 undergoes scheduled maintenance. Oil prices rose on Monday, after the U.S. Coast Guard attempted to intercept an oil-tanker in international waters near Venezuela, a day earlier. Ukraine also damaged two vessels in Russia and their piers, increasing the risk of disruptions in oil supplies. PLATTS WINDOW The traders reported that no bids or offers for Urals, Azeri BTC, and CPC Blend were made on Monday. Authorities in southern Russia said that a drone attack by Ukraine in the Krasnodar Region of Russia damaged two vessels and two piers. * Ukraine announced on Saturday that its?drones' struck a Russian oil platform belonging to Lukoil, in the Caspian sea. Kyiv is stepping up its attacks on Moscow’s oil infrastructure. (Reporting By)
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Waymo restores service in San Francisco after power outage
Waymo, an Alphabet division, announced on Monday that it had resumed its ride-hailing services in the San Francisco Bay Area after suspending them temporarily due to a power outage which caused gridlock and snarled up traffic. The company paused its service 'Saturday night following a fire that broke out at a PG&E substation, knocking out power for roughly one-third?of the city. This affected about?130,000 people and forced some businesses to temporarily close. Waymo reported that most trips were completed without incident before the vehicles returned to their depots or stopped. A spokesperson for Waymo said, "We're committed to earning and maintaining trust with the communities that we serve every day." Waymo stated that it would ensure its technology was better adapted to traffic conditions when similar disruptions occurred.
Mammoet, a private engineering company, will be responsible for the closure of Groningen's gas fields
Mammoet announced on Thursday that it would support one of the largest gas well closures projects in the history of the world. This follows Dutch government directives to cease production at the Groningen Field.
Private engineering firm will provide engineering and logistical support to Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij, a joint venture between Shell and Exxon, for the decommissioning of all onshore gaswells that are closed along the Groningen Field, located north of The Netherlands.
NAM is the operator of the gas field that was Europe's major gas supplier for many decades.
The Dutch government, despite massive reserves, decided to reduce production rapidly in 2018 to avoid seismic risks. It stopped it completely last year.
The Dutch Senate passed in April a law that permanently closed the gas field, preventing any possible resumption.
Mammoet stated in a press release that "Closure began on May 1, 2024 and the project is expected to last for over a decade."
This project will remove 800 gas wells and 1,750 km (1,087 mile) of pipeline.
Exxon-Shell asked an arbitration tribunal in February to determine whether the state should compensate the companies for ceasing gas production on the fields. (Reporting from Seher Dareen in Bengaluru and Mrinalika Roi; editing by Vijay Kishore.)
(source: Reuters)