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Lyft has paid New Jersey $19.4 Million for driver misclassification.
Officials from New Jersey announced on Thursday that Lyft had paid New Jersey $19.4 millions after an audit revealed the ride-sharing firm incorrectly classified over 100,000 drivers as independent contractors. Lyft, according to officials including the state attorney general Matthew Platkin, made the payment only after it retracted its request for an hearing to contest a New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development audit of its records and books from 2014 to 2017. New Jersey's audit revealed that Lyft had not contributed to the state fund for these years on behalf drivers. This deprived them of benefits such as unemployment compensation and temporary disability benefits. Lyft owed more than $10,8 million in unpaid contributions plus $8.5 million in penalties and interest. It paid $10.8 million in order to stop the interest running and the remaining amount after it ended its challenge. In June 2024, the San Francisco-based firm reached a settlement of $27 million with Massachusetts. Lyft stated that it believes it has classified drivers correctly under New Jersey law and that most drivers prefer to work on their terms, rather than as an employee. We will not challenge the NJDOL assessment further, even though we disagree with its findings. Over the past few years, many regulators have said that Uber and Lyft's alleged misclassifications deprive drivers other benefits such as a minimum wage and overtime pay. Robert Asaro Angelo, New Jersey's Labor Commissioner, said that there is no reason why temporary and on-demand workers, who work flexible hours or minutes at a given time, cannot be treated the same as other employees. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese in New York, Jonathan Stempel from New York)
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Panama Canal begins process to select companies to build and operate LPG pipeline
After meeting with interested companies, the Panama Canal Authority announced on Thursday that it had begun a competition to select a company to design, build, and operate a pipeline for transporting liquefied petrol gas (LPG). The project is expected to cost between $4 billion to $8 billion. It will be part of the move by the waterway to increase its services, including trans-shipment, and to generate additional revenue. This follows the Supreme Court's decision last year to expand the area of the waterway. The 2 million-barrel-per-day pipeline alone is forecast to contribute between $1 billion and $1.2 billion to the waterway's annual income, Ricaurte Vasquez, head of the canal, told in an interview after the meetings. The project will move U.S. LPG bound to Asia from the one side to the other of the canal. As part of the plan, a power transmission line will also be built. The canal released a statement saying that Exxon Mobil and Phillips 66 were among the companies who met with the authorities to discuss the pipeline. Other companies included Puma Energy (Puma Energy), SK Energy (SK Energy), Vitol, Mitsubishi Itochu, Sumitomo, Vitol Energy, Energy Transfer Puma Energy. Vasquez, who attended the meeting said that there were many people interested in the project. He added that the next step will be a prequalification process. He said that the winner of the competition will be chosen in the fourth quarter of 2026. A parallel project, to build and operate new ports near the canal, will begin between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. Vasquez stated that the canal expects to make a profit of $3.5 billion in the fiscal year which ends in September. This is in line with last year's result. The canal expects to counteract a decrease in traffic at the end of the fiscal year by consolidating cargo tonnage through the reception of larger vessels. He said, "This year we have seen a change in seasonality, as more cargo is being shipped to the United States, now instead of October-December." (Reporting and editing by Gabriel Araujo, Marguerita Choy and Elida Parraga)
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FedEx's quarterly profits rise, but US tariffs dent 2026 earnings forecast
FedEx posted a higher profit for the quarter, but projected 2026 earnings per shares that were largely below analyst's estimates. This is because it expects to take a hit due to U.S. tariffs ending on low-value direct-to consumer shipments. In extended trading, shares of the company rose by about 6% on Thursday. On May 2, the U.S. government ended the "de minimis exemptions" that allowed packages valued below $800 to be imported duty-free from China and Hong Kong. These shipments represented about three quarters of the roughly 1.4 billion packages which entered the United States every year under this program. On August 29, the U.S. removed "de minimis exemptions" for all countries. FedEx is expected to see the impact of this in its results for the next few quarters. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, Memphis-based package-delivery company expects adjusted earnings for the full year in a range between $17.20 and $19.00 per share. The mid-point is slightly below analyst estimates of $18.21. FedEx has reported an adjusted profit for the first quarter ending August 31 of $0.91 billion or $3.83 a share. This is up from $0.89billion or $3.60 a share in the year before. Since 2023, the company has been working to reduce operating costs by billions of dollars. This was achieved through parking planes and closing facilities. The company has a plan to save $1 billion in the fiscal year ending May 2026. It reported first quarter revenue of $22.2billion, an increase from $21.6billion a year ago. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein from Los Angeles, and Abhinav Paramar from Bengaluru. Editing by Shinjini Ganuli.
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FedEx's earnings forecast for 2026 is below expectations due to US tariff impact
FedEx posted a higher profit for the quarter, but projected earnings per share in 2026 that were largely below analyst's estimates. This is because it expects to take a hit due to U.S. tariffs ending on low-value direct-to consumer shipments. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the Memphis-based company expects adjusted earnings for full-year in a range between $17.20 and $19.00 per share. The mid-point is slightly below analyst estimates of $18.21. Since 2023, FedEx has been working to reduce operating costs by billions of dollars. This is done through parking planes and closing facilities. It has a plan to save $1 billion in the fiscal year ending May 2026. Analysts and investors are waiting to see if this will be sufficient to counteract the threats of U.S. Trade Policy and global economic uncertainty. The company's adjusted profit for the first quarter ending August 31 was $0.91 billion or $3.83 a share. This is up from $0.89 million or $3.60 a share in the same period last year. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein, Los Angeles; Abhinav Paramar, Bengaluru. Editing by Shinjini Ganuli.
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Texas Governor signs bill to crack down on abortion pills ordered by mail
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a law to clamp down on the mail-order sale of abortion pills, which are already prohibited in his state. The bill empowers private citizens to sue companies and individuals who ship these pills to Texas. Abbott, an anti-abortion Republican who is adamantly opposed to abortion, signed the bill without any announcement on Wednesday night. The bill was passed by the Republican-led state legislature in early October. The bill aims to make it more difficult for women to get the prescription drugs they need to terminate their pregnancy at home, in violation of Texas' ban on abortions. The Texas law has not yet been answered in terms of whether it will affect "shield" laws enacted by Democratic-led states, where abortion is still legal. These laws are intended to protect providers from criminal and civil penalties resulting from abortion laws in another state. In about three months, the Texas measure will take effect. It is similar to an enforcement mechanism for citizens contained in a state law that prohibited abortions when a fetal beat could be detected. Abortion rights advocates claim that pharmacologically-terminated pregnancies account for 63% percent of all abortions in the United States, three years after Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case which established a constitutionally protected right to abortion, was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Telehealth consultations, as well as mail-order deliveries have allowed women to perform abortions at home in areas where the only alternative is for them to travel to another state where abortions are still legal. Turning Citizens into Whistleblowers The new law allows citizens to sue medical providers, pharmaceutical companies and delivery services, as well as individuals who helped women obtain abortion pills mifepristone or misoprostol. If a plaintiff proves their case, they will receive $100,000 per violation. The measure exempts women who use abortion pills from any liability. The use of misoprostol and mifepristone in medically-necessary procedures for miscarriages or ectopic pregnancy is also exempted. If it is shown that shipping companies and drug manufacturers such as FedEx, United Parcel Service, and Amazon.com have adhered to state-imposed bans then they will not be held responsible. John Seago of Texas Right to Life - which heavily lobbied for the bill - said that it was primarily designed to "hold individuals accountable" who mail abortion pills to Texas in order to avoid criminal prosecution. Critics claim that the measure will encourage ordinary citizens to spy on their neighbors. When speaking against the bill, state senator Carol Alvarado (a Democrat from Houston) said: "The bill will only work if we turn Texans on each other." According to Seago’s group, abortion tablets are being imported into Texas at a rate of over 19,000 orders per year from other states and foreign countries. The measure to stop the shipments was modeled on "qui tam," provisions in federal and state False Claims Act laws designed to expose fraud by allowing whistleblowers the opportunity to sue the wrongdoers, and receive a portion of the proceeds. Some social conservatives have used citizen lawsuits in recent years to enforce anti-abortion legislation. In a Texas law passed in 2021, which prohibited abortions after fetal heart activity was detected, a provision was included for citizen lawsuits. In the year following the Supreme Court's Roe decision, Texas and thirteen other states were able to ban all abortions. This led to the anti-abortion movement seeking new enforcement tools. Steve Gorman, Los Angeles (reporting) and Leslie Adler, editing.
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NY asks National Grid for better natgas forecasts in advance of possible NESE pipeline
The New York utility regulator asked some U.S.-based units of UK energy company National Grid to report how they would optimize their natural gas supply if or not the proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline project or NESE is put into service. The New York Public Service Commission, NYPSC, said that if NESE (the proposed gas supply increase from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and New York by Williams Cos Transco), is not put into service, it wants the National Grid companies report on their reliability plans. NYPSC reported that the three National Grid utilities, Brooklyn Union Gas KeySpan Gas East, and Niagara Mohawk Power, serve approximately 2.5 million gas consumers in New York. This makes them the largest natural gas distribution system for the state. Williams canceled the first attempt at building NESE by 2024 largely because of opposition from New York's and New Jersey's environmental regulators. The project was revisited earlier this year, with the support of U.S. president Donald Trump's Administration. NESE, and another gas pipeline proposed by Williams from New York to Pennsylvania have been linked with a deal made between the Trump Administration and New York Governor Kathy Hochul. The Trump administration agreed to lift a federal order that stopped construction on the Norwegian energy company Equinor’s Empire Wind offshore project near New York. Hochul didn't endorse gas pipelines, but she said that New York would collaborate with the U.S. government and private entities to develop projects that met state legal requirements. (Reporting and editing by Scott DiSavino)
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US accelerates power grid projects in AI
The Trump administration launched a new initiative on Thursday to accelerate the development of power plants, transmission lines and other infrastructure as artificial intelligence increases demand. The Department of Energy (DOE) is asking stakeholders, including utilities and transmission managers, for information on investment opportunities near term, the readiness of projects, growth expectations in power demand and any constraints it could address. On his first day in office, Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a state of energy emergency. Artificial intelligence, data centres, and electric cars are driving the demand for power to its highest level in 20 years. The DOE has ordered that several coal and gas plants, which had planned to close down, continue to operate. This is the latest U.S. effort to support fossil fuels. Trump claims that the rapid adoption of solar power and wind energy has caused U.S. electricity to be unstable and costly, which is why he wants to stop most subsidies. Texas has seen an improvement in reliability, but the grid that uses the most renewable energy in the U.S. is still the one with the highest rate of failure. The DOE will use the Speed to Power program to determine the best way to utilize funding programs, national emergency authorities and grid expansion to increase power generation. DOE has millions of dollars in funding and financing, including through its Loan Programs Office. The DOE cancelled a $4.9billion loan guarantee in July for a transmission system that was supposed to transmit power from Kansas wind and solar projects to cities in Midwest and East. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also took action on Thursday to improve grid security. FERC has approved and proposed new rules to reduce risks associated with supply chains, cyber attacks, and electrical grid disruptions due to extreme cold. Extreme cold can sometimes cause blackouts. Green energy opponents claim that coal plants scheduled to retire in Trump's second tenure will still be needed. Tom Pyle of the American Energy Alliance predicted that, on Trump's orders or out of their own volition, 38 coal plants scheduled to close by 2028 will remain open. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in July 2025, power plants will burn about 20% more coal in the first quarter of 2025 than in 2024.
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Urals diffs unchanged, September loadings revised
Sources said that the differential between Brent and Urals crudes was stable on Thursday. However, oil loadings at Russia's western port ports were revised due to drone-related damage to refineries and export infrastructure. Two sources familiar with the schedule said that Russia increased its planned oil loads from the Black Sea port Novorossiysk and the Baltic port Ust-Luga for September due to disruptions at Primorsk. Two sources familiar with the situation said that Novatek, a Russian gas company, delivered 70,000 tons of gas to Novorossiysk during the September shutdown of the Ust-Luga complex. As the Ukrainian drone attacks continue traders are predicting that exports could be revised until the end of this month. Ukraine announced on Thursday that drones it had used in Russia struck an oil processing, petrochemical and refinery complex. This was part of a campaign intensifying to disrupt the oil and gas industry in Moscow. PLATTS WINDOW On Thursday, no bids or offers for Urals BTC, Azeri BTC Blend or CPC blend were made in the Platts Window. According to LSEG and industry sources, the freight rates for Very Large Crude Carriers have risen to their highest level in over two years. This is due to a tightening of tanker supplies, a rise in Middle East oil exports, and an increase in arbitrage supplies into Asia. (Reporting and Editing by Alan Barona).
Oneworld Alliance looks to India as a partner in its expansion.
Oneworld Alliance, a 15-member airline group that includes American Airlines, Qantas Airways and other airlines, is looking at a possible Indian airline partner, as the Indian market continues to grow.
"India is a marketplace that we all have an interest in finding someone," Nat Pieper, CEO of the company, said on Thursday at a meeting in New York with aviation executives and analysts.
Piper stated that adding a new team member is "always difficult" as it must work for both the entire group and each of its 15 members.
He added that, given the fact that many of the alliance's members serve India, they are also looking at ways to leverage the joint presence. For example, through a loyalty program or joint lounge initiative.
"We have 10 employees who serve in India, so it's a market that is growing at a rapid pace."
Hawaiian Airlines will join the alliance by 2026. Alaska Air acquired the airline in 2024. (Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Sonali Paul)
(source: Reuters)