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French and Benelux stocks: Factors to watch
Here are some company news and stories that could impact the markets in France and Benelux or even individual stocks. Aeroports de Paris - The Paris airport operator ADP reported that the net income attributable to the first half nearly tripled, reaching?312 millions euros. It has lowered its estimate for the annual traffic growth of Paris Aeroport by 2026 from an earlier range of 1.5% to 2.5%. Now, it expects recurring EBITDA?of between?2.30 and 2.35 billion euro. AIRBUS: Airbus AIR.PA voiced increasing confidence in its critical jet delivery target and maintained other 2026 goals as it unveiled stronger-than-expected second-quarter results on Wednesday, lifted by commercial airliner output and gains in defence. Bloomberg News reported that AIR FRANCE KLM/Lufthansa has made binding offers to acquire minority stakes in Portugal’s TAP SA. BIC: French industrial group BIC announced a first-half adjusted group net income of?114 millions euros compared to the company's consensus of 100million euros. It increased its outlook for 2026, forecasting modest growth organically, an adjusted operating ratio of only?over 14% and stable net cash flow generation. Carmila: European shopping centre operator Carmila increased its earnings-per share guidance for 2026 to?1.87 euro from?1.84 euros. It expects EPS to grow by 3.3% in this year. Elis, a French laundry services company, announced a first-half revenue figure of 2,46 billion euros. The group also confirmed its outlook for 2026. FDJ 'United: French gaming operators FDJ United announced a first-half recurring EBITDA figure of 404 millions euros. They also confirmed their target of a recurring EBITDA'margin' of between 23% and 24% by?2026. The group expects its revenue to drop by a single-digit percentage in this year. L'Oreal : The French cosmetics company L'Oreal announced a net profit of 3,96 billion euros for the first half, excluding nonrecurring items. This is an increase of 4.7% compared to a year ago. Financial Times also reported that the chief of Gucci Beauty plans to triple sales. Renault: French automaker Renault announced a net profit, group share of 705 millions euros for the first half, which was below the consensus estimate of 770 million euros. The automaker confirmed its 2026 forecast, saying that price pressure is expected to continue in Europe 'throughout the rest of the year. SES: Satellite connectivity company SES announced that it will provide multi-orbit services for more than 60 Airbus or Embraer aircraft in Latin America. Tikehau Capital, a France-based investment manager, reported an increase of 5% in assets under management to 53.5 billion Euros at the end the first half of this year. Two people familiar with the plant's operations said that TotalEnergies, TTEF.PA, completed repairs on its crude distillation units and restarted them at its Port Arthur, Texas refinery. Vicat, a French cement manufacturer, reported sales of 2,044 billion euros in the first half and upgraded its outlook for 2026. The company now expects EBITDA and like-forlike sales to grow by 7%-9%, as opposed to the previous guidance of slight growth. Vinci: The infrastructure and concessions group Vinci announced a first-half profit per share of 3,70 euros, and confirmed their 2026 guidance. The group declared an interim dividend of 1.10 euro per share for the 2026. Pan-European ?market data: European Equities speed guide................... FTSE Eurotop 300 index.............................. DJ STOXX ?index...................................... Top 10 STOXX sectors........................... Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors...................... Top 10 Eurotop 300 sectors..................... Top 25 European pct gainers....................... Top 25 European pct losers........................ Main stock markets: Dow Jones ............... Wall Street Report ..... Nikkei 225............. Tokyo report............ London report ........... Xetra DAX............. Frankfurt items......... CAC-40................. Paris items............ World Indices..................................... Survey of global bourse outlook ......... European Asset Allocation........................ News in a glance Top News ............. Equities.............. Main Oil Report ........... Main currency report .....
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Businesses affected by the Kumamoto earthquake in Japan
The following companies have temporarily suspended their operations in Kumamoto, Japan and the surrounding prefectures. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck on Tuesday that killed at least 17 people. AEON KYUSHU 17?of Aeon Kyushu’s 40 stores located in Kumamoto Prefecture temporarily suspended?operations. Its Kumamoto shopping mall is severely damaged following a post-quake blast, and rescuers are working around the clock to find people who may be trapped or missing. AISIN Aisin has halted operations at its Kumamoto City plant, which is one of Japan's biggest automotive parts suppliers. It is also a member of the Toyota Group. It is assessing damage to the?facilities and working to restore operation. EBARA CORP. The pump manufacturer halted its operations at a plant in Nankan that?manufactures equipment for semiconductor production. HONDA MOTOR, Japan's second largest automaker, is suspending its Kumamoto Motorcycle Factory operations until Friday in order to allow repairs to parts of the factory that were damaged by the quake. MELCO MOBILITY SYSTEMS MELCO Mobility Solutions, a Mitsubishi Electric Group company, said that operations at the Kumamoto site are?suspended' while safety inspections take place. NIPPONPAPER INDUSTRIES A chimney collapsed at the company's Yatsushiro Mill, disrupting production and leaving workers injured or missing. NISSAN MOTOR Nissan Motor Kyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture and Nissan Shatai Kyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture will suspend part of their production this week because the delays in parts supply caused by the earthquake. RENESAS ELECTRONICS has suspended operations in its Kawajiri Plant in Kumamoto City, and Nishiki Plant in Nishiki Town. The semiconductor manufacturer started inspecting clean-room facilities on Wednesday morning in order to assess damage to equipment and buildings. SONY SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING The operations at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Kumamoto Technology Centre have been suspended since Wednesday, according to?its parent company, Sony Group Corp.'s Sony Semiconductor Solutions. It said that it was evaluating the damage to 'the site's buildings?and production lines. TOKAI CARBON, a manufacturer of graphite electrodes and carbon products in the world's largest scale, has halted production at its factory in Kumamoto. The equipment and facilities will be thoroughly checked. TOKYO ELECTRON This semiconductor equipment manufacturer halted production at two Kumamoto sites. The company is planning to resume full production at the beginning of next week. TOYOTA?MOTOR Operations will be suspended at Toyota Motor Kyushu’s Miyata?Kanda?and Kokura plants located in Fukuoka Prefecture from the second to second shifts on Friday. This is due to safety, logistics and the condition of the suppliers.
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Halliburton and Australia's Beetaloo Energy partner on a gas project linked to AI data centres
Beetaloo Energy Australia announced on Thursday that it had signed a non-binding contract with oilfield services firm?Halliburton in order to help advance a proposal for a gas-to power and data center development in Australia's Northern Territory. Halliburton is providing technical expertise for Beetaloo?Digital to?assess gas resources and develop them. The project is focused on supplying?power?to hyperscale data centers and AI infrastructure. It's centered on a 185-hectare?site at?Weddell, near Darwin. Halliburton, according to Beetaloo Energy, could provide expertise in the areas of field development, drilling and project execution, as well as scalable gas-fired energy generation. Beetaloo Energy's Chief Executive,?Alex Underwood, described the agreement in terms of a step towards building a group of specialists across power generation, data centres, pipelines, and gas supply. The company stated that the project was based on the gas resources in the Beetaloo Basin. It is still subject to concept studies, partner agreements, funding and regulatory approvals. (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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Ambrey reports that a drone hit a gas storage tanker in Egypt's Mediterranean Port.
Ambrey, a British maritime security company, said that a drone had hit a U.S. owned gas storage tanker in Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta. This was an initial assessment, which could indicate a new outbreak of conflict throughout the Middle East. Egypt's petroleum minister confirmed that there was a fire in the port, but did not mention a drone strike and did provide no explanation for the incident. Inchcape, a port services company, said in an unrelated message that two gas tanks had caught fire at Damietta. Three sources who were familiar with the incident confirmed that a drone struck the floating storage tanker Energos Winter and caused a fire which spread to another vessel Gaslog Salem. Two different security sources confirmed that a drone strike was the most likely cause of this explosion. Vanguard, a British maritime risk management company, said that the?Energos Winter had been struck on its starboard by an unknown projectile, which caused a fire. The fire was put out. The incident occurred after Iran launched a missile against U.S. troops in Jordan and Washington and Saudi Arabia struck Iran-backed paramilitary group in Iraq. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, threatened to retaliate and Yemen's Houthi declared a navy blockade against Saudi Arabia. This spread the conflict further than it had been since U.S. Israel and Iran began bombing Iran back in February. The video was posted on social media and verified the location based on the port infrastructure, storage tanks, and ship tracking data. These matched archive and satellite images. Archive images confirmed the identity of the vessels as "ENERGOS WINTER" (IMO: 9256614), and "GASLOG SALM" (IMO: 9638915). The mast, stern and foredeck matched the archive images. Media reports confirmed the date, and Egypt's petroleum ministry confirmed an fire in the port. There were no older versions of these videos posted online before July 29. The Energos 'Winter' is a floating gas storage and regasification (FSRU) unit with a storage capacity of 138.250 cubic meters. Energos Infrastructure, a U.S. firm, owns the vessel. Wilhelmsen Ship Management is also a U.S.-based company that manages the technical, safety, and commercial operations. In a statement, Egypt's Petroleum Ministry said that a fire broke on a vessel for gasification and another vessel for storage at the port of Damietta. The emergency response plan was immediately implemented by teams from both the firefighting and security departments. The statement said that Karim Badawi, the Petroleum Minister, 'went to the site in order to supervise response efforts. The statement said that the fire did not cause any injuries or deaths, and that emergency and technical teams continued to assess the impact and work on the response. Reporting by Jonathan Saul; Marwa Rashad; and Mohamed Ezz. Additional reporting by Nathan Chiang; and Monica Naime. Editing by Alex Richardson, David Gregorio.
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Trump announces $22 billion plan for Washington Dulles airport
The President Donald Trump announced a $22 billion plan to rebuild Washington Dulles Airport by replacing concourses, adding a large parking garage and preserving the iconic main terminal. This announcement is just the latest of a number of major projects that he has announced around and in the U.S. Capital. Trump stated that Dulles Airport in Washington was "one of the worst airports in the world. We're going make it the best by doing some hard work." He also said it was "time for a major, long-overdue renovation and rebuilding of Washington's horribly thought of Dulles." Trump, joined at the White House by United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy, has been pressing for a major overhaul of Dulles Airport, the main international gateway to the National Capital Region. Plan includes 5,000,000 square feet of renovated or new airport space. Duffy confirmed in May that the federal government was planning a $22 Billion overhaul of Dulles. This plan is one of the biggest airport renovations in the United States. It will be funded by municipal bonds, but it raises concerns about the impact on flight costs. Airport authority approved separate capital?plans for Dulles and Washington Dulles worth $7 billion. Dulles, despite the criticisms, was "the fastest-growing U.S. large airport by passenger traffic last year." In 2025 the airport handled 29 million passengers, an increase of 6.4%. This fall, it will get a new 435,000-square-foot (40,412-square-meter), 14-gate concourse serving United customers. Duffy has said that the slow vehicles used to transport passengers on the tarmac will be phased-out as part of this overhaul. In December, the U.S. Department of Transportation criticized the "jet fuel odor" in?the concourses and the "paltry number" of gates at the main terminal. Trump's Dulles project represents the latest major reconstruction project in Washington. Dulles Airport is located about 40 km (25 miles) away from the U.S. Capital and was opened in 1962. The terminal building of the airport was designed by Eero Sárinen, a Finnish architect. It is a unique?structure that has a roof with a sloping slope on both sides. Trump stated that the building would remain. United Airlines is the biggest carrier at Dulles. It handles about 70% of traffic. Trump held a meeting with Kirby on February 25, where the CEO pitched the idea of merging American Airlines. Kirby announced in April that his pursuit of American Airlines was over. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority operates the airport under a lease of 50 years approved by Congress. Airports Authority will finance new terminals and concourses through municipal bonds, while other aspects of the development may include public-private partnerships. Trump stated that United would partially fund the project. The airline didn't immediately answer a question about the funding. (Reporting and editing by David Shepardson, Chizu Nomiyama, Deepa Babington).
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Sources: Saudi Arabia seeks international alliance to protect Red Sea shipping against Houthis
Two people who are familiar with the discussions said that Saudi Arabia is looking to form an international coalition in order to protect ships from Houthi attacks on the Red Sea. Sources said that the composition of the coalition is still being finalised. It's also currently being discussed with dozens of other countries. The Saudi Center for International Communication didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. The Iran-aligned Houthis announced on July 20 that they would impose "a naval blockade" on Saudi Arabia at the Red Sea in response to what they called a Saudi siege against Yemen. Riyadh denied this allegation. The Houthis have claimed that they have attacked Saudi vessels in the Red Sea since then. Saudi Arabia responded by airstrikes on what they'said' were Houthi military installations at Yemen’s Hodeidah port used to?threaten commercial shipping. The blockade opened a new front in the war against Iran, extending attacks to tankers transporting 'energy and other supplies' beyond the Gulf and pushing up oil prices.
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Airbus has paid a fine of PS6 Million in the UK export control probe
Airbus announced on Wednesday that it had 'paid just over PS6.4m?to UK Revenue & Customs Authorities to settle a two-year old investigation into export control violation. The European planemaker has announced that it will be investigating several of its British subsidiaries in 2024. Airbus stated in its notes to the quarterly earnings released on Wednesday that the settlement reached earlier this month "closes" and "fully resolves" the issue. The probe, according to people familiar with it, 'focused on anomalies that were discovered during an audit of the A400M airlifter in 2022. Airbus refused to comment on the details of the investigation, but stated that it had voluntarily disclosed the problems and fully cooperated with the review. A?spokesperson stated that the?company has "long since implemented comprehensive remediation measures." Airbus has agreed to pay $10m in 2020 and to appoint a compliance officer for export control to settle findings made by the State Department, that Airbus had violated the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations. (Reporting and editing by Kirovan, Nick Zieminski, Florence Loeve)
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Shell and Phillips 66 are weighing the sale of their stakes in US Pipeline Explorer worth $3.5 billion, according to sources
Shell and Phillips 66 have been working on a possible sale of their stakes, which include the Explorer refined product pipeline. This deal could be worth around $3.5 billion. This move is a reflection of how the increased demand for energy infrastructure assets from financial buyers has driven up valuations, and encouraged owners to sell and reinvest in their core businesses or areas with higher growth. Shell and Phillips 66 hold approximately 61% of the legal entity that holds the pipeline. The pipeline transports gasoline, jet-fuel and other fuel products through the Midwest to?endpoints including the outskirts Chicago. Greenhill, an affiliate of Mizuho, and RBC Capital Markets have been hired to conduct an auction?process for stakes. Deliberations are currently in the early stages. Energy Transfer and MPLX are the owners of the rest of Explorer. The sources say that while the Shell and Phillips 66 shares are being marketed to prospective buyers, other stakeholder companies could contribute if there is a strong interest in acquiring the entire pipeline. Sources cautioned that there is no guarantee for any deal to be made involving Explorer stakes and spoke under condition of anonymity in order to discuss private discussions. Shell, Phillips 66 and MPLX refused to comment. Explorer, Energy Transfer and Mizuho??and RBC have not responded to requests for comment. CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE Explorer, a 1,800-mile pipeline system in service since the 1970s is a critical infrastructure. According to Explorer's site, the southern part of the system has a capacity of?660,000 barrels per?day, while the northern portion can handle?450,000 barrels?per?day. Explorer, along with the Colonial pipeline that transports fuel from Texas to northeastern United States, is considered one of the most important refined product pipelines in the United States. Colonial was sold to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners last year for around $9 billion. In the sale, the first group of shareholders put their stakes on the market before the remainder contributed their holdings to a?deal with the investment firm. In recent years, pipelines and other energy infrastructure has attracted significant buyer interest. Financial buyers are attracted to the cash flow generated by midstream assets. Industry players want growth in both assets and product offerings. (Reporting from David French in New York, Additional Reporting from Stephanie Kelly in London, Editing by Echo Wang & Nick Zieminski).
Avolta announces higher first-half revenue as cost control boosts cash flow
Avolta, a travel retailer and food service operator, reported on Thursday a 3.7% increase in its organic first-half turnover. Tight cost management helped to generate cash despite the volatile geopolitical environment.
The Swiss company that operates shops, cafes and restaurants in airports, cruise ships, seaports, and other tourist destinations worldwide reported a core turnover of 6.44 billion Swiss Francs ($7.90billion) for the first half, down from 6.61?francs an year ago.
The company stated that organic growth would have increased by 5.2% if the Middle East conflict had been taken into account.
Avolta's medium-term outlook was maintained, with the company citing temporary impacts from?the Middle East Conflict.
"While near-term instability persists, Avolta CEO Xavier Rossinyol stated that the company continues to execute its medium-term strategy, taking the 'necessary steps to 'protect profitability and cash flow, while progressing with the ramp-up our?new operation."
Avolta is a travel retailer formed by the combination of Dufry and Italy's Autogrill. It was renamed Avolta in 2023.
(source: Reuters)