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Klook, a travel booking platform, has reported a robust growth in revenue during its US IPO.
Klook, a travel booking website owned by SoftBank, reported a 24.4% increase in revenue for 2024. The online platform announced this in its Monday filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating that investor demand is still strong despite the shutdown of the federal government. The U.S. IPO Market has recovered from tariff-driven volatility, as a rally of equities, and interest rate reductions, boosted investor demand for new offerings. However, a prolonged shutdown in the government has caused some delays. Klook's offer follows recent debuts of molecular diagnostics company BillionToOne, and another Apollo-backed group Grupo Aeromexico earlier this month. Hong Kong's company reported revenues of $417.1 millions in 2024 compared to $335.2million a year ago. The IPO comes as the global tourism sector is experiencing rapid growth after the COVID-19 Pandemic. This growth is being driven by a surge of consumer spending. According to a report released by the World Travel and Tourism Council in May, the travel sector is expected to contribute $11.7 trillion to global GDP in 2025. This represents 10.3% of GDP. Klook, founded in 2014, offers tours, attractions and transport as well as other travel experiences at a variety of global locations. It competes against global platforms like Booking.com, TripAdvisor and China's Trip.com as well as South Korea's Yanolja. Klook raised $100m in February through a funding round that was led by European investment company Vitruvian Partners. However, the valuation of Klook at the time was not disclosed. Klook plans to list at the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol "KLK". Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the main underwriters of the offering. (Reporting and editing by Shilpa Majumdar in Bengaluru, Prakhar Srivastava from Bengaluru)
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Urals diffs stable in opaque trade
In an opaque market, the differentials between urals crude and other grades remained stable on Monday as participants assessed the impact of sanctions placed on Lukoil last month and Rosneft the previous month on the supply of this grade to India and Turkey. Sources in the trade said that two Indian state refiners bought 5 million barrels from spot markets as they continued to search for alternatives to Russian oil supplies. Sources said that Lukoil declared force majore at its Iraqi field of oil, while Bulgaria was preparing to seize the Burgas refinery as its international operations buckled due to U.S. sanctions. PLATTS WINDOW There were no bids or offers reported for Urals, Azeri BTC Blend or CPC blend crude in the Platts window. * Bulgarian authorities conduct inspections and implement security measures at Russian oil giant Lukoil’s Burgas refinery in order to preserve critical infrastructure. Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced on Monday that the government is preparing to take control of the site. * The Kremlin announced on Monday that it is "actively" preparing for President Vladimir Putin's visit to India before the end the year, and hopes it will be a substantive journey. Reporting by Richard Chang; Editing by Richard Chang
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Belgium recruits foreign forces to fight drone incursions
Belgian officials have enlisted foreign forces to help them track or seize drones that are making incursions near its airports and military bases, as well as a nuclear power plant. They claim this is all a result of Russian interference. Last Tuesday, drone sightings caused the authorities to temporarily close Belgium's busiest airport, Brussels Airport. This was one of several recent incursions which also resulted in a brief closure at the cargo hub, Liege Airport, and disrupted a nearby airbase. "We don't say it's Russia. "We're not saying it's Russia. It is impossible to link any incident with a specific actor. "We have nothing", said a Belgian official, who spoke under condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly. We are working with our partners to either get a hold of a drone or to detect the launch point and destination. Russia has denied involvement in the drones. In a statement issued last week, its Brussels embassy stated that it had "neither a motive nor an interest in such activity". Theo Francken, Belgium's defence minister, told Het Laatste Nieuws that there are assumptions that Russia is behind the incursions. "But I can't prove" it. He said that Belgium was being closely watched because Russian assets were frozen at the securities depository Euroclear in Brussels. The EU has suggested using these funds to finance Ukraine. Russia has warned that it will respond with a "painful" response if this happens. French and German anti drone teams have arrived in Belgium. Twenty British Royal Air Force specialists are due to deploy systems that can jam electronic signals required by drones to operate. Richard Knighton told the BBC that the British armed forces would help the Belgians by providing their equipment and capabilities. The Belgian official stated that in some cases the drones were large and flew in formation. This indicates they likely had been operated by specialists who are trained. The Belgian government gave approval on Friday for the expenditure of 50 million Euros ($58.3 millions) on systems that detect drones and put them out-of-action. However, it is unclear when this equipment will be ready.
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Bloomberg News reports that Verizon wants to raise $10 billion through bond sales to fund the Frontier deal.
Bloomberg News reported Monday that Verizon Communications was looking to raise $10 billion on the corporate bond markets to fund the $20 billion Frontier deal. A person familiar with the situation confirmed this. The wireless carrier filed a five-part sale of bonds earlier that day without revealing the size. The report stated that the initial price discussion for the largest portion of the deal - a bond with a maturity of 40 years - is about 1.6 percentage point above Treasuries. Verizon didn't immediately respond to our request for a comment. Last year, the company bought Frontier for $9.6 billion. It also agreed to absorb $10 billion of Frontier's debt. The company is hoping to complete its purchase of the fiber-optic provider in early 2019. It received regulatory approval for its agreement to terminate its diversity program back in May. Meta Platforms announced a bond sale worth up to $30 billion last month. This news comes as companies rush to fund expensive artificial intelligence expansion plans. Oracle, a cloud infrastructure and software company, is also looking to raise 15 billion dollars in bonds.
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BBC News received a legal threat by Trump regarding a speech edited
BBC News reported on Monday that the broadcaster received a legal threat from U.S. president Donald Trump over the editing of a documentary broadcast one week before the U.S. Presidential election. The BBC acknowledged that the Trump speech editing gave a false impression and it should have been handled with more care. The documentary broadcasted last year spliced two parts of a Trump address so that he seemed to be encouraging the Capitol Hill Riot of January 2021. Samir Shah, chairman of the publicly funded broadcaster, told BBC News in an interview that it is "considering" a response to Trump's communication. Shah responded to a question about whether Trump will sue the BBC: "I don't know yet, but I do know that he is a litigious individual, so we need to be prepared for any outcome."
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China suspends port charges on US-linked vessels for one year
China has suspended port fees for vessels linked to the United States, said its transport ministry on Monday. This comes after Washington announced an equivalent pause in punitive measures against China's shipbuilding and shipping sectors. The reciprocated pauses are in line with the agreements made by U.S. president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping at a recent summit in South Korea. According to a statement from the Transport Ministry, the suspension began at 13:01 local (0501 GMT). Beijing has welcomed the announcement by the U.S. Office of Trade Representative on November 9 that it will pause all punitive measures against China resulting in its "Section 301", unfair trade practices investigation, for a period of one year starting Monday. In a separate announcement released on Monday, China's Commerce Ministry said that the country was willing to consult and communicate with the U.S. about relevant issues based on mutual respect and equal consultation. USTR said that the United States would also negotiate with China about related issues. However, details on how these negotiations would proceed and what their objectives would be were not disclosed. The Chinese Commerce Ministry called the U.S. action "an important step" to implement a consensus reached in an earlier round of talks. China said it "hopes that the U.S. continues to work with China to stabilise bilateral relations in the same way". On Monday, the commerce ministry suspended sanctions for one year against five subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean Co Ltd that are linked to the United States.
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As the shutdown continues, airlines cancel 1,500 US flights every Monday
The number of flights canceled by airlines in the United States surpassed 1,500 on Monday. This is the fourth day that cancellations have exceeded 1,000, as flight reductions and staffing shortages continue to cause havoc for aviation. FlightAware is a website that tracks flights. As of 8:30 a.m. ET (1330 GMT), more than 1,550 flights had been canceled and 1,400 delayed Monday. More than 1,550 flights were cancelled and 1,400 flights delayed on Monday, after 2,950 flight cancellations and nearly 10,800 delays Sunday. Chicago's November snowstorm also caused disruptions to air travel. Late Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it would suspend general aviation traffic in 12 airports due to staffing problems at air traffic control. These include Chicago O'Hare Airport and Reagan Washington National. The record-breaking shutdown has resulted in a shortage of air traffic control staff. On Sunday evening, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of a bill that would end the shutdown. A safety concern with air traffic control has led the FAA to order airlines to reduce 4% of their daily flights at 40 major airports starting Friday. The FAA has mandated that flight reductions reach 6% by Tuesday, and then 10% by November 14th. When will the FAA end the flight reductions required by the government? This is a big question for the airlines. Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary, has stated that he wants to first see improvements in air traffic control personnel and safety data. (Reporting and editing by David Shepardson)
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BBC Chairman apologises to Trump for his 'error of judgement'
Samir Shah, the BBC chairperson, apologized on Monday for making an "error in judgment" when editing a speech given by U.S. president Donald Trump to be included in a Panorama documentary. This comes after the resignations from BBC's head and director of news. Shah stated that the BBC had acknowledged the Trump edit was misleading and it should have been treated more carefully. The issue was reviewed internally by the BBC earlier this year. However, he said that the broadcaster had not taken any formal action. Shah wrote that it was "clear" the BBC had to champion impartiality. He also assured British legislators that the broadcaster was committed to restoring the public's trust and to making sure its journalism met the highest standards. After further consideration, he stated that the BBC had accepted the fact that the Trump edit "gives the impression of an immediate call for violence". In the letter, he stated that "the BBC would like apologize for this error of judgement." The Panorama programme broadcast one week before the U.S. Presidential election spliced two separate excerpts of Trump's speech, giving the impression that Trump was inciting a Capitol Hill riot on January 20, 2021. This error was included in a report written by a former standards advisor. The report also mentioned BBC failures regarding its coverage of transgender issues, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and other topics. The broadcaster has been criticized for its bias The resignation On Sunday, the Director General of News Deborah Turness and its Director general Tim Davie were both in attendance. Shah acknowledged the criticisms of the Trump edit but he reacted to the suggestion that the BBC was trying to "bury" the allegations or had failed to address any issues. He said that the company had corrected mistakes, changed editorial guidelines, made changes to leadership and taken disciplinary actions. (Reporting and editing by Paul Sandle, Sam Tabahriti)
Mexico's Esentia is expecting to raise $610 Million in IPO
Mexico's Esentia said it aims to raise 610 million dollars through an initial public offer.
Esentia Energy Development is a company dedicated to transporting and selling natural gas. It plans to sell 224,000,000 common shares in this operation. The company stated that it would sell its shares between $2.70 to $3.90.
Esentia has not provided any details about the dates of the transactions.
Esentia stated in an investor presentation that the funds raised will be used for financing expansion plans of the company and partially paying off some debts.
The Waha System (also known as Wahalajara) is its main asset. It's a network of over 2,000 km that transports gas at low cost from Waha in Texas to industrial centers in central west Mexico.
The company's adjusted revenue for last year was $403 million. This is a 0.5% rise compared to the previous year. Its adjusted EBITDA increased by 1.6% and reached $311 million. (Reporting and editing by Kylie Madry; reporting by Noe Torres)
(source: Reuters)