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May 23, 2018 / 7:01 AM / a minute ago Tesla trims up to $14,000 off Model X in China after tariff cuts Norihiko Shirouzu 2 Min Read
BEIJING, May 23 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has slashed up to $14,000 off its Model X in China after Beijing announced major tariff cuts for imported automobiles, a potential sales boost for the U.S. firm as the world’s largest auto market pivots towards electric cars.
The carmaker will lower prices of its Model S and Model X cars by just over 6 percent, a Beijing-based sales representative told Reuters on Wednesday.
China said on Tuesday it will cut import tariffs for automobiles to 15 percent from 25 percent, a fillip for premium car brands like Tesla and BMW which import a significant number of vehicles.
Tesla said on Tuesday that any of its cars sold in China would be subject to adjusted prices, even before the tariff change comes into effect on July 1.
The price of a top-of-the range Model X will be cut to 1.3 million yuan ($203,830) but that remains well above the $140,000 cash price-tag before savings for the priciest version in the United States - Tesla’s Model X P100D.
The move by the California-based electric carmaker likely foreshadows wider price cuts for imported cars in China as foreign firms look to narrow a price gap with domestic rivals. Imports, however, only make up a fraction of the overall market and tend to be upper-end models.
Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said price cuts by foreign premium brands will likely force them to adjust the price tag for vehicles they produce locally in China. This in turn will gradually impact the price of more affordable, mainstream cars - even local Chinese brands.
“With imminent price adjustments in the higher-end segment, that will over time lead to a pricing adjustment for the entire market,” Zhang said.
Other carmakers, including Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp and BMW, said after the tariff cut that they would look at adjusting their retail prices in China to provide competitive offers to consumers. $1 = 6.3735 Chinese yuan Reporting By Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Adam Jourdan | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/tesla-china/tesla-trims-up-to-14000-off-model-x-in-china-after-tariff-cuts-idUSL3N1SU2AC |
China, U.S. reach some deals in trade, differences remain 7:37pm IST - 01:47
Top officials from China and the United States have reached a consensus on some aspects of the countries' trade row, but disagreements over other issues remain ''relatively big'', according to China's Xinhua news agency. Ciara Lee reports.
Top officials from China and the United States have reached a consensus on some aspects of the countries' trade row, but disagreements over other issues remain "relatively big", according to China's Xinhua news agency. Ciara Lee reports. //reut.rs/2rliKhg | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://in.reuters.com/video/2018/05/04/china-us-reach-some-deals-in-trade-diffe?videoId=423828713 |
LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - Britain’s competition regulator submitted its view on Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to buy all of Sky to the government on Tuesday, giving minister Matt Hancock 30 working days to deliver his final ruling on the deal.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating whether the deal, announced in December 2016, will give Murdoch too much influence in Britain’s news media.
If it receives the green light, Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox will go head-to-head with U.S. cable company Comcast, which made a rival $31 billion offer for the European pay-TV group on Wednesday.
Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/sky-ma-fox/uk-competition-regulator-sends-fox-sky-verdict-to-government-idUSL9N1PZ00V |
May 4, 2018 / 1:40 PM / Updated 13 minutes ago Blackstone's F&R acquisition to close in late summer Tessa Walsh 4 Min Read
LONDON (LPC) - US private equity firm Blackstone Group’s US$20bn (15 billion pounds) acquisition of a majority stake in Thomson Reuters’ ( TRI.TO ) Financial and Risk (F&R) unit is expected to close in late summer as regulatory requirements make a targeted July 1 completion look increasingly unlikely, sources familiar with the matter said. FILE PHOTO: The ticker and trading information for Blackstone Group is displayed at the post where it is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), New York, NY, U.S., April 4, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
The acquisition is expected to close in September, most likely at the end of the month, which is also the end of the third quarter, several sources said.
“It is likely to slip to September. It is easier to close at the end of the quarter when the numbers come through,” a senior source said.
A deadline of the end of July has been set for EU approvals and the deal could close earlier if it gets swift regulatory approval, the sources said.
Thomson Reuters said on May 2 that the acquisition is expected to close in the second half of the year and is subject to specified regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The company will report its first-quarter earnings on May 11, 2018.
Blackstone announced on January 30 that it is buying a 55% stake in Thomson Reuters’ F&R unit, which includes LPC and IFR.
A US$13.5bn-equivalent loan and bond financing backing the acquisition is expected to launch in early September, after the market reconvenes after the August summer holiday.
“The debt deal will come in early September. They will get back from holiday, do a roadshow then launch,” the senior source said.
The deal, which is being led by JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, is the biggest buyout financing since the financial crisis.
A post-summer syndication will leave the underwriting banks on risk over the holiday period, something which is becoming more common as large cross-border acquisitions run into increasingly lengthy regulatory approval processes.
The three lead banks reduced their risk when 21 senior banks were signed into the deal in March and underwrote 28% of the transaction. Invitations to participate in the deal at this level were linked to the amount of business that banks do with Thomson Reuters.
Blackstone was able to command favourable financing terms when the deal was put in place before a period of increased market volatility in February, but step ups in market flex terms and debt caps have been included to give banks additional protection, several market sources said.
Thomson Reuters declined to comment. JP Morgan, Citigroup and BoAML declined to comment. Blackstone was not immediately available to comment. DEAL STRUCTURE
The debt financing includes a US$8bn-equivalent term loan B, which is split between US$5.5bn and US$2.5bn-equivalent in euros.
The financing also includes US$3bn-equivalent of secured bonds split between US$2bn and US$1bn-equivalent in euros, and US$2.5bn-equivalent of unsecured bonds split between US$1.8bn and US$700m-equivalent in euros. The company will also place a US$750m revolving credit facility.
Additional funding comes from US$1bn in preferred equity – with a 14.5% Payment-In-Kind (PIK) coupon – US$3bn of cash equity that Blackstone is contributing, and US$2.5bn of existing equity, based on the US$20bn valuation, that will be rolled over.
The currency splits may change depending on investor demand and the timing of the wider institutional syndication. Additional reporting by Andrew Berlin and Davide Scigliuzzo; Editing by Matthew Davies | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-thomsonreuters-loan/blackstones-fr-acquisition-to-close-in-late-summer-idUKKBN1I51LQ |
May 18, 2018 / 4:57 PM / Updated 9 minutes ago Wedding fans outshine the royals in England's Windsor Reuters Staff 1 Min Read
(Reuters) - They flew in from Ghana, Canada, New Orleans and Essex, dressed in finery to rival the royals they had come to watch get married in the English town of Windsor. Bernadette Christie, from Canada, poses for a portrait in Windsor, Britain, May 18, 2018. "I love the royal family and I am here because this is the best royal wedding in last 30 years," said Bernadette. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Reuters spoke to some of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's most colorful fans lining the streets the day before the wedding extravaganza. ( reut.rs/2IrVfhQ )
“I’m here for the big day, to congratulate them. They support the Commonwealth,” said Joseph Afrane, from Ghana, whose suit, waistcoat, hat and sunglasses were all emblazoned with the British flag. Slideshow (8 Images)
Caroline Wagstaff did her best to outshine Harry’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth, complete with crown, sash and regal wave. “I am here because I am from Windsor,” she said. Writing by Andrew Heavens | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-royals-wedding-fans-widerimag/wedding-fans-outshine-the-royals-in-englands-windsor-idUKKCN1IJ2AN |
Conference call to be conducted the following day at 9:00 am ET
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ, May 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MamaMancini's Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: MMMB), a marketer of specialty pre-prepared, frozen and refrigerated all-natural food products (as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture), today announced that it will report financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2018, ended January 31, 2018, after the close of the market on Tuesday, May 15, 2018.
The Company has scheduled a conference call for the following day, Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. ET, to review the results. Interested parties may participate on the conference call by dialing (844) 889-4326 or (412) 317-9264. A replay of the conference call will be available by dialing (877) 344-7529 or (412) 317-0088, confirmation code 10119588, through May 23, 2018.
About MamaMancini's
MamaMancini's is a marketer and distributor of a line of beef meatballs and turkey meatballs, all with sauce; five cheese-stuffed beef and turkey meatballs, all with sauce; original beef and turkey meatloaves; chicken parmesan; stuffed peppers; and other similar Italian cuisine products. The Company's sales have been growing on a consistent basis as the Company expands its distribution channel, which includes major retailers and distributors such as Costco, Publix, Shop Rite, Jewel, Save Mart, Sam's Club, Lucky's, Lunds and Byerlys, SuperValu, Safeway, Albertsons, Spartan Nash, Whole Foods Market, Hy-Vee, Shaw's, Kings, Roche Bros., Key Foods, Stop & Shop, Giant, Giant Eagle, Foodtown, Kroger, Shoppers, Schnucks Markets, Fresh Direct, King Kullen, Lowes, Central Market, Weis Markets, Ingles, Food City, The Fresh Market, Market Basket, Meatball Obsession, Monterrey Provisions, Porky Products, Sysco, DPI, United Natural Foods, Bozzutos, Burris Foods, and C&S. The Company sells a variety of its products on air and online on QVC, the world's largest direct-to-consumer marketer.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may," "future," "plan" or "planned," "will" or "should," "expected," "anticipates," "draft," "eventually" or "projected." You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in the Company's 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2016 and other filings made by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
Carl Wolf
Chairman and CEO
MamaMancini’s Holdings, Inc.
Stock Symbol: MMMB
973-985-0280
Source:MamaMancini's Holdings, Inc. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/14/globe-newswire-mamamancinias-holdings-to-announce-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2018-financial-results-after-the-close-on-tuesday-may-15.html |
May 1 (Reuters) - CEMATRIX Corp:
* CEMATRIX CORPORATION ANNOUNCES SIGNING OF DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT FOR ACQUISITION OF MIXONSITE USA, INC., CLOSING OF PRIVATE PLACEMENT AND APPOINTMENT OF NEW CFO
* SAYS JAMES CHONG APPOINTED CFO * SAYS BRUCE MCNAUGHT, FORMER CFO, WILL CONTINUE HIS ROLE AS SECRETARY AND TREASURER UNTIL JUNE 30, 2018
* SAYS CONSIDERATION PAID FOR MOS SHARES SHALL BE APPROXIMATELY $5 MILLION AS WELL AS PAYMENT OF EARN-OUT Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-cematrix-corporation-appoints-new/brief-cematrix-corporation-appoints-new-cfo-idUSASC09YOI |
May 3, 2018 / 1:05 PM / Updated 22 minutes ago In southern province, Iran's Arabs report crackdown as regional tension simmers Bozorgmehr Sharafedin 8 Min Read
LONDON (Reuters) - Fifteen year-old Ma’edeh Shabaninejad was arrested two months ago at her aunt’s house in the southern city of Ahvaz, where she was hiding after security forces raided her own home and confiscated her poems, her father said. Families of prisoners in Ahvaz protest in front of the governor's office in Ahvaz, Iran April 16, 2018. Picture taken April 16, 2018. Families of the detainees/Handout via REUTERS
Sahid Shabaninejad said his daughter had told her mother in weekly calls she is allowed from jail that she had been accused of inciting violence through her poetry about Iran’s Arab minority.
“Resist, my homeland, there is not much left of you,” one of her verses said. “Soon you will hear in your sky the sound of smiles and liberation’s call.”
Arabs have long said they face discrimination in Iran, but two human rights groups say that hundreds of people have been arrested around Ahvaz in the last few weeks alone amid protests against water and power cuts, poverty and alienation.
The community is also caught in a struggle between Iran’s Shi’ite rulers and Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia that has fuelled civil wars in Syria and Yemen and spread fear of wider instability.
“I am amazed the Iranian government is afraid of a 15-year-old girl,” Shabaninejad said by telephone. “A young girl is in constant fear in prison and cannot sleep at night.”
Another relative said Ma’edeh’s aunt was detained the same night and some cousins were arrested the following day. Reuters was unable to confirm their accounts with the authorities, who do not usually release the names of detainees.
Government officials, who keep tight controls over civil movements of all kinds, were not immediately available to comment when Reuters contacted them to ask about the spate of arrests reported by the local Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation and the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.
Officials have stressed the importance of addressing minority grievances and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against discrimination.
“Islamic values and the country’s constitution oblige all bodies of the Islamic Republic to prevent any discrimination and inequality towards Iranians of any ethnicity, race or religion,” he said in a statement on his website last July. SPATE OF ARRESTS
Ahvaz is the regional capital of the ethnically diverse southwestern Khuzestan province, home to most of Iran’s Arabs.
When protests erupted nationwide in January against high prices and alleged corruption, clashes broke out between police and demonstrators in the southwest.
Sporadic demonstrations continued there after they died away elsewhere, with local Arabs voicing anger against what they say are barriers to fair employment and political rights in a region which accounts for 85 percent of Iran’s oil wealth.
Another major cause of unrest has been drought, which locals say has been exacerbated by the diversion of water supplies to ethnically Persian provinces such as Isfahan.
The Iranian government says it recognises drought is a major problem and is doing what it can. In 2016, it acknowledged discrimination in employment in Khuzestan, saying it resulted from the province’s internal affairs, not government policy.
Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation says that of the hundreds arrested in recent weeks it has identified 70 by name. Five individual activists told Reuters the detainees are being held on security charges including separatism, Islamist militancy or being agents of Saudi Arabia.
The activists say dozens of others have also been summoned, interrogated and released.
Several released prisoners and detainees’ relatives told Reuters they had come under pressure from security forces, especially the Revolutionary Guards, not to publicise their detention.
Three released detainees told Reuters they had undergone routine beatings, threats and torture with electric shocks, including in one case, to the genitals.
One former detainee said he had wires attached to his head while making a phone call to relatives from jail and told he would get an electric shock if he said anything out of line.
The office of the Khuzestan governor, the Iranian Prisons Organisation, the judiciary and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reported numbers of arrests or conditions in jail. REGIONAL WOES
Arab demonstrators say Iran should not be spending money in Syria, Iraq and Yemen while people at home are struggling.
At a demonstration in Ahvaz in February, participants drew parallels between water and electricity shortages in the town and in Syria’s Aleppo, where Iran is building power plants after helping the government to oust rebels at the end of 2016.
“Ahvaz is like Aleppo, it has no electricity, no water,” video footage on social media showed Iranian Arab protesters chanting at the rally, before police broke it up.
Official figures show joblessness in Khuzestan fell in recent years, but at 14.5 percent it is above Iran’s 11.8 percent.
Ahvazi activists said they had found few Arab managers in government and local industries in a recent survey and accuse the authorities of trying to change the area’s demography.
Iranian officials have confirmed that migration from other provinces has affected the region’s demography, but say that is not the result of government policy. NO DOLL FOR ARABS
In March, thousands of Arabs in Ahvaz and other cities in Khuzestan took to the streets for several days to protest against a children’s television show about ethnic diversity.
The programme on state television featured dolls in various traditional dress without one to represent the Arab minority. Some local officials and the producer of the show have publicly apologised.
Khadijeh, 36, was arrested with her niece Ayasheh, 19 in a taxi they took after attending a protest outside the state broadcaster’s building in Ahvaz, family members said.
“Khadijeh is not a political activist, she is a mother of three children. She attended the protests only to defend their basic rights,” her sister Haifa Sadam said in an interview with Reuters from Copenhagen.
Three activists said some of the arrests were linked to growing numbers of Iranian Arabs switching from Shi’ite Islam, Iran’s official religion, to Sunni Islam, practiced in Saudi Arabia and the majority creed in the Arab world.
Abdullah, 25, was arrested in February and questioned about why he had switched to Sunni Islam and helped families of prisoners, his sister said on condition of anonymity. He had since been released on bail, with signs of torture on one ear.
Another brother, aged 21, who she did not wish to be named for fear the family would be identified, has been arrested four times since 2012 for political activities including writing slogans on walls and sending photos of protests to media abroad.
He was released from jail in May 2017, but disappeared a few days later after leaving his house to meet some friends in Ahvaz. His sister said security forces have told the family they are not responsible for his disappearance.
Iran says reports of mistreatment of Arabs are propaganda fanned by Gulf countries to stir unrest. In March, Tehran said police had seized what it described as a Saudi and Western-backed “terrorist cell” in Khuzestan with grenades and anti-tank weapons.
A member of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that appoints Iran’s supreme leader, last month acknowledged environmental problems, unemployment and poverty in Khuzestan while urging Arabs to express grievances through legal channels.
“The enemies of the unity of the Iranian nation and their domestic agents are trying to fish in troubled waters, and to derail the legitimate demands of Khuzestan’s people by provoking ethnic and tribal sentiments and prejudice,” Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi-Shahroudi said in a statement on ISNA news agency. Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; editing by Philippa Fletcher | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-rights-arrests/in-southern-province-irans-arabs-report-crackdown-as-regional-tension-simmers-idUKKBN1I41IF |
May 20, 2018 / 5:09 PM / Updated 18 minutes Yorkshire and Warwickshire on Sunday at Leeds, England Warwickshire win by 5 wickets Yorkshire 1st innings Adam Lyth lbw Jeetan Patel 38 Tom Kohler-Cadmore c Olly Stone b Aaron Thomason 39 Cheteshwar Pujara c Tim Ambrose b Olly Stone 73 Harry Brook c Tim Ambrose b Olly Stone 17 Jack Leaning c Tim Ambrose b Jeetan Patel 7 Adil Rashid c Tim Ambrose b Jeetan Patel 4 Andy Hodd b Jeetan Patel 1 Tim Bresnan c Tim Ambrose b Keith Barker 25 James Wainman Not Out 18 Steven Patterson Run Out Jeetan Patel 7 Extras 4b 1lb 2nb 0pen 11w 18 Total (50.0 overs) 247-9 Fall of Wickets : 1-80 Kohler-Cadmore, 2-85 Lyth, 3-112 Brook, 4-133 Leaning, 5-139 Rashid, 6-149 Hodd, 7-204 Bresnan, 8-224 Pujara, 9-247 Patterson Did Not Bat : Coad Keith Barker 10 1 40 1 4.00 Olly Stone 10 1 45 2 4.50 1w Henry Brookes 10 0 59 0 5.90 3w 1nb Aaron Thomason 8 0 51 1 6.38 2w Jeetan Patel 10 2 33 4 3.30 1w Jonathan Trott 2 0 14 0 7.00 Warwickshire 1st innings Ed Pollock b Ben Coad 26 Jonathan Trott Run Out Tim Bresnan 50 Sam Hain Not Out 102 Ian Bell c Tom Kohler-Cadmore b James Wainman 5 Adam Hose c Adil Rashid b Ben Coad 44 Tim Ambrose c Andy Hodd b James Wainman 2 Aaron Thomason Not Out 8 Extras 2b 6lb 0nb 0pen 3w 11 Total (45.4 overs) 248-5 Fall of Wickets : 1-39 Pollock, 2-126 Trott, 3-134 Bell, 4-231 Hose, 5-235 Ambrose Did Not Bat : Barker, Patel, Stone, Brookes Tim Bresnan 5 0 44 0 8.80 Ben Coad 10 0 40 2 4.00 1w Steven Patterson 7.4 0 42 0 5.48 Adil Rashid 10 0 46 0 4.60 1w James Wainman 10 0 53 2 5.30 1w Adam Lyth 3 0 15 0 5.00 Umpire Richard Kettleborough Umpire Graham Lloyd Home Scorer John Potter Away Scorer Melvin Smith | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://in.reuters.com/article/cricket-england-scoreboard/english-domestic-one-day-competition-scoreboard-idINMTZXEE5K1E4NHM |
(Reuters) - Tunisia’s Wahbi Khazri knows a thing or two about the big-name players that await him in the group stages of the World Cup in Russia, and he will want to show that he deserves his place in the spotlight just as much as them.
Soccer Football - International Friendly - Tunisia vs Costa Rica - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - March 27, 2018 Tunisia's Wahbi Khazri celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Eric Gaillard Khazri, unlike most members of the North African squad, has played in the English Premier League. As a striker for Sunderland for two seasons he rubbed shoulders with players such as England’s Harry Kane and Belgium’s Vincent Kompany.
Tunisia have been drawn in the same Group G as England, Belgium and Panama.
The 27-year-old, shaven-headed forward was once rumored to be in the sights of Europe’s biggest clubs and he hit the headlines when he hammered home a spectacular volley against Chelsea in 2016, having scored against Manchester United in the same year.
But he was increasingly left unused on the substitutes’ bench by Sunderland, a far cry from his strong form in France with Bastia and Bordeaux.
He bagged three goals in total for Sunderland who, after relegation from the top flight in 2017, loaned him to Rennes of France for most of the 2017-18 campaign.
Again, Khazri started strongly for his new club, scoring on his debut against Olympique de Marseille with a deft back-heel.
But despite claiming the only goal in Tunisia’s 1-0 friendly win over Costa Rica in March, Khazri has recently endured another goal drought in France and has not scored for Rennes since March 3.
The pressure on him will be all the greater due to the loss of Tunisia’s stand-out playmaker Youssef Msakni due to injury.
Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by Ed Osmond
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-worldcup-tun-star/tunisias-khazri-has-something-to-prove-in-russia-idUSKCN1IP2DV |
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday rejected Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ apology for his remarks on Jews.
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman attends a ceremony for the appointment of a new head for Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), in Nabi Samuel, in the occupied West Bank, May 1, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun Abbas, 82, known as Abu Mazen, said on Friday it “was not my intention” to offend Jews. But Lieberman wrote on Twitter: “Abu Mazen is a wretched Holocaust denier, who wrote a doctorate of Holocaust denial and later also published a book on Holocaust denial. That is how he should be treated. His apologies are not accepted.”
Reporting by Stephen Farrell
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israelis-palestinians-abbas-lieberman/israeli-defense-minister-rejects-abbas-apology-over-remarks-on-jews-idUSKBN1I51B8 |
May 9, 2018 / 1:53 PM / Updated 11 minutes ago Brazil antitrust regulator approves Vale-Yara fertilizer deal Reuters Staff 1 Min Read
BRASILIA, May 9 (Reuters) - Brazil’s antitrust regulator Cade on Wednesday approved the sale of a Vale SA fertilizer unit to Yara International ASA, sanctioning a deal that will allow the Norwegian giant to produce nitrogen-based fertilizers in Brazil.
Six of Cade’s seven board members voted to approve the $255 million transaction without demanding any asset sales or behavioral restrictions. One board member, Paula Farani, withheld from voting. (Reporting by Bruno Federowski) | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/vale-sa-divestiture-yara-intl-antitrust/brazil-antitrust-regulator-approves-vale-yara-fertilizer-deal-idUSE6N1QQ04D |
dissidents@
* Internet firms battle plan to require local data, local offices
* Political activists face even tougher online policing
* Facebook, Google blocking more content as pressure ramps up
* Social media widely used, government seeks economic benefits
HANOI/SINGAPORE May 18 (Reuters) - A struggle over internet laws in Vietnam is pitting a government keen on maintaining tight control against U.S. technology companies trying to fight off onerous new rules - with the country's online dissidents among the biggest losers.
The latest conflict centers on new cybersecurity legislation set for a vote by Vietnamese lawmakers later this month. It aims to impose new legal requirements on internet companies, and hardens policing of online dissent.
Facebook, Google and other global companies are pushing back hard against provisions that would require them to store data on Vietnamese users locally and open offices in the country. But they have not taken the same tough stance on parts of the proposed law that would bolster the government's crackdown on online political activism.
Vietnam offers a case study in the conflicting pressures the likes of Facebook and Google confront when operating in countries with repressive governments. It also shows how authoritarian regimes try to walk a line in controlling online information and suppressing political activism without crippling the digital economy.
Such tensions are playing out across Southeast Asia, where the enormous popularity of Facebook and Google has created lucrative business opportunities and outlets for political dissent. With that, though, has come both government censorship and a way to get propaganda to large audiences efficiently.
The region is particularly important for Facebook and Google because most Internet users in China are blocked from accessing them.
An industry group called the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) is leading efforts to soften the proposed cyber law in Vietnam. Jeff Paine, managing director of the AIC, said he and others were able to raise concerns about the law directly with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other top government officials when they visited Singapore last month.
The discussions took place as part of a seminar about internet issues that included academics, industry officials and the high-level Vietnamese delegation, according to Paine. He said there was "a healthy dialog" that focused mostly on how Vietnam can leverage the next stages of the digital revolution.
But he said there was no discussion of content restrictions.
The Vietnamese government did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment for this article.
Political activists in Vietnam rely on social media to rally support, and the new cyber law comes on the heels of an April letter from more than 50 rights groups and activists to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg accusing the company of working too closely with the Vietnamese government to stifle dissent.
Facebook and Google say they have to abide by local laws in the countries where they operate.
Facebook's latest "transparency report," released Tuesday, shows that in the second half of last year, the company began blocking content in Vietnam for violations of local law for the first time. The company reported 22 such instances - though it said they were prompted by "private reports of defamation" rather than direct government requests.
Google last year also blocked YouTube videos at the request of the government for the first time. Updated figures released Friday show the company was asked to remove more than 6500 videos in 2017, mostly for criticizing the government, and that it complied with a majority of the requests.
The transparency reports do show that the companies don't automatically do the bidding of the government. Facebook said it had received 12 government requests for Facebook user account data in 2017 and complied with only 4 of them, all of which were "emergency" requests. The company defines an emergency as involving "imminent risk of serious physical injury or death."
In cases where content is alleged to violate local law, both companies say takedown requests are subject to legal review, and when they comply the material is only blocked locally.
Direct government censorship requests don't tell the whole story though.
Facebook also removes content and blocks accounts for violating its own global "community standards," which bar material and behaviors ranging from posting pornography to hate speech and inciting violence.
"The first thing we do when a government tells us about content that violates laws is we look at whether it violates our standards," said Monika Bickert, Facebook's vice president of global policy management. The company this week began providing data on community standards violations but does not break it down by country.
"My account was blocked for 8 months," said Le Van Dung, an independent journalist in Vietnam who signed the letter to Zuckerberg. "I sent letters to Facebook management for months but there's only an automatic reply saying they have completed your request."
His account was restored last month, the day after the appeal to Zuckerberg was sent, he said.
Facebook said Dung's account was correctly removed for violating community standards provisions barring "spam" activities and was restored by mistake. Dung denies engaging in spam. He did, though, have more than one account. Multiple accounts are not allowed on Facebook and fall within the company's definition of spam behavior.
TIGHTENING THE SCREWS
Vietnam has had tough internet regulations in place since 2013. They ban any postings that are anti-government, harm national security, cause "hatred and conflicts" or "hurt the prestige of organizations and individuals."
The rules also ban social media users who "spread fake or untruthful information."
New rules implemented in 2017 tightened the screws further. One turning point, according to Yee Chung Seck, an attorney in the Ho Chi Minh City office of the international law firm Baker McKenzie, was an April 2017 meeting convened by the government to discuss a range of Internet ills including disinformation, hate speech and bullying.
That came just after the government called on all companies doing business in the country to stop advertising on YouTube, Facebook and other social media until they found a way to halt the publication of "toxic" anti-government information.
Yet another decree implemented last month stated that social media platforms had to remove illegal content within three hours of it being reported by the government, though Paine said the rule applies only to domestic companies.
Still, Facebook and Google dont seem to be under any imminent threat given how deeply they have penetrated into Vietnam society.
About 55 million of Vietnam's 96 million people are regular social media users, according to research by Simon Kemp, a digital media consultant based in Singapore.
Facebook, YouTube and Google Search are far and away the most popular internet destinations, Kemp's data shows. Facebook is also the most popular platform for online shopping in Vietnam.
And the government is eager to nurture the countrys digital economy: smartphones and all that they enable, especially e-commerce and online banking, are transforming economies across Asia, and no one wants to be left behind.
"They love that part of the story," said Chung.
But the government also wants more control, including local data storage and local corporate offices - a provision company officials privately fear is designed to allow the government to intimidate companies by exposing individuals to arrest.
Both Facebook and Google serve Vietnam from their regional headquarters in Singapore.
The new law also gives more power to Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security, which is tasked with crushing dissent in the communist-ruled country.
Facebook said it expected the new rules would require it to restrict more content. Google declined to comment.
LONG JAIL TERMS
For the rights activists, there appears to be little hope of relief.
For example, just this month, a Facebook user in Vietnam was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for posts which "distorted the political situation," according to a statement posted on an official Communist Party website.
Still, Facebook remains an important tool for activists in Vietnam - a country where government criticism is rarely tolerated and the battle between the authorities and dissidents is a game of cat-and-mouse.
"Sometimes we use Facebook to distract authorities, like we pretend to discuss an important meeting, which obviously won't happen," activist Nguyen Lan Thang said. "Then we watch from afar and laugh as they surround our fake meeting spot," Thang added. (Additional reporting by James Pearson Editing by Martin Howell) | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/18/reuters-america-insight-vietnam-set-to-tighten-clamps-on-facebook-and-google-threatening-dissidents.html |
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - KPMG’s scandal-hit South African arm on Sunday welcomed a review of its turnaround strategy by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA), saying its failings led to a negative image of auditors.
FILE PHOTO: The offices of auditors KMPG are seen in Cape Town, South Africa, September 19, 2017. Picture taken September 19, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File Photo The global auditor has been under scrutiny since 2017 over work done for a company owned by the Gupta family and more recently for small lender VBS Mutual Bank.
The Guptas are accused of using their links to former president Jacob Zuma to influence government decisions and the award of tenders. Both the family and Zuma deny wrongdoing.
The firm responded by appointing veteran public servant and former chairman of the Development Bank of Southern Africa Wiseman Nkuhlu as its chairman in January and said it was reviewing the work of its partners.
Two KPMG partners resigned after facing disciplinary charges over failure to disclose financial interests in connection to VBS Mutual Bank, which was placed under curatorship.
The IRBA said on Friday it had taken the unusual step of appointing a specialized team to review KPMG’s turnaround strategy starting this week.
KPMG said it had since last September undertaken far-reaching reforms which seek to put quality and integrity at the heart of the firm.
“We acknowledge that failings at the firm have contributed to adverse perceptions about the audit profession and we accept responsibility to work towards redressing this situation,” KPMG said in a statement, adding that it welcomed the review.
KPMG said it had since September been cooperating with the IRBA and would continue to do so during the review.
“Recent revelations about VBS have unsettled clients and we recognize they require reassurance that KPMG remains a good firm to be associated with,” KPMG said.
The fallout over the scandals at KPMG has been swift.
In April, South Africa’s Auditor General said he was terminating all government contracts with KPMG, saying the scandals had cast doubt over the firm’s ethical conduct.
Last week Barclays Africa ( BGAJ.J ), one of KPMG’s major financial customers and South Africa’s second-biggest lender by market value, and gold miner Sibanye-Stillwater ( SGLJ.J ) joined more than 10 other clients, to break ties with KPMG since 2017.
Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-kpmg/south-africas-kpmg-arm-welcomes-review-and-owns-up-to-failings-idUSKBN1I70PZ |
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s Lotte Chemical said on Wednesday its Hyundai Chemical joint venture with Hyundai Oilbank will build a 2.7 trillion Korean won ($2.5 billion) petrochemical plant in the country’s southwest.
FILE PHOTO: A sign of Hyundai Oilbank is seen at a self-service fuel pump station in Seoul June 15, 2012. REUTERS/Choi Dae-woong The two companies signed a deal to jointly invest in the new petrochemical plant, which will use heavy fuel oil as a feedstock to produce 750,000 tonnes a year of polyolefins and 400,000 tonnes a year of olefins, Lotte Chemical said in a regulatory filing.
The new plant is expected to start commercial operations in late 2021 and will be built in the city of Daesan, where Hyundai Oilbank’s refining facilities are located.
The two firms aim to enhance their cost competitiveness and diversify their product lines through the investment, the company statement said.
Under the joint venture, Lotte Chemical and Hyundai Oilbank currently run a 130,000 barrels-per-day condensate splitter in Daesan, which began operations in 2016.
Hyundai Oilbank, South Korea’s smallest refiner by capacity, is planning for an initial public offering around September or October this year.
Reporting By Jane Chung and Hyunjoo Jin; editing by Richard Pullin
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-lottechemical-hyundaioilba/lotte-chemical-joint-venture-with-hyundai-oilbank-to-build-new-petchem-plant-idUSKBN1IA09A |
Tesla reportedly in autopilot mode in Utah crash 6:58 AM ET Tue, 15 May 2018 Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted in response to a Tesla crash in Utah that resulted in a broken ankle. The Tesla involved in the crash was reportedly in autopilot mode. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/05/15/tesla-reportedly-in-autopilot-mode-in-utah-crash.html |
ERBIL, Iraq, May 13 (Reuters) - The Iraqi Kurdish Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party (PUK) emerged from national elections firmly ahead of its rivals in Sulaimaniya province, its traditional stronghold, initial tallies showed on Sunday.
The PUK looked to have won eight seats, sources in the country’s election commission said, well ahead of smaller rivals which had hoped for significant gains from Saturday’s vote.
Supporters of the PUK and Movement for Change, known as Gorran, clashed in the northern city of Sulaimaniya late on Saturday amid accusations of ballot rigging.
Initial tallies showed Gorran had won three seats. (Reporting by Ali Sultan, writing by John Davison; editing by John Stonestreet)
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/iraq-election-kurds-indications/iraqi-kurdish-puk-firmly-ahead-in-northern-city-initial-election-tallies-idUSL5N1SK0GG |
6 Hours Ago | 04:20
Getaway, a three-year-old start-up that offers custom-built tiny homes nestled in the heart of nature, is betting on its 140- to 200-sq.-ft. cabins to help combat the relentless pull of technology.
The company is harnessing the power of design — everything from the cabins' large windows to the Eastern White Pine used in construction — to give city dwellers the chance to unwind and unplug, all without a Wi-Fi network in sight. The tiny-home appeal
Tiny homes are part of a growing movement among the world-weary to downsize or live a simpler existence. Yet in many areas, especially cities, these residences on wheels may not be economical to own , because of zoning regulations, high land costs and other drawbacks.
Enter Getaway, a Brooklyn-based company that offers the experience of a tiny home, but only for as many nights as you're willing to pay for. Currently, Getaway has cabins outside Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C. Rates vary, but a cabin in New York goes for $150 per night on weekdays and $175 per night on weekends. Sophie Bearman | CNBC Getaway isn't about selling a night in a house in the woods; it's about selling an experience.
The stay includes a lock box for guests' cellphones, suggestions for nearby hikes and nature walks, a plush queen-size bed and a firepit with Adirondack chairs.
"Within this space, you have everything you need and nothing you don't," founder and CEO Jon Staff told CNBC in an interview.
"There's no TV, no internet, not a bunch of extra rooms you don't need, and the result is that everything is stripped away so you can just focus on you and the people you came with."
Getaway isn't simply selling a night in a house in the woods; it's selling an experience.
"We go out of our way to make sure not to describe ourselves as a hotel, because a hotel is agnostic as to what you do," said Staff. "But we care a lot about what you do. We really don't want you checking email, and we really want you making a fire." Intentional design Sophie Bearman | CNBC The concept behind Getaway's large window design is to allow guests to go to sleep gazing up at the night sky and then wake up with the sun.
One of Getaway's most talked about and photographed features is its big window design, with the bed placed right next to the window. The concept is to sleep in nature: One can go to bed gazing up at the night sky and then wake up with the sun.
This emphasis on being close to nature is echoed with the use of natural building materials. Getaway cabins use wood, glass and some metal but forgo plastics and composites. The Eastern White Pine is stained a natural color that's meant to blend in with the environment.
The cabin size is essential to the experience. Getaway offers two-person and four-person homes that come with a bed (or two) for sleeping, a table for eating, a kitchenette with a mini-fridge and two-stove burner and a bathroom with a toilet and hot-water shower. Outdoors, there's a firepit, picnic table and chairs.
The cabins also come stocked with pots, pans, olive oil, salt and pepper — essentials they provide so guests don't have to worry about the basics. Additional food items, like trail mix, jerky and Tate's chocolate-chip cookies, are available for purchase.
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When the Getaway cabin design is successful, Staff said guests should barely notice it at all.
"Architecturally, we think of ourselves less as designing a great tiny cabin and more as designing the perfect piece of hardware to get into nature," said Staff.
"We want to make sure you get out of your car and everything works immediately so you can maximize the amount of time you have to unwind." Funding the dream Sophie Bearman | CNBC Getaway has received more than $16 million in funding from a number of investors since 2017.
In 2017, Getaway closed a $15 million funding round backed by L Catterton, a firm that's invested in start-ups like Pure Barre, Snap Kitchen and Bliss. Prior to that investment, Getaway raised $1.4 million in two rounds of seed financing from a number of investors, including Rough Draft Ventures and Fueled, according to the company. Getaway posted $750,000 in revenue for 2017.
Tiny homes and alternative living spaces aren't foreign to Staff, who grew up living on a boat and can also add to his list of unusual homes the basement of a frozen yogurt shop he founded in college, a campus library at Harvard and a 26-ft. Airstream trailer.
"The original business plan for Getaway, if you can call it that, was me and my buddy Pete wanting a tiny house in the woods where we could go and escape people and escape work and escape email," said Staff.
Getaway may sell tiny homes, but it has big dreams. Its 2018 annual goals include expanding to six markets nationally, with hopes for houses nestled across the United States.
Currently, the company gets high marks from travelers. It hopes to maintain its 81+ Net Promoter Score, which gauges the loyalty of a company's customer relationships. An NPS of +50 is widely considered excellent.
One area Getaway will likely not be expanding into is partnerships. Staff said partnering with a ski hill or local vineyard could chip away at Getaway's unique mission of helping guests disconnect and recharge, and he said doing so would make Getaway just another "business like so many others." Sophie Bearman Producer, CNBC Digital Playing | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/03/getaway-.html |
Facebook said Tuesday it will start telling users which websites track them across the web — and offer them the option to delete the personal data from their accounts.
The social media site collects information on Facebook users and non-Facebook users from third party websites that use Facebook's services, like the "Like" plug-in or Facebook "pixels," which are pieces of code that track what people do off of Facebook.
The feature, called "Clear History" — which will roll out in upcoming months — will essentially let users see and clear the information Facebook knows about their browsing history.
"To be clear, when you clear your cookies in your browser, it can make parts of your experience worse. You may have to sign back in to every website, and you may have to reconfigure things. The same will be true here. Your Facebook won't be as good while it relearns your preferences," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post to his personal account .
"But after going through our systems, this is an example of the kind of control we think you should have," he said. "It's something privacy advocates have been asking for — and we will work with them to make sure we get it right."
The new feature is another effort to give users more control over their data in response to widespread data mishandling by research firm Cambridge Analytica.
The firm was accused in recent months of improperly accessing the personal user data of as many as 87 million Facebook users. The allegations have set off a firestorm of governmental probes and privacy concerns — causing Facebook to publicly address and, in some cases, tweak its privacy policies.
show chapters Trump Vortex: Why Facebook's business model is only now coming under fire 2:19 PM ET Fri, 13 April 2018 | 06:55 Facebook will still collect and store aggregate data from third party websites, the company said, but it will disassociate the information from user profiles.
"You'll even be able to turn off having this information stored with your account," Zuckerberg said.
Here's the full statement from Facebook's Erin Egan, chief privacy officer:
The past several weeks have made clear that people want more information about how Facebook works and the controls they have over their information. And today at F8 we're sharing some of the first steps we're taking to better protect people's privacy.
We're starting with a feature that addresses feedback we've heard consistently from people who use Facebook, privacy advocates and regulators: everyone should have more information and control over the data Facebook receives from other websites and apps that use our services.
Today, we're announcing plans to build Clear History. This feature will enable you to see the websites and apps that send us information when you use them, delete this information from your account, and turn off our ability to store it associated with your account going forward. Apps and websites that use features such as the Like button or Facebook Analytics send us information to make their content and ads better. We also use this information to make your experience on Facebook better.
If you clear your history or use the new setting, we'll remove identifying information so a history of the websites and apps you've used won't be associated with your account. We'll still provide apps and websites with aggregated analytics – for example, we can build reports when we're sent this information so we can tell developer if their apps are more popular with men or women in a certain age group. We can do this without storing the information in a way that's associated with your account, and as always, we don't tell advertisers who you are.
It will take a few months to build Clear History. We'll work with privacy advocates, academics, policymakers and regulators to get their input on our approach, including how we plan to remove identifying information and the rare cases where we need information for security purposes. We've already started a series of roundtables in cities around the world, and heard specific demands for controls like these at a session we held at our headquarters two weeks ago. We're looking forward to doing more. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/01/facebook-will-start-telling-users-which-websites-track-them-across-the-web.html |
PTYCHA, Ukraine (Reuters) - One recent Sunday morning in the western Ukrainian village of Ptycha, a battle for control of the church between rival Orthodox factions forced parishioners to worship in unusual places.
Faithfuls of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate attend a service at the priest's packed garage in the village of Ptycha, Ukraine May 13, 2018. Picture taken May 13, 2018. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich To the left of the building, dozens squeezed into the caretaker’s lodge, above which a small Ukrainian flag fluttered.
To the right, and a short walk down the road, a second service took place in the priest’s packed garage. People spilled out into the garden where they shared the space with the occasional stray chicken.
The 106-year-old Holy Assumption church itself was padlocked and three police officers were nearby to guard it.
The standoff is the upshot of a tussle that pits a church aligned with Russian Orthodoxy — widely referred to in Ukraine as the Moscow Patriarchate — against a breakaway rival called the Kiev Patriarchate.
Religious divisions deepened in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea by Russia and subsequent conflict between Ukrainian and Russian-backed separatist forces over the Donbass region in the east.
Those tensions are back in focus after Petro Poroshenko, the pro-Western president who faces a tight election race next March, stepped up efforts to create an independent, or “autocephalous”, national church.
He says the move is designed to bring religious and social unity as well as to blunt Russia’s influence in Ukraine.
“This question goes far beyond the ecclesiastical. It is about our finally acquiring independence from Moscow,” Poroshenko told parliament in April.
CHURCH DIVIDED The Moscow Patriarchate considers its Ukrainian rival illegitimate, and fiercely opposes Poroshenko’s proposal.
The Kiev branch, which broke away in 1992 after the fall of the Soviet Union, supports it.
Critics of the Moscow Patriarchate call it a fifth column for the Kremlin, used to harbour pro-Russian separatist fighters, store weapons, justify Russian expansionism and spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda.
Mykhailo Voytyuk, a leader of the Kiev Patriarchate community in Ptycha, says Moscow Patriarchate priests treat them as second-class citizens and broke an agreement to let both sides take turns to hold services in the church.
“We are nobodies and they are everything. We are the unblessed. We are the dissidents,” he said.
“The Moscow Patriarchate is the fifth column, with which the FSB brainwashes and influences the state of affairs in every village, including ours,” he added, referring to Russia’s state security service.
The Moscow Patriarchate rejects such accusations. It says it is autonomous from the Russian Orthodox Church, and many of its followers feel they are unfairly cast as “stooges” of Moscow.
Archbishop Kliment, spokesman for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the official name for the Moscow Patriarchate, denied his church was a security threat and said it had done much for peace in the east.
It “represents millions of religious Ukrainian citizens and to call this number of Ukrainian citizens a hotbed of instability is to defame them or define them as second class citizens who are rejected by the political elite,” he said in an interview.
A PRESIDENTIAL GAMBLE? Poroshenko is trailing in the opinion polls. The move for an independent church could boost his ratings and burnish his legacy, though opponents call it a dangerous electoral ploy that will inflame social tensions. Even supporters say it is a risk.
Archbishop Yevstraty, the Kiev Patriarchate spokesman, said Poroshenko acted with surprising courage in staking his authority on a policy that may not come off.
“For him as a politician it is clear that if the hopes he has sowed in society ... are not realised, it is a big threat,” he said.
He is not the first president to push for an autocephalous church.
But the quest has gained impetus since he returned from a visit to Istanbul in April, when Poroshenko sought the backing of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians.
A spokesman for the Patriarchate declined to comment.
Participants take part in a procession organized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, petitioning for peace while accompanied by police officers (C), as members of the Ukrainian national guard (R) block pro-Ukrainian activists, in the city of Boryspil outside Kiev, Ukraine July 25, 2016. Picture taken July 25, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko The move is opposed by the Kremlin, Russian Orthodox Church and some of Poroshenko’s political opponents.
A campaign is underway to collect signatures asking Bartholomew to block the plan.
That prompted Iryna Friz, an MP in Poroshenko’s faction and senior member of the parliamentary security committee, to ask the state security service to investigate the campaign, which she says was initiated by the Moscow Patriarchate church.
Asked about the assertion, Archbishop Kliment said “it is the initiative of the laity.”
Patriarch Filaret, the leader of the Kiev Patriarchate church, would be the only obvious choice to head the autocephalous church, according to Archbishop Yevstraty.
That could play well with many Ukrainians, two-thirds of whom are Orthodox believers, according to 2018 research published by the Kiev-based Razumkov think-tank.
The proportion of those supporting the Kiev Patriarchate doubled to 29 percent from 15 percent between 2010-2018 while support for the Moscow Patriarchate almost halved to 13 percent.
The Kiev Patriarchate won followers at its rival’s expense after 2014 protests ousted a pro-Russian leader.
It blessed those protesting against President Viktor Yanukovich and gave sanctuary to people injured in clashes with security forces in a makeshift clinic in its St. Michael’s monastery in the centre of the capital.
Its leadership has denounced Russian leader Vladimir Putin as possessed by Satan.
“BLAMED FOR EVERYTHING” Cases where priests from the Moscow Patriarchate refused to hold funeral services for Ukrainian soldiers who died in the Donbass conflict, or blessed pro-Russian fighters, have raised hackles.
“...there are many examples when they refuse to read the burial service over deceased veterans or people baptized in Kyiv Patriarchate; this all leads to tensions,” said Rostyslav Pavlenko, the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration.
“Moreover, the veterans recall instances when churches in the east were used as rally point for terrorists,” he told Reuters.
Back in November 2014, feelings ran high in Ptycha when villagers voted on whether the blue-painted church should remain part of the Moscow Patriarchate or switch across.
The vote sparked years of confrontation. In December 2015, the two sides went at each other with clubs, while this April there was another standoff when hooded men broke into the church, witnesses say.
The Kiev Patriarchate side accuses the Moscow Patriarchate of bringing “titushki”, or thugs-for-hire, to cause trouble. The Moscow Patriarchate side says its rival uses nationalist militia. Finally the police shut the building down.
Maria Furmanets, a villager of the Moscow Patriarchate faith, says it is unfair to paint her as a Russian stooge.
“We are always blamed for everything as we are ‘Moskals,’” she said, using a derogatory word for ethnic Russians.
“We’ve lived our whole life in Ukraine, we love our Ukraine a lot more than they (the Kiev Patriarchate) do, we love our land and our church,” she said. “I don’t even recognise the Kiev Patriarchate - it’s a political organisation.”
Poroshenko’s plan is criticized by the Opposition Bloc, the heir to Yanukovich’s defunct Party of Regions, which has its power base in the east.
“When officials interfere with church affairs, expect trouble, expect tension and interconfessional conflicts,” leader Yuriy Boyko told Reuters.
“The president has a low rating and is trying to raise it through this kind of action.”
Poroshenko’s camp denies his plan is for electoral gain, saying work towards it began four years ago.
Slideshow (13 Images) “We see it as a historical opportunity,” said Pavlenko of the Presidential Administration.
Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Editing by Mike Collett-White
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-church/insight-ahead-of-elections-a-risky-battle-for-ukraines-soul-idINKCN1IW123 |
May 17, 2018 / 12:33 PM / in 8 hours Sleeping out on the streets of Windsor: Royal fans join the homeless Emily G Roe 4 Min Read
WINDSOR, England (Reuters) - Across the road from Queen Elizabeth’s Windsor Castle home, Lewis Davis huddles under bus shelter, one of the many town’s homeless people who sleep rough in doorways in the genteel town. Royal superfan Donna Werner poses for a picture in her home in New Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S. March 20, 2018. REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin
Opposite, a new array of sleeping bags has appeared, the temporary home for royal superfans, some of whom have traveled thousands of miles to spend their days and nights on Windsor’s streets for a glimpse of the queen’s grandson Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle’s on their glittering wedding day.
“They’ve got their own home, they’re camping. We actually live out here. That’s the difference,” Davis, originally from the nearby town of Slough, told Reuters.
The issue of rough sleepers in Windsor made headlines in January, when the local council leader said they would be cleared from the streets before Saturday’s wedding because their “detritus” was presenting the quaint town, dominated by the castle to the west of London, in a poor light.
Simon Dudley, the leader of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead council, wrote on Twitter there had been an “epidemic of rough sleeping and vagrancy” in the town and said he wanted police “to focus on dealing with this before the #RoyalWedding”.His remarks drew criticism from local homeless organizations and even Prime Minister Theresa May.
“They shouldn’t really hide the fact that there’s homeless people here,” Davis said. “They should help us.”
Homelessness has become a high-profile political issue in recent months, with official figures showing that there were 4,134 rough sleepers counted on a single night in England in autumn 2016, an increase of 134 percent since 2010 when there were fewer than 1,800.
The government has set a target of halving rough sleeping by 2022 and abolishing it by 2027, with May promising to spend 500 million pounds on tackling homelessness. SUPERFANS
Other rough sleepers in Windsor said they feared that the authorities would clear them from the town’s streets before the wedding on Saturday - in stark contrast to the welcome that the royal fans, nestled down beneath swathes of fluttering red, white and blue bunting, had received.
Thames Valley Police, the local force in charge of the wedding security, they were working closely with the council and local services to “offer support” to the homeless in Windsor.
“A scheme has been set up for those who choose, to store their belongings at the Windsor Homeless Project during the Royal Wedding, and our officers have been assisting with transport of belongings, however this is entirely voluntary to ensure the safety of the homeless community,” police said.
The council said all those sleeping rough had been offered somewhere to stay or a place to house their belongings while the more than 100,000 visitors throng the streets of Windsor this weekend.
“We hope individuals will take up the offer to so that we can help prevent them from losing possessions on a day when the town will be extremely busy,” the council said in a statement.
The superfans by the castle have been banned from erecting tents as part of tight security measures and they were sympathetic to the homeless living just a stone’s throw away from where they were camping.”Everybody needs a place to sleep,” said American Donna Werner, who had traveled 3,000 miles from New Fairfield, Connecticut, to camp by the castle for several days.”Everybody’s not as lucky as some of us ... I feel bad for them,” she said. Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Alison Williams | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-royals-homeless-campers/sleeping-out-on-the-streets-of-windsor-royal-fans-join-the-homeless-idUSKCN1II1QI |
SHANGHAI, May 2 (Reuters) - A property firm owned by the Tianjin municipal government has defaulted on two trust loans worth a combined 500 million yuan ($80 million), a creditor said - the second known default of off-balance sheet loans by a Chinese local government.
Tianjin Municipal Development Co missed repayments on loans that should have been made before April 14, Guotong Trust said on its website on Sunday.
An employee who answered the phone at the office of Tianjin Municipal Development said she was not immediately able to comment.
Beijing has been trying to rein in local government debt amid concerns that financing vehicles used by local governments throughout China, often for vanity projects that have run up large amounts of debt, may start to default this year.
The first known case of a default this year was by a Yunnan state-owned investment company which later received 2 billion yuan in additional equity capital from the provincial government to repay its loans. ($1 = 6.3325 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/china-economy-debt/tianjin-govt-property-firm-defaults-on-two-trust-loans-creditor-says-idUSL8N1S9038 |
GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel’s use of force against protesters at the Gaza border fence is akin to “an eye for an eyelash” and may amount to a war crime, Michael Lynk, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a statement on Tuesday.
“This blatant excessive use of force by Israel – an eye for an eyelash – must end, and there must be true accountability for those in military and political command who have ordered or allowed this force to be once again employed at the Gaza fence,” said Lynk, an independent expert who reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Janet Lawrence
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-un-rapporteur/u-n-rapporteur-condemns-israels-use-of-force-against-gaza-protesters-idUSKCN1IG1TW |
SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL), a leader in storage, networking and connectivity semiconductor solutions, today announced that Ms. Bethany Mayer, former President and CEO of Ixia, and Ms. Donna Morris, Executive Vice President, Customer and Employee Experience at Adobe, have been appointed to the board.
"Marvell's solutions address the growing demand for greater network bandwidth and data access, areas in which Bethany brings deep expertise," said Matt Murphy, Marvell President and CEO. "Her insights into the networking, high-speed communications and security markets will be great assets."
"Donna is a recognized expert in using customer and employee experience to drive business results," Murphy added. "Marvell is focused on delivering a differentiated experience for both our customers and employees, which makes Donna's perspective immensely helpful as we continue to evolve and grow."
In addition, incumbent directors Ms. Gerri Elliott, who recently joined Cisco Systems as its new Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, and Mr. Peter Feld have notified Marvell that they will not be standing for re-election at the company's 2018 annual general meeting of shareholders to be held on June 28, 2018.
"I would like to thank both Gerri and Peter for their service on the Marvell board. I wish Gerri the best of luck in her new role at Cisco and wish Peter continued success at Starboard Value. Peter joined Marvell at a critical time for the Company and drove crucial changes that were needed to get the company back on track. His insights and influence as a director have catalyzed the changes that have transformed Marvell into a healthy, well-functioning company with strong financial results," said Murphy.
Peter Feld stated, "I am incredibly proud of the outstanding progress that Marvell has made over the past two years under the guidance of our renewed board and management team. From the beginning of our involvement, we believed that Marvell was a world class technology company with significant opportunity, but in need of improved leadership, focus, and financial discipline. Today, Marvell is in a very different place. The company is thriving and delivering outstanding results. It has been an absolute pleasure working with my fellow directors and our extremely capable management team and I will leave the board knowing that our investment is in strong hands. We remain confident in Marvell's future and intend to remain shareholders."
About Bethany Mayer
Bethany Mayer is currently an executive partner with Siris Capital Group LLC. From 2014 through 2017, she was the president, CEO and a board member of Ixia, a market leader in test, visibility and security solutions acquired by Keysight Technologies in 2017. Ms. Mayer has over 25 years of technology experience serving in executive roles in companies both large and small. From 2011 through 2014, Ms. Mayer was senior vice president and general manager of HP's Networking Business unit and the NFV Business unit and as vice president, marketing and alliances for HP's Enterprise Servers Storage and Networking Group from 2010 until 2011. Prior to joining HP, she held leadership roles at Blue Coat Systems, Cisco and Apple Computer. Ms. Mayer sits on the board of Pulse Secure and is an independent board member of Sempra Energy. She holds an M.B.A. from CSU-Monterey Bay and a B.S. in political science from Santa Clara University.
About Donna Morris
Donna Morris has served as Executive Vice President, Customer and Employee Experience at Adobe Systems Incorporated since 2016, and in other senior positions with Adobe since 2002. In her current role, she leads the product, customer service and technical support for all Adobe products, in addition to all aspect of human resources and the workplace. Ms. Morris sits on the board of directors of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Adobe Foundation. Ms. Morris received a B.A. in political science from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and holds the Society for Human Resources Management – Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), Senior HR Professional (SHRP) and Canadian Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designations.
About Marvell
Marvell first revolutionized the digital storage industry by moving information at speeds never thought possible. Today, that same breakthrough innovation remains at the heart of the company's storage, networking and connectivity solutions. With leading intellectual property and deep system-level knowledge, Marvell's semiconductor solutions continue to transform the enterprise, cloud, automotive, industrial and consumer markets. To learn more, visit: www.marvell.com .
Marvell and the Marvell logo are registered trademarks of Marvell and/or its affiliates.
For Further Information Contact:
T. Peter Andrew
Vice President, Treasury and Investor Relations
408-222-0777
[email protected]
View original content with multimedia: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/marvell-technology-group-ltd-announces-changes-to-its-board-of-directors-300644074.html
SOURCE Marvell | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/07/pr-newswire-marvell-technology-group-ltd-announces-changes-to-its-board-of-directors.html |
Increases Full Year 2018 Expected Revenue Growth to 22% to 25% on Strength in Global Omnipod;
Introduces Second Quarter Expected Revenue Growth of 18% to 22%
BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD) (Insulet or the Company), the leader in tubeless insulin pump technology with its Omnipod ® Insulin Management System (Omnipod System), today announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180503006402/en/
First Quarter Financial Highlights:
First quarter revenue of $123.6 million, up 21%, exceeds guidance of $119 to $123 million U.S. Omnipod revenue of $70.3 million, an increase of 18% International Omnipod revenue of $38.4 million, an increase of 53% Drug Delivery revenue of $14.9 million, a decrease of 12% Gross margin of 61.4%, up 300 basis points
Recent Highlights:
Secured in-network coverage with UnitedHealthcare for Omnipod, effective April 2018 Received Medicare coverage eligibility under the Part D prescription drug benefit, providing access pathway to 450,000 individuals with Type 1 diabetes who have Medicare/Medicaid coverage Secured Medicare formulary coverage with two Part D plan sponsors, effective April 2018 Submitted Omnipod DASH™, Insulet's next-generation mobile platform, for FDA clearance Established key European operational and commercial arrangements for transition to direct operations on July 1 st
"We are expanding our opportunities for growth and driving continued operational excellence," said Patrick Sullivan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We have significantly expanded market access for Omnipod, made substantial progress on our innovation roadmap, and strengthened our global commercial footprint. We are building on last year’s momentum and look forward to another year of substantial growth and achieving positive operating income in 2018 for the first time in Insulet's history."
First Quarter 2018 Financial Results :
First quarter 2018 revenue increased 21% to $123.6 million, compared to revenue of $101.7 million in the first quarter of 2017.
Operating income for the first quarter of 2018 was break-even, compared to an operating loss of $5.3 million in the first quarter of 2017.
Net loss for the first quarter of 2018 was $6.6 million, or $0.11 per share, compared to a net loss of $10.0 million, or $0.17 per share, in the first quarter of 2017.
Guidance 1 :
For the year ending December 31, 2018, the Company is raising its revenue guidance to a range of $565 to $580 million (previously $560 to $580 million), compared to 2017 revenue of $463.8 million, representing growth of approximately 22% to 25%, on growing global Omnipod demand and confidence in commercial execution. For the quarter ending June 30, 2018, the Company is introducing revenue guidance in the range of $130 to $134 million, compared to second quarter 2017 revenue of $109.8 million, representing growth of approximately 18% to 22%.
Future results may be affected by changes in ongoing assumptions and judgments, and may also be affected by non-recurring, unusual or unanticipated charges, expenses or gains.
1 On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, which changes the way public companies recognize revenue, as well as certain related costs and expenses. The Company does not expect the adoption of this standard will have a material impact on its financial trends. The Company's 2018 revenue guidance reflects the adoption of this standard on a prospective basis and it anticipates the most significant impact relates to the timing of revenue recognition within its drug delivery product line. For the year ending December 31, 2018 and the quarter ending June 30, 2018, the guidance includes approximately $5 million and $1.5 million, respectively, of incremental revenue from adopting ASC 606.
Conference Call:
Insulet will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) on May 3, 2018 to discuss the financial results and outlook. The link to the live call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://investors.insulet.com , "Events and Presentations", and will be archived for future reference. The call may also be accessed by dialing (844) 831-3022 for domestic callers or (315) 625-6887 for international callers, passcode 6468699.
About Insulet Corporation:
Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD), headquartered in Massachusetts, is an innovative medical device company dedicated to making the lives of people with diabetes and other conditions easier through the use of its Omnipod product platform. The Omnipod Insulin Management System provides a unique alternative to traditional insulin delivery methods. With its simple, wearable design, the disposable Pod provides up to three days of non-stop insulin delivery, without the need to see or handle a needle. Insulet also leverages the unique design of its Pod, by tailoring its Omnipod technology platform for the delivery of non-insulin subcutaneous drugs across multiple therapeutic areas. Founded in 2000, more than 140,000 users across the globe rely on Insulet’s Omnipod Insulin Management System to bring simplicity and freedom to their lives. For more information, please visit: www.insulet.com , www.myomnipod.com and www.omnipodeurope.com *.
*Starting July 1, 2018, Insulet will assume direct distribution of its Omnipod Insulin Management System in Europe, including sales, marketing, training and customer support activities. This will allow Insulet to be closer to the diabetes community and identify opportunities to support European customer needs over the long-term, as it already does in the United States and Canada.
Forward-Looking Statement:
The 2018 financial results contained in this news release are subject to finalization in connection with the preparation of the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Insulet's expectations, anticipations, intentions, beliefs or strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements are based on its current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on Insulet. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting Insulet will be those that it has anticipated.
These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond Insulet's control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the Company's dependence on its principal product platform, the Omnipod System; risks associated with the Company’s ability to design, develop, manufacture and commercialize future products; Insulet's ability to reduce production costs and increase customer orders and manufacturing volumes; adverse changes in general economic conditions; impact of healthcare reform laws; Insulet's ability to raise additional funds in the future on acceptable terms or at all; potential supply problems or price fluctuations with sole source or third-party suppliers on which Insulet is dependent; the potential establishment of a competitive bid program for conventional insulin pumps; failure by Insulet to retain supplier pricing discounts and achieve satisfactory gross margins; failure by Insulet to retain key supplier and payor partners; international business risks; Insulet’s inability to effectively assume the distribution and commercial support for the Omnipod System and to operate the Company's business in Europe following the expiration of its distribution agreement with its European distributor on June 30, 2018; Insulet's inability to secure and retain adequate coverage or reimbursement from third-party payors for the Omnipod System or future products and potential adverse changes in reimbursement rates or policies relating to the Omnipod System or future products; failure to retain key payor partners and their members; potential adverse effects resulting from competition; technological change and product innovation adversely affecting the Company's business; potential changes to or termination of Insulet's license to incorporate a blood glucose meter into the Omnipod System or its inability to enter into new license or other agreements with respect to the Omnipod System's current or future features; challenges to the future development of our non-insulin drug delivery business; Insulet's ability to protect its intellectual property and other proprietary rights; conflicts with the intellectual property of third parties, including claims that Insulet's current or future products infringe or misappropriate the proprietary rights of others; adverse regulatory or legal actions relating to the Omnipod System or future products; failure of Insulet's contract manufacturers or component suppliers to comply with FDA's quality system regulations; the potential violation of international, federal or state laws prohibiting "kickbacks" or protecting the confidentiality of patient health information or other protected personal information, or any challenge to or investigation into Insulet's practices under these laws; product liability lawsuits that may be brought against Insulet; reduced retention rates of our customer base; unfavorable results of clinical studies relating to the Omnipod System or future products, or the products of Insulet's competitors; potential future publication of articles or announcement of positions by diabetes associations or other organizations that are unfavorable to the Omnipod System; the concentration of substantially all of Insulet's manufacturing operations at a single location in China and substantially all of Insulet's inventory at a single location in Massachusetts; Insulet's ability to attract and retain personnel; Insulet's ability to manage its growth; fluctuations in quarterly results of operations; risks associated with potential future acquisitions or investments in new businesses; Insulet's ability to generate sufficient cash to service all of its indebtedness; the expansion of Insulet's distribution network; Insulet's ability to successfully maintain effective internal control over financial reporting; the volatility of the trading price of Insulet's common stock; risks related to future sales of its common stock or the conversion of any of the Convertible Senior Notes; potential limitations on Insulet's ability to use its net operating loss carryforwards; anti-takeover provisions in its organizational documents; and other risks and uncertainties described in its Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 22, 2018 in the section entitled "Risk Factors," and in its other filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of its assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Insulet undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
INSULET CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
Three Months Ended March 31, (Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share data)
2018 2017 Revenue $ 123,578 $ 101,713 Cost of revenue 47,763 42,315 Gross profit 75,815 59,398 Operating expenses: Research and development 19,912 17,500 Sales and marketing 32,133 28,095 General and administrative 23,770 19,111 Total operating expenses 75,815 64,706 Operating income (loss) — (5,308 ) Interest expense and other, net 6,236 4,573 Loss before income taxes (6,236 ) (9,881 ) Income tax expense 333 96 Net loss $ (6,569 ) $ (9,977 ) Net loss per share basic and diluted: Net loss per share $ (0.11 ) $ (0.17 ) Weighted-average number of shares outstanding 58,483 57,694
INSULET CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Unaudited) (In thousands)
March 31,
2018
December 31,
2017
ASSETS Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments $ 351,999 $ 440,056 Accounts receivable and unbilled receivable 55,829 53,373 Inventories 26,334 33,793 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 17,449 9,949 Total current assets 451,611 537,171 Long-term investments 164,117 125,549 Property and equipment, net 153,029 107,864 Goodwill and intangible assets, net 44,343 44,191 Other assets 16,663 1,969 Total assets $ 829,763 $ 816,744 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY Accounts payable $ 33,846 $ 24,413 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 48,568 61,612 Total current liabilities 82,414 86,025 Convertible debt, net
569,877 566,173 Other long-term liabilities 6,904 6,030 Total liabilities 659,195 658,228 Stockholders’ Equity 170,568 158,516 Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 829,763 $ 816,744
View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180503006402/en/
Insulet Corporation
Investor Relations and Media Contact:
Deborah R. Gordon, 978-600-7717
Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
[email protected]
Source: Insulet Corporation | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/03/business-wire-insulet-reports-first-quarter-2018-revenue-of-123-point-6-million-up-21-percent-year-over-year-and-gross-margin-of-61-point.html |
New lava flow from Kilauea volcano hits the ocean 1:06am BST - 01:08
A third lava flow from Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea volcano streamed into the ocean as U.S. Marine Corps helicopters stood by to evacuate a Big Island community should molten rock or huge cracks block its final escape route.
A third lava flow from Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea volcano streamed into the ocean as U.S. Marine Corps helicopters stood by to evacuate a Big Island community should molten rock or huge cracks block its final escape route. //reut.rs/2INrdW0 | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/video/2018/05/26/new-lava-flow-from-kilauea-volcano-hits?videoId=430199958 |
Citron calls bitcoin strategy 'nonsense' 3 Hours Ago Square shares dropped after noted short-seller Citron said excitement over the payments processor's bitcoin trading product was overdone. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/30/citron-calls-bitcoin-strategy-nonsense.html |
May 2 (Reuters) - Hsin Chong Group Holdings Ltd:
* CURRENTLY IN DISCUSSIONS WITH POLY PROPERTY GROUP CO, WHICH EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN INVESTING IN COMPANY’S EQUITY SECURITIES Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-hsin-chong-group-updates-on-financ/brief-hsin-chong-group-updates-on-financial-condition-idUSFWN1S90Z3 |
Tianqi Lithium Corp. is buying a stake in a Chile-based lithium production and distribution company from Nutrien Ltd. for about $4.07 billion, further growing China’s hold over the market for lithium.
Tianqi has agreed to buy about 62.6 million class A shares in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA, also called SQM, for about $65 a share in cash.
SQM,... | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.wsj.com/articles/tianqi-lithium-to-buy-minority-stake-in-miner-sqm-for-4-07-billion-1526558385 |
Executes Record Number of New Leases and Delivers Strong Same-Center NOI Growth
CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II, Inc. , a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the acquisition and management of well-occupied grocery-anchored shopping centers, reported its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 and increased its estimated value per share to $22.80 as of March 31, 2018.
First Quarter 2018 Highlights (vs. First Quarter 2017)
Acquired one grocery-anchored shopping center for a total cost of $18.5 million Net loss totaled $1.3 million Funds from operations (FFO) increased 4.6% to $18.2 million, or $0.39 per diluted share Modified funds from operations (MFFO) increased 7.7% to $16.7 million, or $0.36 per diluted share Same-center net operating income (NOI) increased 4.8% to $25.2 million Net Debt to Total Enterprise Value was 42.9% at quarter-end Outstanding debt had a weighted-average interest rate of 3.5% and 89.7% was fixed-rate debt
Estimated Value per Share Update
On May 9, 2018, the company’s board of directors increased the estimated value per share of its common stock to $22.80 as of March 31, 2018, based on the range of $21.27 to $24.17 provided by Duff & Phelps, an independent third-party valuation firm.
Management Commentary
“Our portfolio of well-occupied grocery-anchored shopping centers produced strong results during the first quarter of 2018, as illustrated by our 7.7% increase in MFFO and 4.8% increase in same-center NOI,” said Jeff Edison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II. “Our strategy of owning centers in strong demographic markets that provide necessity-based goods and services continues to yield strong results.”
“We increased the estimated value per share to $22.80 because of the continued successful execution of our business strategy, which is producing increases in both revenue and cash flow – in spite of recent adverse retail headlines. We believe the current disconnect in the private and public market valuations of retail real estate to be unfounded considering the positive operating fundamentals we are seeing at our centers.”
First Quarter Ended March 31, 2018 Financial Results
Net Loss
For the three months ended March 31, 2018, net loss totaled $1.3 million compared to net loss of $0.1 million during the three months ended March 31, 2017. The results were primarily driven by a $1.9 million increase in depreciation and amortization related to owning an additional eight properties when compared to March 31, 2017.
Funds from Operations (FFO) as Defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT)
For the first quarter of 2018, FFO totaled $18.2 million, or $0.39 per share, compared to $17.4 million, or $0.37 per share, during the first quarter of 2017. The improvement in FFO was driven by an increase in net operating income generated by additional properties owned and the 4.8% increase in same-center NOI.
Modified Funds from Operations (MFFO)
For the first quarter of 2018, MFFO increased 7.7% to $16.7 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, compared to $15.5 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The increase in MFFO was directly correlated to the increase in FFO.
Same-Center Results
For the first quarter of 2018, same-center NOI increased 4.8% to $25.2 million, compared to $24.1 million during the first quarter of 2017. The improvement was driven by a 0.9% increase in same-center occupancy to 95.0% as well as a $0.05 increase in minimum rent per square foot versus the comparable period.
Contributing to same-center NOI were 74 properties that were owned and operational for the entire portion of both comparable reporting periods.
First Quarter Ended March 31, 2018 Portfolio Results
Portfolio Statistics
At quarter-end, the portfolio consisted of 86 properties, totaling approximately 10.3 million square feet located in 24 states. This compares to 78 properties, totaling approximately 9.6 million square feet located in 24 states as of March 31, 2017.
Leased portfolio occupancy totaled 95.1%, an improvement from 94.5% as of March 31, 2017.
Leasing Activity
During the first quarter of 2018, 68 leases (new, renewal and options) were executed totaling approximately 305,000 square feet. This compares to 52 leases (new, renewal and options) executed totaling 159,000 square feet during the first quarter of 2017.
Comparable rent spreads during the quarter, which compare the percentage increase (or decrease) of new or renewal leases to the expiring lease of a unit that was occupied within the past 12 months, were 9.9% for new leases and 9.8% for renewal leases.
Acquisition Activity
One grocery-anchored shopping center was acquired for a total cost of $18.5 million during the first quarter of 2018. The property, located in Arlington, Texas, is anchored by Walmart Neighborhood Market and totals 113,742 square feet.
Balance Sheet Highlights at March 31, 2018
At quarter-end, the company had $267.4 million of borrowing capacity available on its $350.0 million revolving credit facility.
Net debt to total enterprise value was 42.9% at March 31, 2018. Please see the Net Debt to Total Enterprise Value table for additional disclosure.
The company’s outstanding debt had a weighted-average interest rate of 3.5%, a weighted-average maturity of 3.2 years, and 89.7% of its total debt was fixed-rate debt at March 31, 2018. This compared to a weighted-average interest rate of 3.5%, a weighted average maturity of 3.5 years, and 92.6% fixed-rate debt at December 31, 2017.
Estimated Value Per Share
Effective May 9, 2018, the company’s board of directors increased the estimated value per share of its common stock to $22.80 as of March 31, 2018.
Duff & Phelps was engaged to provide a calculation of the range in estimated value per share of the company’s common stock as of March 31, 2018. Duff & Phelps prepared a valuation report based substantially on its estimate of the “as is” market values of the company’s portfolio, adjusted to reflect balance sheet assets and liabilities provided by company management as of March 31, 2018, before calculating a range of estimated per share values based on the number of outstanding shares of common stock as of quarter end. These calculations produced an estimated value per share in the range of $21.27 to $24.17.
For a full description of the assumptions and methodologies used to determine the estimated value per share, see the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 to be filed with the SEC, which will be accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov .
First Quarter 2018 Distributions
Gross distributions of $19.1 million were paid during the first quarter of 2018, including $8.8 million reinvested through the distribution reinvestment plan, for net cash distributions of approximately $10.3 million.
During the quarter, FFO was $18.2 million, which was 95% of the company's gross distributions, marking an improvement from 89% during the previous quarter.
Subsequent to quarter-end, the company’s board of directors authorized distributions for June 2018, July 2018, and August 2018 in the amount of $0.13541652 per share to the shareholders of record at the close of business on June 15, 2018, July 16, 2018, and August 15, 2018, respectively.
Share Repurchase Program (SRP)
During the first quarter of 2018, approximately 259,000 shares of common stock, totaling $5.9 million, were repurchased at $22.75 per share under the SRP during the quarter.
Subsequent to the quarter end, in April 2018, approximately 293,000 shares of common stock, totaling $6.7 million, were repurchased at $22.75 per share under the SRP. Standard repurchase requests surpassed the funding limits under the SRP resulting in the company processing standard repurchase requests on a pro rata basis.
The company will continue to fulfill repurchases sought upon a stockholder’s death, “qualifying disability,” or “determination of incompetence” in accordance with the terms of the SRP.
Due to the program’s funding limits, repurchases during the remainder of 2018 are expected to be limited. Cash available for standard repurchases on any particular date under the SRP is generally limited to the proceeds from the dividend reinvestment plan during the preceding four quarters, less amounts already used for repurchases during the same time period.
Stockholder Update Call
President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Addy will host a presentation addressing the company’s results on Thursday, May 10, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Interested parties will be able to access the listen-only presentation online or by telephone. If dialing in, please call the conference telephone number five minutes prior to the start time as an operator will register your name and organization. Participants should ask to join the Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II call.
Date: Thursday, May 10, 2018
Time: 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Webcast link: https://services.choruscall.com/links/peco180510reit2.html
U.S. listen-only: (888) 346-2646
International listen-only: (412) 317-5249
A webcast replay will be available approximately one hour after the conclusion of the presentation in the Events & Presentations section of the Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II website at http://investors.grocerycenterreit2.com/event .
For investor-related updates on Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II, please visit www.grocerycenterreit2.com/investors .
For more information on the company’s quarterly results, please refer to the company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, which will be filed with the SEC and available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov .
Non-GAAP Disclosures
Same-Center Net Operating Income
Same-Center NOI is presented as a supplemental measure of the company’s performance. NOI is defined as total operating revenues less property operating expenses, real estate taxes, and non-cash revenue items. Same-Center NOI represents the NOI for the 74 properties that were wholly-owned and operational for the entire portion of both comparable reporting periods. The company believes that NOI and Same-Center NOI provide useful information to its investors about its financial and operating performance because each provides a performance measure of the revenues and expenses directly involved in owning and operating real estate assets and provides a perspective not immediately apparent from net income. Because Same-Center NOI excludes the change in NOI from properties acquired after December 31, 2016, it highlights operating trends such as occupancy levels, rental rates, and operating costs on properties that were operational for both comparable periods. Other REITs may use different methodologies for calculating Same-Center NOI, and accordingly, the company’s Same-Center NOI may not be comparable to other REITs.
Same-Center NOI should not be viewed as an alternative measure of the company’s financial performance since it does not reflect the operations of its entire portfolio, nor does it reflect the impact of general and administrative expenses, acquisition expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest expense, other income, or the level of capital expenditures and leasing costs necessary to maintain the operating performance of its properties that could materially impact results from operations.
Funds from Operations and Modified Funds from Operations
FFO is a non-GAAP performance financial measure that is widely recognized as a measure of REIT operating performance. The company uses FFO as defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”) to be net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders computed in accordance with GAAP, excluding gains (or losses) from sales of property, plus depreciation and amortization, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. Adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures are calculated to reflect funds from operations on the same basis.
MFFO is an additional performance financial measure used by us as FFO includes certain non-comparable items that affect the company’s performance over time. MFFO excludes the following items:
acquisition fees and expenses; straight-line rent amounts, both income and expense; amortization of above- or below-market intangible lease assets and liabilities; amortization of discounts and premiums on debt investments; gains or losses from the early extinguishment of debt; gains or losses on the extinguishment of derivatives, except where the trading of such instruments is a fundamental attribute of our operations; gains or losses related to fair-value adjustments for derivatives not qualifying for hedge accounting; gains or losses related to consolidation from, or deconsolidation to, equity accounting; and adjustments related to the above items for unconsolidated entities in the application of equity accounting.
The company believes that MFFO is helpful in assisting management and investors with the assessment of the sustainability of operating performance in future periods. Neither FFO nor MFFO should be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) or income (loss) from continuing operations under GAAP, nor as an indication of liquidity, nor is either of these measures indicative of funds available to fund the company’s cash needs, including the company’s ability to fund distributions. MFFO may not be a useful measure of the impact of long-term operating performance on value if the company does not continue to operate its business plan in the manner currently contemplated.
Accordingly, FFO and MFFO should be reviewed in connection with other GAAP measurements. FFO and MFFO should not be viewed as more prominent measures of performance than net income or cash flows from operations prepared in accordance with GAAP. FFO and MFFO as presented may not be comparable to amounts calculated by other REITs.
PHILLIPS EDISON GROCERY CENTER REIT II, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
AS OF MARCH 31, 2018 AND DECEMBER 31, 2017
(Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
March 31, 2018 December 31, 2017 ASSETS Investment in real estate: Land and improvements $ 525,500 $ 520,526 Building and improvements 1,062,353 1,047,758 Acquired in-place lease assets 160,261 158,510 Acquired above-market lease assets 15,017 14,742 Total investment in property 1,763,131 1,741,536 Accumulated depreciation and amortization (176,411 ) (157,290 ) Net investment in property 1,586,720 1,584,246 Investment in unconsolidated joint venture 15,463 16,076 Total investment in real estate assets, net 1,602,183 1,600,322 Cash and cash equivalents 2,998 1,435 Restricted cash 4,748 4,382 Other assets, net 54,244 46,178 Total assets $ 1,664,173 $ 1,652,317 LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Liabilities: Debt obligations, net $ 799,651 $ 775,275 Acquired below-market lease liabilities, net of accumulated amortization of $12,123 and $10,959, respectively 54,394 54,994 Accounts payable – affiliates 1,772 1,808 Accounts payable and other liabilities 35,504 36,961 Total liabilities 891,321 869,038 Commitments and contingencies (Note 7) — — Equity: Preferred stock, $0.01 par value per share, 10,000 shares authorized, zero shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively — — Common stock, $0.01 par value per share, 1,000,000 shares authorized, 46,713 and 46,584 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively 470 468 Additional paid-in capital 1,034,636 1,031,685 Accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) 12,472 6,459 Accumulated deficit (274,726 ) (255,333 ) Total equity 772,852 783,279 Total liabilities and equity $ 1,664,173 $ 1,652,317 PHILLIPS EDISON GROCERY CENTER REIT II, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2018 AND 2017
(Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 2017 Revenues: Rental income $ 31,979 $ 28,476 Tenant recovery income 11,885 10,209 Other property income 296 116 Total revenues 44,160 38,801 Expenses: Property operating 7,326 6,603 Real estate taxes 7,023 6,121 General and administrative 4,337 4,613 Depreciation and amortization 18,888 17,022 Total expenses 37,574 34,359 Other: Interest expense, net (7,468 ) (4,474 ) Other expense, net (372 ) (55 ) Net loss $ (1,254 ) $ (87 ) Earnings per common share: Net loss per share - basic and diluted $ (0.03 ) $ (0.00 ) Weighted-average common shares outstanding: Basic and diluted 46,693 46,512 Comprehensive loss: Net loss $ (1,254 ) $ (87 ) Other comprehensive income: Change in unrealized gain on interest rate swaps 6,013 913 Comprehensive income $ 4,759 $ 826 The table below is a comparison of the Same-Center NOI and 2017 (in thousands):
Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 2017 $ Change % Change Revenues: Rental income (1) $ 27,060 $ 26,323 $ 737 Tenant recovery income 10,562 10,071 491 Other property income 240 91 149 Total revenues 37,862 36,485 1,377 3.8 % Operating expenses: Property operating expenses 6,534 6,395 139 Real estate taxes 6,101 6,017 84 Total operating expenses 12,635 12,412 223 1.8 % Total Same-Center NOI $ 25,227 $ 24,073 $ 1,154 4.8 % (1) Excludes straight-line rental income, net amortization of above- and below-market leases, and lease buyout income. Below is a reconciliation of Net Loss to NOI and Same-Center NOI and 2017 (in thousands):
Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 2017 Net loss $ (1,254 ) $ (87 ) Adjusted to exclude: Straight-line rental income (742 ) (836 ) Net amortization of above- and below-market leases (598 ) (607 ) Lease buyout income — (125 ) General and administrative expenses 4,337 4,613 Depreciation and amortization 18,888 17,022 Interest expense, net 7,468 4,474 Other 372 55 NOI 28,471 24,509 Less: NOI from centers excluded from Same-Center (3,244 ) (436 ) Total Same-Center NOI $ 25,227 $ 24,073 Below is a breakdown of the company’s property count:
March 31, 2018 Same-center properties 74 Non-same-center properties 12 Total properties 86 The following section presents the company’s calculation of FFO and MFFO and provides additional information related to the company’s operations and 2017 (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 2017 Calculation of FFO
Net loss $ (1,254 ) $ (87 ) Adjustments: Depreciation and amortization of real estate assets 18,888 17,022 Depreciation and amortization related to unconsolidated joint venture 519 425 Funds from operations $ 18,153 $ 17,360 Calculation of MFFO
Funds from operations $ 18,153 $ 17,360 Adjustments: Net amortization of above- and below-market leases (598 ) (607 ) Straight-line rental income (742 ) (836 ) Amortization of market debt adjustment (270 ) (281 ) Gain on extinguishment of debt — (11 ) Change in fair value of derivatives (131 ) (116 ) Adjustments related to unconsolidated joint venture (25 ) (2 ) Other 314 — Modified funds from operations $ 16,701 $ 15,507 Earnings per common share: Weighted-average common shares outstanding - basic 46,693 46,512 Weighted-average common shares outstanding - diluted (1) 46,696 46,515 FFO per share - basic and diluted $ 0.39 $ 0.37 MFFO per share - basic and diluted $ 0.36 $ 0.33 (1) Restricted stock awards were dilutive to FFO/MFFO and 2017, and accordingly, were included in the weighted-average common shares used to calculate diluted FFO/MFFO per share. Net Debt to Total Enterprise Value
The following table presents the calculation of debt to total enterprise value as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 (dollars in thousands):
2018 2017 Net debt: Total debt, excluding below-market adjustments and deferred financing costs $ 800,615 $ 776,438 Less: Cash and cash equivalents 2,998 5,716 Total net debt 797,617 $ 770,722 Enterprise Value: Total net debt 797,617 $ 770,722 Total equity value (1) 1,062,789 1,059,854 Total enterprise value $ 1,860,406 $ 1,830,576 Net debt to total enterprise value 42.9 % 42.1 % (1) Total equity value is calculated as the product of the number of diluted shares outstanding and the estimated value per share at the end of the period. There were 46.7 million and 46.6 million diluted shares outstanding as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. About Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II, Inc.
Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II, Inc. is a public non-traded REIT that owns well-occupied grocery-anchored neighborhood shopping centers with a mix of national and regional retailers selling necessity-based goods and services, in strong demographic markets throughout the United States. As of March 31, 2018, the company owned an institutional quality retail portfolio consisting of 86 grocery-anchored shopping centers totaling approximately 10.3 million square feet. For more information, please visit the company website at www.grocerycenterREIT2.com .
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to the Company’s expectations regarding the performance of its business, its financial results, its liquidity and capital resources, the quality of the Company’s portfolio of grocery-anchored shopping centers and other non-historical statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “projects,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, such as the risks that retail conditions may adversely affect our base rent and, subsequently, our income, and that our properties consist primarily of retail properties and our performance, therefore, is linked to the market for retail space generally, as well as other risks that are described under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, as such factors may be updated from time to time in the Company’s periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov . Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results those indicated in these statements. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this press release and in the Company’s filings with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180509006538/en/
Investors:
Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II, Inc.
Michael Koehler, 513-338-2743
Director of Investor Relations
[email protected]
Source: Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II, Inc. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/business-wire-phillips-edison-grocery-center-reit-ii-reports-first-quarter-2018-results-increases-estimated-value-per-share-to-22-point-80.html |
Today's Bell Ringers, May 14 2018 23 Hours Ago Ringing today's opening bells are Louisiana-Pacific CEO Brad Southern and sales pros Jennifer Frink and Angie Kieta at the NYSE; and Guaranty Bancshares Vice Chairman Kirk Lee at the Nasdaq. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/05/14/todays-bell-ringers-may-14-2018.html |
WASHINGTON—Congress took a big step Tuesday to relax a wave of crisis-era restrictions placed on financial firms, as the House approved a plan to ease rules for small and midsize banks.
The House voted 258-159 to approve the most significant bipartisan revamp of financial rules since Republicans took control of government last year. Thirty-three Democrats sided with Republicans to pass the bill.
The... | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.wsj.com/articles/bank-deregulation-bill-clears-congress-1527025690 |
Getty Images Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party Central Committee.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a top North Korean official is heading to New York, indicating a historic summit between the leaders of the two countries could still happen.
"Meetings are currently taking place concerning Summit, and more. Kim [Yong] Chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea, heading now to New York," Trump said in a tweet. Tweet
Kim Yong Chol is a former top spy and is often described as the right-hand man of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un .
The senior official has been closely involved with the North's talks with South Korea and the U.S. His visit to America would be a rare one for such a high-ranking North Korean official, and signals a meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un may still be moving ahead.
On Thursday, Trump called off the highly anticipated denuclearization summit that was planned for June 12 in Singapore. "Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting," Trump said in a letter to Kim Jong Un.
U.S. stocks dropped after the cancellation announcement, but ended the week with slight gains. Stock index futures fell Tuesday morning as traders worried about political turmoil in Italy and Spain. U.S. stock markets were closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
The U.S. was planning to announce new sanctions on North Korea as soon as Tuesday, but is holding off indefinitely amid talks between the two countries, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing an unnamed U.S. official.
— Reuters contributed to this report. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/29/trump-says-top-north-korean-official-is-coming-to-new-york.html |
Team Brunel cruise to win at Newport race Sunday, May 20, 2018 - 01:32 Fri, 18 May, 2018 - (1:46) Featured Videos Thu, 23 Nov, 2017 - (2:18) Follow Reuters: Reuters Plus | Reuters News Agency | Brand Attribution Guidelines | Careers
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters , is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations, and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/video/2018/05/19/team-brunel-cruise-to-win-at-newport-rac?videoId=428544002 |
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Police searches at places linked to former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak are related to an investigation into state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a senior police official told Reuters.
Police arrive at former prime minister Najib Razak's residence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 16, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin Amar Singh, the director of police commercial crime investigations, told Reuters that searches are being carried out at several locations, including the prime minister’s office and residences linked to Najib.
“Yes, definitely,” Singh said, when asked whether the searches were related to investigations into the 1MDB scandal.
“We are in the midst of collecting information, we will have more details once we have completed our search,” he said declining to elaborate further.
A multibillion-dollar scandal at 1MDB, which was founded by Najib, is being investigated in at least six countries, including the United States. Najib denies any wrongdoing.
Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Writing by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-politics-scandal/malaysian-police-say-searches-at-ousted-pms-homes-former-office-relate-to-1mdb-probe-idUSKCN1II0RO |
FORT WORTH, Texas, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Simmons Bank, as Trustee of the Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (NYSE:CRT), today declared a cash distribution to the holders of its units of beneficial interest of $0.110119 per unit, payable on June 14, 2018, to unitholders of record on May 31, 2018. The following table shows underlying oil and gas sales and average prices attributable to the current month and prior month distributions.
Underlying Sales
Volumes
Average Price
Oil
(Bbls)
Gas
(Mcf)
Oil
(per Bbl)
Gas
(per Mcf)
Current Month Distribution
16,000
148,000
$59.57
$4.28
Prior Month Distribution
21,000
104,000
$56.78
$4.53
Excess Costs
XTO Energy has advised the Trustee that improved oil prices led to the partial recovery of excess costs of $32,000 on properties underlying the Texas Working Interest net profits interests. However after the partial recovery, there were no remaining proceeds from the properties underlying the Texas Working Interest net profits interests to be included in this month's distribution. Underlying cumulative excess costs remaining on the Texas Working Interest net profits interests after the current month's distribution totaled $2.0 million, including accrued interest of $190,000.
For more information on the Trust, please visit our web site at www.crt-crosstimbers.com .
View original content: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cross-timbers-royalty-trust-declares-may-cash-distribution-300649889.html
SOURCE Cross Timbers Royalty Trust | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/18/pr-newswire-cross-timbers-royalty-trust-declares-may-cash-distribution.html |
What to expect when Disney reports earnings 40 Mins Ago CNBC's Julia Boorstin reports on what to expect from Disney's quarterly earnings release after the bell following the news that Comcast is preparing an all-cash offer rivaling Disney's for Fox assets. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/05/08/what-to-expect-when-disney-reports-earnings.html |
A Louisiana judge has found that the state Department of Natural Resources violated state environmental guidelines when it approved a permit for a portion of the controversial Bayou Bridge Pipeline crossing coastal wetlands.
In a decision made public on Monday, Judge Alvin Turner at the state’s 23rd Judicial District Court in Gonzales told the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to reconsider the permit and to require Bayou Bridge to develop effective environmental protection and emergency plans in the event of a spill.
To read the full story on Westlaw Practitioner Insights, click here: bit.ly/2IrRKac
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-pipeline-permit/louisiana-judge-hands-win-to-opponents-of-bayou-bridge-pipeline-idUSL1N1SG01F |
It's time to get more bullish, says one of Wall Street's top strategists 17 Hours Ago | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/05/09/its-time-to-get-more-bullish-says-one-of-wall-streets-top-strategists.html |
VAN NUYS, Calif., May 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capstone Turbine Corporation ( www.capstoneturbine.com ) (NASDAQ:CPST), the world’s leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, today reported preliminary financial results of near positive Adjusted EBITDA for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.
The company achieved positive Adjusted EBITDA for its third quarter ended December 31, 2017, and it expects to be near positive Adjusted EBITDA again for its fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2018 – results are expected to be announced on June 7, 2018.
Darren Jamison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstone, stated, “I believe our preliminary financial results of near positive Adjusted EBITDA for the second consecutive quarter reaffirms our ability to quickly reach long-term profitability.”
In addition, the company reiterated that it generated approximately $200,000 in cash during its fourth fiscal quarter, excluding net proceeds from equity transactions and changes in its line of credit. This compared to cash usage of $2.8 million for the same period last year. Based on preliminary unaudited financial statements for fiscal 2018, the company reiterates that it expects to report annual revenue of approximately $83 million, a 7% increase in revenue from its prior year. The company also reported a 1.3:1 book to bill ratio during its fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 and cash usage declined 44% for fiscal 2018 compared to the prior year.
“We are pleased to reiterate our preliminary financial results including that the company has returned to year-over-year revenue growth after three years of consecutively lower revenues. Additionally, our 1.3:1 book to bill ratio, which was the best in several quarters, and the recently announced 4 MW order to be shipped in the current quarter are strong indicators of continued revenue growth in our next fiscal year,” added Mr. Jamison.
“We have an excellent foundation from which we will continue to build our momentum into fiscal 2019. Capstone entered the new fiscal year from a position of strength and focused on growth with a strong order booking, improved margins, lower operating expenses, an improving balance sheet and a more focused spend on marketing to drive sales. We are also seeing increasing benefits from our innovative aftermarket service businesses, which helps to build a predictable revenue base and drive margin expansion,” added Mr. Jamison.
As part of Capstone’s focus on marketing to drive sales, this week the company presented at the 50 th annual Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) held in Houston, TX, which is the oil and gas industry’s largest equipment exhibition show in the United States.
Additionally, the company has maintained its investor outreach initiatives throughout fiscal 2018 and has continued those initiatives into fiscal 2019 to increase transparency to shareholders and increase awareness of the company’s progress and product offerings. This outreach includes various avenues; press releases on new programs, non-deal roadshows, lunch and learns, attending and presenting at industry and institutional conferences and expanding its social media presence to include Mr. Jamison’s recently launched Twitter account (@Darren_Jamison) to provide accurate and timely information to the public.
“We strive to provide customers, employees, shareholders and vendors with transparency and real-time information through various platforms, and I believe this level of clear and frequent communication is important for companies like Capstone that are dynamic, achieving new key business milestones and approaching potential business inflection points,” concluded Mr. Jamison.
EBITDA is defined as net income before interest, provision for income taxes, and depreciation and amortization expense. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA before stock-based compensation expense, the change in warrant valuation, warrant issuance expenses and restructuring charges. Restructuring charges includes one-time costs related to the company’s cost reduction initiatives. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measures of the company’s liquidity or financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP, or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of its liquidity.
The select financial results presented in this press release are preliminary and may change. This preliminary financial information includes calculations or figures that have been prepared internally by management and have not been reviewed or audited by our independent registered public accounting firm. There can be no assurance that the company’s actual results for the period presented herein will not differ from the preliminary financial data presented herein and such changes could be material. This preliminary financial data should not be viewed as a substitute for full financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP and is not necessarily indicative of the results to be achieved for any future periods.
About Capstone Turbine Corporation
Capstone Turbine Corporation ( www.capstoneturbine.com ) (NASDAQ:CPST) is the world’s leading producer of low-emission microturbine systems and was the first to market commercially viable microturbine energy products. Capstone has shipped over 9,000 Capstone Microturbine systems to customers worldwide. These award-winning systems have logged millions of documented runtime operating hours. Capstone is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Combined Heat and Power Partnership, which is committed to improving the efficiency of the nation's energy infrastructure and reducing emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. A DQS-Certified ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified company, Capstone is headquartered in the Los Angeles area with sales and/or service centers in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Asia.
For more information about the company, please visit www.capstoneturbine.com . Follow Capstone Turbine on Twitter , LinkedIn and YouTube .
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” as that term is used in the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “expects,” “objective,” “intend,” “targeted,” “plan” and similar phrases. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties described in Capstone’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that may cause Capstone’s actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied in such statements. Capstone cautions readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Capstone undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
“Capstone” and “Capstone Microturbine” are registered trademarks of Capstone Turbine Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
CONTACT:
Capstone Turbine Corporation
Investor and investment media inquiries:
818-407-3628
[email protected]
Integra Investor Relations
Shawn M. Severson
415-226-7747
[email protected]
Source:Capstone Turbine Corporation | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/03/globe-newswire-capstone-turbine-reports-expected-near-positive-adjusted-ebitda-reiterates-preliminary-financial-results-for-fiscal-2018.html |
–President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time that his longtime lawyer Michael How Trump Unites and Divides the Parties | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2018/05/03/capital-journal-trump-acknowledges-payment-to-stormy-a-test-today-for-xi-trumps-new-lawyer-has-unique-resume/ |
May 21, 2018 / 8:45 PM / Updated 6 minutes ago Former Uber engineer sues company alleging sexual harassment: law firm Reuters Staff 1 Min Read
(Reuters) - A former software engineer at Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] sued the ride-hailing service on Monday, claiming that she was subjected to sexual harassment during her employment but that her complaints were ignored, the law firm representing the plaintiff said. FILE PHOTO: The Uber logo is displayed on a screen during the Women In The World Summit in New York City, U.S., April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
The law firm, Outten & Golden, said in a statement that Ingrid Avendano, who worked at Uber from 2014 to 2017, believes Uber displayed an “entrenched disregard” for the rights of female employees, and retaliated against her by denying her promotions and raises and giving her negative performance reviews.
Avendano filed her complaint with the California Superior Court in San Francisco, the law firm said. A copy of the complaint was not immediately available. Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-uber-lawsuit/former-uber-engineer-sues-company-alleging-sexual-harassment-law-firm-idUKKCN1IM2A8 |
FORT MILL, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Domtar Corporation today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend on its common stock (NYSE: UFS) (TSX: UFS). The dividend of US$0.435 per share is payable on July 16, 2018 to stockholders of record on July 3, 2018.
About Domtar
Domtar is a leading provider of a wide variety of fiber-based products including communication, specialty and packaging papers, market pulp and absorbent hygiene products. With approximately 10,000 employees serving more than 50 countries around the world, Domtar is driven by a commitment to turn sustainable wood fiber into useful products that people rely on every day. Domtar’s annual sales are approximately $5.1 billion, and its common stock is traded on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges. Domtar’s principal executive office is in Fort Mill, South Carolina. To learn more, visit www.domtar.com .
View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180509005785/en/
Domtar Corporation
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Nicholas Estrela, 514-848-5049
Director
Investor Relations
Source: Domtar Corporation | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/business-wire-domtar-declares-regular-quarterly-dividend.html |
Epipen shortage should be short term: Mylan 2 Hours Ago | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/05/09/epipen-shortage-should-be-short-term-mylan.html |
U.S. companies have posted great earnings, but investors shouldn’t count on that giving their stocks a particular boost.
That is the counterintuitive conclusion from the past seven years, when U.S. and European stock markets tend to do worse after a bumper earnings seasons than a disappointing one, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
Companies... | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.wsj.com/articles/strong-earnings-dont-expect-the-market-to-rally-1526554801 |
CNBC.com Getty Images
Prices for new and used cars fell sharply in April, even as the price of the gasoline needed to fuel them spiked.
Vehicle prices fell 0.9 percent, the second-largest drop on record, according to J. P. Morgan economists. Used car and truck prices fell 1.6 percent in April, the largest decline since March 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. New car prices were down by 0.5 percent.
But at the gas pump, the trend is in the opposite direction. The national average for unleaded gasoline was at $2.84 a gallon, nearly 20 cents higher than a month ago, according to AAA. Analysts expect gas prices to continue their climb into the summer as drivers hit the road and oil prices rise.
Consumer inflation, measured by the consumer price index, came in slightly lower than economists expected largely because of the drop in auto prices. Headline CPI rose 0.2 percent , or 2.5 percent year over year in April. Core CPI, without food and energy was up 0.1 percent, or 2.1 percent year over year.
Headline inflation was largely fueled by gasoline's gain. Food was up 0.3 percent , the most in nearly three years.
"It's very mixed month-to-month. I think over the next year or two is that used car prices are going to go down because of all the leases coming off. The whole cycle was messed up by the hurricanes last year when you had 600,000 cars that had to be replaced," said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at Bleakley Financial. "That reignited prices moving higher, used car prices jumped a lot last year after hurricanes."
Weaker-than-expected CPI helped spark a stock market rally Thursday, as traders speculated that with a lack of inflation pressures, there will be no reason for the Fed to move faster to raise interest rates. Patti Domm CNBC Markets Editor Related Securities | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/10/car-prices-are-falling-while-it-costs-more-to-buy-gas-at-the-pump.html |
TORONTO, May 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Firm Capital Property Trust (“ FCPT ” or the “ Trust ”), (TSXV:FCD.UN) is pleased to report today its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
PROPERTY PORTFOLIO HIGHLIGHTS
The portfolio consists of 61 commercial properties with a total GLA of 2,529,037 square feet (1,502,783 square feet on an owned interest basis) and a 50% interest in one apartment complex comprised of 135 apartment units. The portfolio is well diversified in terms of geographies and property asset types.
TENANT DIVERSIFICATION
The portfolio is well diversified by tenant profile with no tenant accounting for more than 4.7% of total net rent. Further, the top 10 tenants are largely comprised of creditworthy and large national tenants and account for 23.1% of total net rent.
FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was approximately $6.2 million, a 22% increase over the $5.1 million reported for the three months ended December 31, 2017 and a 180% increase over the $2.2 million reported for the three months ended March 31, 2017;
$6.97 Net Asset Value (“ NAV ”) per Unit based on a IFRS book value of equity of approximately $112.1 million;
On an IFRS basis, NOI for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was approximately $3.1 million which is largely in line with the $3.1 million reported December 31, 2017 but a 15% increase in comparison to the $2.7 million reported for the three months ended March 31, 2017;
On a cash basis (“ Cash NOI ”), for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was approximately $3.1 million, which is largely in line with the $3.1 million reported for the three months ended December 31, 2017 but a 19% increase over the $2.6 million reported for the three months ended March 31, 2017;
Funds From Operations (“ FFO ”) for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was approximately $1.9 million, which is largely in line with the $1.9 million reported for the three months ended December 31, 2017, but a 16% increase over the $1.6 million reported for the three months ended March 31, 2017.
Adjusted Funds From Operations (“ AFFO ”) for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was approximately $1.6 million, largely in line with the $1.7 million reported for the three months ended December 31, 2017, but a 20% increase in comparison to the $1.4 million reported for the three months ended March 31, 2017;
FFO per Unit for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was $0.122 while AFFO per Unit was $0.106;
For the three months ended March 31, 2018, FFO and AFFO payout ratios are 94% and 108% respectively.
Commercial occupancy was 95.1% while residential occupancy was a strong 95.6%; and
Conservative leverage profile with Debt / Gross Book Value (“ GBV ”) at 45.0%.
Three Months Three Months Mar 31,
2018 Dec 31,
2017 Mar 31,
2017 Dec 31,
2017 Mar 31,
2017 Rental Revenue $ 5,463,490 $ 5,025,013 $ 4,798,197 9 % 14 % NOI - IFRS Basis $ 3,069,874 $ 3,124,641 $ 2,680,278 NM
15 % - Cash Basis $ 3,059,174 $ 3,112,045 $ 2,568,019 NM
19 % Net Income $ 6,231,326 $ 5,125,746 $ 2,227,545 22 % 180 % FFO $ 1,860,165 $ 1,904,860 $ 1,596,731 NM
16 % AFFO $ 1,624,880 $ 1,671,250 $ 1,351,027 NM
20 % FFO Per Unit $ 0.122 $ 0.145 $ 0.126 (16 %) (3 %) AFFO Per Unit $ 0.106 $ 0.127 $ 0.106 (16 %) 0 % Distributions Per Unit $ 0.115 $ 0.110 $ 0.110 5 % Payout Ratios - FFO 94 % 76 % 87 % - AFFO 108 % 87 % 103 % * = Includes gain on sale of assets NM = Not Meaningful FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
$15.4 Million of Equity Raised: During the quarter, the Trust issued $15.4 million of trust units through a combination of a non-brokered private placement and an overnight marketing public offering;
Announced $15 Million Non-Brokered Private Placement: On April 23, 2018, the Trust announced that it is proceeding with a Non-Brokered Private Placement in which it will raise up to $15.0 million and issue approximately 2.4 million Trust Units of the Trust at $6.25 per Trust Unit. Closing of the Private Placement is expected to occur in one or more tranches and be completed on or before July 31, 2018; and Declaration of Monthly Distributions : On May 9, 2018, the trust announced that it has declared and approved monthly distributions in the amount of $0.038333 per Trust Unit for Unitholders of record on July 31, 2018, August 31, 2018, and September 28, 2018 payable on or about August 15, 2018, September 17, 2018, and October 15, 2018.
For the complete financial statements, Management’s Discussion & Analysis and supplementary information, please visit www.sedar.com or the Trust’s website at www.firmcapital.com
DISTRIBUTION REINVESTMENT PLAN & UNIT PURCHASE PLAN
The Trust has in place a Distribution Reinvestment Plan (“ DRIP ”) and Unit Purchase Plan (the “ Plan ”). Under the terms of the DRIP, FCPT’s Unitholders may elect to automatically reinvest all or a portion of their regular monthly distributions in additional Units, without incurring brokerage fees or commissions. Under the terms of the Plan, FCPT’s Unitholders may purchase a minimum of $1,000 of Units per month and maximum purchases of up to $12,000 per annum. Management and trustees have not participated in the DRIP or Plan to date and own approximately 7% of the issued and outstanding trust units of the Trust.
ABOUT FIRM CAPITAL PROPERTY TRUST
Firm Capital Property Trust is focused on creating long-term value for Unitholders, through capital preservation and disciplined investing to achieve stable distributable income. In partnership with management and industry leaders, The Trust’s plan is to co-own a diversified property portfolio of multi-residential, flex industrial, net lease convenience retail, and core service provider professional space. In addition to stand alone accretive acquisitions, the Trust will make joint acquisitions with strong financial partners and acquisitions of partial interests from existing ownership groups, in a manner that provides liquidity to those selling owners and professional management for those remaining as partners. Firm Capital Realty Partners Inc., through a structure focused on an alignment of interests with the Trust sources, syndicates and property and asset manages investments on behalf of the Trust.
FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION
This press release may contain . In some cases, can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue", and by discussions of strategies that involve risks and uncertainties. The are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Trust. By their nature, involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and various future events will not occur. Although management of the Trust believes that the expectations reflected in the are reasonable, there can be no assurance that future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements will occur as anticipated. Neither the Trust nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any , and no one has any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or such other factors which affect this information, except as required by law.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, which may be made only by means of a prospectus, nor shall there be any sale of the Units in any state, province or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under securities laws of any such state, province or other jurisdiction. The Units of the Firm Capital Property Trust have not been, and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered, sold or delivered in the United States absent registration or an application for exemption from the registration requirements of U.S. securities laws.
Certain financial information presented in this press release reflect certain non- International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) financial measures, which include NOI, FFO and AFFO. These measures are commonly used by real estate investment entities as useful metrics for measuring performance and cash flows, however, they do not have standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other real estate investment entities. These terms are defined in the Trust’s Management Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2018 as filed on www.sedar.com .
For further information, please contact:
Robert McKee
President & Chief Executive Officer
(416) 635-0221
Sandy Poklar
Chief Financial Officer
(416) 635-0221
Source: FCPT | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/globe-newswire-firm-capital-property-trust-announces-strong-start-to-2018.html |
BRASILIA, May 29 (Reuters) - Brazil’s Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that includes an exemption of diesel from the PIS/Cofins payroll and social security tax, a pledge made by the government to striking truckers to lower the price of the fuel.
President Michel Temer, however, is expected to line veto the diesel provision inserted by the lower chamber because it did not cut the price by the 46 cents per liter agreed upon. The government will still have to find a way to deliver the price reduction. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle Editing by James Dalgleish)
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-transportation-tax/brazil-senate-passes-bill-that-includes-tax-exemption-for-diesel-idUSS0N1QW00A |
May 3, 2018 / 6:52 PM / Updated 38 minutes ago Cosby, Polanski expelled from Academy of Motion Pictures Reuters Staff 2 Min Read
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Television’s Bill Cosby and Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski were expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy Awards presenters said in a statement on Thursday, the latest action by the group as Hollywood grapples with allegations of misconduct in the industry. Bill Cosby reacts while being notified a verdict is in at the Montgomery County Courthouse in his sexual assault retrial, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 26, 2018. Mark Makela/Pool via Reuters
Cosby and Polanski are the first known members expelled for violating a code of conduct that the Academy adopted in December following accusations of sexual harassment or assault within the entertainment industry.
Cosby, 80, who was known as “America’s Dad” for his fatherly role on the popular 1980s TV comedy “The Cosby Show,” was convicted last week of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. He faces up to 30 years in prison.
Polanski, 84, who won the best director Oscar in 2003 for World War Two drama “The Pianist,” in 1977 admitted to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles.
The French-Polish director lives in France and fled the United States following his guilty plea for fear his deal with prosecutors would be overruled and he would get a lengthy prison term. Polanski’s case is still ongoing. Film director Roman Polanski arrives at the Madeleine Church to attend a ceremony during a 'popular tribute' to late French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday in Paris, France, December 9, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Representatives of Cosby and Polanski did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Four academy members are now known to have been expelled by the academy. Once powerful producer Harvey Weinstein was expelled in October after several women accused him of decades-long sexual misconduct, sparking the #MeToo social movement.
Weinstein, 66, has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone.
Actor Carmine Caridi was expelled in 2004 for distributing copies of films that are sent to academy members. Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Lisa Shumaker | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-people-cosby-oscars/bill-cosby-roman-polanski-expelled-from-film-academy-statement-idUKKBN1I42EG |
May 21, 2018 / 11:46 AM / Updated 7 hours ago Britain more welcoming to migrants, says Brexit-supporting minister Gove Reuters Staff 2 Britain has become more welcoming to migration since it voted to leave the European Union, environment minister and leading Brexit campaigner Michael Gove said on Monday. FILE PHOTO: Britain's Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove arrives for a Brexit subcommittee meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, May 2, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the EU has left the country deeply divided, with both sides of the debate entrenched in their beliefs and often still debating whether the divorce will help or hinder the world’s fifth largest economy.
Concerns about migration were among the main reasons used by the “Vote Leave” campaign to increase support for Brexit and have remained a hot issue. Hate crimes in Britain have surged since the referendum, an increase the interior ministry said last year was fuelled by the decision to leave the bloc. FILE PHOTO: Michael Gove the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs speaks during the National Farmers Union annual conference in Birmingham, Britain February 20, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Staples/File Photo
Asked at an event whether he was wrong to suggest during the referendum that Turkey could join the bloc and spur migration, Gove said that Brexit had instead made people more open.
“The reason why I think the Leave campaign won was because people wanted to make sure we could have control of our borders, of our taxes, of our laws and all of that was part of a broader campaign to restore faith in our democratic institutions,” he told an event organised by a think tank, the Policy Exchange.
“The referendum campaign has led to Britain becoming more welcoming towards migration and more open to new people arriving.” Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Andrew Heavens | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-gove/britain-more-welcoming-to-migrants-says-brexit-supporting-minister-gove-idUKKCN1IM14J |
PHILADELPHIA, May 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
First Quarter 2018 Highlights
Consolidated revenue of $1.2 billion, up 103 percent versus Q1 '17 Consolidated GAAP earnings of $1.96 per diluted share Consolidated adjusted earnings per diluted share of $1.84, up 328 percent versus Q1 '17 Agricultural Solutions segment EBITDA of $356 million, up 250 percent versus Q1 '17 Lithium segment EBITDA of $50 million, up 95 percent versus Q1 '17 2018 adjusted earnings are expected to be in the range of $5.90 to $6.20 per diluted share, up 123 percent at the mid-point versus 2017 1
FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC ) today reported first quarter 2018 revenue of $1.2 billion, an increase of 103 percent year-over-year. On a GAAP basis, the company reported earnings of $1.96 per diluted share in the first quarter, or $267 million, which compares to a net loss of $0.92 per diluted share, or a net loss of $124 million, in the first quarter of 2017. First quarter adjusted earnings were $1.84 per diluted share, an increase of 328 percent year-over-year.
Pierre Brondeau, FMC president, CEO and chairman said: "FMC delivered an exceptionally strong quarter. In Ag Solutions, our first full quarter since the DuPont crop protection acquisition showcased FMC's ability to generate very strong demand for the acquired products and the success of our integration around the world. Our lithium hydroxide expansion in China and price increases of about 30 percent on hydroxide led to a near doubling of Lithium segment EBITDA year-over-year."
FMC Agricultural Solutions
FMC Agricultural Solutions reported first quarter revenue of $1.1 billion, an increase of 109 percent year-over-year due to the strength of the DuPont acquisition. On a pro forma basis, revenue increased 13 percent, of which foreign exchange contributed 3 to 4 percent growth. Segment earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $356 million increased 250 percent year-over-year and were $51 million above the mid-point of the prior guidance range.
FMC is raising full-year estimates for Agricultural Solutions. Full-year revenue for 2018 is now forecasted to be in the range of $4.05 billion to $4.25 billion, up 2.5 percent at the mid-point compared to prior guidance. This implies 7 to 8 percent year-over-year growth on a pro forma basis, of which foreign exchange will contribute 1 to 2 percent growth. Full-year segment EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $1.16 billion to $1.24 billion, up $100 million at the mid-point compared to prior guidance. Second quarter segment EBITDA is forecasted to be in the range of $315 million to $345 million.
FMC Lithium
FMC Lithium reported first quarter segment revenue of $103 million, an increase of 57 percent versus the prior-year quarter. Segment EBITDA nearly doubled year-over-year to $50 million in the quarter. Higher volume from debottlenecking projects in Argentina and the hydroxide expansion in China, higher year-over-year prices on all product categories and lower operating costs were the main contributors to growth.
The outlook for Lithium for the full year has been increased. Segment revenue for the full year of 2018 is in the range of $430 million to $460 million, an increase of nearly 30 percent at the mid-point compared to 2017, while the outlook for full-year segment EBITDA is in the range of $193 million to $203 million. This EBITDA forecast represents an increase of 40 percent at the mid-point compared to the prior year. Second quarter segment EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $47 million to $51 million, which represents an increase of over 75 percent at the mid-point compared to the prior-year quarter.
2018 Outlook
FMC expects adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $5.90 to $6.20 for the full year 2018, an increase of 12 percent at the mid-point compared to prior guidance, and 123 percent higher year-over-year. FMC expects second quarter adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.65 to $1.75. 1 The separate listing of FMC Lithium stock remains on track for October 2018.
Webcast and Supplemental Information
The company will post supplemental information on the web at www.FMC.com , including its 2018 Outlook Statement, definitions of non-GAAP terms and reconciliations of non-GAAP figures to the nearest available GAAP term.
About FMC
For more than a century, FMC Corporation has served the global agricultural, industrial and consumer markets with innovative solutions, applications and quality products. On November 1, 2017, FMC acquired a significant portion of DuPont's Crop Protection business. FMC employs approximately 7,000 people throughout the world and operates its businesses in two segments: FMC Agricultural Solutions and FMC Lithium. For more information, visit www.FMC.com .
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Act of 1995: Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning specific factors described in FMC Corporation's 2017 Form 10-K and other SEC filings. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof based on information currently available. FMC Corporation does not intend to update this information and disclaims any legal obligation to the contrary. Historical information is not necessarily indicative of future performance.
This press release contains certain "non-GAAP financial terms" which are defined on our website www.fmc.com . In addition, we have also provided on our website at www.fmc.com reconciliations of non-GAAP terms to the most directly comparable GAAP term.
Although we provide forecasts for adjusted earnings per share and adjusted cash from operations (both of which are non-GAAP financial measures), we are not able to forecast the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Certain elements of the composition of the GAAP amounts are not predictable, making it impractical for us to forecast. Such elements include, but are not limited to, restructuring, acquisition charges, and discontinued operations and related cash activity. As a result, no GAAP outlook is provided.
FMC CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (LOSS)
(Unaudited, in millions, except per share amounts)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2018
2017
Revenue
$
1,210.7
$
596.0
Costs of sales and services
656.0
379.8
Gross margin
$
554.7
$
216.2
Selling, general and administrative expenses
200.4
114.3
Research and development expenses
65.9
28.2
Restructuring and other charges (income)
(77.7)
8.3
Total costs and expenses
$
844.6
$
530.6
Income (loss) from operations
$
366.1
$
65.4
Equity in (earnings) loss of affiliates
(0.1)
(0.1)
Non-operating pension and postretirement charges (income)
0.5
(4.6)
Interest expense, net
33.9
15.7
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes
$
331.8
$
54.4
Provision (benefit) for income taxes
68.7
9.4
Income (loss) from continuing operations
$
263.1
$
45.0
Discontinued operations, net of income taxes
6.5
(168.8)
Net income (loss)
$
269.6
$
(123.8)
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests
2.4
0.4
Net income (loss) attributable to FMC stockholders
$
267.2
$
(124.2)
Amounts attributable to FMC stockholders:
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of tax
$
260.7
$
44.5
Discontinued operations, net of tax
6.5
(168.7)
Net income (loss)
$
267.2
$
(124.2)
Basic earnings (loss) per common share attributable to FMC stockholders:
Continuing operations
$
1.93
$
0.33
Discontinued operations
0.05
(1.26)
Basic earnings per common share
$
1.98
$
(0.93)
Average number of shares outstanding used in basic earnings per share computations
134.6
134.0
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share attributable to FMC stockholders:
Continuing operations
$
1.91
$
0.33
Discontinued operations
0.05
(1.25)
Diluted earnings per common share
$
1.96
$
(0.92)
Average number of shares outstanding used in diluted earnings per share computations
136.2
135.1
Other Data:
Capital additions
$
19.3
$
11.5
Depreciation and amortization expense
39.1
23.6
FMC CORPORATION
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO FMC STOCKHOLDERS (GAAP) TO ADJUSTED AFTER-TAX EARNINGS FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS, ATTRIBUTABLE TO FMC STOCKHOLDERS (NON-GAAP)
(Unaudited, in millions, except per share amounts)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2018
2017
Net income (loss) attributable to FMC stockholders (GAAP)
$
267.2
$
(124.2)
Corporate special charges (income):
Restructuring and other charges (income) (a)
(77.7)
8.3
Non-operating pension and postretirement charges (income) (b)
0.5
(4.6)
Transaction-related charges (c)
52.2
9.2
Income tax expense (benefit) on Corporate special charges (income) (d)
7.3
(4.4)
Discontinued operations attributable to FMC stockholders, net of income taxes (e)
(6.5)
168.7
Tax adjustment (f)
7.7
5.4
Adjusted after-tax earnings from continuing operations attributable to FMC stockholders (Non-GAAP) (1)
$
250.7
$
58.4
Diluted earnings per common share (GAAP)
$
1.96
$
(0.92)
Corporate special charges (income) per diluted share, before tax:
Restructuring and other charges (income)
(0.57)
0.06
Non-operating pension and postretirement charges
—
(0.04)
Transaction-related charges
0.38
0.07
Income tax expense (benefit) on Corporate special charges (income), per diluted share
0.06
(0.03)
Discontinued operations attributable to FMC stockholders, net of income taxes per diluted share
(0.05)
1.25
Tax adjustments per diluted share
0.06
0.04
Diluted adjusted after-tax earnings from continuing operations per share, attributable to FMC stockholders (Non-GAAP)
$
1.84
$
0.43
Average number of shares outstanding used in diluted adjusted after-tax earnings from continuing operations per share computations
136.2
135.1
(1)
The Company believes that the Non-GAAP financial measure "Adjusted after-tax earnings from continuing operations attributable to FMC stockholders" and its presentation on a per share basis provides useful information about the Company's operating results to investors and securities analysts. Adjusted earnings excludes the effects of corporate special charges, tax-related adjustments and the results of our discontinued operations. The Company also believes that excluding the effects of these items from operating results allows management and investors to compare more easily the financial performance of its underlying businesses from period to period.
(a)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2018:
Restructuring and other charges (income) primarily consists of a gain on sale of $85.0 million from the divestment of a portion of FMC's European herbicide portfolio to Nufarm Limited. This divestiture satisfied FMC's commitment to the European Commission related to the DuPont Crop Protection Acquisition. Additionally, restructuring and other charges (income) includes charges within FMC Agricultural Solutions of $2.6 million, which includes approximately $1 million of accelerated depreciation charges related to certain fixed assets that will no longer be used when we exit our Ewing R&D facility as well as miscellaneous restructuring efforts. Additionally, we implemented a formal plan to restructure our operations at the FMC Lithium manufacturing site located in Bessemer City, North Carolina. The objective of this restructuring plan was to optimize both the assets and cost structure by reducing certain production lines at the plant which resulted in restructuring and asset disposal charges of $2.1 million.
Three Months Ended March 31, 2017:
Restructuring and other charges (income) represents $4.5 million of exit costs related to the termination of our interest in a variable interest entity that was previously consolidated and part of our FMC Agricultural Solutions segment. Additionally, restructuring and other charges (income) includes charges of continuing environmental sites treated as a Corporate charge of $2.3 million and other Corporate charges of $1.5 million.
(b)
Our non-operating pension and postretirement costs are defined as those costs related to interest, expected return on plan assets, amortized actuarial gains and losses and the impacts of any plan curtailments or settlements. These costs are primarily related to changes in pension plan assets and liabilities which are tied to financial market performance and we consider these costs to be outside our operational performance. We exclude these non-operating pension and postretirement costs from our segments as we believe that removing them provides a better understanding of the underlying profitability of our businesses, provides increased transparency and clarity in the performance of our retirement plans and enhances period-over-period comparability. We continue to include the service cost and amortization of prior service cost in our Adjusted Earnings results noted above. We believe these elements reflect the current year operating costs to our businesses for the employment benefits provided to active employees.
(c)
Charges related to the legal and professional fees associated with acquisitions and separation activities. Amounts represent the following:
Three Months Ended March 31,
(in Millions)
2018
2017
Transaction-related charges
Legal and professional fees (1)
$
22.3
$
9.2
Inventory fair value amortization (2)
29.9
—
Total Transaction-related charges
$
52.2
$
9.2
(1)
Represents transaction costs, costs for transitional employees, other acquired employees related costs, and integration-related and transactional-related legal and professional third-party fees. These charges are recorded as a component of "Selling, general and administrative expense" on the condensed consolidated statements of income (loss).
(2)
These charges are included in "Costs of sales and services" on the condensed consolidated statements of income (loss).
(d)
The income tax expense (benefit) on Corporate special charges (income) is determined using the applicable rates in the taxing jurisdictions in which the corporate special charge or income occurred and includes both current and deferred income tax expense (benefit) based on the nature of the non-GAAP performance measure.
(e)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 and 2017
Discontinued operations, net of income taxes include, in periods up to its sale (on November 1, 2017), the results of FMC Health and Nutrition as well as provisions, net of recoveries, for environmental liabilities and legal reserves and expenses related to previously discontinued operations. Discontinued operations, net of income taxes for the three months ended March 31, 2018 includes an additional gain on sale of the FMC Health and Nutrition business to DuPont of approximately $16 million as a result of the adjustment to the final working capital. During the three months ended March 31, 2017, we reclassified the FMC Health and Nutrition segment as a discontinued operation. We determined the fair value of the Omega-3 business, which was previously part of the broader FMC Health and Nutrition reporting unit, was significantly less than its carrying value. As a result, we recorded an impairment charge of approximately $185 million ($165 million, net of tax) for the three months ended March 31, 2017.
(f)
We exclude the GAAP tax provision, including discrete items, from the Non-GAAP measure of income, and instead include a Non-GAAP tax provision based upon the projected annual Non-GAAP effective tax rate. The GAAP tax provision includes certain discrete tax items including, but are not limited to: income tax expenses or benefits that are not related to ongoing business operations in the current year; tax adjustments associated with fluctuations in foreign currency remeasurement of certain foreign operations; certain changes in estimates of tax matters related to prior fiscal years; certain changes in the realizability of deferred tax assets and related interim accounting impacts; and changes in tax law. Management believes excluding these discrete tax items assists investors and securities analysts in understanding the tax provision and the effective tax rate related to ongoing operations thereby providing investors with useful supplemental information about FMC's operational performance.
Three Months Ended
March 31,
(in Millions)
2018
2017
Non-GAAP tax adjustments
Impacts of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (1)
$
0.8
$
—
Revisions to valuation allowances of historical deferred tax assets
(1.8)
3.4
Foreign currency remeasurement and other discrete items
8.7
2.0
Total Non-GAAP tax adjustments
$
7.7
$
5.4
(1)
On December 22, 2017, the United States enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Act"), which, among other things, reduces the federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018, and imposes a transition tax on deemed repatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries which will be payable over eight years. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, we recorded an adjustment to our provisional tax expense of $0.8 million of income tax benefit pertaining to a change in the estimated impact of the remeasurement of the Company's U.S. net deferred tax assets and the realizability of the Company's U.S. state net deferred tax assets.
RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME (LOSS) (GAAP) TO ADJUSTED EARNINGS FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS, BEFORE INTEREST, DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION, AND INCOME
TAXES (NON-GAAP)
(Unaudited, in millions)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2018
2017
Net income (loss) (GAAP)
$
269.6
$
(123.8)
Restructuring and other charges (income)
(77.7)
8.3
Non-operating pension and postretirement charges (income)
0.5
(4.6)
Transaction-related charges
52.2
9.2
Discontinued operations, net of income taxes
(6.5)
168.8
Interest expense, net
33.9
15.7
Depreciation and amortization
39.1
23.6
Provision (benefit) for income taxes
68.7
9.4
Adjusted earnings from continuing operations, before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and noncontrolling interests (Non-GAAP) (1)
$
379.8
$
106.6
(1)
Referred to as Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as operating profit excluding depreciation and amortization expense.
RECONCILIATION OF CASH PROVIDED (REQUIRED) BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES (GAAP) TO ADJUSTED CASH FROM OPERATIONS (NON-GAAP)
(Unaudited, in millions)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2018
2017
Cash provided (required) by operating activities (GAAP)
$
(61.7)
$
(70.0)
Transaction and integration costs
34.0
—
Adjusted cash from operations (Non-GAAP) (1)
$
(27.7)
$
(70.0)
(1)
The Company believes that the Non-GAAP financial measure "Adjusted cash from operations" provides useful information about the Company's cash flows to investors and securities analysts. Adjusted cash from operations excludes the effects of transaction-related cash flows. The Company also believes that excluding the effects of these items from cash provided (required) by operating activities allows management and investors to compare more easily the cash flows from period to period.
FMC CORPORATION
INDUSTRY SEGMENT DATA
(Unaudited, in millions)
Three Months Ended March 31,
2018
2017
Revenue
FMC Agricultural Solutions
$
1,107.9
$
530.4
FMC Lithium
102.8
65.6
Total
$
1,210.7
$
596.0
Earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)
FMC Agricultural Solutions
$
356.4
$
101.8
FMC Lithium
50.3
25.8
Corporate and other
(26.9)
(21.0)
Adjusted earnings from continuing operations, before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and noncontrolling interests (Non-GAAP)
$
379.8
$
106.6
Depreciation and amortization
$
(39.1)
$
(23.6)
Interest expense, net
(33.9)
(15.7)
Corporate special (charges) income:
Restructuring and other (charges) income (a)
77.7
(8.3)
Non-operating pension and postretirement (charges) income (b)
(0.5)
4.6
Transaction-related charges (c)
(52.2)
(9.2)
(Provision) benefit for income taxes
(68.7)
(9.4)
Discontinued operations, net of income taxes (d)
6.5
(168.8)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests
(2.4)
(0.4)
Net income (loss) attributable to FMC stockholders
$
267.2
$
(124.2) | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/02/pr-newswire-fmc-corporation-announces-first-quarter-2018-results.html |
PITTSBURGH, CNX Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: CNXM) ("CNXM" or the "Partnership") today reported financial and operational results for the three months ended March 31, 2018 (1) .
First Quarter Results
Highlights of first quarter 2018 results attributable to the Partnership as compared to the first quarter of 2017 include:
Net Income Attributable to General and Limited Partner Ownership Interest in CNX Midstream Partners LP of $27.8 million as compared to $30.1 million Net cash provided by operating activities of $41.9 million as compared to $34.2 million Adjusted EBITDA (2) of $34.8 million as compared to $35.2 million Distributable cash flow (DCF) (2) of $29.2 million as compared to $30.3 million Cash distribution coverage (2) of 1.29x on an as-declared basis
"Our first quarter financial and operating results were in line with expectations," commented Nicholas J. DeIuliis, CEO of CNX Midstream GP LLC (the "General Partner"). "We continue to deliver strong operational execution that is driving our organic base program, which in combination with yesterday's executed strategic transaction, is resulting in five plus years of de-risked 15% distribution growth. Coupling this de-risked distribution growth with a significant roster of drops that are getting larger over time; a strong balance sheet; an economically aligned sponsor with a rich asset base; and pipes that are in the best part of the Appalachian basin, you can see why we are so excited for the future of this great company."
Operations
During the quarter, the Partnership turned-in-line (TIL) 12 wells in DevCo I, compared to 10 wells in the first quarter of 2017, which included two wells in DevCo I and eight wells in DevCo III.
Also during the quarter, CNXM continued to see cost reductions, in a period which historically is a higher cost period typically driven by seasonal conditions. The company continues to implement several changes that are driving costs lower, and these efforts resulted in the lowest realized costs in a first quarter since the company's initial public offering (IPO) for both total dollars spent and on a per unit basis. During the quarter, operating expenses, excluding electrically-powered compression, attributable to CNXM were $6.5 million or $0.068 per MMBtu, compared to $7.1 million or $0.075 per MMBtu for the first quarter of 2017.
Leveraging the remote-control capabilities of the company's supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), CNXM continues to optimize facility and pipeline staffing levels and coverage, along with methanol usage. CNXM is also now fully utilizing 100% of the company's compression and has realigned workforce incentives with company financial goals.
Strategic Transaction with CNX and HG Energy
CNXM also announced today a strategic transaction in connection with its sponsor, CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE: CNX) ("CNX"), which closed yesterday on an exchange transaction with HG Energy II Appalachia, LLC ("HG"). The transaction includes the amendment of CNXM's gas gathering agreements with both HG and CNX.
This transaction strengthens CNXM's asset portfolio and outlook, resulting in the following:
Extends de-risked 15% distribution growth to 2022, from 2020, based solely on minimum well commitments ("MWCs") and minimum volume commitments ("MVCs"). Extends 15% distribution growth target to 2023 from 2022. Provides for the additional dedication of 16,100 Utica acres in DevCo I by CNX in Southwest Pennsylvania (SWPA) and Central Pennsylvania (CPA) in exchange for the release from dedication of approximately 18,000 HG net acres, the majority of which are in less developed, lower return DevCo's II and III. Increases MWCs by 52 wells. This brings CNXM's total well commitments to 192 wells for the next 5 years. Receives a 20" high-pressure pipeline into DevCo I, which expands CNXM's business services and customer base with a fee-based pipeline into Markwest's Majorsville processing facility. This pipeline provides additional diversification to CNXM's portfolio of customers by adding third-party revenues that will add up to $4 million in annual EBITDA. Initial service for this growth project will begin in the second quarter of 2018. Receives approximately $2 million in cash. Enhancement of both risk profile and growth trajectory should positively impact credit ratings and cost of capital, further supporting CNXM's ability to continue to grow its business.
In exchange for the incremental Utica acreage dedication, MWCs, and high-pressure pipeline with third-party revenue, CNXM has agreed to relinquish its 5% interest in the midstream assets of DevCo II and the Moundsville midstream assets located in DevCo III. CNX and CNXM have also released from dedication approximately 275,000 acres in DevCo's II and III, in which CNXM has a 5% interest, or approximately 14,000 net acres, and in which CNX has a 95% interest, or approximately 261,000 net acres. Most of these previously dedicated acres were located in DevCo II across Lewis, Upshur, Harrison, Taylor, and Barbour counties, West Virginia. The amendment to the gathering agreement with HG also provides for the release from dedication of approximately 4,200 scattered acres located in DevCo I. HG continues to be a significant customer of CNXM, which will continue to gather HG's existing production in DevCo I as well as potential new wells on acreage that is within the revised acreage commitment boundary. The transaction includes an amended gas gathering agreement with HG in the DevCo I area, providing CNXM more control over the DevCo I expansion and operating strategy.
Nicholas J. DeIuliis, CEO of CNXM commented: "This transaction delivers an array of benefits for CNXM. The deal further de-risks CNXM's planned 15% distribution growth through 2022 based solely on additional MWCs; it extends the 15% distribution growth target to six years, through 2023; it increases expected future distributable cash flow above MWCs based off of sponsor projected activity set; it adds 16,100 dedicated Utica acres in SWPA and CPA; and it provides incremental third-party revenue, with upside potential. Perhaps most importantly, the transaction ensures that midstream capital is focused on the highest IRR opportunities. In summary, this transaction has further aligned the interests of CNXM and its sole sponsor, CNX, as both entities are now able to prioritize development of the core stacked pay assets through capital allocation that is accretive to unitholders."
The transaction was approved by the CNXM's Board of Directors' Conflicts Committee, which consists entirely of independent directors. The Conflicts Committee was advised by Evercore on financial matters and Baker Botts L.L.P. on legal matters.
Latham & Watkins LLP served as the legal advisor and CIBC Capital Markets served as the financial advisor to CNX.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as the legal advisor to HG.
Note: CNXM is unable to provide a reconciliation of projected EBITDA to projected operating income, the most comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, due to the unknown effect, timing, and potential significance of certain income statement items.
CNXM is reaffirming full-year 2018 guidance in the table below:
2018 Outlook
($ in millions)
2018E
Throughput (MMcfe/d)
1,150
-
1,240
Capital Expenditures
$80
-
$90
EBITDA
$150
-
$165
Distributable Cash Flow
$120
-
$135
Distributable Coverage
1.2x
-
1.4x
LP Distribution Growth Target
15%
Quarterly Distribution
As previously announced, the Board of Directors of the General Partner declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.3245 per unit with respect to the first quarter of 2018. The distribution payment will be made on May 15, 2018 to unitholders of record at the close of business on May 4, 2018. The distribution, which equates to an annual rate of $1.298 per unit, represents an increase of 3.6% over the prior quarter and an increase of 15% over the distribution paid with respect to the first quarter of 2017.
Capital Investment and Resources
CNX Midstream's allocated first quarter 2018 share of investment in expansion projects was $9.9 million. Total expansion capital investment at the three development companies in which CNX Midstream holds controlling interests was $11.3 million. CNX Midstream's respective share of maintenance capital expenditures for the three development companies for first quarter 2018 was $4.0 million. Maintenance capital expenditures in the aggregate for the development companies in which CNX Midstream holds controlling interests totaled $4.6 million.
As of March 31, 2018, CNX Midstream had outstanding borrowings of $20 million under its $600 million revolving credit facility.
First Quarter Financial and Operational Results Conference Call
A conference call and webcast, during which management will discuss first quarter 2018 financial and operational results, is scheduled for May 3, 2018 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Prepared remarks by members of management will be followed by a question and answer period. Interested parties may listen via webcast at www.cnxmidstream.com . Participants who would like to ask questions may join the conference by phone by dialing 888-349-0097 (international 412-902-0126) five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time (reference the CNX Midstream call). An on-demand replay of the webcast will also be available at www.cnxmidstream.com shortly after the conclusion of the conference call. A telephonic replay will be available through May 10, 2018 by dialing 877-344-7529 (international: 412-317-0088) and using the conference playback number 10119147.
(1)
Unless otherwise indicated, the reporting measures included in this news release reflect the unallocated total activity of the three development companies that have been jointly owned by the Partnership and CNX Gathering LLC ("CNX Gathering") since completion of the Partnership's initial public offering ("IPO") in September 2014. Effective November 16, 2016, the Partnership acquired the remaining 25% controlling interest in the Anchor Systems, which brought its controlling interest in that system to 100%. The Partnership's current financial interests in the development companies are: 100% in the Anchor Systems, 5% in the Growth Systems, and 5% in the Additional Systems. Because the Partnership owns a controlling interest in each of the three development companies, it fully consolidates their financial results. CNX Gathering is an entity 100% owned by CNX Resources Corporation that owns noncontrolling interests in two of the Partnership's development companies.
(2)
Adjusted EBITDA and DCF are not measures that are recognized under accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("GAAP"). Definitions and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to GAAP reporting measures appear in the financial tables which follow.
* * * * *
CNX Midstream Partners is a growth-oriented master limited partnership that owns, operates, develops and acquires gathering and other midstream energy assets to service natural gas production in the Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Our assets include natural gas gathering pipelines and compression and dehydration facilities, as well as condensate gathering, collection, separation and stabilization facilities. More information is available at our website www.cnxmidstream.com .
* * * * *
This press release is intended to be a qualified notice to nominees as provided for under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Brokers and nominees should treat one hundred percent (100.0%) of CNX Midstream's distributions to non-U.S. investors as being attributed to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, CNX Midstream's distributions to non-U.S. investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. Nominees, and not CNX Midstream, are treated as withholding agents responsible for withholding on the distributions received by them on behalf of foreign investors.
* * * * *
This press release contains within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions or that include the words "will," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate" and other expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events and trends and that do not relate to historical matters identify . You should not place undue reliance on . Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the payment of our quarterly distribution for the 2018 and our anticipated 2018 financial performance. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, and there can be no assurance that actual outcomes and results will not those expected by our management. You should not place undue reliance on . Although reflect our good faith beliefs at the time they are made, they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. While our management considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. These risks, contingencies and uncertainties relate to, among other matters, the following: CNX and HG Energy II Appalachia, LLC currently account for substantially all of our revenue; if either or both of them change their business strategies, or otherwise significantly reduce the volumes of natural gas and condensate transported through our gathering systems, we could be materially and adversely affected; under our gathering agreements, our customers may transfer their leasehold, working and mineral fee interests in their dedicated acreage, and provide for the release of dedicated acreage in certain situations; we may not generate sufficient distributable cash flow to make the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution to our unitholders; our cash flow will depend entirely on the performance of our operating subsidiaries and their ability to distribute cash to us; our midstream systems are exclusively located in the Appalachian Basin, making us vulnerable to risks associated with operating in a single geographic area; we may be unable to grow by acquiring the noncontrolling interests in, or assets of, our operating subsidiaries owned by CNX Gathering, which could limit our ability to increase our distributable cash flow; to maintain and grow our business, we will be required to make substantial capital expenditures and these capital expenditures may not result in revenue increases and may be subject to regulatory, environmental, political, legal and economic risks, which could adversely affect our business and our ability to distribute cash to our unitholders; if we are unable to obtain needed capital or financing on satisfactory terms, our ability to make cash distributions may be diminished or our financial leverage could increase; our exposure to commodity price risk may change over time and we cannot guarantee the terms of any existing or future agreements for our midstream services with third parties or with CNX; restrictions in our revolving credit facility, and other debt agreements that we may enter into in the future, could adversely affect our business, and ability to make quarterly cash distributions to our unitholders; we and our customers may incur significant liability under, or costs and expenditures to comply with, environmental and worker health and safety regulations, which are complex and subject to frequent change; we may not own in fee the land on which our pipelines and facilities are located, which could result in disruptions to our operations; a shortage of equipment and skilled labor could reduce equipment availability and labor productivity and increase labor and equipment costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations; we do not have any officers or employees and rely on officers of our general partner and employees of CNX; terrorist attacks or cyber-attacks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations; our general partner and its affiliates, including CNX, have conflicts of interest with us and limited fiduciary duties to us and our unitholders, and they may favor their own interests to our detriment and that of our unitholders; our general partner's discretion in establishing cash reserves may reduce the amount of cash we have available to distribute to unitholders; affiliates of our general partner, including CNX and CNX Gathering, may compete with us, and neither our general partner nor its affiliates have any obligation to present business opportunities to us except with respect to rights of first offer contained in our omnibus agreement; our tax treatment depends on our status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; as a result of investing in our common units, you may become subject to state and local taxes and return filing requirements in jurisdictions where we operate or own or acquire properties.
Although reflect our good faith beliefs at the time they are made, they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. For more information concerning factors that could cause actual results to those conveyed in the , including, among others, that our business plans may change as circumstances warrant, please refer to the "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, unless required by law.
CNX MIDSTREAM PARTNERS LP
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per unit data)
(unaudited)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2018
2017
Revenue
Gathering revenue — related party
$
37,730
$
58,958
Gathering revenue — third party
26,139
—
Total Revenue
63,869
58,958
Expenses
Operating expense — related party
4,435
7,628
Operating expense — third party
8,468
6,633
General and administrative expense — related party
3,612
2,883
General and administrative expense — third party
2,549
1,192
Loss on asset sales
2,755
673
Depreciation expense
5,856
5,671
Interest expense
2,489
1,038
Total Expense
30,164
25,718
Net Income
33,705
33,240
Less: Net noncontrolling interest
5,858
3,173
Net Income Attributable to General and Limited Partner Ownership Interest in CNX
Midstream Partners LP
$
27,847
$
30,067
Calculation of Limited Partner Interest in Net Income:
Net Income Attributable to General and Limited Partner Ownership Interest in CNX Midstream
Partners LP
$
27,847
$
30,067
Less: General partner interest in net income, including incentive distribution rights
2,152
1,129
Limited partner interest in net income
$
25,695
$
28,938
Net income per Limited Partner unit - Basic
$
0.40
$
0.46
Net Income per Limited Partner unit - Diluted
$
0.40
$
0.45
Limited Partner units outstanding - Basic
63,623
63,566
Limited Partner unit outstanding - Diluted
63,659
63,617
Cash distributions declared per unit (*)
$
0.3245
$
0.2821
(*) Represents the cash distributions declared during the month following the end of each respective quarterly period.
CNX MIDSTREAM PARTNERS LP
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands, except number of units)
(unaudited)
March 31,
2018
December 31,
2017
ASSETS
Current Assets:
Cash
$
1,966
$
3,194
Receivables — related party
13,411
13,104
Receivables — third party
9,645
8,251
Other current assets
3,242
2,169
Total Current Assets
28,264
26,718
Property and Equipment:
Property and equipment
978,890
972,841
Less — accumulated depreciation
79,332
73,563
Property and Equipment — Net
899,558
899,278
Other assets
4,294
593
TOTAL ASSETS
$
932,116
$
926,589
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable
$
23,363
$
23,602
Accounts payable — related party
3,056
2,376
Total Current Liabilities
26,419
25,978
Other Liabilities:
Revolving credit facility
20,000
149,500
Long-term debt
392,647
—
Total Liabilities
439,066
175,478
Partners' Capital:
Common units (63,638,165 units issued and outstanding at March 31, 2018 and
63,588,152 units issued and outstanding at December 31, 2017)
241,844
389,427
General partner interest
4,930
4,328
Partners' capital attributable to CNX Midstream Partners LP
246,774
393,755
Noncontrolling interest
246,276
357,356
Total Partners' Capital
493,050
751,111
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND PARTNERS' CAPITAL
$
932,116
$
926,589
CNX MIDSTREAM PARTNERS LP
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2018
2017
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net Income
$
33,705
$
33,240
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation expense and amortization of debt issuance costs
6,039
5,713
Unit-based compensation
579
283
Loss on asset sales
2,755
673
Other
117
83
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Receivables — related party
453
(458)
Receivables — third party
(1,394)
—
Other current and non-current assets
(650)
3
Accounts payable
(294)
(2,386)
Accounts payable — related party
557
(2,975)
Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities
41,867
34,176
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Capital expenditures
(15,972)
(11,192)
Proceeds from sale of assets
5,816
—
Net Cash Used in Investing Activities
(10,156)
(11,192)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Distributions (to) from partners and noncontrolling interest holders, net
(5,509)
28
Vested units withheld for unitholders taxes
(347)
(411)
Quarterly distributions to unitholders
(21,489)
(18,004)
Net payment on $250.0 million credit facility
(149,500)
(5,000)
Net borrowings on $600.0 million credit facility
20,000
—
Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt, net of discount
394,000
—
Debt issuance costs
(5,094)
—
Acquisition of Shirley-Penns System
(265,000)
—
Net Cash Used In Financing Activities
(32,939)
(23,387)
Net Decrease in Cash
(1,228)
(403)
Cash at Beginning of Period
3,194
6,421
Cash at End of Period
$
1,966
$
6,018
CNX MIDSTREAM PARTNERS LP
RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO ADJUSTED EBITDA AND DISTRIBUTABLE CASH FLOW
(in thousands)
Definition of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA
We define EBITDA as net income (loss) before net interest expense, depreciation and amortization, and Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA adjusted for non-cash items which should not be included in the calculation of distributable cash flow. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are used as supplemental financial measures by management and by external users of our financial statements, such as investors, industry analysts, lenders and ratings agencies, to assess:
our operating performance as compared to those of other companies in the midstream energy industry, without regard to financing methods, historical cost basis or capital structure; the ability of our assets to generate sufficient cash flow to make distributions to our partners; our ability to incur and service debt and fund capital expenditures; and the viability of acquisitions and other capital expenditure projects and the returns on investment of various investment opportunities.
We believe that the presentation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA provides information that is useful to investors in assessing our financial condition and results of operations. The GAAP measures most directly comparable to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are net income and net cash provided by operating activities. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered alternatives to net income, net cash provided by operating activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA exclude some, but not all, items that affect net income or net cash, and these measures may vary from those of other companies. As a result, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as presented below may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.
Distributable Cash Flow
We define distributable cash flow as Adjusted EBITDA less net noncontrolling interest, cash interest paid and maintenance capital expenditures, each net to the Partnership. Distributable cash flow does not reflect changes in working capital balances.
Distributable cash flow is used as a supplemental financial measure by management and by external users of our financial statements, such as investors, industry analysts, lenders and ratings agencies, to assess:
the ability of our assets to generate cash sufficient to support our indebtedness and make future cash distributions to our unitholders; and the attractiveness of capital projects and acquisitions and the overall rates of return on alternative investment opportunities.
We believe that the presentation of distributable cash flow in this release provides information useful to investors in assessing our financial condition and results of operations. The GAAP measures most directly comparable to distributable cash flow are net income and net cash provided by operating activities. Distributable cash flow should not be considered an alternative to net income, net cash provided by operating activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP. Distributable cash flow excludes some, but not all, items that affect net income or net cash, and these measures may vary from those of other companies. As a result, our distributable cash flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures that other companies may use.
The following table presents a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures of adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures of net income and net cash provided by operating activities.
Three Months Ended
March 31,
(unaudited)
2018
2017
Net Income
$
33,705
$
33,240
Depreciation expense
5,856
5,671
Interest expense
2,489
1,038
EBITDA
42,050
39,949
Non-cash unit-based compensation expense
579
283
Loss on asset sales
2,755
673
Adjusted EBITDA
45,384
40,905
Less:
Net noncontrolling interest
5,858
3,173
Depreciation expense attributable to noncontrolling interest
1,665
1,830
Other expenses attributable to noncontrolling interest
436
82
Loss on asset sales attributable to noncontrolling interest
2,617
639
Adjusted EBITDA Attributable to General and Limited Partner Ownership Interest in CNX Midstream Partners LP
$
34,808
$
35,181
Less: cash interest paid, net
2,015
1,000
Less: maintenance capital expenditures, net of reimbursements
3,583
3,881
Distributable Cash Flow
$
29,210
$
30,300
Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities
$
41,867
$
34,176
Interest expense
2,489
1,038
Loss on asset sales
2,755
673
Other, including changes in working capital
(1,727)
5,018
Adjusted EBITDA
45,384
40,905
Less:
Net noncontrolling interest
5,858
3,173
Depreciation expense attributable to noncontrolling interest
1,665
1,830
Other expenses attributable to noncontrolling interest
436
82
Loss on asset sales attributable to noncontrolling interest
2,617
639
Adjusted EBITDA Attributable to General and Limited Partner Ownership Interest in CNX Midstream Partners LP
$
34,808
$
35,181
Less: cash interest paid, net
2,015
1,000
Less: maintenance capital expenditures, net of reimbursements
3,583
3,881
Distributable Cash Flow
$
29,210
$
30,300
The following table presents a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow by quarter and for the most recently completed twelve month period with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, which are net income and net cash provided by operating activities.
(unaudited)
Q2 2017
Q3 2017
Q4 2017
Q1 2018
Twelve
Months
Ended
March 31,
2018
Net Income
$
29,752
$
33,468
$
37,602
$
33,705
$
134,527
Depreciation expense
5,675
5,629
5,717
5,856
22,877
Interest expense
1,124
1,197
1,201
2,489
6,011
EBITDA
36,551
40,294
44,520
42,050
163,415
Non-cash unit-based compensation expense
367
249
277
579
1,472
Loss on asset sales
3,241
—
—
2,755
5,996
Adjusted EBITDA
40,159
40,543
44,797
45,384
170,883
Less:
Net noncontrolling interest
761
4,554
10,581
5,858
21,754
Depreciation expense attributable to noncontrolling
interest
1,833
1,736
1,748
1,665
6,982
Other expenses attributable to noncontrolling interest
112
92
108
436
748
Loss on asset sales attributable to noncontrolling
interest
3,079
—
—
2,617
5,696
Adjusted EBITDA Attributable to General and Limited
Partner Ownership Interest in CNX Midstream
Partners LP
$
34,374
$
34,161
$
32,360
$
34,808
$
135,703
Less: cash interest paid, net
1,079
1,154
1,154
2,015
5,402
Less: maintenance capital expenditures, net of
reimbursements
3,715
3,579
3,483
3,583
14,360
Distributable Cash Flow
$
29,580
$
29,428
$
27,723
$
29,210
$
115,941
Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities
$
42,258
$
38,203
$
40,913
$
41,867
$
163,241
Interest expense
1,124
1,197
1,201
2,489
6,011
Loss on asset sales
3,241
—
—
2,755
5,996
Other, including changes in working capital
(6,464)
1,143
2,683
(1,727)
(4,365)
Adjusted EBITDA
40,159
40,543
44,797
45,384
170,883
Less:
Net noncontrolling interest
761
4,554
10,581
5,858
21,754
Depreciation expense attributable to noncontrolling
interest
1,833
1,736
1,748
1,665
6,982
Other expenses attributable to noncontrolling interest
112
92
108
436
748
Loss on asset sales attributable to noncontrolling
interest
3,079
—
—
2,617
5,696
Adjusted EBITDA Attributable to General and Limited
Partner Ownership Interest in CNX Midstream
Partners LP
$
34,374
$
34,161
$
32,360
$
34,808
$
135,703
Less: cash interest paid, net
1,079
1,154
1,154
2,015
5,402
Less: maintenance capital expenditures, net of
reimbursements
3,715
3,579
3,483
3,583
14,360
Distributable Cash Flow
$
29,580
$
29,428
$
27,723
$
29,210
$
115,941
Distributions Declared
$
19,698
$
20,573
$
21,489
$
22,699
$
84,459
Distribution Coverage Ratio - Declared
1.50
x
1.43
x
1.29
x
1.29
x
1.37
x
Distributable Cash Flow
$
29,580
$
29,428
$
27,723
$
29,210
$
115,941
Distributions Paid
$
18,842
$
19,698
$
20,573
$
21,489
$
80,602
Distribution Coverage Ratio - Paid
1.57
x
1.49
x
1.35
x
1.36
x
1.44
x
The following table presents a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures of the Partnership's projected adjusted EBITDA and projected distributable cash flow with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, which is projected net income. The following projections represent the approximate midpoint of the announced full year 2018 expected guidance ranges of adjusted EBITDA ($150-$165 million) and full year distributable cash flow ($120-$135 million) attributable to the Partnership. CNX Midstream's financial guidance is based on numerous assumptions about future events and conditions and, therefore, could vary materially from actual results. These estimates are meant to provide guidance only and are subject to revision for acquisitions or operating environment changes.
(unaudited) (in millions)
Forecast 2018 Estimate
Net Income
$
132
Depreciation expense
24
Interest expense
22
EBITDA
178
Non-cash unit-based compensation expense
1
Adjusted EBITDA
179
Less:
Net noncontrolling interest
13
Depreciation and other expenses attributable to noncontrolling interest
6
Adjusted EBITDA Attributable to General and Limited Partner Ownership Interest in CNX Midstream
Partners LP
$
160
Less: cash interest paid, net
22
Less: maintenance capital expenditures, net of reimbursements
13
Distributable Cash Flow
$
125
The Partnership is unable to project net cash provided by operating activities or provide the related reconciliation of projected net cash provided by operating activities to projected distributable cash flow, the most comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, because net cash provided by operating activities includes the impact of changes in operating assets and liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities relate to the timing of the Partnership's cash receipts and disbursements that may not relate to the period in which the operating activities occurred, and the Partnership is unable to project these timing differences with any reasonable degree of accuracy.
Development Companies Jointly Owned by CNX Gathering LLC and CNX Midstream Partners LP
Operating Income Summary, Selected Operating Statistics and Capital Investment
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2018
Development Company
Anchor
Growth
Additional
TOTAL(*)
Income Summary
Revenue
$
56,190
$
1,904
$
5,775
$
63,869
Expenses
23,047
1,711
5,406
30,164
Net Income
$
33,143
$
193
$
369
$
33,705
Operating Statistics - Gathered Volumes
Dry gas (BBtu/d)
636
44
23
703
Wet gas (BBtu/d)
546
4
160
710
Condensate (MMcfe/d)
5
—
21
26
Total Gathered Volumes
1,187
48
204
1,439
Capital Investment
Maintenance capital
$
3,939
$
176
$
526
$
4,641
Expansion capital
9,849
(98)
1,580
11,331
Total Capital Investment
$
13,788
$
78
$
2,106
$
15,972
Capital Investment Net to CNX Midstream Partners LP
Maintenance capital
$
3,939
$
9
$
26
$
3,974
Expansion capital
9,849
(5)
79
9,923
Total Capital Investment Net to CNX Midstream
Partners LP
$
13,788
$
4
$
105
$
13,897
(*) On March 16, 2018, the Partnership, through its 100% interest in the Anchor Systems, consummated the Shirley-Penns Acquisition. Although the Partnership only held a 5% controlling interest in the earnings and production related to the Shirley-Penns System prior to March 16, 2018, consolidated activity is reflected in the tables above as if the Shirley-Penns Acquisition occurred on January 1, 2017 for comparability purposes.
Development Companies Jointly Owned by CNX Gathering LLC and CNX Midstream Partners LP
Operating Income Summary, Selected Operating Statistics and Capital Investment
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2017
Development Company
Anchor
Growth
Additional
TOTAL(*)
Income Summary
Revenue
$
52,699
$
2,225
$
4,034
$
58,958
Expenses
21,083
2,278
2,357
25,718
Net Income
$
31,616
$
(53)
$
1,677
$
33,240
Operating Statistics - Gathered Volumes
Dry gas (BBtu/d)
662
52
29
743
Wet gas (BBtu/d)
443
5
95
543
Condensate (MMcfe/d)
4
—
4
8
Total Gathered Volumes
1,109
57
128
1,294
Capital Investment
Maintenance capital
$
4,104
$
227
$
367
$
4,698
Expansion capital
6,429
212
(147)
6,494
Total Capital Investment
$
10,533
$
439
$
220
$
11,192
Capital Investment Net to CNX Midstream Partners LP
Maintenance capital
$
4,104
$
11
$
18
$
4,133
Expansion capital
6,429
11
(7)
6,433
Total Capital Investment Net to CNX Midstream
Partners LP
$
10,533
$
22
$
11
$
10,566
(*) On March 16, 2018, the Partnership, through its 100% interest in the Anchor Systems, consummated the Shirley-Penns Acquisition. Although the Partnership only held a 5% controlling interest in the earnings and production related to the Shirley-Penns System prior to March 16, 2018, consolidated activity is reflected in the tables above as if the Shirley-Penns Acquisition occurred on January 1, 2017 for comparability purposes.
View original content with multimedia: releases/cnx-midstream-reports-first-quarter-results-announces-strategic-transaction-with-cnx-and-hg-energy-300641578.html
SOURCE CNX Midstream Partners LP | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/03/pr-newswire-cnx-midstream-reports-first-quarter-results-announces-strategic-transaction-with-cnx-and-hg-energy.html |
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea’s state news agency said on Wednesday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit the North soon at the invitation of the country’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with his counterpart from Mozambique Jose Pacheco in Moscow, Russia May 28, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin The report did not say when Lavrov would arrive in North Korea or the reason behind the visit.
Reporting by Christine Kim, editing by G Crosse
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-russia/north-korea-says-russian-foreign-minister-to-visit-north-korea-soon-kcna-idUSKCN1IU2RK |
May 28, 2018 / 10:45 AM / Updated 28 minutes ago Motor racing-Ricciardo's stock continues to rise after Monaco victory Alan Baldwin 3 Min Read
MONACO, May 28 (Reuters) - Daniel Ricciardo’s stock has never been higher after a dominant Monaco Grand Prix weekend that saw him stand on the podium above two world champions whose 2019 team mates have yet to be confirmed.
The Australian is out of contract with Red Bull at the end of the season and champions Mercedes or Ferrari, the top two teams, are obvious possible alternatives.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was second in Monaco with championship leader Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes but Ricciardo led every single practice and qualifying session and throughout the race.
Red Bull also want the 28-year-old to stay, but will be expected to pay a lot more than at present given Ricciardo’s success.
“You could say the day’s maybe made Daniel more expensive, it’s put his value up,” Red Bull principal Christian Horner told reporters.
“Or you could say it’s put the team in a stronger position in terms of its value and potential to him.”
Ricciardo has won two races this year, the same number as Vettel and Hamilton, and is third overall — albeit 38 points behind Britain’s Hamilton.
The Australian would be a lot closer had he not retired early on with an electrical problem in Bahrain and been in a collision with team mate Max Verstappen in Azerbaijan.
Verstappen, 20, is on a lucrative long-term contract but has had a season full of mistakes and crashes.
Horner hoped a new deal with Ricciardo could be reached “in the next couple of months” but recognised much would depend on what engine Red Bull had next season.
The former champions use Renault power units but have been linked to Honda, now with Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso.
Honda’s engines have improved considerably after three dismal years with McLaren, and France’s Pierre Gasly finished seventh for Toro Rosso on Sunday.
Mercedes say they are not looking beyond their immediate “family” at present, with Finland’s Valtteri Bottas performing well as Hamilton’s team mate, and Ferrari could retain veteran Kimi Raikkonen.
While Ricciardo would be popular, as a driver of Italian extraction with a reputation for thrilling overtakes, Ferrari also see Sauber’s 20-year-old Charles Leclerc as a longer-term option.
Whatever the reality, Ricciardo is putting himself front, side and centre in the shop window, knowing that any interest adds to his bargaining power.
“We’ll see what the others think. I can’t pay myself but for sure I feel I’ve done a really good job in the first six races,” he said. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin Editing by Alison Williams) | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/article/motor-f1-monaco-ricciardo/motor-racing-ricciardos-stock-continues-to-rise-after-monaco-victory-idUKL3N1SZ3H9 |
* Takes $863 million impairment in Switzerland
* Reports operating loss of 288 million pounds
* Shares tumble more than 8 percent (Adds CEO comment, shares)
By Tiisetso Motsoeneng
JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Reuters) - Mediclinic took a hefty $863 million writedown on its Swiss business on Thursday, tipping South Africa’s biggest private hospital group into an annual loss and sending its shares tumbling.
A constituent of London’s FTSE 100 index with a secondary listing in Johannesburg, Mediclinic has faced stricter regulations in recent years in Switzerland that have hobbled growth.
The company said it wrote off 84 million pounds ($113 million) from the value of property and 560 million pounds from the value of intangible assets at Hirslanden, which runs Switzerland’s biggest private hospital network.
The charges swung the company into an operating loss of 288 million pounds in the year ended March compared with an operating profit of 362 million pounds a year earlier, filings with the stock exchange showed.
“If you strip out these charges, which should be a one-off thing, their operational results were not too bad. But the market does not like these impairments,” said one Johannesburg analyst, who declined to be named because he is not allowed to speak to the media.
Shares in Mediclinic, whose core profit, or EBITDA, inched up 3 percent to 522 million pounds, skidded 8.2 percent in Johannesburg, on course for their biggest daily percentage fall since November 2016.
Founded in 1983 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Mediclinic has transformed itself from a southern African player to one of the biggest private healthcare providers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with a market capitalisation of nearly $7 billion.
Outgoing Chief Executive Danie Meintjes, at the helm for nearly a decade, extended the company’s footprint in the Middle East with the acquisition two years ago of Al Noor Hospital to offset slower growth at home and in Switzerland.
He tried and failed to buy the remaining 70 percent of Britain’s Spire Healthcare last year after failing to agree on the price in a deal that would have given it a substantial footprint in one of Europe’s biggest economies.
“We still believe that it (Spire) is a good business. We think it is good market and will continue to be a supportive shareholder,” Meintjes said in a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday. He declined to comment on whether Mediclinic would launch a fresh bid for Spire.
Meintjes will be replaced by two-decade company veteran Carel Aron van der Merwe when he retires later this year. ($1 = 0.7460 pounds) (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; editing by Jason Neely and Adrian Croft)
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/mediclinic-intl-results/update-1-south-africas-mediclinic-full-year-core-earnings-up-3-percent-idUSL5N1SV1GW |
May 24, 2018 / 2:24 PM / Updated an hour ago Panama's ex-president to stop fighting extradition from U.S. Elida Moreno 2 Min Read
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli will no longer fight extradition from the United States to his homeland, his lawyer said on Thursday, where Martinelli will face charges that he organized a scheme to spy on political rivals.
Martinelli is accused by Panamanian prosecutors of using public money to spy on more than 150 political rivals during his 2009-2014 term. He denies those charges.
In a handwritten note distributed by his lawyer Sidney Sitton, the ex-president said his extradition to Panama is now “in the hands of the (U.S.) Department of State.”
Sitton said he expects the extradition to be finalized in less than 30 days, and that Martinelli was no longer seeking asylum in the United States.
“He maintains his innocence and will now face the savage state ruled over by his former vice president who is full of hate and pursuing him,” said Sitton.
Lawyers for Martinelli, who was arrested in Coral Gables in Florida last June, argue that their client is the target of a politically motivated prosecution by President Juan Carlos Varela, who was previously Martinelli’s vice president.
Prosecutors have accused Martinelli of diverting more than $13.4 million in public funds to fund a surveillance system to listen in on his rivals.
Martinelli, a wealthy businessman through his ownership of supermarkets, had been held in federal detention in Miami at the request of the Panamanian government. Reporting by Elida Moreno; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Bernadette Baum | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-panama-martinelli/panamas-ex-president-to-stop-fighting-extradition-from-u-s-idUSKCN1IP2DF |
May 3 (Reuters) - Boingo Wireless Inc:
* BOINGO WIRELESS REPORTS RECORD FIRST QUARTER 2018 FINANCIAL RESULTS
* Q1 LOSS PER SHARE $0.08 * Q1 REVENUE $58.2 MILLION VERSUS I/B/E/S VIEW $51.9 MILLION
* SEES Q2 2018 REVENUE $54 MILLION TO $58 MILLION * Q1 EARNINGS PER SHARE VIEW $-0.17 — THOMSON REUTERS I/B/E/S
* REITERATING GUIDANCE FOR FULL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2018
* Q2 EARNINGS PER SHARE VIEW $-0.13, REVENUE VIEW $56.2 MILLION — THOMSON REUTERS I/B/E/S
* FY2018 EARNINGS PER SHARE VIEW $-0.45, REVENUE VIEW $231.9 MILLION — THOMSON REUTERS I/B/E/S Source text for Eikon:
Our | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-boingo-wireless-reports-q1-loss-pe/brief-boingo-wireless-reports-q1-loss-per-share-of-0-08-idUSASC09ZOU |
HAMBURG (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures rose on Tuesday with renewed focus on dryness in parts of the U.S. Plains grain belt and parched crops in several other major wheat exporting regions.
FILE PHOTO: A field of winter wheat is seen near Wakita, Oklahoma, U.S., May 11, 2018. Picture taken May 11, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford Soybeans were little changed with the market weighing up support from hopes of easing tension between the U.S. and China against the bumper soy crop in Brazil and good progress with U.S. bean plantings.
Chicago Board of Trade July wheat was up 1.4 percent at $5.14-3/4 a bushel, at 1112 GMT after falling 2.1 percent on Monday.
July soybeans rose 0.2 percent to $10.27-1/4 a bushel, after jumping 2.7 percent on Monday after the United States and China agreed to drop trade tariff threats while they work on a wider trade agreement. July corn rose 0.3 percent to $4.04-1/4 a bushel.
“Soybeans are again being underpinned by the signs of a significant reduction in the trade tension between the United States and China,” said Matt Ammermann, commodity risk manager with INTL FCStone. “Naturally the China trade dispute is not solved yet but the picture is looking better than it was and it is positive that China, the world’s biggest soybean importer, could resume normal U.S. soybean purchasing.”
“Attention is turning more to fundamentals in the soybean market, especially the large soybean harvest in Brazil and large Brazilian exports.”
Orders for nearly 1 million tonnes of U.S. soybean exports were canceled last week, U.S. government data said, as cheap supplies from Brazil made U.S. cargoes less attractive to buyers.
“Wheat is once more concerned about dryness in parts of the U.S. Plains,” Ammermann said. “Dryness in other large wheat producing regions is also a theme supporting wheat, with dryness ‘talk’ also in the Black Sea region, Australia and Canada.”
Official figures late on Monday showed good progress with U.S. soybean plantings but a more mixed picture on corn.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said 81 percent of the corn crop had been planted as of Sunday along with 56 percent of the soybean crop, both slightly above analysts’ estimate. <US/COR> <US/SOY>
“Corn is supported by several factors including concern about the U.S. crop and strong demand, Ammermann added. “Corn planting progress in some U.S. states is looking rather slow.”
“I think fear continues to mount amid the dryness we have in the Plains and whether that will creep into the growing areas for corn.”
Grains prices at 1112 GMT
Reporting by Michael Hogan, additional reporting by Naveen Thukral, editing by Alexandra Hudson
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-grains/wheat-up-on-dryness-fears-in-u-s-other-exporters-idUSKCN1IN1FK |
Senate confirms Haspel as CIA director Thursday, May 17, 2018 - 00:22
The U.S. Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday to be director of the CIA, ending a bruising confirmation fight centered on her ties to the spy agency's past use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation techniques. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
The U.S. Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday to be director of the CIA, ending a bruising confirmation fight centered on her ties to the spy agency's past use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation techniques. Rough Cut (no reporter narration). //reut.rs/2Ip1XVM | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/video/2018/05/17/senate-confirms-haspel-as-cia-director?videoId=427851954 |
LONDON (Reuters) - Sterling slid on Wednesday to a new five-month low after weaker-than-expected UK inflation dented the prospect of the Bank of England (BoE) raising interest rates this year.
FILE PHOTO: British Pound Sterling and U.S. Dollar notes are seen in this June 22, 2017 illustration photo. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo The pound had been one of the best-performing currencies in 2018 but it has given up all its gains for the year following a broad rally in the dollar and signs Britain’s economy is slowing.
Data on Wednesday showed annual consumer price inflation cooled to 2.4 percent, its weakest increase in over a year.
That sent sterling tumbling to $1.3305, its lowest since Dec. 15..
Investors priced in a one-in-three chance of the BoE raising borrowing costs in August — the next time it updates its economic forecasts — down from 50/50 earlier this week.
At 1500 GMT the pound was down 0.7 percent to $1.3341 and headed for its biggest daily loss in three weeks.
“All bets are off for an interest rate rise this year,” Fexco Corporate Payments head of dealing David Lamb said.
“If the UK economy continues to stagnate as it did in the first quarter of 2018, the window for raising rates will remain closed,” he said.
Risks around the sort of relationship Britain can agree with the EU for after their divorce have influenced the pound this week.
Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday said the country must ditch EU tariff rules as quickly as possible and run its own trade policy, Bloomberg reported.
But the biggest reason for sterling’s fall has been a drastic shift in market expectations for interest rate rises from the Bank of England because of economic weakness.
Consistently weak economic growth figures in early 2018, partly blamed on bad weather, have called into question whether the BoE will tighten monetary policy to curb inflation at all this year.
“It is starting to appear the weaker CPI is more structural and not just because of the bad weather,” Mizuho head of FX hedge fund sales Neil Jones said.
“Brexit uncertainty continues to weigh and may indeed put the BoE on hold throughout the summer and beyond,” he said.
UK gross domestic product figures due out on Friday will also be scoured for clues on monetary policy.
Reporting by Tom Finn; Editing by Louise Ireland and Susan Fenton
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-sterling/sterling-falls-ahead-of-key-inflation-data-idUSKCN1IO0Z8 |
WELLINGTON, FLA., May 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KLX Inc. (“KLX” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:KLXI), a leading distributor and value added service provider of aerospace fasteners and consumables, and a provider of services and products to the oil and gas exploration and production industry, today announced its intention to sell its Aerospace Solutions Group business to The Boeing Company and to spin-off to KLX shareholders its Energy Services Group business.
KLX announced today that the Company has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Aerospace Solutions Group (“ASG”) to The Boeing Company (“Boeing”) for $63.00 per share in cash. The transaction with Boeing is valued at approximately $4.25 billion, including the assumption of approximately $995 million in net debt. The transaction values the Aerospace Solutions Group at a multiple of 15.7x trailing EBITDA for fiscal year 2017 and a multiple of 14.3x 2018 estimated Adjusted EBITDA. Upon closing of the transaction, ASG will become part of the Boeing Global Services’ business. Boeing’s acquisition of KLX Inc. is conditioned upon the successful divestment and separation of KLX Inc.’s Energy Services Group (“ESG”). The transaction is also subject to customary closing conditions, including KLX shareholder approval and receipt of applicable regulatory approvals.
"This acquisition is the next step in Boeing’s services growth strategy, with a clear opportunity to profitably grow our business and better serve our customers in a $2.6 trillion, 10-year services market," said Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Global Services. “By combining the talent and product offerings of Aviall and KLX Inc., we will provide a one-stop-shop that will benefit our supply chain, and our various customers in a meaningful way.”
The ESG business that will be spun-off to KLX shareholders has a presence across all major U.S. onshore basins, including the Southwest (Permian Basin and Eagle Ford), Rocky Mountains (Williston and Piceance Basins), Mid-Continent and the Northeast (Marcellus and Utica Shale). ESG’s strategic focus is on providing superior quality of service to oil and gas exploration and production companies. ESG’s differentiated proprietary products and services are supported by a rich intellectual property portfolio, which is reflected in its superior profit margins. ESG’s strong brand will be retained by KLX Energy Services Holdings, Inc. (“KLXE”) post spin-off.
KLX Chairman and CEO Amin Khoury said, “KLX Energy Services is well positioned to participate in the ongoing oilfield services market recovery. We are seeing very strong demand for our services and products. We now expect KLX Energy Services fiscal year 2018 estimated revenues, Adjusted operating earnings and Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $500 million, $65 million and $110 million, respectively. This represents an approximate 55 percent increase in revenue, and an approximate 300 percent increase in Adjusted EBITDA, as compared to the prior year. KLX Energy Services’ peer-leading growth, superior margins and ability to generate significant free cash flow backed by a strong balance sheet, position it well as an independent company to deliver peer leading returns to our shareholders.”
The two transformative transactions announced today conclude a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value, which the Company announced on December 22, 2017.
Mr. Khoury concluded, “To our shareholders, many of whom have backed our management team for many years, we are pleased to be able to deliver $63.00 in immediate cash per share and ownership in a dynamic and well-capitalized oilfield services company. KLX Energy Services is a leader in its markets and will continue to be deeply committed to maximizing shareholder value and to providing the very best level of service to its customers.”
Additional Transaction Details
KLXE will be initially capitalized through a $50 million cash contribution from KLX to provide KLXE with a strong balance sheet and ample operating liquidity at separation. Additional KLXE liquidity is expected to be provided through a new undrawn credit facility to be put in place before the separation. KLXE is expected to be spun-off free of any debt.
Amin Khoury, currently KLX’s Chairman and CEO, will become Chairman, President and CEO of KLXE upon separation. Tom McCaffrey will become Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Gary Roberts will remain Vice President and General Manager of KLXE’s operations. Mr. Khoury and Mr. McCaffrey will continue in their current roles with KLX through the consummation of the sale of ASG to Boeing and intend to enter into employment contracts with KLXE prior to the spin-off.
Both the sale of KLX/ASG to Boeing for cash and the spin-off of ESG are expected to be taxable transactions to KLX shareholders. If KLXE’s market value at the time of separation is greater than its tax basis at such time, KLX would incur a tax liability. Boeing and KLX have agreed that any such liability would be borne by KLXE.
KLXE will have intangible assets with a substantial basis for tax purposes, which will be recoverable through amortization deductions, and are expected to shelter approximately $32 million per year in taxable income through January 31, 2029.
The completion of the spin-off transaction is subject to certain customary conditions, including but not limited to implementation of intercompany agreements and the effectiveness of filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company currently expects that the separation of its businesses, will occur in the third quarter of 2018.
Advisors
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to KLX and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP served as legal counsel.
Conference Call
KLX executives will host a conference call today, May 1, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. (Eastern time) to discuss the creation of KLX Energy Services Holdings, Inc. and the sale of Aerospace Solutions Group to Boeing for analysts and investors. Reporters are invited to join the call on a listen-only basis. A link to the webcast and an investor presentation will be available on the Investor Relations section of the KLX website at http://www.KLX.com. To access the call, please dial 800-239-9838 (domestic) or +1 323-794-2551 (international). The conference ID for the call is 1846506. Please dial into the call several minutes prior to the start of the call to allow sufficient time for the operator to connect participants.
About KLX
KLX Inc., through its two operating segments, provides mission critical products and complex logistical solutions to support its customers’ high value assets. KLX serves its customers in demanding environments that face high cost of downtime and require dependable, high quality just-in-time customer support. The Aerospace Solutions Group is a leading distributor and value added service provider of aerospace fasteners and consumables offering the broadest range of aerospace hardware and consumables and inventory management services worldwide. The Energy Services Group provides vital services and products to oil and gas exploration and production companies on an episodic, 24/7 basis. For more information, visit the KLX website at www.KLX.com .
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Such , including those regarding the timing and consummation of the transactions described herein, involve risks and uncertainties. The Company’s actual experience and results may differ materially from the experience and results anticipated in such statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include those discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which include its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Current Reports on Form 8-K. For more information, see the section entitled “Forward-Looking Statements” contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other filings. The included in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and, except as required by federal securities laws and rules and regulations of the SEC, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any , whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This release includes “Adjusted operating earnings,” which excludes initial one-time costs related to the review of strategic alternatives and ESG spin-off. This release also includes “Adjusted EBITDA,” which excludes the aforementioned initial one-time costs and non-cash compensation expense.
KLX ENERGY SERVICES RECONCILIATION OF 2018 OUTLOOK; CONSOLIDATED OPERATING EARNINGS TO ADJUSTED OPERATING EARNINGS AND ADJUSTED EBITDA (In Millions) 2018 Outlook (Approximate Amounts) Operating earnings $ 62 Initial costs and expenses related to review of strategic alternatives and ESG spin-off 3 Adjusted operating earnings 65 Depreciation and amortization 35 Non-cash compensation 10 Adjusted EBITDA $ 110 Contact Information
Michael Perlman
Director, Investor Relations
KLX Inc.
(561) 791-5435
Additional Information
In connection with the proposed transaction between KLX Inc. (“KLX”) and The Boeing Company (“Boeing”), KLX will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a proxy statement. KLX will also file with the SEC a registration statement with respect to the spin-off of the Energy Services Group. KLX SHAREHOLDERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT ARE FILED OR WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS AND RELATED MATTERS. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain the documents free of charge at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov , or from KLX at its website, www.KLX.com , or by contacting KLX Investor Relations at (561) 791-5435.
Participants in Solicitation
KLX and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed merger. Information concerning KLX’s directors and executive officers, including a description of their direct interests, by security holdings or otherwise, is set forth in KLX’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2018 and its proxy statement filed on May 26, 2017, which are filed with the SEC. A more complete description will be available in the proxy statement with respect to the merger and the registration statement with respect to the spin-off.
Source:KLX Inc. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/01/globe-newswire-klx-agrees-to-sell-its-asg-business-to-boeing-in-an-all-cash-transaction-and-to-spin-off-its-esg-business-to-klx.html |
May 31, 2018 / 6:28 AM / a few seconds ago UPDATE 1-UK house price growth slows in May - Nationwide Reuters Staff 2 Min Read
(Adds comment from Nationwide economist, background)
LONDON, May 31 (Reuters) - British house prices rose less than expected in May, figures from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Thursday, adding to evidence of a slowing property market since the 2016 Brexit vote.
House prices were up by 2.4 percent in the year to May, down from a rise of 2.6 percent in April and below all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists.
Prices fell by 0.2 percent from April, the third time this year that they have declined on a monthly basis, the figures from Nationwide showed.
House prices are rising much more slowly than before the 2016 referendum decision to take Britain out of the European Union, which hit consumer confidence and spending as a fall in the pound that followed that vote pushed up inflation.
Nationwide’s measure of house prices was growing by about 5 percent a year around the time of the Brexit vote. The lender said on Thursday it continued to expect house price growth of just 1 percent in 2018.
“There are few signs of an imminent change,” Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner said. “Surveyors continue to report subdued levels of new buyer enquiries, while the supply of properties on the market remains more of a trickle than a torrent.”
The Bank of England has said it expects to raise interest rates only gradually over the next three years and the shortage of homes for sale is also expected to continue to shore up prices. (Writing by William Schomberg; editing by John Stonestreet) | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-houseprices-nationwide/update-1-uk-house-price-growth-slows-in-may-nationwide-idUSL5N1T20VA |
GAITHERSBURG, Md., Xometry , the largest on-demand manufacturing platform, announced today that Aaron Lichtig has joined the company as Vice President, Growth Marketing and Danny Chang has joined as Vice President, Relationship Marketing. Lichtig will lead Xometry's growth marketing strategy across both customers and manufacturing partners while Chang will be responsible for driving engagement and retention of Xometry's customers and manufacturing partners. Both will report to Bill Cronin, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing.
"We're thrilled to have Aaron and Danny join the team," said Cronin. "Aaron brings deep digital and growth experience from Google and P&G, and Danny has tremendous marketplace expertise, including his GM role at eBay Motors. Both will be key leaders in helping Xometry continue to exceed our business objectives while building strong customer and partner relationships."
"I am excited to join Xometry," said Lichtig. "Xometry is using technology to reinvent how manufacturing is done and has enormous potential for growth."
"Xometry's unique combination of core expertise across supply chain, engineering, and data science is powering a sea change in manufacturing" said Chang. "I'm eager to drive deeper engagement with customers and manufacturing partners.
Lichtig joins Xometry from Partnership for a Healthier America after spending over six years at Google. In his last role as Head of Industry in the Government & Advocacy vertical, he developed digital strategies across Google's platforms for political campaigns, advocacy groups and trade associations. Before this, Lichtig served as a client lead in Google's food & beverage vertical. Previously, he spent seven years in brand management and marketing at Procter & Gamble. Aaron holds a BA in history from Yale University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Chang has been a consultant with Xometry over the past several months. Previously, he led product marketing for CEB Inc.'s Technology, Government and Events businesses. Chang's previous roles include the Head of Marketing and Site Experience at eBay Motors, where he worked for eight years and built its largest personalization platform as well as eBay's first Facebook integration. He is an inventor on three U.S. patents and his brand marketing work won a Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity award. Chang holds a BA in history from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
About Xometry: Xometry is driving the business of American manufacturing through a proprietary software platform which offers on-demand manufacturing to a diverse customer base, ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies. We provide product designers and engineers the most efficient way to source high-quality custom parts, with 24/7 access to instant pricing, expected lead time and manufacturability feedback. Our nationwide network of over 1,000 partner manufacturing facilities enables us to maintain consistently fast lead times while offering a broad array of capabilities, including CNC Machining, 3D Printing, Sheet Metal Fabrication, Injection Molding and Urethane Casting. Xometry has over 9,000 customers, including BMW, General Electric and NASA.
with multimedia: releases/aaron-lichtig-and-danny-chang-join-xometry-marketing-team-300644494.html
SOURCE Xometry | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/08/pr-newswire-aaron-lichtig-and-danny-chang-join-xometry-marketing-team.html |
(Reuters) - TPG’s growth investment arm has raised its stake in Tanium Inc with a $175 million investment, valuing the U.S. cyber security start-up at about $5 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
TPG Growth’s new investment boosts Tanium’s valuation ahead of an initial public offering the company is considering but has not yet decided to launch, the sources said. Tanium’s previously known valuation was $3.75 billion about a year ago.
The deal marks TPG Growth’s third investment in Tanium. The private equity firm will buy the stock of early employees as part of the deal, the sources said. None of the funds will go to the company’s father-and-son founders, David and Orion Hindawi, the sources added. The size of TPG’s stake in the company could not be learned.
Talks are under way for $25 million of additional stock to be sold to existing investors besides TPG, according to the sources. Other investors in Tanium include Andreessen Horowitz, IVP and T. Rowe Price.
The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. TPG and Tanium declined to comment.
Founded in 2007, Tanium provides computer system security and management for government agencies and companies, allowing them to scan and assess every device on a network within seconds. Tanium’s customers include 12 of the top 15 U.S. banks and six of the top 10 U.S. retailers, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense.
The company saw the departures of several senior executives last year, amid media reports of employee complaints about Orion Hindawi’s management style as chief executive and allegations by a handful of staff that they were fired just before their options vested.
Hindawi told Reuters last year a board investigation found no systematic employee terminations.
Tanium said before its previous funding round that it had $300 million in cash and investments, 100 percent revenue growth and was profitable.
Should Tanium go ahead with its IPO plans, it will be one of the few cyber security companies to attract enough investor confidence to go public, in what has become a fiercely competitive sector. Zscaler Inc ( ZS.O ), which also counts TPG as an investor, went public in March, and is trading above its IPO price. Another cyber security company, Carbon Black, filed for an IPO last month.
TPG, which also led a $100 million investment in Tanium last year, has backed other cyber security companies such as Tel Aviv-based GuardiCore and Intel’s former security division, McAfee.
Reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York; Editing by Diane Craft and Peter Cooney
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tanium-funding-tpg/tpg-raises-tanium-investment-company-now-valued-at-5-billion-sources-idUSKCN1IG3DY |
BUENOS AIRES—Argentina’s government has begun talks with the International Monetary Fund for a credit line as the administration of President Mauricio Macri seeks to contain a steady depreciation of the local currency.
In a televised address Tuesday, Mr. Macri said he spoke with the fund’s managing director, Christine Largarde, and that she confirmed the IMF would start working on an agreement. Mr. Macri said the aim is to avoid a crisis like those that Argentina suffered in the past. It will be the IMF’s first financial support... | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.wsj.com/articles/argentina-seeks-credit-line-from-imf-1525801539 |
(Adds details about bill, background)
By Diane Bartz
WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - A bill aimed at tightening oversight of foreign investment in the United States because of concern about China’s acquisition of critical technology is headed for a vote this month in the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, the panel said on Friday.
The committee also released draft proposals that will be voted on to amend the bill, which was introduced last November by Senator John Cornyn.
Proposed changes to the measure appear aimed largely at blunting opposition from high tech companies and investment firms, which had worried that even innocuous transactions would be subject to extended reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS.
CFIUS is an inter-agency panel led by the Treasury Department that assesses potential foreign investment to ensure it does not harm national security.
The bill in the Senate, and a companion measure in the U.S. House of Representatives, would broaden CFIUS’ reach in hopes of reining in China’s acquisition of U.S. high tech knowledge even as China has sought to focus on production of higher-value goods, like robots, computers and telecommunications equipment.
The bipartisan legislation has the support of President Donald Trump’s administration.
The new version eliminates a measure which some tech companies complained would force them to go to CFIUS to get approval for technology sales if they involved intellectual property licensing and support.
The draft also spells out that an investment can be deemed passive, and not subject to CFIUS oversight, if foreign investors have no access to non-public technical information or rights to be on the board of directors of a U.S. critical infrastructure company.
The proposed changes include noting specifically that CFIUS could consider in its national security review if a deal would potentially expose sensitive data about U.S. citizens, including genetic information.
Cornyn supports the proposed changes.
“As China has increasingly weaponized investment, it’s a national security imperative to strengthen the interagency review process to safeguard military and dual-use technology and know-how,” he said in a statement that accompanied the release of the proposed changes.
The panel has killed a long list of deals, including a plan for Chinese conglomerate HNA Group to buy most of SkyBridge Capital, a hedge fund investment firm founded by Trump’s former aide Anthony Scaramucci. (Reporting by Diane Bartz Editing by Tom Brown)
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-cfius-congress/update-1-foreign-investment-bill-targeting-china-heads-for-u-s-senate-panel-vote-idUSL1N1SI1YF |
* U.S. rig count rises to its highest level since March 2015
* Europe, Asia oppose U.S. plans for new sanctions against Iran
By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, May 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Monday as a relentless rise in U.S. drilling activity points to increased output, while resistance emerged in Europe and Asia to U.S. sanctions against major crude exporter Iran.
Still, crude prices were near more than three-year-highs reached last week as markets expect Iran’s oil exports to fall significantly once U.S. sanctions bite later this year.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $77.07 per barrel at 0010 GMT, down 5 cents from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $70.66 a barrel, down 4 cents from their last settlement.
Brent and WTI last week reached their highest since November 2014 at $78 and $71.89 per barrel respectively.
“Around a million barrels of oil a day is likely to disappear from global oil markets if the U.S. sanctions on Iran bite,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader.
“But it is still far from certain that they will bite in the way intended... Germany has said it will protect its companies from U.S. sanctions, Iran has said French oil giant Total has yet to pull out of its fields and all the while it seems the Chinese are ready to fill the void created by the U.S.,” he said
Markets were also held in check by a rise in U.S. drilling for new oil production.
U.S. drillers added 10 oil rigs in the week to May 11, bringing the total count to 844, the highest level since March 2015, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday.
Hedge funds and money mangers slashed their bullish wagers on U.S. crude in the latest week to the lowest level in nearly five months, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday, in an indicator that many financial oil traders are doubtful of significant further price rises.
Reporting by Henning Gloystein; editing by Richard Pullin
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/global-oil/oil-cautious-on-rise-in-u-s-drilling-iran-sanctions-opposition-idUSL3N1SL02L |
Rudy Giuliani on Friday walked back statements about a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels as well as President Donald Trump's reason for firing former FBI Director James Comey.
The former mayor of New York City, who is now counsel to the president, maintained that the payment to Daniels does not constitute a violation of campaign finance laws.
But Giuliani said his references to timing do not represent the president's knowledge, but instead his own understanding of the matter. The former mayor did not elaborate on what he meant by "timing."
In addition, Giuliani said that Trump's firing of James Comey falls within the president's Article II powers and that Comey's dismissal was in the best interest of the nation.
Giuliani had previously said Trump fired Comey because the former FBI director would not say that the president is not a target of the Russia investigation.
The Trump administration has maintained that the president fired Comey over his handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Giuliani's statement comes hours after Trump told reporters that Giuliani will "get his facts straight." Trump suggested that his counsel had misspoken about reimbursements to Michael Cohen, the president's personal lawyer, for hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.
The president said Giuliani "is a great guy, but he just started a day ago" and he is "learning the subject matter."
In an interview on Fox News Wednesday night , Giuliani told Sean Hannity that the president had in fact reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Daniels. The payment was part of a non-disclosure agreement barring Daniels from talking about an alleged affair with Trump.
Trump had previously denied that he knew about the $130,000 payment to Daniels during a comments made to reporters aboard Air Force One in early April.
When asked on Fox News whether Trump knew about the payment, Giuliani said the president "did not know the specifics of it, as far as I know."
But the former mayor said Trump "did know about the general arrangement that Michael would take care of things like this."
Giuliani, in an interview with the New York Times, went into even greater detail about the payment to Daniels, claiming that Cohen reimbursed in installments of $35,000 over the course of several months from Trump's "personal family account." Overall, Trump paid Cohen $460,000 or $470,000, which includes "incidental expenses."
Here is Giuliani's full statement:
This is intended to clarify the views I expressed over the past few days.
These are my views:
First:
There is no campaign violation. The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President's family. It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not.
Second:
My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President's knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters.
Third:
It is undisputed that the President's dismissal of former Director Comey – an inferior executive officer – was clearly within his Article II power. Recent revelations about former Director Comey further confirm the wisdom of the President's decision, which was plainly in the best interests of our nation.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/04/rudy-giuliani-walks-back-statements-about-porn-star-hush-money-comey-firing.html |
May 2, 2018 / 5:46 AM / Updated 14 hours ago Cricket-New Zealand says weighing up playing in Pakistan Reuters Staff 2 Min Read
WELLINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - New Zealand is weighing up playing cricket in Pakistan for the first time in 15 years after an invitation from the south Asian nation’s cricket board.
New Zealand have not played in Pakistan since 2003 due to security concerns but had been asked to play Twenty20 matches in the country later this year, governing body New Zealand Cricket said.
“NZC has received a request from the PCB chairman for New Zealand to play in Pakistan,” an NZC spokesman said.
“At the moment NZC is doing due diligence on the request and consulting with security providers, the government, and the players.
“We will respond to the PCB when this process has been completed.”
The Black Caps are scheduled to play tests and one-day internationals against Pakistan in November at the United Arab Emirates, the country’s designated ‘home’ base.
No dates have been issued for those matches but the spokesman said they would be played in the UAE.
Pakistan has remained largely starved of international cricket since the 2009 attacks on a bus carrying Sri Lanka’s team in Lahore, which wounded six players and a British coach, and killed eight Pakistanis.
But Sri Lanka returned to the country for a Twenty20 match in Lahore in October and West Indies played a recent T20 series in Karachi.
New Zealand abandoned their last test tour of Pakistan in 2002 after a bomb exploded outside their Karachi hotel but returned to play an ODI series in 2003.
Pakistan media, citing an unnamed source in the national cricket board, reported that Australia had also been approached to play in the country.
Cricket Australia were not able to provide immediate comment. (Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty) | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://in.reuters.com/article/cricket-nz-pakistan/cricket-new-zealand-says-weighing-up-playing-in-pakistan-idINL3N1S91RW |
May 16 (Reuters) - Eagle Pharmaceuticals Inc:
* EAGLE PHARMACEUTICALS INC GRANTED FINAL FDA APPROVAL FOR BENDAMUSTINE HYDROCHLORIDE READY-TO-DILUTE SOLUTION IN A 500ML ADMIXTURE
* SAYS EAGLE TO SHIP 500ML ADMIXTURE PRODUCT IMMEDIATELY Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-eagle-pharmaceuticals-gets-final-f/brief-eagle-pharmaceuticals-gets-final-fda-approval-for-bendamustine-hydrochloride-ready-to-dilute-solution-in-500ml-admixture-idUSASC0A2JW |
(Reuters) - General Electric Co ( GE.N ) announced a $11.1 billion deal on Monday to merge its transportation business with U.S. rail equipment manufacturer Wabtec Corp ( WAB.N ), with GE and its shareholders owning just over half of the combined business.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of General Electric is seen at its plant in Baden, Switzerland November 15, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo The deal, first reported by Reuters on Sunday, is the biggest to be inked thus far by GE Chief Executive John Flannery since he announced a major overhaul of the U.S. industrial conglomerate late last year.
The transaction values the GE transportation business, which makes train engines, at $11.1 billion. GE will receive a $2.9 billion up-front payment in cash and a 9.9-percent stake in the combined company, with GE shareholders awarded 40.2 percent and existing Wabtec shareholders owning 49.9 percent.
GE shares rose 2.8 percent to $15.39. Wabtec shares rose 4.3 percent to $99.28.
The deal is tax-free for GE and Wabtec shareholders because it is structured as a so-called Reverse Morris Trust, with GE spinning off the transportation unit and simultaneously merging it with Wabtec.
The $11.1 billion deal value includes a $1.1 billion net tax benefit accruing to the combined company, GE and Wabtec said.
The equity value of the company combining Wabtec and GE’s transportation business will be more than $20 billion.
The deal caps a review of the transportation division by GE dating back to last year after a string of setbacks for the 126-year-old company. But it also follows years of on-and-off talks between Wabtec and the GE unit about combining, Wabtec Chief Executive Raymond Betler told Reuters in an interview.
“We’ve always been quite interested. There has been a relationship between (us) that goes back decades,” he said.
“For a whole host of reasons, the stars kind of lined up this time, and it presented an opportunity for us to actually get it done.”
Betler will remain president and CEO of the merged company while its chairman, Albert Neupaver, has been re-appointed executive chairman. GE Transportation Chief Executive Rafael Santana will become president and CEO of Wabtec’s freight segment.
The resulting company will have approximately $8 billion in revenues, with 27,000 employees across 50 countries, the companies said. The transaction is expected to close in early 2019.
GE’s transportation business, which generated revenue of $3.9 billion last year, is already larger than its sole close peer in the railroad engines business, Caterpillar Inc ( CAT.N ), selling equipment and services to a global fleet of roughly 23,000 locomotives, Santana said.
The deal will add more offerings that can improve efficiency and safety to GE’s customers, which include Komatsu Ltd ( 6301.T ) and Rio Tinto PLC ( RIO.L ), as well as Wabtec’s client base which includes Siemens AG ( SIEGn.DE ) and Bombardier Inc ( BBDb.TO ), Santana added.
Wabtec, which has a market capitalization of $9.2 billion, manufactures equipment for locomotives, freight cars, and passenger transit vehicles.
Flannery told GE shareholders late last year he plans to pare GE down to three core businesses: power, aviation and healthcare, a departure from the deal-driven empire building of his predecessors, Jeff Immelt and Jack Welch.
That should include GE getting rid of at least $20 billion of assets through sales, spin-offs or other means.
GE’s stock has lost about half its value in the last year, and the company has been working with activist hedge fund Trian Fund Management LP, which sits on its board of directors, to turn the business around.
Reporting by Harry Brumpton in New York and Rachit Vats in Bengaluru; Editing by Patrick Graham and Nick Zieminski
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-getransportation-m-a-wabtec/ge-merges-transportation-unit-with-wabtec-in-11-1-billion-deal-idUSKCN1IM12I |
GRAINS-Wheat edges higher but gains muted ahead of USDA report Published 6 Hours Ago Reuters
SYDNEY, May 10 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures edged higher on Thursday after touching a more than one-week low in the previous session, although trade remained cautious ahead of a widely watched U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast later in the session.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were up 0.3 percent at $5.12 a bushel by 0101 GMT, having closed down 0.6 percent on Wednesday when prices hit a low of $5.06-1/4 a bushel - the lowest since May 1.
* The most active soybean futures were unchanged at $10.15-3/4 a bushel, having closed down 0.4 percent on Wednesday.
* The most active corn futures were up 0.1 percent at $4.03-1/4 a bushel, having closed down 0.1 percent in the previous session.
* The USDA is due to issue its May supply/demand report on Thursday.
* Analysts on average estimate U.S. 2018/19 world wheat ending stocks at 269.18 million tonnes, down just slightly from a record-high 271 million at the end of 2017/18.
* Analysts on average expect the USDA on Thursday to lower its forecasts of domestic and global 2017/18 soybean ending stocks.
* Analysts expect little change in the USDA's forecast of 2017/18 ending stocks for corn from its April figure near 2.18 billion bushels.
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar held firm on Thursday after the 10-year U.S. bond yield rose back to the psychologically important 3 percent mark and investors looked to U.S. consumer price data due later to show an acceleration in inflation. Oil prices rose about 3 percent on Wednesday and hit fresh 3-1/2 year highs after a bigger-than-expected drawdown in U.S. oil inventories extended gains from the United States' decision to quit a nuclear deal with Iran.
* Wall Street surged on Wednesday as surging oil prices boosted energy stocks following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision the previous day to quit a nuclear agreement with Iran.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0130 China Consumer prices Apr 0130 China Producer prices Apr 1230 U.S. Consumer prices Apr 1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
Grains prices at 0101 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSI CBOT wheat 512.00 1.50 +0.29% -0.49% 495.46 58 CBOT corn 403.25 0.50 +0.12% +0.00% 397.34 59 CBOT soy 1015.75 0.00 +0.00% -0.44% 1044.58 37 CBOT rice 12.70 $0.03 +0.20% -0.47% $12.99 31 WTI crude 71.52 $0.38 +0.53% +3.56% $67.12 70
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.185 $0.000 -0.03% -0.13% USD/AUD 0.7456 -0.001 -0.08% +0.08%
Most active contracts Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight RSI 14, exponential
(Reporting by Colin Packham; editing by Richard Pullin) | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/reuters-america-grains-wheat-edges-higher-but-gains-muted-ahead-of-usda-report.html |
(Reuters) - Discount store operator Dollar Tree Inc ( DLTR.O ) on Thursday reported first-quarter same-store sales that missed analysts’ estimates as performance at its namesake and Family Dollar banner lagged due to colder-than-normal spring weather.
FILE PHOTO: Products are seen on display at a Dollar Tree discount store in Garden City, New York, U.S., May 23, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton Sales at established stores open for more than a year rose 1.4 percent, lower than the average analysts’ estimate of 2.19 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Net income fell to $160.5 million, or 67 cents per share, in the first quarter ended May 5, from $200.5 million, or 85 cents per share, a year earlier.
Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-dollar-tree-results/dollar-tree-quarterly-same-store-sales-miss-estimates-idUSKCN1IW1JR |
May 21, 2018 / 7:40 AM / Updated an hour ago Tropical cyclone hits Somaliland killing at least 15 people: governor Abdiqani Hassan 2 Min Read
BOSASO, Somalia (Reuters) - At least 15 people have died in Somaliland after heavy rains caused by tropical cyclone Sagar which landed in the Horn of Africa over the weekend.
Situated at the northern tip of east Africa on the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991.
“In the last 24 hours, heavy stormy rains killed 15 people in the districts of Lughaya and Baki,” Abdirahman Ahmed Ali, governor of the Awdal area told reporters on Sunday.
“The Somaliland government has started giving emergency help to the victims.”
Meanwhile in Puntland, a semi-autonomous northeastern region of Somalia, storms caused by the cyclone took away two men and their car from a valley in the city of Bosaso, Yusuf Mohamed Waeys, the governor of Bari in Puntland told Reuters on Sunday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said thousands of people have been affected by the flooding, displacement and the destruction of infrastructure in Sagar’s wake.
“The cyclone has worsened the humanitarian situation in the two states and disputed regions, which have experienced protracted drought dating back to 2015, leaving them particularly prone to flash flooding in the direct aftermath of massive downpours,” it said in a statement.
Puntland and Somaliland have been engaged in conflict over the disputed Sool region for more than 10 years. People who live there are divided over which side to back. Last week, dozens of people were killed in clashes between troops from the two sides.
“Due to the dispute over the regions of Sool and Sanaag and lack of access to some affected areas after the destruction of roads, the situation of affected populations and impediments caused by blocked roads and failed communications, the extent of the damage is yet to be fully confirmed,” the UN said. Reporting by Abdiqani Hassan; Writing by Omar Mohammed; Editing by Toby Chopra | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://in.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-floods/tropical-cyclone-hits-somaliland-killing-at-least-15-people-governor-idINKCN1IM0M1 |
85 COMMENTS WASHINGTON— saw an opportunity to influence his party’s Senate primary in West Virginia earlier this month , but first he called to check in with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
The president, known for one of the quickest Twitter fingers in all of politics, wanted to make sure he and Mr. McConnell were on the same page.
While such a call would be commonplace in any other administration, it was nearly unthinkable just last summer as Mr. Trump grew frustrated over the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, taking shots at Mr. McConnell on Twitter and berating him once in a phone call from the golf course.
Now, the two men are talking nearly daily about saving the Republican majority this fall, with the White House engaging more directly in fundraising and strategic efforts led by Mr. McConnell, people close to both men said. Democrats need a net gain of just two seats to retake control of the chamber in November’s midterms.
“They’ve been on [a] good footing,” a senior administration official said.
Related Reading
Don Blankenship Draws Swipe From Trump Before West Virginia Vote Trump Criticizes McConnell for Failure to Advance Health-Law Reform Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a reception with Mr. McConnell on Monday at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, the first time any administration official has met with a McConnell-linked super PAC. About 100 donors and Republican candidates attended.
That group, Senate Leadership Fund, has raised at least $24 million so far between January 2017 and the end of April 2018, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. A McConnell-linked nonprofit called One Nation has raised $34 million, according to its officials. Both groups can accept unlimited amounts from donors, but elected officials are barred from soliciting those contributions.
The improved relationship with Mr. McConnell was born out of the fight for tax legislation last year, aides said. Both realized they needed to work together to pass a bill, and they established trust in the process.
During that debate, they would split up calls to reluctant lawmakers depending on who had the best chance for success. Mr. Trump, for example, was charged with corralling Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), while Mr. McConnell held most of the substantive talks with Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, said people familiar with the calls.
“Our legislative fate is tied to both McConnell and the president’s political success,” said Marc Short, the White House legislative-affairs director.
The stronger relationship was evident to lawmakers when Mr. Trump visited the Republican Senate conference last week for lunch, White House officials said. He and Mr. McConnell were cordial as they talked politics before the luncheon and the president now treats Mr. McConnell “like a close adviser,” one White House official said.
The weekend before the West Virginia primary, Mr. Trump called Mr. McConnell to ask his advice on whether he should weigh in, as some in the White House had urged him to do.
“Of course,” Mr. McConnell said.
The result: The day before the primary, Mr. Trump tweeted , in part, “To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference. Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State...No way!”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won . He will face Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin this fall, although Mr. Blankenship said Monday he would seek to run as a third-party candidate .
Before Mr. Trump weighed in, Mr. McConnell’s supporters had been working to tamp down Mr. Blankenship’s chances. The Senate Leadership Fund secretly bankrolled a $1.4 million attack ad campaign against Mr. Blankenship, saying the former coal magnate, who served a year in prison for a mine-safety conviction, was too toxic for the Senate.
Newsletter Sign-up On Monday, Mr. Blankenship made it clear he is still spoiling for a fight with Mr. McConnell and other Republican Party leaders. “Now that we know that the establishment will lie and resort to anything else necessary to defeat me, we are better prepared than before,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Trump has also stayed neutral in some primary races, in part at Mr. McConnell’s urging, aides to both men said. The president has talked up all three candidates for an open Senate seat in Arizona being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Jeff Flake. And he has intervened to strengthen the party in shaky races in several battleground states. In Nevada, he cleared the primary field for Sen. Dean Heller by urging his rival, Danny Tarkanian, to drop out and run for the House.
Mr. Trump “is listening to Mitch McConnell because he doesn’t want to get burned again,” said Dan Eberhart, a GOP donor and chief executive of a Colorado-based drilling services company.
He said Mr. Trump has closely hewed to Mr. McConnell’s thinking after a special election in Alabama last year embarrassed many in the party.
Mr. McConnell, and belatedly Mr. Trump, backed Sen. Luther Strange in the GOP primary but h e was defeated by former judge Roy Moore . When Mr. Moore was battered by charges he had sexual encounters with teenage girls when he was in his 30s, Mr. Trump stumped for him against the advice of Mr. McConnell and others.
Democrat Doug Jones defeated Mr. Moore in December. In his tweet before the West Virginia primary, Mr. Trump invoked that loss: “Remember Alabama.”
—Janet Hook contributed to this article.
Corrections & Amplifications
Democrats need a net gain of just two seats to retake control of the Senate in November’s midterms. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the party needed a net gain of three seats. (May 22)
Write to Julie Bykowicz at [email protected] and Michael C. Bender at [email protected] | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.wsj.com/articles/once-at-odds-trump-and-mcconnell-plot-path-to-hold-congress-1526981401 |
Businessman and former state Rep. Mike Braun is projected to win Indiana's Republican Senate primary and will get a crack at Sen. Joe Donnelly , one of the chamber's most vulnerable Democrats, according to NBC News.
He is projected to emerge from a bitter three-way GOP primary that featured personal attacks and efforts by candidates to prove they most emulate President Donald Trump . Indiana voters chose a candidate who billed himself as an outsider over Reps. Todd Rokita and Luke Messer, lawmakers who tried to prove they supported Trump in Congress.
The GOP sees Indiana as one of its best opportunities to win a Democratic seat in November. Trump won the state by about 20 percentage points in 2016, giving the party confidence that it could challenge Donnelly regardless of the primary winner.
Braun, 64, cast both of his primary opponents as creatures of a corrupt Washington political establishment. He flooded the airwaves with his own money, loaning more than $5 million to his campaign and outspending both of his opponents.
Braun notably released an ad in which he carried around life-sized cutouts of Rokita and Messer, and asked people in the street to identify the congressmen. They struggled to do so.
In an ad late last month, Braun said, "I'm running because Trump paved the way."
show chapters Watch these GOP candidates echo Trump to win over voters 10:46 AM ET Sat, 5 May 2018 | 01:51
Braun brushed off attacks about voting in Democratic primaries until 2012, saying he did so to "weigh in" on local races in a blue area and did not vote for Democrats in state or national elections. He also faced fresh criticism recently as | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/08/indiana-senate-primary-results-mike-braun-projected-to-face-joe-donnelly.html |
May 9, 2018 / 2:32 PM / Updated 10 minutes ago UPDATE 1-Ambev misses profit estimates on weak Brazil sales Reuters Staff
(Adds details on competition, regional performance, beer volumes, management comments, share reaction)
By Gram Slattery
SAO PAULO, May 9 (Reuters) - Ambev SA, the Latin American unit of beverage company Anheuser Busch InBev NV , missed quarterly profit estimates on Wednesday due to the timing of Carnaval and rising competition in Brazil from Heineken NV.
In a securities filing, the Sao Paulo-based brewer posted fourth quarter net income of 2.598 billion reais ($729 million), up 13 percent from the same period a year ago, but below a Reuters consensus estimate of 3.02 billion reais.
Ambev shares fell nearly 2 percent in Sao Paulo to a two-month low.
Soft drink volumes in Brazil fell 19.4 percent from a year earlier, while beer volumes fell 8.1 percent, hurt by the timing of and weather around the Carnaval holiday, according to Ambev.
“The beer sector as a whole contracted during the quarter, with Carnaval falling near the beginning of February and a cooler climate,” said Chief Financial Officer Ricardo Rittes in written remarks in the earnings release.
Last month, Heineken reported double-digit sales growth in Brazil during the first quarter, compared to a year earlier.
Rittes suggested that the soccer World Cup in June would help to lift Brazilian sales in the second quarter.
First-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased 10.1 percent from a year earlier to 4.639 billion reais, slightly below an average estimate of 4.78 billion reais.
Outside Brazil, results were stronger. Volumes in the southern Latin America region jumped 5.7 percent, while profit and EBITDA also grew significantly. The Central American region also posted significant growth in top line, EBITDA, and profit. $1 = 3.56 reais Reporting by Gram Slattery; Additional reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Brad Haynes and Phil Berlowitz | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/ambev-results/update-1-ambev-misses-profit-estimates-on-weak-brazil-sales-idUSL1N1SG0Q3 |
BIRMINGHAM, Mich., May 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Conifer Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNFR) (“Conifer” or the “Company”) today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.
First Quarter 2018 Financial Highlights (all comparisons to prior year period)
Commercial lines net earned premiums increased by 2.2% in the first quarter Personal lines net earned premiums decreased 17.5% for the same period Loss ratio improved to 55.2% from 64.2%; Expense ratio improved to 44.3% from 44.9% Combined ratio was 99.5% for the period, compared to 109.1% in the prior year period Net income of $213,000, or $0.02 per diluted share based on 8.5 million weighted average common diluted shares outstanding
Management Comments
James Petcoff, Chairman and CEO, commented, “We reported another profitable quarter marked by on-going improvements in our overall underwriting performance. We continue to reposition select personal lines that are not consistent with our long-term goals, and to concentrate our efforts on our best performing lines.”
2018 First Quarter Financial Results Overview
At and for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 2017 % Change (dollars in thousands, except share and per share amounts) Gross written premiums $ 23,737 $ 26,474 -10.3 % Net written premiums 19,845 22,324 -11.1 % Net earned premiums 23,800 24,140 -1.4 % Net investment income 802 577 39.0 % Net realized investment gains (losses) 161 (8 ) ** Change in fair value of equity investments (297 ) - ** Net income (loss) 213 (1,798 ) ** Net income (loss) per share, diluted $ 0.02 $ (0.24 ) Adjusted operating income* 1,780 (1,790 ) ** Adjusted operating income (loss) per share, diluted* $ 0.21 $ (0.24 ) Book value per common share outstanding $ 6.04 $ 8.72 Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted 8,520,328 7,633,069 Underwriting ratios: Loss ratio (1) 55.2 % 64.2 % Expense ratio (2) 44.3 % 44.9 % Combined ratio (3) 99.5 % 109.1 % * The "Definitions of Non-GAAP Measures" section of this release defines and reconciles data that are not based on generally accepted accounting principles. ** Percentage is not meaningful (1) The loss ratio is the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of net losses and loss adjustment expenses to net earned premiums and other income. (2) The expense ratio is the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of policy acquisition costs and operating expenses to net earned premiums and other income. (3) The combined ratio is the sum of the loss ratio and the expense ratio. A combined ratio under 100% indicates an underwriting profit. A combined ratio over 100% indicates an underwriting loss. First Quarter 2018 Premiums
Gross Written Premiums
Gross written premiums decreased 10.3% in the first quarter of 2018 to $23.7 million, compared to $26.5 million in the prior year period. The decline in gross written premiums was largely attributable to a 59.6% decrease in the Company’s personal lines of business, despite a slight increase in the Company’s commercial lines.
Net Earned Premiums
Net earned premiums decreased 1.4% to $23.8 million for the first quarter of 2018, compared to $24.1 million for the prior year period. The decrease is primarily due to the repositioning of its personal lines, offset by the expansion of the Company’s commercial lines, which increased 2.2%.
Commercial Lines Financial and Operational Review
Commercial Lines Financial Review Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 2017 % Change (dollars in thousands) Gross written premiums $ 21,788 $ 21,644 0.7 % Net written premiums 19,422 19,479 -0.3 % Net earned premiums 20,127 19,689 2.2 % Underwriting ratios: Loss ratio 50.3 % 62.8 % Expense ratio 44.1 % 37.8 % Combined ratio 94.4 % 100.6 % Contribution to combined ratio from net (favorable) adverse prior year development -4.5 % 14.3 % Accident year combined ratio (1) 98.9 % 86.3 % (1) The accident year combined ratio is the sum of the loss ratio and the expense ratio, less changes in net ultimate loss estimates from prior accident year loss reserves. The accident year combined ratio provides management with an assessment of the specific policy year's profitability and assists management in their evaluation of product pricing levels and quality of business written. The Company’s commercial lines of business, representing 92% of total gross written premiums in the first quarter of 2018, and primarily consisted of property and liability coverage offered to owner-operated small- to mid-sized businesses, such as hospitality risks which includes restaurants, bars, taverns and professional organizations.
Commercial lines gross written premiums increased by 0.7%, or $144,000, to $21.8 million in the first quarter of 2018. This was largely due to 2.8% increase in small business programs.
For the first quarter of 2018, the commercial lines combined ratio was 94.4%, compared to 100.6% in the prior year period, due to the reduction of adverse development from $2.8 million in 2017 to $909,000 of favorable development in 2018.
Personal Lines Financial and Operational Review
Personal Lines Financial Review Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 2017 % Change (dollars in thousands) Gross written premiums $ 1,949 $ 4,830 -59.6 % Net written premiums 423 2,845 -85.1 % Net earned premiums 3,673 4,451 -17.5 % Underwriting ratios: Loss ratio 81.2 % 70.9 % Expense ratio 37.4 % 43.9 % Combined ratio 118.6 % 114.8 % Contribution to combined ratio from net (favorable) adverse prior year development 23.2 % 5.3 % Accident year combined ratio 95.4 % 109.5 % Personal lines, which consist of low-value dwelling and wind-exposed homeowners insurance, represented 8% of total gross written premiums for the first quarter of 2018, compared to 18% in 2017. Personal lines gross written premiums decreased 59.6% to $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the prior year period. The decrease was the result of management's strategic decision to deemphasize the Company’s Florida homeowners business and other wind-exposed business in Texas and Hawaii. The Florida homeowners business decreased by 51% for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared to the same period in 2017.
For the first quarter of 2018, the personal lines combined ratio was 118.6%, compared to 114.8% in the prior year period. There was $274,000 of additional losses relating to Hurricane Harvey in Texas and $184,000 of reinstatement reinsurance premiums relating to Hurricane Irma in Florida, which also increased the combined ratio in the first quarter.
Combined Ratio Analysis
Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 2017 (dollars in thousands) Underwriting ratios: Loss ratio 55.2 % 64.2 % Expense ratio 44.3 % 44.9 % Combined ratio 99.5 % 109.1 % Contribution to combined ratio from net (favorable) adverse prior year development 0.0 % 12.5 % Accident year combined ratio 99.5 % 96.6 % Combined Ratio
The Company's combined ratio was 99.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared to 109.1% for the same period in 2017.
Loss Ratio : The impact of prior accident year reserves on the Company's loss ratio has been significantly reduced due to the benefits of the ADC. As of March 31, 2018, the Company has ceded $8.9 million under the ADC, leaving $8.6 million of cover in the event of future development. The Company’s losses and loss adjustment expenses were $13.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared to $15.7 million in the prior year period. As a result, Conifer reported an improved loss ratio of 55.2%, compared to 64.2% in the prior year period.
Expense Ratio : The expense ratio was 44.3% for the first quarter of 2018, compared to 44.9% in the prior year period, due to continued cost-containment efforts.
Net Investment Income
Net investment income increased 39.0% to $802,000 during the quarter ended March 31, 2018, compared to $577,000 in the prior year period.
Net Income (Loss)
In the first quarter of 2018, the Company reported net income of $213,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, based on 8.5 million weighted average common diluted shares outstanding, compared to net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, based on 7.6 million weighted average common diluted shares outstanding in the prior year period.
Adjusted Operating Income (Loss)
In the first quarter of 2018, the Company reported adjusted operating income of $1.8 million, or $0.21 per share, compared to adjusted operating loss of $1.8 million, or $0.24 per share, for the same period in 2017. See Definitions of Non-GAAP Measures.
Earnings Conference Call
The Company will hold a conference call/webcast on Thursday, May 10, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 and its outlook for the remainder of 2018.
Investors, analysts, employees and the general public are invited to listen to the conference call via:
Webcast: On the Event Calendar at IR.CNFRH.com Conference Call: 844-868-8843 (domestic) or 412-317-6589 (international) The webcast will be archived on the Conifer Holdings website and available for replay for at least one year.
About the Company
Conifer Holdings, Inc. is a Michigan-based property and casualty holding company. Through its subsidiaries, Conifer offers specialty insurance coverage for both commercial and personal lines, marketing through independent agents in all 50 states. The Company is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol CNFR. Additional information is available on the Company's website at IR.CNFRH.com .
Definitions of Non-GAAP Measures
Conifer prepares its public financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP). Statutory data is prepared in accordance with statutory accounting rules as defined by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) Accounting Practices and Procedures Manual, and therefore is not reconciled to GAAP data.
We believe that investors’ understanding of Conifer’s performance is enhanced by our disclosure of adjusted operating income. Our method for calculating this measure may differ from that used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. We define adjusted operating income (loss), a non-GAAP measure, as net income (loss) excluding net realized investment gains and losses, and other gains and losses, after-tax, and excluding the tax impact of changes in unrealized gains and losses. Beginning in 2018, the change in fair value of equity securities, net of tax, and the deferred gain on losses ceded to the ADC are also excluded from net income to arrive at adjusted operating income. We use adjusted operating income as an internal performance measure in the management of our operations because we believe it gives our management and other users of our financial information useful insight into our results of operations and our underlying business performance.
Reconciliations of adjusted operating income and adjusted operating income per share:
Three Months Ended
March 31, 2018 2017 (dollar in thousands, except share and per share amounts) Net income (loss) $ 213 $ (1,798 ) Less: Net realized gains (losses) and other gains, net of tax 161 (8 ) Change in fair value of equity securities, net of tax (297 ) - (Increase) in deferred gain on losses ceded to ADC, net of tax (1,431 ) - Adjusted operating income (loss) $ 1,780 $ (1,790 ) Weighted average common shares, diluted 8,520,328 7,633,069 Diluted income (loss) per common share: Net income (loss) $ 0.02 $ (0.24 ) Less: Net realized gains (losses) and other gains, net of tax 0.02 - Change in fair value of equity securities, net of tax (0.04 ) - (Increase) in deferred gain on losses ceded to ADC, net of tax (0.17 ) - Adjusted operating income (loss), per share $ 0.21 $ (0.24 ) Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events or our future financial or operating performance, and include Conifer’s expectations regarding premiums, earnings, its capital position, expansion, and growth strategies. The contained in this press release are based on management’s good-faith belief and reasonable judgment based on current information. The are qualified by important factors, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the , including those described in our form 10-K (“Item 1A Risk Factors”) filed with the SEC on March 15, 2018 and subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this report speaks only as of the date hereof or as of the date specified herein. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable laws or regulations.
Conifer Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Balance Sheets (In thousands, except share data) March 31 December 31, 2018 2017 Assets (Unaudited) Investment securities: Debt securities, at fair value (amortized cost of $137,025 and $ 134,711 $ 136,536 $137,004, respectively) Equity securities, at fair value (cost of $8,664 and $8,629, respectively) 9,425 9,687 Short-term investments, at fair value 2,505 11,427 Total investments 146,641 157,650 Cash 14,406 11,868 Premiums and agents' balances receivable, net 19,895 22,845 Receivable from affiliate 1,783 1,195 Reinsurance recoverables on unpaid losses 20,063 20,066 Reinsurance recoverables on paid losses 4,595 4,473 Prepaid reinsurance premiums 1,050 1,081 Deferred policy acquisition costs 12,050 12,781 Other assets 9,171 7,073 Total assets $ 229,654 $ 239,032 Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity Liabilities: Unpaid losses and loss adjustment expenses $ 85,491 $ 87,896 Unearned premiums 53,685 57,672 Reinsurance premiums payable 3,398 3,299 Debt 29,043 29,027 Accounts payable and accrued expenses 6,613 8,312 Total liabilities 178,230 186,206 Commitments and contingencies - - Shareholders' equity: Common stock, no par value (100,000,000 shares authorized; 8,520,328 issued and outstanding, respectively) 86,430 86,199 Accumulated deficit (32,318 ) (33,010 ) Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income (2,688 ) (363 ) Total shareholders' equity 51,424 52,826 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 229,654 $ 239,032
Conifer Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (In thousands, except share and per share data) Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 2017 Revenue Premiums Gross earned premiums $ 27,724 $ 28,264 Ceded earned premiums (3,924 ) (4,124 ) Net earned premiums 23,800 24,140 Net investment income 802 577 Net realized investment gains (losses) 161 (8 ) Change in fair value of equity securities (297 ) Other income 357 354 Total revenue 24,823 25,063 Expenses Losses and loss adjustment expenses, net 13,328 15,733 Policy acquisition costs 6,513 6,472 Operating expenses 4,187 4,530 Interest expense 619 224 Total expenses 24,647 26,959 Income (loss) before equity earnings and income taxes 176 (1,896 ) Equity earnings (losses) of affiliates, net of tax 55 104 Income tax (benefit) expense 18 6 Net income (loss) 213 (1,798 ) Earnings (loss) per common share, basic and diluted $ 0.02 $ (0.24 ) Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted 8,520,328 7,633,069
For Further Information:
Jessica Gulis, 248.559.0840
[email protected]
Source:Conifer Holdings, Inc. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/globe-newswire-conifer-holdings-reports-2018-first-quarter-financial-results-highlighted-by-significantly-improved-combined-ratio.html |
SINGAPORE—A spate of police investigations and alleged accounting irregularities among companies is denting investors’ confidence in this financial hub, forcing the country’s stock exchange to address what critics say is a legacy of weak corporate governance and market regulation.
The tightly-run city-state has historically presented a clean image to global investors. But problems have arisen in recent years, even among some government-linked companies that were standard bearers for the local market. An “old boy’s club” of... To Read the Full Story Subscribe Sign In | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.wsj.com/articles/spate-of-company-scandals-taints-singapores-clean-image-1526620582 |
CHICAGO, May 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE | Nasdaq: CBOE) today reported record first quarter of 2018.
Consolidated results for the first quarter of 2017 include Bats Global Markets (Bats) for the period March 1 through March 31, 2017. Cboe completed its acquisition of Bats on February 28, 2017.
"Our record results underscore the utility of our products and the strength of our diversified portfolio of exchanges, particularly in times of heightened market uncertainty, which we witnessed during the first quarter. We reported strong growth across each of our business segments and set new volume highs in our proprietary products as well as in multiple asset classes including options, futures and FX," said Edward T. Tilly, Cboe Global Markets Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Additionally, we successfully completed the technology migration for CFE, our Futures exchange, we are on track to complete the C2 Options exchange technology migration in May and announced plans for an October 7, 2019 migration for Cboe Options. We plan to continue to deliver value to our customers and shareholders as we focus on achieving our synergy targets and executing on our strategic initiatives."
"Our first-quarter financial results highlight the operating leverage inherent in our business model with strong top- and bottom-line growth driven by record net revenue, prudent expense management and the positive impact of tax reform," said Brian Schell, Cboe Global Markets Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "Our business continued to generate considerable operating cash flow which enabled us to invest in our business, return capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, and to reduce our leverage ratio. Taken together, our actions demonstrate our balanced approach to capital deployment and our continued focus on creating long-term value for our shareholders."
(1) A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables.
(2) Organic net revenue excludes the net revenue contribution resulting from the acquisition of Bats to arrive at net revenue for legacy Cboe. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables.
Consolidated First Quarter Results -Table 1
Table 1 below presents summary selected unaudited condensed consolidated financial information for the company as reported, on an adjusted basis for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and on an adjusted combined basis for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The adjusted combined results reflect the Bats acquisition and related financing transactions as if they had occurred on January 1, 2017.
Table 1
1Q17
Consolidated First Quarter Results
1Q18
Adjusted
($ in millions except per share)
1Q18
1Q17
Change
Adjusted 1
Combined 1
Change
Total Revenues Less Cost of Revenues
$
328.5
$
193.4
70
%
$
328.5
$
265.3
24
%
Total Operating Expenses
$
160.8
$
167.3
(4)
%
$
109.9
$
106.3
3
%
Operating Income
$
167.7
$
26.1
543
%
$
218.6
$
159.0
37
%
Operating Margin %
51.1
%
13.5
%
nm
66.5
%
59.9
%
660
bps
Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders
$
117.3
$
15.1
677
%
$
155.2
$
105.8
47
%
Diluted EPS
$
1.04
$
0.16
550
%
$
1.38
$
0.94
47
%
EBITDA
$
222.4
$
51.2
334
%
$
231.2
$
172.0
34
%
EBITDA Margin %
67.7
%
26.5
%
nm
70.4
%
64.8
%
560
bps
Total revenues less cost of revenues (referred to as "net revenue"), were $328.5 million, up 70 percent from $193.4 million in the prior-year period, driven primarily by a $131.2 million net revenue contribution from legacy Bats for the first quarter of 2018 versus a $39.2 million net revenue contribution from legacy Bats for the first quarter of 2017 and an increase in net transaction fees. Net revenue of $328.5 million was up $63.2 million, or 24 percent, compared with adjusted combined net revenue 1 of $265.3 million in the prior-year period. The increase primarily reflects higher revenue from net transaction fees 1 , primarily due to higher trading volume across each business segment. Excluding legacy Bats' net revenue contribution, the company's organic net revenue 2 was $197.3 million, up $43.1 million or 28 percent, compared to first quarter 2017. The increase was primarily a result of stronger trading volume from Cboe's VIX ® futures and proprietary index options. Operating expenses were $160.8 million versus $167.3 million in the prior-year first quarter. The decrease was driven by a $56.4 million decrease in acquisition-related expenses offset somewhat by increased amortization of acquired intangibles. Adjusted operating expenses 1 for the first quarter were $109.9 million compared with adjusted combined operating expenses of $106.3 million for the first quarter of 2017. The increase primarily reflects higher compensation and benefits expense, primarily due to an increase in incentive-based compensation, which is aligned with the company's financial and operational performance. The operating margin for the first quarter of 2018 was 51.1 percent. The adjusted operating margin 1 was 66.5 percent, up 660 basis points compared with the adjusted combined margin 1 of 59.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, mainly attributed to the higher revenue.
(1) A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP and adjusted combined results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables.
(2) Organic net revenue excludes the net revenue contribution resulting from the acquisition of Bats to arrive at net revenue for legacy Cboe. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables.
The effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2018 was 25.9 percent. The effective tax rate on adjusted earnings in the first quarter of 2018 was 25.8 percent¹. Diluted EPS for the first quarter of 2018 was $1.04. Adjusted diluted EPS 1 was $1.38, up 47 percent compared to adjusted combined diluted EPS 1 of $0.94 for 2017's first quarter.
Business Segment Information:
Table 2
Total Revenues Less Cost of Revenues by
Business Segment
1Q17
(in millions)
1Q18
1Q17
Change
Combined 1
Change
Options
$
167.1
$
128.9
30
%
$
135.1
24
%
U.S. Equities
79.7
25.5
213
%
72.7
10
%
Futures
42.3
28.8
47
%
28.8
47
%
European Equities
24.6
6.1
303
%
17.9
37
%
Global FX
14.6
4.0
265
%
10.8
35
%
Corporate
0.2
0.1
100
%
—
—
Total
$
328.5
$
193.4
70
%
$
265.3
24
%
Discussion of Results by Business Segment:
Options:
Options net revenue of $167.1 million was up 30% from first quarter 2017. On a combined¹ basis, options net revenue was up $32.0 million, or 24 percent, reflecting increases in net transaction fees, offset somewhat by higher royalty fees and lower regulatory fees. Net transaction fees 1 for options increased $43.8 million in the first quarter of 2018 and $38.6 million, or 36 percent, on a combined 1 basis, primarily driven by higher net transaction fees from index options. Total options average daily volume (ADV) increased 33 percent and the average revenue per contract (RPC) increased 7 percent for the first quarter, primarily due to a shift in the mix of trading volume towards higher RPC index options. Net transaction fees generated by Cboe's proprietary index options accounted for 84 percent of options net transaction fees and were up $36.4 million, or 49 percent, versus the first quarter of 2017. The growth resulted from a 45 percent increase in index options ADV, driven by record contracts traded in VIX and SPX options, with increases of 62 percent and 39 percent, respectively, compared to the first quarter of 2017.
U.S. Equities:
U.S. Equities net revenue of $79.7 million was up $54.2 million due to the Bats acquisition. On a combined 1 basis, it increased $7.0 million, or 10 percent, reflecting higher market data fees and net transaction fees. Cboe's U.S. Equities business maintained its position as the second-largest market operator during the first quarter of 2018, growing its market share to 19.4 percent versus 19.2 percent in the comparable prior-year period.
(1) A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP and combined results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables.
Futures:
Futures net revenue of $42.3 million increased $13.5 million or 47 percent, primarily due to higher transaction fees resulting from a 44 percent increase in futures ADV, primarily driven by VIX futures. Trading volume in VIX futures set a new quarterly high with ADV of 360,500 contracts, up 41 percent compared with 2017's first quarter.
European Equities:
Net revenue for European Equities increased 303% due to the Bats acquisition. On a combined 1 basis, net revenue increased 37 percent, reflecting growth in both net transaction fees and non-transaction revenue, following the implementation of MiFID II in January. The increase also reflects a benefit from foreign currency translation. In local currency, net revenue grew 18 percent. Cboe Europe's Periodic Auctions volume set several new records during the first quarter of 2018, including a new one-day record for average daily notional value (ADNV) traded of €969.2 million on March 27, record monthly ADNV of €631.1 million in March and record quarterly ADNV of €425.9 million. For the first quarter of 2018, Cboe Europe Equities retained its position as the largest Pan-European stock exchange with 21.2 percent market share.
Global FX:
Global FX net revenue of $14.6 million rose 265% due to the Bats acquisition. On a combined 1 basis, net revenue increased 35 percent from $10.8 million, primarily due to higher net transaction fees compared with the first quarter of 2017. ADNV traded on the Cboe FX platform was $41.6 billion for the quarter, up 44 percent from last year's first quarter, driven by record quarterly volume. Cboe FX market share increased to 15.3 percent for the first quarter, setting a new all-time high.
2018 Fiscal Year Financial Guidance
The company updated or reaffirmed its financial guidance for the 2018 fiscal year as follows:
Capital expenditures are now expected to be in the range of $45 to $50 million, a decrease from previous guidance of $50 to $55 million. This includes the company's ongoing investments in technology, including Cboe's migration to Bats technology. Reaffirmed that the effective tax rate¹ on adjusted earnings for the full year is expected to be in the range of 26.5 to 28.5 percent. However, the company noted that it expects the tax rate to be slightly above the high end of the guidance range for the second quarter of 2018 and at the higher end, but within the guidance range, for the third and fourth quarters. Significant changes in trading volume, expenses, federal, state and local tax laws or rates and other items could materially impact this expectation. Reaffirmed that adjusted operating expenses are expected to be in a range of $420 to $428 million. The guidance excludes the amortization of acquired intangible assets of $157 million, which the company plans to include in its non-GAAP reconciliation.¹ Reaffirmed that depreciation and amortization expense, which is included in adjusted operating expenses above, is expected to be in the range of $53 to $58 million, excluding the amortization of acquired intangible assets of $157 million.
(1) Specific quantifications of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the company's adjusted operating expenses guidance and adjusted effective tax rate guidance are not available. The company believes that there is uncertainty and unpredictability with respect to certain of its GAAP measures, primarily related to acquisition-related expenses that would be required to reconcile to GAAP operating expenses and GAAP effective tax rate, which preclude the company from providing accurate guidance on certain forward-looking GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations. The company believes that providing estimates of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the range of the company's adjusted operating expenses and adjusted effective tax rate would imply a degree of precision that would be confusing or misleading to investors for the reasons identified above.
Updated Run-Rate Expense Synergy Target
The company now expects to achieve $85 million of annualized run-rate expense synergies related to the Bats acquisition by the end of 2020, up $20 million from $65 million and a year ahead of initial projections.
Capital Management
The company paid cash dividends of $30.6 million, or $0.27 per share, during the first quarter of 2018 and utilized $43.6 million to repurchase 387,142 shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program at an average price of $112.52 per share. As of March 31, 2018, the company had approximately $203 million of availability remaining under its existing share repurchase authorizations.
At March 31, 2018, the company had net cash and financial investments of $166.3 million, which excludes $64 million of cash collected for Section 31 fees. Long-term debt as of March 31, 2018 was $1.21 billion and reflects a payment of $25 million made during the first quarter towards the company's term loan.
Earnings Conference Call
Executives of Cboe Global Markets will host a conference call to review its first-quarter financial results today, May 4, 2018, at 8:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. CT. The conference call and any accompanying slides will be publicly available via live webcast from the Investor Relations section of the company's website at www.cboe.com under Events & Presentations. Participants may also listen via telephone by dialing (877) 255‑4313 from the United States, (866) 450‑4696 from Canada or (412) 317‑5466 for international callers. Telephone participants should place calls 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. The webcast will be archived on the company's website for replay. A telephone replay of the earnings call also will be available from approximately 11:00 a.m. CT, May 4, 2018, through 11:00 p.m. CT, May 11, 2018, by calling (877) 344‑7529 from the U.S., (855) 669‑9658 from Canada or (412) 317‑0088 for international callers, using replay code 10118291.
About Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE | Nasdaq: CBOE) is one of the world's largest exchange holding companies, offering cutting-edge trading and investment solutions to investors around the world. The company is committed to relentless innovation, connecting global markets with world-class technology, and providing seamless solutions that enhance the customer experience.
Cboe offers trading across a diverse range of products in multiple asset classes and geographies, including options, futures, U.S. and European equities, exchange-traded products (ETPs), global foreign exchange (FX) and multi-asset volatility products based on the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX Index), the world's barometer for equity market volatility.
Cboe's trading venues include the largest options exchange in the U.S. and the largest stock exchange by value traded in Europe. In addition, the company is the second-largest stock exchange operator in the U.S. and a leading market globally for ETP trading.
The company is headquartered in Chicago with offices in Kansas City, New York, London, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong and Ecuador. For more information, visit www.cboe.com .
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve a number of . You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. All statements that reflect our expectations, assumptions or projections about the future other than statements of historical fact are . These which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the .
We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all , nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any .
Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the loss of our right to exclusively list and trade certain index options and futures products; economic, political and market conditions; compliance with legal and regulatory obligations; price competition and consolidation in our industry; decreases in trading volumes, market data fees or a shift in the mix of products traded on our exchanges; legislative or regulatory changes; increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities; our dependence on and exposure to risk from third parties; our index providers' ability to maintain the quality and integrity of their indexes and to perform under our agreements; our ability to operate our business without violating the intellectual property rights of others and the costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights; our ability to attract and retain skilled management and other personnel, including those experienced with post-acquisition integration; our ability to accommodate trading volume and transaction traffic, including significant increases, without failure or degradation of performance of our systems; our ability to protect our systems and communication networks from security risks, including cyber-attacks and unauthorized disclosure of confidential information; challenges to our use of open source software code; our ability to meet our compliance obligations, including managing potential conflicts between our regulatory responsibilities and our for-profit status; damage to our reputation; the ability of our compliance and risk management methods to effectively monitor and manage our risks; our ability to manage our growth and strategic acquisitions or alliances effectively; unanticipated difficulties or expenditures relating to the acquisition of Bats Global Markets, Inc., including, without limitation, difficulties that result in the failure to realize expected synergies, accretion, efficiencies and cost savings from the acquisition within the expected time period (if at all), whether in connection with integration, migrating trading platforms, broadening distribution of product offerings or otherwise; restrictions imposed by our debt obligations; our ability to maintain an investment grade credit rating; potential difficulties in our migration of trading platforms and our ability to retain employees as a result of the acquisition; and the accuracy of our estimates and expectations. More detailed information about factors that may affect our actual results to differ may be found in our filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and other filings made from time to time with the SEC.
We do not undertake, and we expressly disclaim, any duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these which speak only as of the date hereof.
The condensed consolidated statements of income and balance sheets are unaudited and subject to reclassification.
Cboe Media Contacts:
Analyst Contact:
Suzanne Cosgrove
Hannah Randall
Stacie Fleming
Debbie Koopman
(312) 786‑7123
(646) 856‑8809
44‑20‑7012‑8950
(312) 786‑7136
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
CBOE-F
Trademarks:
Cboe®, Bats®, BZX®, BYX®, EDGX®, EDGA®, Cboe Volatility Index® and VIX® are registered trademarks and Cboe Global Markets SM and SPX SM are service marks of Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.
Cboe Global Markets, Inc.
Combined Key Performance Statistics by Business Segment 1
1Q 2018
4Q 2017
3Q 2017
2Q 2017
1Q 2017
Options (ADV in thousands)
Total industry ADV
22,407
17,347
16,182
16,676
16,558
Total company Options ADV
9,092
7,029
6,751
7,035
6,852
Multiply-listed options
6,286
4,971
4,685
5,188
4,914
Index options
2,806
2,058
2,066
1,847
1,938
Total Options Market Share
40.6
%
40.5
%
41.7
%
42.2
%
41.4
%
Total Options RPC:
$
0.261
$
0.239
$
0.247
$
0.225
$
0.243
Multiply-listed options
$
0.061
$
0.056
$
0.059
$
0.060
$
0.059
Index options
$
0.710
$
0.682
$
0.669
$
0.694
$
0.708
U.S. Equities
Total industry ADV (shares in billions)
7.6
6.4
6.1
6.9
6.8
Market share %
19.4
%
18.5
%
19.2
%
19.2
%
19.2
%
Net capture (per 100 touched shares)
$
0.023
$
0.022
$
0.022
$
0.023
$
0.023
Futures
ADV (in thousands)
368
285
331
307
255
RPC
$
1.727
$
1.799
$
1.752
$
1.762
$
1.814
European Equities
Total industry ADNV (Euros - in billions)
€
50.8
€
43.8
€
41.1
€
48.6
€
45.5
Market share %
21.2
%
20.3
%
21.1
%
21.3
%
21.5
%
Net capture (bps)
0.190
0.177
0.168
0.162
0.169
Global FX
Market share %
15.3
%
14.9
%
12.9
%
12.9
%
12.9
%
ADNV ($ in billions)
$
41.6
$
32.4
$
29.0
$
27.9
$
28.8
Net capture (per one million shares traded)
$
2.45
$
2.57
$
2.63
$
2.65
$
2.57
1 For informational purposes, the operating statistics for 1Q17 are presented on a combined basis to reflect information pertaining to Bats Global Markets, Inc. which was acquired by Cboe Global Markets, Inc. on February 28, 2017.
ADV = average daily volume; ADNV = average daily notional value
RPC, average revenue per contract, for options and futures represents total net transaction fees recognized for the period divided by total contracts traded during the period.
U.S. Equities, "net capture per 100 touched shares" refers to annual transaction fees less liquidity payments and routing and clearing costs divided by the product of one-hundredth ADV of touched shares on BZX, BYX, EDGX and EDGA and the number of trading days.
European Equities, "net capture per matched notional value" refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments in British pounds divided by the product of ADNV in British pounds of shares matched on Cboe Europe Equities and the number of trading days.
Global FX, "net capture per one million dollars traded" refers to net transaction fees divided by the product of one-thousandth of ADNV traded on the Cboe FX market and the number of trading days, divided by two, which represents the buyer and seller that are both charged on the transaction. Market Share represents Cboe FX volume divided by the total volume of publicly reporting spot FX venues (Cboe FX, NEX, Reuters/FXall, and FastMatch).
Average transaction fees per contract can be affected by various factors, including exchange fee rates, volume-based discounts and transaction mix by contract type and product type.
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 and 2017
Three Months Ended March 31,
(in millions, except per share amounts)
2018
2017
Revenue:
Transaction fees
$
547.1
$
256.4
Access fees
28.6
17.8
Exchange services and other fees
22.0
15.4
Market data fees
54.2
22.5
Regulatory fees
116.3
38.3
Other revenue
9.5
5.8
Total Revenues
777.7
356.2
Cost of Revenue
Liquidity payments
302.9
105.3
Routing and clearing
10.3
6.3
Section 31 fees
108.8
30.0
Royalty fees
27.2
21.2
Total Cost of Revenue
449.2
162.8
Revenues Less Cost of Revenues
328.5
193.4
Operating Expenses:
Compensation and benefits
58.9
47.8
Depreciation and amortization
54.2
25.1
Technology support services
12.1
7.5
Professional fees and outside services
18.0
14.4
Travel and promotional expenses
3.7
3.3
Facilities costs
2.4
2.1
Acquisition-related costs
8.8
65.2
Other expenses
2.7
1.9
Total Operating Expenses
160.8
167.3
Operating Income
167.7
26.1
Other Income/(Expense):
Interest expense, net
(9.6)
(7.9)
Other income
1.3
0.1
Total Other Income
(8.3)
(7.8)
Income Before Income Taxes
159.4
18.3
Income tax provision
41.3
3.1
Net Income
118.1
15.2
Net loss attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interest
0.3
0.3
Net Income Excluding Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest
118.4
15.5
Change in redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interest
(0.3)
(0.3)
Net income allocated to participating securities
(0.8)
(0.1)
Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders
$
117.3
$
15.1
Net Income Per Share Allocated to Common Stockholders:
Basic earnings per share
$
1.04
$
0.16
Diluted earnings per share
1.04
0.16
Weighted average shares used in computing income per share:
Basic
112.4
91.9
Diluted
112.7
92.0
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017
March 31,
December 31,
(in millions)
2018
2017
Assets
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
$
166.3
$
143.5
Financial investments
64.0
47.3
Accounts receivable, net
268.4
217.3
Income taxes receivable
—
17.2
Other current assets
13.6
9.4
Total Current Assets
512.3
434.7
Investments
85.0
82.7
Land
4.9
4.9
Property and equipment, net
74.2
73.9
Goodwill
2,718.2
2,707.4
Intangible assets, net
1,876.7
1,902.6
Other assets, net
56.9
59.5
Total
$
5,328.2
$
5,265.7
Liabilities, Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest and Stockholders' Equity
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
$
144.0
$
153.8
Section 31 fees payable
109.9
105.6
Deferred revenue
19.6
15.4
Income taxes payable
52.9
2.6
Contingent consideration liabilities
57.9
56.6
Total Current Liabilities
384.3
334.0
Long-term debt
1,213.4
1,237.9
Income tax liability
77.9
78.8
Deferred income taxes
461.2
488.2
Other non-current liabilities
6.8
6.8
Total Liabilities
2,143.6
2,145.7
Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest
9.4
9.4
Stockholders' Equity:
Preferred stock
—
—
Common stock
1.2
1.2
Treasury stock at cost
(617.6)
(558.3)
Additional paid-in-capital
2,635.3
2,623.7
Retained earnings
1,080.8
993.3
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net
75.5
50.7
Total Stockholders' Equity
3,175.2
3,110.6
Total
$
5,328.2
$
5,265.7
Non-GAAP Information
In addition to disclosing results determined in accordance with GAAP, Cboe Global Markets has disclosed certain non-GAAP measures of operating performance. These measures are not in accordance with, or a substitute for, GAAP, and may be different from or inconsistent with non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The non-GAAP measures provided in this press release include net transaction fees, adjusted operating expenses, adjusted operating income, organic net revenue, adjusted operating margin, adjusted net income allocated to common stockholders and adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted tax rate, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin. The non-GAAP measures provided in this press release also include combined company financial measures that are discussed in further detail below under the sub-section "Combined Reconciliations."
Management believes that the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release, including adjusted net revenue, organic net revenue and adjusted operating expenses, provide additional and comparative information to assess trends in our core operations and a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Non-GAAP financial measures disclosed by management are provided as additional information to investors in order to provide them with an alternative method for assessing our financial condition and operating results.
Organic net revenue: Is a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes or has otherwise been adjusted for the impact of our acquisition of Bats. Management believes the organic net revenue growth measure provides users with supplemental information regarding the company's ongoing revenue performance and trends by presenting revenue growth excluding the impact of the Bats acquisition.
Amortization expense of acquired intangible assets: We amortize intangible assets acquired in connection with various acquisitions. Amortization of intangible assets is inconsistent in amount and frequency and is significantly affected by the timing and size of our acquisitions. As such, if intangible asset amortization is included in performance measures, it is more difficult to assess the day-to-day operating performance of the businesses, the relative operating performance of the businesses between periods and the earnings power of the company. Therefore, we believe performance measures excluding intangible asset amortization expense provide investors with an additional basis for comparison across accounting periods.
Acquisition-related expenses: From time to time, we have pursued small bolt-on acquisitions and in 2017 completed a larger transformative acquisition, which have resulted in expenses which would not otherwise have been incurred in the normal course of the company's business operations. These expenses include integration costs, as well as legal, due diligence and other third party transaction costs. The frequency and the amount of such expenses vary significantly based on the size, timing and complexity of the transaction. Accordingly, we exclude these costs for purposes of calculating non-GAAP measures which provide an additional analysis of Cboe's ongoing operating performance or comparisons in Cboe's performance between periods.
Other significant items: We have excluded certain other charges that are the result of other non-comparable events to measure operating performance. For 2017, other significant items primarily included interest and other borrowing costs incurred prior to the close of the Bats transaction and accelerated stock-based compensation that was incurred due to a change in the vesting schedule for equity award grants.
The tables below show the reconciliation of each financial measure from GAAP to non-GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures exclude the impact of those items detailed below and are referred to as adjusted financial measures.
Organic Net Revenue Reconciliation
Three Months Ended
Table 3
March 31,
(in millions)
2018
2017
Reconciliation of Revenue Less Cost of Revenue to Organic Net Revenue
Revenue less cost of revenue (net revenue)
$
328.5
$
193.4
Recent acquisitions:
Bats revenue less cost of revenue
(131.2)
(39.2)
Organic net revenue
$
197.3
$
154.2
Reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP Information
Three Months Ended
Table 4
March 31,
(in millions, except per share amounts)
2018
2017
Reconciliation of Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders to Non-GAAP (As shown on Table 1)
Net income allocated to common stockholders
$
117.3
$
15.1
Non-GAAP adjustments
Compensation and benefits (1)
—
9.1
Acquisition-related expenses (2)
8.8
65.2
Amortization of acquired intangible assets (3)
42.1
14.4
Change in contingent consideration
—
0.2
Change in redemption value of noncontrolling interests
0.3
0.3
Interest and other borrowing costs (4)
—
4.3
Total Non-GAAP adjustments
51.2
93.5
Income tax expense related to the items above
(13.0)
(36.0)
Net income allocated to participating securities - effect on reconciling items
(0.3)
(0.4)
Adjusted net income allocated to common stockholders
$
155.2
$
72.2
Reconciliation of Diluted EPS to Non-GAAP
Diluted earnings per common share
$
1.04
$
0.16
Per share impact of non-GAAP adjustments noted above
0.34
0.62
Adjusted diluted earnings per common share
$
1.38
$
0.78
Reconciliation of Operating Margin to Non-GAAP
Revenue less cost of revenue
$
328.5
$
193.4
Non-GAAP adjustments noted above
—
—
Adjusted revenue less cost of revenue
$
328.5
$
193.4
Operating expenses
$
160.8
$
167.3
Non-GAAP adjustments noted above
50.9
88.9
Adjusted operating expenses
$
109.9
$
78.4
Operating income
$
167.7
$
26.1
Non-GAAP adjustments noted above
50.9
88.9
Adjusted operating income
$
218.6
$
115.0
Adjusted operating margin (5)
66.5
%
59.5
%
Reconciliation of Income Tax Rate to Non-GAAP
Income before income taxes
159.4
18.3
Non-GAAP adjustments noted above
51.2
93.5
Adjusted income before income taxes
$
210.6
$
111.8
Income tax (benefit) expense
41.3
3.1
Non-GAAP adjustments noted above
13.0
36.0
Adjusted income tax (benefit) expense
$
54.3
$
39.1
Adjusted income tax rate
25.8
%
35.0
%
(1) For the three months ended March 31, 2017, this amount includes $9.1 million for accelerated stock-based compensation expense.
(2) This amount includes professional fees and outside services, severance, and other costs related to the company's acquisition of Bats.
(3) This amount represents the amortization of acquired intangible assets for Bats.
(4) This amount represents interest and other borrowing costs incurred prior to the close of the Bats acquisition.
(5) Adjusted operating margin represents adjusted operating income divided by adjusted revenue less cost of revenue.
EBITDA Reconciliations
EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) is a widely used non-GAAP financial measure of operating performance. EBITDA margin represents EBITDA divided by revenues less cost of revenues (net revenue). It is presented as supplemental information that the company believes is useful to investors to evaluate its results because it excludes certain items that are not directly related to the company's core operating performance. EBITDA is calculated by adding back to net income interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA should not be considered as substitutes either for net income, as an indicator of the company's operating performance, or for cash flow, as a measure of the company's liquidity. In addition, because EBITDA may not be calculated identically by all companies, the presentation here may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. EBITDA margin represents EBITDA divided by net revenue.
Table 5
Three Months Ended
(in millions)
March 31,
Reconciliation of Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (Per Table 1)
2018
2017
Net income allocated to common stockholders
$
117.3
$
15.1
Interest
9.6
7.9
Income tax provision
41.3
3.1
Depreciation and amortization
54.2
25.1
EBITDA
$
222.4
$
51.2
EBITDA Margin ¹
67.7
%
26.5
%
Non-GAAP adjustments not included in above line items
Compensation and benefits (accelerated stock-based compensation)
—
9.1
Acquisition-related expenses
8.8
65.2
Provision for uncollectable convertible notes receivable
—
—
Less: Legal settlement
—
—
Less: Gain on settlement of contingent consideration
—
—
Other
—
0.2
Adjusted EBITDA
$
231.2
$
125.7
Adjusted EBITDA Margin ¹
70.4
%
65.0
%
Three Months Ended
(in millions)
March 31,
Reconciliation of Combined Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (Per Table 1)
2018 2
2017
Combined revenues less cost of revenues
$
265.3
Combined net income allocated to common stockholders
$
73.0
Interest
12.0
Income tax provision
22.0
Depreciation and amortization
55.3
Combined EBITDA
$
162.3
Combined EBITDA Margin ¹
61.2
%
Non-GAAP adjustments not included in above line items
Compensation and benefits (accelerated stock-based compensation)
9.1
Acquisition-related expenses
—
Provision for uncollectable convertible notes receivable
—
Less: Legal settlement
—
Less: Gain on settlement of contingent consideration
—
Other
0.6
Adjusted Combined EBITDA
$
172.0
Adjusted Combined EBITDA Margin ¹
64.8
%
¹EBITDA margin represents the respective EBITDA divided by the respective net revenue as shown in the non-GAAP reconciliations provided.
2 Combined results for the three months ended March 31, 2018 are the same as the financial results reported as the company was operating as a combined entity for the entire quarter.
Combined Reconciliations
The non-GAAP unaudited combined financial measures have been prepared by recording combined adjustments to the historical consolidated financial statements of Cboe Global Markets. The combined financial measures for the three months ended March 31, 2017 have been prepared as if the Bats acquisition closed on January 1, 2017.
Due to the transformative nature of the Bats acquisition, the company believes that providing a discussion of its results and operations on a non-GAAP combined basis provides management and investors an additional perspective on the company's financial and operational performance and trends. We believe that the non-GAAP financial measures presented provide additional and comparative information to assess trends in our core operations and a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons.
These combined financial measures are not necessarily indicative of the financial position or results of operations that would have occurred had the transactions been effected on the assumed dates. Additionally, future results may vary significantly from the results reflected in the combined financial measures.
The tables below show the reconciliation of each financial measure from GAAP to non-GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures exclude the impact of those items detailed below and are referred to as adjusted financial measures.
Reconciliation of Segment Net Revenues - Three Months Ended March 31, 2017 - Table 6
European
(in millions)
Options
U.S. Equities
Futures
Equities
Global FX
Corporate
Total
Net revenue
$
128.9
$
25.5
$
28.8
$
6.1
$
4.0
$
—
$
193.3
Non-GAAP adjustments (1)
6.2
47.2
—
11.8
6.8
—
72.0
Total combined net revenue
$
135.1
$
72.7
$
28.8
$
17.9
$
10.8
$
—
$
265.3
Reconciliation of Net Transaction Fees –Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 - Table 7
Consolidated
Options Segment
Three Months Ended
Three Months Ended
March 31,
March 31,
2018
2017
2018
2017
Transaction fees
$
547.1
$
256.4
$
235.8
$
140.2
Liquidity payments
(302.9)
(105.3)
(87.6)
(35.8)
Routing and clearing
(10.3)
(6.3)
(3.5)
(3.5)
Net transaction fees
$
233.9
$
144.8
$
144.7
$
100.9
Non-GAAP Adjustments (1)
Transaction fees
$
186.4
$
39.7
Liquidity payments
(153.3)
(36.8)
Routing and clearing
(5.3)
2.3
Net transaction fees
$
27.8
$
5.2
Combined
Transaction fees
$
442.8
$
179.9
Liquidity payments
(258.6)
(72.6)
Routing and clearing
(11.6)
(1.2)
Net combined transaction fees
$
172.6
$
106.1
(1) Represents historical Bats activity for the period January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017.
Reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP Information – Table 8
Three Months Ended,
(in millions, except per share amounts)
March 31, 2017
Reconciliation of non-transaction revenue to non-GAAP(1):
Access fees
$
17.8
Exchange services and other fees
15.4
Market data fees
22.5
Regulatory fees
8.3
Other revenue
5.8
Non-GAAP adjustments
44.1
(2)
Combined non-transaction revenue
$
113.9
Total combined non-transaction revenue as a percent of combined revenues less cost of revenues (3)
42.9
%
Reconciliation of revenues less cost of revenues to non-GAAP:
Revenue less cost of revenues
$
193.4
Non-GAAP adjustments
71.9
(4)
Combined revenue less cost of revenues
$
265.3
Reconciliation of operating expenses to non-GAAP:
Operating expenses
$
167.3
Non-GAAP adjustments
(8.9)
(5)
Non-GAAP adjustments as detailed below
(52.1)
Adjusted combined operating expenses
$
106.3
Reconciliation of operating income to non-GAAP:
Operating income
$
26.1
Non-GAAP revenue adjustments
80.8
(6)
Non-GAAP expense adjustments as detailed below
52.1
Adjusted combined operating income
$
159.0
Adjusted combined operating margin (7)
59.9
%
Reconciliation of net income allocated to common stockholders to non-GAAP:
Net income allocated to common stockholders
$
15.2
Non-GAAP adjustments
57.8
(8)
Non-GAAP expense adjustments as detailed below
32.8
Adjusted combined net income allocated to common stockholders
$
105.8
Adjusted combined diluted EPS
$
0.94
Non-GAAP operating expense adjustments:
Compensation and benefits
$
9.1
Amortization of acquired intangible assets
42.4
Other
0.6
Total non-GAAP operating expense adjustments
$
52.1
Tax effect
(19.3)
Total non-GAAP operating expense adjustments, net of tax
$
32.8
(1) Total non-transaction revenue represents the sum of access fees, exchange services and other fees, market data fees, regulatory fees (net of Section 31 fees) and other revenue.
(2) Reflects adjustment to include the activity of Bats for January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017 of $11.9 million of access fees, $5.0 million of exchange services and other fees, $25.7 million of market data fees, $0.5 million of regulatory fees and $1.0 million of other revenue.
(3) The percentage of combined non-transaction revenue represents total combined non-transaction revenue divided by combined revenue less cost of revenue.
(4) Reflects adjustments to include the activity of Bats for January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017 of $71.9 million of revenue less cost of revenues.
(5) Reflects adjustments to include the activity of Bats for January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017 of $56.2 million and adjustments to reduce Bats historical amortization of acquired intangibles by $4.5 million and increase amortization of acquired intangibles by $28.0 million for the periods January and February 2017. Also reflects adjustments to reduce acquisition costs by $65.2 million for Cboe historical and reduce professional fees for Bats historical by $23.4 million which are costs associated with the Bats merger.
(6) Reflects adjustments to include the activity of Bats for January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017 of $15.7 million and adjustments to reduce Bats historical amortization of acquired intangibles by $4.5 million and increase amortization of acquired intangibles by $28.0 million for the periods January and February 2017. Also reflects adjustments to reduce acquisition costs by $65.2 million for Cboe historical and reduce professional fees for Bats historical by $23.4 million which are costs associated with the Bats merger.
(7) Adjusted combined operating margin represents adjusted combined operating income divided by combined revenue less cost of revenue.
(8) Reflects adjustments to include the activity of Bats for January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017 of ($0.2) million and adjustments to reduce Bats historical amortization of acquired intangibles by $4.5 million and increase amortization of acquired intangibles by $28.0 million for the periods January and February 2017. Also reflects adjustments to reduce acquisition costs by $65.2 million for Cboe historical, reduce professional fees for Bats historical by $23.4 million which are costs associated with the Bats merger and $13.6 million to adjust for the extinguishment of Bats historical debt as well as the income tax impact of the previous adjustments of $20.7 million.
View original content: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cboe-global-markets-reports-record-results-for-first-quarter-2018-and-raises-run-rate-expense-synergy-target-to-85-million-300642609.html
SOURCE Cboe Global Markets, Inc. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/04/pr-newswire-cboe-global-markets-reports-record-results-for-first-quarter-2018-and-raises-run-rate-expense-synergy-target-to-85-million.html |
WATERTOWN, Mass., EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYPT), a specialty biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing innovative ophthalmic products, today announced the appointment of Leonard M. Blum as Executive Vice President and General Manager, U.S., effective May 14, 2018. In this role, he will be responsible for the launch of DEXYCU™ (dexamethasone intraocular suspension) 9%, the Company’s U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved product for the treatment of postoperative inflammation, and, subject to FDA approval, YUTIQ™ (fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant) for the treatment of posterior segment uveitis, which has an FDA action date of November 5, 2018. DEXYCU and, if approved, YUTIQ, are expected to launch in the first half of 2019. Mr. Blum will assume responsibility for all of the Company’s sales, marketing, payor access and trade efforts, as well as the Company’s business developments efforts.
Mr. Blum brings to EyePoint more than 30 years of successful executive and management experience, most recently serving as Chief Business and Commercial Officer of Omeros Corporation, where he oversaw sales and marketing efforts for OMIDRIA®, a product used by ophthalmologists in conjunction with cataract surgery and intraocular lens replacement to maintain pupil size and reduce postoperative pain. Prior to joining Omeros in 2016, he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer at Theravance, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, and its spin-off company, Theravance BioPharma, from 2007 until 2016. In this capacity, he collaborated with Astellas Pharma in the launch of VIBATIV®, a drug for the treatment of hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and complicated skin and soft structure infections, and with Glaxo SmithKline in the launches of BREO® and ANORO®, two combination therapies for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Prior to that, Mr. Blum founded and led the commercial functions at ICOS Corporation, a biotechnology company, progressing from Vice President, Marketing to Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, from 2000 until the company’s acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company in 2007. At ICOS, he was responsible for the launch and commercialization of CIALIS®, which is the worldwide top selling treatment for erectile dysfunction.
Mr. Blum began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Merck & Co., where he spent thirteen years in positions of increasing responsibility in marketing and business unit leadership in the U.S. and Europe. Over these years, Mr. Blum was responsible for more than a dozen product launches in several therapeutic categories and markets.
Mr. Blum earned his A.B. in Economics, magna cum laude , at Princeton University, studied International Finance on a Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Zurich and completed an M.B.A. at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Before entering the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Blum served as an officer in the U.S. Army Special Forces, and completed his military service at the rank of Captain.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Leonard to EyePoint Pharmaceuticals at such an exciting juncture for the Company,” said Nancy Lurker, President and Chief Executive Officer of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals. “His extensive experience with the successful launches of multiple products across a range of therapeutic categories will be invaluable as we continue to lay the groundwork for the U.S commercialization of both DEXYCU and, subject to FDA approval, YUTIQ, in the first half of 2019. We look forward to his insights and expertise as we continue our planned transformation into a sustainable ophthalmology growth company.”
“With the recent acquisition of Icon Bioscience, Inc. and its U.S. FDA-approved product, DEXYCU, and a pending new drug application for YUTIQ, EyePoint has the potential to establish itself as an innovative leader in the ophthalmic therapeutic market,” said Mr. Blum. “I look forward to working with the rest of the EyePoint team to ensure the Company’s successful transition into a commercial entity.”
Inducement Grants under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)
In connection with the hiring of Mr. Blum, the Company today reported the grant of inducement awards. The awards were approved by the Compensation Committee on Monday, May 14, 2018 as an inducement material to Mr. Blum’s entering into employment with the Company in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
The inducement awards consist of a non-qualified stock option to purchase 375,000 shares of common stock and performance stock units ("PSUs") entitling Mr. Blum to receive up to 225,000 shares of common stock based on the achievement of performance metrics to be determined by the Compensation Committee. The stock option has an exercise price of $1.95 per share (the closing price per share of the Company's common stock reported by Nasdaq on the date of grant, Monday, May 14, 2018), and will vest ratably on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of the date of grant, subject to the terms of grant. The PSUs will vest over a three-year period, with performance metrics to be approved by the Compensation Committee, subject to the terms of grant. An additional inducement award consisting of a non-qualified stock option to purchase 65,000 shares of common stock with one year cliff vesting at an exercise price of $1.95 per share (the closing price per share of the Company's common stock reported by Nasdaq on the date of grant, Monday, May 14, 2018) was also granted to Mr. Blum.
About EyePoint Pharmaceuticals
EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly pSivida Corp.) ( www.eyepointpharma.com ), headquartered in Watertown, MA, is a specialty biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing innovative ophthalmic products in indications with high unmet medical need to help improve the lives of patients with serious eye disorders. The Company has developed three of only four FDA-approved sustained-release treatments for back-of-the-eye diseases. In addition, DEXYCU™ was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 9, 2018. DEXYCU, administered as a single intraocular dose at the end of ocular surgery for the treatment of postoperative inflammation, is the first and only FDA-approved intraocular product with this indication. DEXYCU employs EyePoint’s Verisome™ extended-release drug delivery technology, which encompasses a broad number of related but distinct drug delivery systems capable of incorporating an extensive range of active agents, including small molecules, proteins and monoclonal antibodies. ILUVIEN® (fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant), a micro-insert for diabetic macular edema, licensed to Alimera Sciences, is currently sold directly in the U.S. and several EU countries. Retisert® (fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant), for posterior uveitis, is licensed to and sold by Bausch & Lomb. The New Drug Application (NDA) for EyePoint’s lead product candidate, YUTIQ™ for the treatment of non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye, has been accepted for filing by the FDA and is currently under standard review with a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date of November 5, 2018. The Company's pre-clinical development program is focused on using its core Durasert™ and Verisome™ platform technologies to deliver drugs to treat wet age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and other diseases. To learn more about the Company, please visit www.eyepointpharma.com and connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+.
About DEXYCU™
DEXYCU (dexamethasone intraocular suspension) 9% is indicated for the treatment of postoperative inflammation. WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS - Increase in Intraocular Pressure - Steroids should be used with caution in the presence of glaucoma. Delayed Healing - The use of steroids after cataract surgery may delay healing and increase the incidence of bleb formation. Exacerbation of Infection - The use of DEXYCU, as with other ophthalmic corticosteroids, is not recommended in the presence of most active viral diseases of the cornea and conjunctiva including epithelial herpes simplex keratitis (dendritic keratitis), vaccinia, and varicella, and also in mycobacterial infection of the eye and fungal disease of ocular structures. Use of a corticosteroid in the treatment of patients with a history of herpes simplex requires caution and may prolong the course and may exacerbate the severity of many viral infections. Fungal infections of the cornea are particularly prone to coincidentally develop with long-term local steroid application and must be considered in any persistent corneal ulceration where a steroid has been used or is in use. Fungal culture should be taken when appropriate. Prolonged use of corticosteroids may suppress the host response and thus increase the hazard of secondary ocular infections. In acute purulent conditions, steroids may mask infection or enhance existing infection. Cataract Progression – The use of corticosteroids in phakic individuals may promote the development of posterior subcapsular cataracts. ADVERSE REACTIONS - The most commonly reported adverse reactions occurred in 5-15% of subjects and included increases in intraocular pressure, corneal edema and iritis. Please see full Prescribing Information.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENTS UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Various statements made in this release are forward-looking, and are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and potentially inaccurate assumptions. All statements that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect or believe may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed, anticipated or implied in our forward-looking statements include uncertainties with respect to: our ability to achieve profitable operations and access to needed capital; fluctuations in our operating results; successful commercialization of, and receipt of revenues from, ILUVIEN® for diabetic macular edema, which depends on Alimera’s ability to continue as a going concern; Alimera’s ability to obtain additional marketing approvals and the effect of pricing and reimbursement decisions on sales of ILUVIEN; the number of clinical trials and data required for marketing approval for YUTIQ in the U.S.; our ability to use data in promotion for YUTIQ which includes clinical trials outside the U.S.; our ability to successfully commercialize DEXYCU in the U.S.; our ability to obtain stockholder approval for portions of the EW Healthcare Partners investment; our ability to successfully build a commercial infrastructure and enter into commercial agreements for the launch of DEXYCU and YUTIQ, if approved; our ability to successfully commercialize YUTIQ, if approved, in the U.S.; potential off-label sales of ILUVIEN for uveitis; consequences of fluocinolone acetonide side effects; the development of our next-generation Durasert shorter-duration treatment for uveitis; potential declines in Retisert® royalties; our ability to market and sell products; the success of current and future license agreements, including our agreement with Alimera; termination or breach of current license agreements, including our agreement with Alimera; our dependence on contract research organizations, vendors and investigators; effects of competition and other developments affecting sales of products; market acceptance of products; effects of guidelines, recommendations and studies; protection of intellectual property and avoiding intellectual property infringement; retention of key personnel; product liability; industry consolidation; compliance with environmental laws; manufacturing risks; risks and costs of international business operations; effects of the potential U.K. exit from the EU; legislative or regulatory changes; volatility of stock price; possible dilution; absence of dividends; and other factors described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should read and interpret any forward-looking statements in light of these risks. Should known or unknown risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could differ materially from past results and those anticipated, estimated or projected in the forward-looking statements. You should bear this in mind as you consider any forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the dates on which they are made. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes makes it clear that any projected results expressed or implied in such statements will not be realized.
Contacts
Investors:
Argot Partners
Kimberly Minarovich
(646) 368-8014
[email protected]
Joseph Rayne
(617) 340-6075
[email protected]
Source:EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/globe-newswire-eyepoint-pharmaceuticals-announces-appointment-of-leonard-blum-as-executive-vice-president-and-general-manager-u-s.html |
May 9 (Reuters) - Astellas Pharma Inc:
* AQUINOX AND ASTELLAS ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE LICENSING AGREEMENT FOR ROSIPTOR IN ASIA-PACIFIC REGION INCLUDING JAPAN
* AQUINOX PHARMACEUTICALS SAYS AQUINOX TO RECEIVE $25 MILLION IN UPFRONT PAYMENT, POTENTIALLY OVER $100 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL MILESTONE PAYMENTS AND ROYALTIES
* AQUINOX- ASTELLAS WILL HAVE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO RESEARCH, DEVELOP, COMMERCIALIZE ROSIPTOR FOR ALL HUMAN DISEASES AND CONDITIONS IN JAPAN, OTHER APAC COUNTRIES Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-aquinox-and-astellas-announce-excl/brief-aquinox-and-astellas-announce-exclusive-licensing-agreement-for-rosiptor-in-asia-pacific-region-including-japan-idUSFWN1SG1QA |
TORONTO, May 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (“Kirkland Lake Gold” or the “ Company ”) (TSX:KL) (NYSE:KL) (ASX:KLA) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with Artemis Resources Limited (“Artemis”) to acquire 4,000,000 common shares (the “Shares”) of Novo Resources Corp. (“Novo”) at a price of C$5.00 per Share for a total purchase price of C$20,000,000 (the “Acquisition”). The Acquisition is scheduled to close on or before May 31, 2018.
Currently, the Company holds 25,830,268 Shares and 14,000,0000 Novo common share purchase warrants (the “Warrants”), representing an approximate 16.33% undiluted interest and an approximate 23.14% partially diluted interest in Novo, assuming the exercise of the Warrants. Upon closing of the Acquisition, assuming there is no change in the issued and outstanding share capital of Novo as of the date hereof, Kirkland Lake Gold will hold 29,830,268 Shares and 14,000,000 Warrants, representing approximately 18.86% of the outstanding common shares of Novo on an undiluted basis and approximately 25.46% of the outstanding shares on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of the Warrants.
Pursuant to a prior agreement entered into between Artemis and Novo, the Shares are subject to a contractual restriction on resale until August 23, 2018. Accordingly, pursuant to the share purchase agreement closing of the Acquisition is subject to certain conditions, including the written consent of Novo to the sale of the Shares and the Company has agreed to be bound to the resale restrictions in favour of Novo until August 23, 2018.
The Shares are being acquired for investment purposes. Kirkland Lake Gold has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional securities either on the open market or through private acquisitions, subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory and/or shareholder approvals, as required, or sell the securities either on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors. Kirkland Lake Gold is relying on the private agreement exemption in section 4.2 of National Instrument 62-104 – Take-Over Bids and Issuer Bids , in connection with the Acquisition.
This press release is being issued in pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 – The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues , which also requires a report to be filed with the regulatory authorities in each jurisdiction in which Novo is a reporting issuer containing information with respect to the foregoing matters (the “Early Warning Report”). A copy of the Early Warning Report will be filed on Novo’s profile on SEDAR and may also be obtained by contacting the Company at 416-840-7884 or by email at [email protected] .
About Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. is a mid-tier gold producer that in 2018 is targeting over 620,000 ounces of gold production from mines in Canada and Australia. The production profile of the company is anchored from two high-grade, low-cost operations, including the Macassa Mine located in Northeastern Ontario and the Fosterville Mine located in the state of Victoria, Australia. Kirkland Lake Gold's solid base of quality assets is complemented by district scale exploration potential, supported by a strong financial position with extensive management and operational expertise.
For further information on Kirkland Lake Gold and to receive news releases by email, visit the website www.klgold.com . Included in available information are the Company’s consolidated financial statements, management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”) and Form 40-F for the year ended December 2017, as well as all quarterly financial statements and MD&As. These documents are filed with regulators, and are also available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov/edgar . Hard copies are available upon request by contacting +1-416-840-7884 or by email at [email protected] .
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Kirkland Lake Gold with respect to future business activities and operating performance, the anticipated closing of the Acquisition, and potential future purchases or sales of securities of Novo. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions and include information regarding: (i) the amount of future production over any period; (ii) assumptions relating to revenues, operating cash flow and other revenue metrics; and (iii) future exploration plans.
Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflect Kirkland Lake Gold's management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although Kirkland Lake Gold believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the combined company. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to projected in the forward-looking information are the following: the future development and growth potential of the Novo properties; future exploration activities planned at the Novo properties; risks relating to equity investments; risks relating to first nations and Aboriginal heritage; the availability of infrastructure, energy and other commodities; nature and climactic conditions; currency exchange rates (such as the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar versus the United States dollar); risks associated with dilution; labour and employment matters; risks in the event of a potential conflict of interest; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws; and compliance with extensive government regulation. This forward-looking information may be affected by risks and uncertainties in the business of Kirkland Lake Gold and market conditions. This information is qualified in its entirety by cautionary statements and risk factor disclosure contained in filings made by Kirkland Lake Gold, including its annual information form and financial statements and related MD&A for the financial year ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com .
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Kirkland Lake Gold has attempted to identify important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Kirkland Lake Gold does not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable law.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Anthony Makuch, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director
Phone: +1 416-840-7884, E-mail: [email protected]
Mark Utting, Vice-President, Investor Relations
Phone: +1 416-840-7884, E-mail: [email protected]
Source:Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/10/globe-newswire-kirkland-lake-gold-enters-into-agreement-to-acquire-shares-of-novo-resources-corp.html |
Q1 Earnings per Share $0.59, $0.55 as adjusted Increased sales 25% and backlog 54%, growth in every segment Disciplined capital allocation results in 5 million shares repurchased for $205 million Increasing 2018 full year EPS guidance from $2.35 - $2.65 to $2.70 - $3.00
WESTPORT, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Terex Corporation (NYSE:TEX) today announced first quarter 2018 income from continuing operations of $47.6 million, or $0.59 per share, on net sales of $1.3 billion. In the first quarter of 2017, the reported income from continuing operations was $(60.3) million, or $(0.57) per share, on net sales of $1.0 billion. Income from continuing operations, as adjusted, for the first quarter of 2018 was $44.6 million, or $0.55 per share. This compares to income from continuing operations, as adjusted, of $5.5 million or $0.05 per share in the first quarter of 2017. The Glossary at the end of this press release contains further details regarding these non-GAAP measures.
“Terex significantly improved its first quarter earnings per share compared to last year,” stated John L. Garrison, Terex President and CEO. “This strong financial performance reflects the improvements made to our operations and capital structure, and broad-based improvements in our global markets.”
“Aerial Work Platforms (AWP) and Materials Processing (MP) are off to a great start,” Mr. Garrison continued. “Our Cranes segment improved compared to the prior year, but performed below our expectations in the quarter.”
“We continue to invest in our Execute to Win business system, which remains focused on enhancing our capabilities in Commercial Excellence, Lifecycle Solutions and Strategic Sourcing” commented Mr. Garrison. “We are seeing benefits from Commercial Excellence in our performance, and expect to start to realize benefits from Strategic Sourcing in the second half of 2018.”
“We remain committed to our Disciplined Capital Allocation Strategy. During the quarter we repurchased approximately five million shares of Terex stock for $205 million through our previously announced program," said Mr. Garrison.
“We are increasing our full year 2018 adjusted EPS guidance from $2.35 to $2.65 to $2.70 to $3.00,” continued Mr. Garrison. “This improvement reflects our first quarter results and capital market actions, and our expectation for continued growth and operational improvements over the balance of 2018.”
Non-GAAP Measures and Other Items
Results of operations reflect continuing operations. All per share amounts are on a fully diluted basis. A comprehensive review of the quarterly financial performance is contained in the presentation that will accompany the Company’s earnings conference call.
In this press release, Terex refers to various GAAP (U.S. generally accepted accounting principles) and non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures being disclosed by other companies. Terex believes that this non-GAAP information is useful to understanding its operating results and the ongoing performance of its underlying businesses.
The Company provides guidance on a non-GAAP basis as the Company cannot predict with a reasonable degree of certainty the timing and magnitude of future charges that would be included in the reported GAAP results.
The Glossary at the end of this press release contains further details about this subject.
Conference call
The Company has scheduled a one hour conference call to review the financial results on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. ET. John L. Garrison, President and CEO, will host the call. A simultaneous webcast of this call will be available from the Investor Relations section of www.terex.com , under Latest Events & Presentations. Participants are encouraged to access the call 10 minutes prior to the starting time. The call will also be archived in the “Investor Relations” section of the Company's website in the Event Archive.
This press release contains forward-looking information regarding future events or the Company’s future financial performance based on the current expectations of Terex Corporation. In addition, when included in this press release, the words “may,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “projects,” “estimates” and the negatives thereof and analogous or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on current expectations and projections about future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance.
Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results could differ materially. Such risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Terex, include among others: Our business is cyclical and weak general economic conditions affect the sales of our products and financial results; the need to comply with restrictive covenants contained in our debt agreements; our ability to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt obligations and operate our business; our ability to access the capital markets to raise funds and provide liquidity; our business is sensitive to government spending; our business is highly competitive and is affected by our cost structure, pricing, product initiatives and other actions taken by competitors; our retention of key management personnel; the financial condition of suppliers and customers, and their continued access to capital; our providing financing and credit support for some of our customers; we may experience losses in excess of recorded reserves; we are dependent upon third-party suppliers, making us vulnerable to supply shortages and price increases; the imposition of tariffs and related actions on trade by the U.S. and foreign governments; our business is global and subject to changes in exchange rates between currencies, commodity price changes, regional economic conditions and trade restrictions; our operations are subject to a number of potential risks that arise from operating a multinational business, including compliance with changing regulatory environments, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other similar laws and political instability; a material disruption to one of our significant facilities; possible work stoppages and other labor matters; compliance with changing laws and regulations, particularly environmental and tax laws and regulations; litigation, product liability claims, intellectual property claims, class action lawsuits and other liabilities; our ability to comply with an injunction and related obligations imposed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”); disruption or breach in our information technology systems; our ability to successfully implement our Execute to Win strategy; and other factors, risks and uncertainties that are more specifically set forth in our public filings with the SEC.
Actual events or the actual future results of Terex may differ materially from any forward-looking statement due to these and other risks, uncertainties and significant factors. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Terex expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement included in this release to reflect any changes in expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
About Terex
Terex Corporation is a global manufacturer of lifting and material processing products and services that deliver lifecycle solutions to maximize customer return on investment. The company reports in three business segments: Aerial Work Platforms, Cranes, and Materials Processing. Terex delivers lifecycle solutions to a broad range of industries, including the construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, shipping, transportation, refining, energy, utility, quarrying and mining industries. Terex offers financial products and services to assist in the acquisition of Terex equipment through Terex Financial Services. Terex uses its website ( www.terex.com ) and its Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/TerexCorporation ) to make information available to its investors and the market.
TEREX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS (unaudited)
(in millions, except per share data)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2018 2017 Net sales $ 1,260.9 $ 1,006.9 Cost of goods sold (1,030.0 ) (854.6 ) Gross profit 230.9 152.3 Selling, general and administrative expenses (159.6 ) (157.0 ) Income (loss) from operations 71.3 (4.7 ) Other income (expense) Interest income 3.4 1.8 Interest expense (16.0 ) (21.4 ) Loss on early extinguishment of debt (0.7 ) (45.4 ) Other income (expense) – net 1.0 (18.9 ) Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes 59.0 (88.6 ) (Provision for) benefit from income taxes (11.4 ) 28.3 Income (loss) from continuing operations 47.6 (60.3 ) Gain (loss) on disposition of discontinued operations- net of tax 2.7 55.7 Net income (loss) $ 50.3 $ (4.6 ) Basic Earnings (Loss) per Share Income (loss) from continuing operations $ 0.60 $ (0.57 ) Gain (loss) on disposition of discontinued operations – net of tax 0.03 0.53 Net income (loss) $ 0.63 $ (0.04 ) Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Share Income (loss) from continuing operations $ 0.59 $ (0.57 ) Gain (loss) on disposition of discontinued operations – net of tax 0.03 0.53 Net income (loss) $ 0.62 $ (0.04 ) Weighted average number of shares outstanding in per share calculation Basic 79.7 105.2 Diluted 81.7 105.2 TEREX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (unaudited)
(in millions, except par value)
March 31, 2018 December 31,
2017
Assets Current assets 447.9 $ 626.5 Other current assets 1,891.8 1,756.5 Total current assets 2,339.7 2,383.0 Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment – net 334.6 311.0 Other non-current assets 745.8 768.5 Total non-current assets 1,080.4 1,079.5 Total assets $ 3,420.1 $ 3,462.5 Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity Current liabilities Notes payable and current portion of long-term debt $ 5.2 $ 5.2 Other current liabilities 1,029.4 1,030.3 Total current liabilities 1,034.6 1,035.5 Non-current liabilities Long-term debt, less current portion 1,077.8 979.6 Other non-current liabilities 228.8 224.9 Total non-current liabilities 1,306.6 1,204.5 Total liabilities 2,341.2 2,240.0 Total stockholders’ equity 1,078.9 1,222.5 stockholders’ equity $ 3,420.1 $ 3,462.5
TEREX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
(unaudited)
(in millions)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2018 2017 Operating Activities Net income (loss) $ 50.3 $ (4.6 ) Depreciation and amortization 16.0 16.3 Changes in operating assets and liabilities and non-cash charges (110.7 ) (176.3 ) Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (44.4 ) (164.6 ) Investing Activities Capital expenditures (34.5 ) (10.6 ) Other investing activities, net 19.2 1,058.9 Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (15.3 ) 1,048.3 Financing Activities Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (128.3 ) (576.2 ) Effect of exchange rate changes on 9.3 7.0 Net increase (decrease) in (178.7 ) 314.5 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 630.1 501.9 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 451.4 $ 816.4 TEREX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES SEGMENT RESULTS DISCLOSURE (unaudited)
(in millions)
Q1 2018 2017 % of % of Net
Sales
Net
Sales
Consolidated Net sales $ 1,260.9 $ 1,006.9 Income (loss) from operations $ 71.3 5.7 % $ (4.7
)
(0.5 )% AWP Net sales $ 638.9 $ 472.4 Income from operations $ 60.1 9.4 % $ 21.7 4.6 % Cranes Net sales $ 314.0 $ 263.9 Loss from operations $ (9.7 ) (3.1 )% $ (31.9 ) (12.1 )% MP Net sales $ 303.3 $ 249.1 Income from operations $ 38.9 12.8 % $ 25.6 10.3 % Corp and Other / Eliminations Net sales $ 4.7 $ 21.5 Loss from operations $ (18.0 ) * $ (20.1 ) * * - Not a meaningful percentage GLOSSARY
In an effort to provide investors with additional information regarding the Company’s results, Terex refers to various GAAP (U.S. generally accepted accounting principles) and non-GAAP financial measures which management believes provides useful information to investors. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures being disclosed by other companies. In addition, the Company believes that non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not in lieu of, GAAP financial measures. Terex believes that this non-GAAP information is useful to understanding its operating results and the ongoing performance of its underlying businesses. Management of Terex uses both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures to establish internal budgets and targets and to evaluate the Company’s financial performance against such budgets and targets.
The amounts described below are unaudited, are reported in millions of U.S. dollars (except share data and percentages), and are as of or for the period ended March 31, 2018, unless otherwise indicated.
2018 Outlook: The Company’s 2018 outlook for earnings per share and 2018 full year adjusted forecasted tax rate are non-GAAP financial measures because they exclude items such as restructuring and other related charges, transformation costs, the impact of the release of tax valuation allowances, gains and losses on divestitures and other unusual items such as the impact of the 2017 US tax law changes. The Company is not able to reconcile these forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measures without unreasonable efforts because the Company is unable to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty the exact timing and impact of such items. The unavailable information could have a significant impact on the Company’s full-year 2018 GAAP financial results. Adjusted EPS provides guidance to investors about the Company's EPS expectations excluding restructuring and other charges that the Company does not believe is reflective of its ongoing operations.
After-tax gains or losses and per share amounts are calculated using pre-tax amounts, applying a tax rate based on jurisdictional rates to arrive at an after-tax amount. This number is divided by diluted weighted average shares outstanding to provide the impact on earnings per share. The Company highlights the impact of these items because when discussing earnings per share, the Company adjusts for items it believes are not reflective of ongoing operating activities in the periods. Restructuring and related charges are a recurring item as Terex’s restructuring programs usually require more than one year to fully implement and the Company is continually seeking to take actions that could enhance its efficiency. Although recurring, these charges are subject to significant fluctuations from period to period due to varying levels of restructuring activity and the inherent imprecision in the estimates used to recognize the costs and taxes associated with severance and termination benefits in the countries in which the restructuring actions occur.
Q1 2018 Income (loss) from
Continuing Operations
before Taxes
(Provision for)
benefit from
Income Taxes (1)
Income (loss)
from Continuing
Operations
Earnings (loss)
per share (2)
As Reported (GAAP) $ 59.0 (11.4 ) 47.6 $ 0.59 Restructuring & Related (2.2 ) (0.2 ) (2.4 ) (0.03 ) Transformation 7.3 (1.2 ) 6.1 0.07 Extinguishment of Debt 0.7 (0.1 ) 0.6 0.01 Other (6.9 ) 0.6 (6.3 ) (0.08 ) Tax & Interim Period (3) — (1.0 ) (1.0 ) (0.01 ) As Adjusted (Non-GAAP) $ 57.9 (13.3 ) 44.6 $ 0.55 (1) Tax effect on adjustments is calculated using the applicable jurisdictional blended tax rate (2) Based on diluted average shares outstanding of 81.7 million (3) Includes adjustments without related pre-tax amounts and the tax amount necessary to align quarterly tax expense (benefit) with the forecasted full year as adjusted effective tax rate Q1 2017 Income (loss) from
Continuing Operations
before Taxes
(Provision for)
benefit from
Income Taxes (1)
Income (loss)
from Continuing
Operations
Earnings (loss)
per share (2)
As Reported (GAAP) $ (88.6 ) 28.3 (60.3 ) $ (0.57 ) Restructuring & Related 9.0 (1.5 ) 7.5 0.07 Deal Related 32.8 (12.7 ) 20.1 0.19 Transformation 8.4 (3.0 ) 5.4 0.05 Extinguishment of Debt 45.9 (16.4 ) 29.5 0.28 Tax & Interim Period (3) — 3.3 3.3 0.03 As Adjusted (Non-GAAP) $ 7.5 (2.0 ) 5.5 $ 0.05 (1) Tax effect on adjustments is calculated using the applicable jurisdictional blended tax rate (2) Based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 105.2 million (3) Includes adjustments without related pre-tax amounts and the tax amount necessary to align quarterly tax expense (benefit) with the forecasted full year as adjusted effective tax rate
View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180501006643/en/
Terex Corporation
Brian Henry, 203-222-5954
Senior Vice President, Business Development and Investor Relations
[email protected]
Source: Terex Corporation | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/01/business-wire-terex-announces-first-quarter-2018-results.html |
May 23, 2018 / 2:22 PM / Updated 3 minutes ago CANADA STOCKS-TSX dips as lower oil prices drag energy shares Reuters Staff 2 Min Read
May 23 (Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index edged lower on Wednesday as oil prices dipped on concerns that OPEC could increase crude output to make up for any shortfalls in supply from Iran and Venezuela.
* At 9:50 a.m. ET (1350 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 57.03 points, or 0.35 percent, at 16,087.76.
* Six of the index’s 11 major sectors were lower, led by a 0.6 percent decline in energy sector.
* Also weighing on the sentiment was the heavyweight financial sector, which slipped 0.4 percent.
* Shares of Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Nova Scotia both dipped 0.5 percent and were the biggest drags on the financial index.
* The Canadian dollar weakened to a more than one-week low against its U.S. counterpart as the greenback broadly climbed.
* The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.4 percent as spot gold was down 0.15 percent at $1,288.92 an ounce.
* On the TSX, 109 issues were higher, while 136 issues declined for a 1.25-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 22.70 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Eldorado Gold, which jumped 5.0 percent, and Prometic Life Sciences, which rose 2.5 percent.
* Canopy Growth Corp fell 3.7 percent, the most on the TSX, followed by First Quantum Minerals, down 3.2 percent.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Nemaska Lithium, down 17.0 percent after the lithium miner said on Tuesday it had secured funding of up to C$402 million ($314 million) from investors.
* Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth were also among the most heavily traded stocks.
* The TSX posted two new 52-week highs and one new low.
* Across all Canadian issues there were 10 new 52-week highs and 13 new lows, with total volume of 39.46 million shares. (Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks/canada-stocks-tsx-dips-as-lower-oil-prices-drag-energy-shares-idUSL3N1SU50X |
TORONTO (Reuters) - For about an hour and 11 minutes last Friday afternoon, traders in Canada’s biggest stock exchanges were left in the dark, as the stock market operator battled with a hardware failure.
A darkened television studio is seen at the offices of TMX Group, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, after the company announced it was shutting down all markets for the rest of the day after experiencing issues with trading on all its exchange platforms in Toronto, Ontario, Canada April 27, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Helgren Those 71 minutes are an eternity for traders, some of whom had no access to critical data, market participants said. At the time, Toronto Stock Exchange operator TMX Group Ltd said only that it was experiencing trading issues on all its exchange platforms, and it eventually said it would shut down trading earlier than usual that day.
TMX, which later blamed the market outage on a hardware failure, rectified the issue and trading resumed on Monday.
Now, market experts are questioning whether TMX communicated swiftly enough on Friday about the shutdown that occurred more than two hours before the usual close of trading. The episode has also exposed retail investors’ heavy reliance on TMX for market data, which weighed on their ability to execute trades.
“If there was a smaller time window between TMX saying they have a problem and confirming they were not going to open, that would have been better,” Chris Sparrow, director of trading analytics at LiquidMetrix and a former member of the Market Structure Advisory Committee at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), said on Tuesday.
“There are a lot of calls to action,” he added. “I would be surprised if the regulators are not currently investigating this,” said Sparrow, a former TMX employee.
The Ontario Securities Commission said it was in contact with TMX. “We will examine the results of the TMX internal review, and will consider any next steps from an oversight perspective given our systems requirements for marketplace operations,” OSC spokeswoman Carolyn Shaw-Rimmington said on Monday.
The trading glitch, which caused Canada’s worst stock exchange outage in a decade, highlights the contrast between the Canadian markets and other developed markets.
TMX Chief Executive Lou Eccleston told Reuters on Monday TMX got to work immediately and needed to first diagnose the problem and also ensure that data was not compromised. “So we thought it was a better move for the markets, a more prudent decision for the markets to resume orderly trading,” he said.
On Tuesday, TMX spokesman Shane Quinn said the exchanges’ clients and other stakeholders appreciated TMX’s handling of the incident and “the timeliness and transparency of our communications.”
Lorne Steinberg, president of Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc, said an outage for TMX exchanges should immediately trigger their closure for the day in order to level the playing field for all.
“It is fairer to all investors because all the information gets disseminated, no one has to wonder ‘Is it going to start trading again later in the day or not?’ and then everyone knows it will open again,” he added.
In an email TMX sent to clients over the weekend and seen by Reuters, the timeline of Friday afternoon’s events is laid out. About 10 minutes into the blackout that started at 1:37 p.m. on the Montreal exchange and 1:39 p.m. on the other three TMX-controlled exchanges in Toronto, the operator notified clients and admitted that external participants had no access to order entry for all TSX Equity Markets.
“As well, no market data was being disseminated,” the email said. Finally at 2:50 p.m., TMX issued an alert saying trading would be shut for the rest of the day. But it was only an hour later, at 3:54 p.m., that the exchange sent out another message informing members about how the final so-called board lot traded prices would be determined.
Eccleston, who joined TMX as CEO in November 2014, said in the Reuters interview that the outage was an “unprecedented event.”
In the United States and other developed markets, investors tend to quickly switch to other platforms in the event of trading disruptions. But Friday’s events showed that a seamless transition did not take place in Canada.
Data from NEO Exchange, a rival to TMX, showed that total trading volume in Canadian stock exchanges fell by about 60 percent between the start of the outage and the time the exchange announced an early shutdown. But once TMX announced that its platform had shut down, trading shifted to the rival platforms, resulting in a sharp increase of the trading volumes in the dying minutes.
A flawed software rollout at the New York Stock Exchange in July 2015 led to a trading outage of nearly four hours on the biggest U.S. stock exchange. But at the time there were 11 U.S. stock exchanges, along with more than 40 private trading venues, where trading continued, so the trading of NYSE-listed stocks was uninterrupted.
While trading on Canadian stock exchanges resumed on Monday after Friday’s disruption, some investors and traders warned that a repeat of the incident could dent TMX’s credibility and encourage market participants to look at rival trading venues.
“It happens and it will happen again,” said Jos Schmitt, CEO of the Aequitas NEO Exchange. “When the incident happens, the exchange experiencing the issue should through its communication channels declare a timeout and all your orders are cancelled. And that moment, everyone will know and everyone will have certainty.”
Reporting by John Tilak and Fergal Smith in Toronto; Additional reporting by Julie Gordon and John McCrank; Writing by Denny Thomas; Editing by Matthew Lewis
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://in.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-tmx-grp/a-dark-hour-for-traders-as-rare-outage-crippled-canada-stock-markets-idINKBN1I31G6 |
Home / NEWS / INTERVIEW-Rowing-Grobler rides the waves as Tokyo 2020 approaches INTERVIEW-Rowing-Grobler rides the waves as Tokyo 2020 approaches 2 hours ago NEWS , tokyo
LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) – Juergen Grobler is thinking about having a dinner and inviting all the winning Olympic rowers he has coached to bring their medals.
By the German’s reckoning, there would be 33 golds in the room — more than many countries have won in over a century of competing.
Chief coach of Britain’s men’s team, Grobler is a phenomenon — even if many people outside of his sport would not recognise him if he knocked on their door wearing a name badge.
Arguably the most successful coach in British sport, if not the world, the former East German has mentored champions at every Olympics since Munich in 1972, excluding the boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Games.
With Britain, he has personally coached gold medal-winning crews at every Games since 1992 — the first two with five-times gold medallist Steve Redgrave and four-times champion Matthew Pinsent.
As he works towards a likely farewell in Tokyo in 2020 — “I think I should be honest. I shouldn’t discuss it now, but yes,” he told Reuters when asked if it would be his last — the 71-year-old is finding new ways to get the best out of his rowers.
“It would be totally wrong just to copy (past programmes),” he explained in an interview during a UK Sport event to launch an ‘Athletes Futures’ fair at the Bisham Abbey high performance centre.
“Of course, some things are the same, you will not change everything, but as a coach you have to adapt always to the new situation, to different athletes, to their habits and problems they have.
“You have to think about your programme so it’s not just… doing the same thing every time again because the sport moves on,” said Grobler, choosing his words carefully in heavily accented English.
“What was good yesterday will not be good for tomorrow,” added the man who arrived in Britain in 1991 and was based with the Leander club in Henley-on-Thames, this year celebrating the 200th anniversary of its founding in 1818. NEVER LOOK BACK
Grobler has a reputation as someone who does not look back, perhaps inevitable for someone who started out in the old East German system with its murky past, preferring to focus on the next challenge without sentimentality.
A famously hard taskmaster, he has had to be ruthless in deciding who gets the golden ticket and who misses out after years of sweat and toil. But there are signs of a slight softening.
“I’m getting older now,” he smiled. “At the moment, as long as I’m in the business, I will say I have to look forward. I might when I finish, sit down and think ‘hmm, it was a great time’.
“I was thinking now of inviting all my successful athletes, and that’s quite a lot of Olympic gold medallists, and having a dinner. That’s maybe a little bit of sentimental thinking before I have even finished, to do that.
“I have never been sitting down so much with them after the Olympics, because the show goes on and the next generation is already waiting,” he added.
Rowing has been a regular contributor to the medal table, with Britain second overall in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, but as in other sports athlete welfare, career planning and personal development is increasingly a big part of the job.
That is something Grobler, who says he treats all his athletes as “gold dust” and with respect even if they do not ultimately make it, is particularly pleased about.
“If an athlete comes to us and takes all the pain, he has a dream to win a gold medal. I think we would lie if you said that’s not important,” he said.
“But what is important now, and that’s where I think we are really moving on and doing a good job, is bringing that other aspect in as well… to help the athletes, not just using them for medal winning.
“We are seeing the athlete as a person.” (Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by John O’Brien) | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/rowing-britain-grobler/interview-rowing-grobler-rides-the-waves-as-tokyo-2020-approaches-idUSL3N1SO4ZU/ |
May 8 (Reuters) - KEYW Holding Corp:
* KEYW REPORTS FIRST-QUARTER 2018 FINANCIAL RESULTS
* Q1 GAAP LOSS PER SHARE $0.06 * Q1 REVENUE $125.7 MILLION VERSUS I/B/E/S VIEW $121.9 MILLION
* Q1 EARNINGS PER SHARE VIEW $-0.02 — THOMSON REUTERS I/B/E/S
* COMPANY REITERATES FISCAL 2018 FINANCIAL GUIDANCE * KEYW REPORTED TOTAL BACKLOG AT MARCH 31, 2018, OF $1.14 BILLION, COMPARED WITH TOTAL BACKLOG OF $1.19 BILLION AT DECEMBER 31, 2017
* FY2018 REVENUE VIEW $506.7 MILLION — THOMSON REUTERS I/B/E/S Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-keyw-reports-q1-gaap-loss-per-shar/brief-keyw-reports-q1-gaap-loss-per-share-0-06-idUSASC0A0CE |
EditorsNote: adds Harden Quote:
Joe Ingles delivered a scintillating shooting performance, and the Utah Jazz withstood a furious second-half rally from the Houston Rockets for a 116-108 victory on Wednesday at Toyota Center in Game 2 of a Western Conference semifinal series.
Ingles drilled 7 of 9 3-point attempts and posted 27 points, sinking two treys during a 16-2 run late in the fourth quarter that evened the series at 1-1 with Game 3 set for Friday in Salt Lake City.
Utah shot splendidly throughout and finished 15 for 32 from behind the arc while posting a 51.2 percentage from the floor overall.
Donovan Mitchell paired 17 points with 11 assists while Jae Crowder and Alec Burks combined for 32 points on 12-for-21 shooting off the Utah bench. The Jazz also received strong performances from Ruby Gobert (15 points, 14 rebounds) and Dante Exum, whose defense on Rockets guard James Harden proved instrumental during crucial stretches.
Harden totaled 32 points and 11 assists while Clint Capela also posted a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds. However, Houston shot just 40 percent from the floor and missed 27 of 37 3-point tries. And, after claiming a 94-92 lead on an Eric Gordon 3-pointer with 8:04 left, the Rockets collapsed defensively yet again, with Mitchell and Ingles fueling the Jazz to the upset victory.
Mitchell, speaking to TNT postgame, said of the Jazz’s resilience, “That’s in our DNA, that’s in our character, to withstand the run. Everybody stepped up and played well, I’m so proud of those guys. The biggest thing is we defended. We’ll take this win, but we got three more (to go).”
The Jazz provided the clearest indication of their readiness with the early utilization of their bigs, with Gobert and Derrick Favors slipping screens and earning uncontested shots at the rim.
Utah torched the nets for 63.6 percent shooting in the opening period and carried a 36-28 lead into the second. When the Rockets’ second unit labored to build some momentum, Gobert and Favors started converting in the paint as the Jazz repeatedly left the Rockets scrambling defensively to cover the action.
“They came out with some thrust in that first half,” Harden said. “They made shots, but they were wide-open shots. We came out a little too lackadaisical. We were just kind of going through the motions and whatnot. The end of the second quarter and third quarter we picked it up, but it’s a pretty good team out there. If you give any team, especially in the postseason, that kind of confidence, it’s pretty tough.”
After Mitchell drilled a 3-pointer with 6:49 left in the second, the Jazz led by 19. Suddenly Harden came alive, and after Mitchell went to the bench with his third foul at the 4:09 mark, Harden scored 13 of the Rockets’ final 14 points of the first half, single-handedly cutting the deficit to 64-55.
Houston actually pushed to a 77-72 lead in the third quarter, but the Jazz kept finding offense despite Mitchell’s rough shooting night. The rookie guard made only 6 of 21 attempts from the field.
“My teammates, they keep telling me to shoot the ball,” Mitchell said on TNT. “I didn’t shoot the ball well tonight. I had a few turnovers, had a few bad decisions, but they still believed in me to make plays. When the shot’s not falling, gotta find a way to do something else.”
—Field Level Media
Our | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/basketball-nba-hou-uta-recap/jazz-hold-off-rockets-even-series-idUSMTZEE534TKI4A |
(Reuters) - Spain has approved the extradition of a former Uruguayan military officer to the South American country, where he faces charges of human rights violations during Uruguay’s 1973-1985 military dictatorship, the Spanish government said on Friday.
Eduardo Augusto Ferro Bizzozero, a former colonel, is accused of being a leading protagonist in the so-called “Operation Condor” program of cooperation between several South American governments at the time to combat political dissidents.
Uruguay had issued an international capture request so that it could put Ferro on trial for the kidnapping and killing of a labor activist, who prosecutors say was taken from his home by Ferro and two other military officials in 1977. The activist was beaten and tortured at a clandestine detention site, according to a complaint filed by his wife.
Ferro left Uruguay in October 2016, according to the country’s migration directorate.
Spanish authorities said he had been detained in the European country.
Before leaving Uruguay, Ferro had been a vocal opponent of its investigations into forced disappearances during the dictatorship, arguing in several interviews that society needed to “turn the page, without winners or losers.”
“Some wounds are long-healed, but in some cases there are people who want to reopen them for various reasons,” he said in a 2013 interview. “We continue carrying the weight of people who do not want us to move forward.”
Reporting by Malena Castaldi in Montevideo; Writing by Luc Cohen, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uruguay-rights-spain/spain-to-extradite-ex-uruguayan-army-officer-for-human-rights-trial-idUSKBN1IC2CN |
More than 50,000 truck drivers needed now 1 Hour Ago CNBC's Morgan Brennan reports on the extreme shortage of truck drivers in the US. With Robert Ragan, Melton Truck Lines | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/05/16/more-than-50000-truck-drivers-needed-now.html |
SAN FRANCISCO, INSIKT , a CDFI certified fintech disrupting the predatory lending industry with loans that help low income people, not hurt them, announced today the appointment of the INSIKT Advisory Board. The board includes ten nationally recognized Latino and African-American leaders across corporate, finance, political, technology and public policy sectors. The board has a mission to guide INSIKT through complex decisions of ethical, affordable and for-profit lending practices; collaboration with legislators to help underbanked communities; and strategies to guide low-income Americans away from predatory lenders.
The board is led by Tom Soto, Member of the Board of the New America Alliance, dedicated to advancing the economic development of the American Latino community across the United States. He is joined by Gene Sperling, who brings extensive expertise in the economic issues facing low-income Americans, having served as the Director of the National Economic Council under two presidential administrations.
"The INSIKT Advisory Board was formed to help the company balance the economic justice that underbanked communities deserve with the needs of a for-profit lending business. Predatory lenders are exploiting rather than representing the communities they serve, and low-income Americans need a better option to escape endless cycles of debt and build their own American Dream," said Tom Soto. "This board is proud to help INSIKT navigate a complex environment so it can scale its lending business designed for borrower success. We've already begun to guide the leadership team in how to build trust with communities and policy makers that have become rightly distrustful of financial institutions."
Tom Soto will lead the Board's operations and internal communications. Soto has received wide National recognition, including being named one of Hispanic Business Magazine's 100 Most Influential Latinos and one of Poder 360's 100 National Top Latino Green Leaders. During the Obama Administration, he was Co-Leader of the President's Transition Team for the White House Council on Environmental Quality. During the Clinton Administration, he was appointed to the State Department's Border Environment Cooperation Commission, which oversaw the $2.5 billion North American Development Bank. Soto is also one of the country's leading VCs in the impact sector, with INSIKT as one of his portfolio companies. He is currently Sr. Advisor to Aspiration, the country's fastest growing online financial services platform.
Gene Sperling has been appointed an independent director of INSIKT's Advisory Board, which includes serving as a liaison with the Board of Directors. In his time with the Obama Administration, he played a key role in budget negotiations, including the American Jobs Act, manufacturing policy, GSE reform, the Small Business Jobs Act, the payroll tax cut and the expansion of tax credits for low-income working Americans. Sperling is the Founder and Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign Relations and Brookings Institute.
The full Advisory Board includes:
Manolo Diaz, Former California Assembly Member Gerardo Interiano, Head of External Affairs for the Southwest U.S., Google Carmen Palafox, Century Center for Economic Opportunity Qiana Patterson, Director of Public Partnerships for HopSkipDrive Cleofas Rodriguez, President and CEO of the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce Nelly Rojas-Moreno, Chief Credit Officer, LiftFund, a CDFI Frank Salazar, California Latino Legislative Caucus' Latino PAC Jon Samuels, Former Deputy Assistant for Legislative Affairs, Obama Administration Tammye Trevino, Former USDA leader, Obama Administration Janee Murphy, CEO of Community Partners Consulting
about the Advisory Board, its members and mission, read the INSIKT blog.
About INSIKT
INSIKT's mission is to build financially healthy low-income communities and end reliance on predatory payday lenders by providing affordable credit to America's 66-million underbanked and unbanked. Loans from Lendify, a CDFI, are intentionally designed to help borrowers succeed at repayment and build good credit. We're proud that 67% percent of our repeat customers grew their credit score by an average of 312 points when applying for a second loan. Currently available in more than 700 locations across California, Texas, Illinois and Arizona, INSIKT has provided hundreds of thousands of loans to low income households since launching in 2014.
with multimedia: releases/insikt-assembles-advisory-board-of-latino-and-african-american-community-leaders-300644156.html
SOURCE INSIKT | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/08/pr-newswire-insikt-assembles-advisory-board-of-latino-and-african-american-community-leaders.html |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law on Thursday a bill that would ease rules on most banks for the first time since the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
The legislation eases regulations on all but a handful of the nation’s largest banks, and marks a significant victory in Trump’s efforts to cut rules in a bid to spur economic growth.
The legislation eases oversight of all banks below $250 billion in assets, and exempts small community banks from a host of stricter rules and oversight established by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
“The legislation I’m signing today rolls back the crippling Dodd-Frank regulations that are crushing small banks,” Trump said at the bill signing.
Related Coverage Factbox: Winners and losers from U.S. banking rule rewrite While the new law lessens rules on a large number of U.S. banks, it stops short of eliminating much of Dodd-Frank. Most of that law’s core provisions remain intact, and the new law’s language is primarily aimed at helping smaller community banks, while preserving stricter rules for the biggest banks on Wall Street.
After passing legislation to ease bank rules, Congress may consider an additional package of bills aimed at relaxing securities laws to make it easier for companies to raise capital.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on immigration and the gang MS-13 at the Morrelly Homeland Security Center in Bethpage, New York, U.S., May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque However, it is not clear if there is enough appetite among moderate Senate Democrats to advance such legislation, after a bruising fight to pass the bank bill.
Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Jonathan Oatis
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-dodd-frank/trump-signs-bill-easing-u-s-bank-rules-into-law-idINKCN1IP2WX |
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan parliament on Wednesday approved a new law to establish courts to handle cases related to bribery and corruption to speed up cases that have dragged on for years.
Currently, Sri Lanka’s courts, which act as investigative magistrates weighing evidence before a trial can be started, can take up to five years before a defendant even reaches the dock.
“Parliament has responsibility over public money and all members have a right to take legal action against the people who wasted it,” Justice Minister Thalatha Atukorale told parliament.
She said there was a perception that some suspects had not been “brought to book”.
Her comments appear to be aimed at former officials who served under former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family members, who President Maithripala Sirisena’s government accuses of misappropriation of public funds.
Several members of the Rajapaksa family are facing police probes for alleged financial crimes, but none have yet faced trial. They have all denied wrongdoing.
The new law will enable the chief justice to establish special high courts and appoint three judges to them as needed.
In the 225-member parliament 119 lawmakers backed the special court law and 52 voted against. Many legislators were not present at the vote.
Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Alison Williams
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://in.reuters.com/article/sri-lanka-corruption-court/sri-lanka-parliament-backs-special-courts-for-bribery-corruption-cases-idINKBN1IA2S5 |
May 17 (Reuters) - Williams Companies Inc:
* WILLIAMS PARTNERS LP - UPON TERMINATION OF DEAL UNDER SOME CONDITIONS, THE WILLIAMS COMPANIES MAY BE REQUIRED TO EITHER PAY CO A FEE OF UPTO $410 MILLION
* WILLIAMS PARTNERS- ON TERMINATION OF DEAL IN SOME CONDITIONS, WMB MAY BE REQUIRED TO REIMBURSE CO FOR ITS DEAL EXPENSES IN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $10 MILLION Source text: ( bit.ly/2IKSRSN ) Further company coverage:
| ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-williams-partners-says-williams-co/brief-williams-partners-says-williams-cos-may-be-required-to-pay-termination-fee-of-upto-410-mln-idUSFWN1SO0YP |
May 31, 2018 / 7:43 PM / Updated 36 minutes ago Wondrous dunes on Pluto are made of grains of frozen methane Will Dunham 3 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have detected another exotic feature on one of the solar system’s most wondrous worlds, a large field of dunes on the surface of the distant, frigid dwarf planet Pluto apparently composed of wind-swept, sand-sized grains of frozen methane. The planet Pluto is pictured in a handout image made up of four images from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) taken in July 2015 combined with color data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced color global view. NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Handout via REUTERS
The dunes, spotted on images taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its 2015 flyby, sit at the boundary between a heart-shaped nitrogen glacier about the size of France called Sputnik Planitia and the Al Idrisi Montes mountain range made of frozen water, scientists said on Thursday.
“Pluto, even though it’s so far away from Earth and so very cold, has a riot of processes we never expected to see. It is far more interesting than any of us dreamed, and tells us that these very distant bodies are well worth visiting,” Brigham Young University planetary scientist Jani Radebaugh said.
The dunes cover about 775 square miles (2,000 square km), roughly the size of Tokyo. Their existence came as a surprise. There was some doubt about whether Pluto’s extremely thin atmosphere, mainly nitrogen with minor amounts of methane and carbon monoxide, could muster the wind needed to form such features.
Pluto, smaller than Earth’s moon with a diameter of about 1,400 miles (2,380 km), orbits roughly 3.6 billion miles (5.8 billion km) away from the sun, almost 40 times farther than Earth’s orbit, with a surface marked by plains, mountains, craters and valleys. A mountain range on the edge of Pluto's Sputnik Planitia ice plain - with dune formations clearly visible in the bottom half of the picture - is shown in this handout image taken during the July 2015 New Horizons mission. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Handout via REUTERS
Methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, all gaseous on Earth, are rendered solid with Pluto’s temperatures near absolute zero. Pluto’s dunes were shaped by moderate winds reaching around 22 mph (35 kph) apparently blowing fine-grained frozen methane bits from mountaintops.
Pluto’s dunes resemble some on Earth like those in California’s Death Valley and China’s Taklamakan desert, though their composition differs, Radebaugh said.
Dunes have been detected elsewhere in the solar system including planets Mars and Venus, Saturn’s moon Titan and Neptune’s moon Triton, University of Cologne physicist and geoscientist Eric Parteli said. Pluto’s dunes probably formed within the past 500,000 years, and potentially more recently, Parteli added.
“Given we have dunes on the scorching surface of Venus under a dense atmosphere, and out in the distant reaches of the solar system at minus 230 degrees Celsius (minus 382 Fahrenheit) under a thin atmosphere, yes, dunes do have a habit of cropping up in a lot of surprising places,” University of Plymouth planetary scientist Matt Telfer said.
The research was published in the journal Science. Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-pluto/wondrous-dunes-on-pluto-are-made-of-grains-of-frozen-methane-idUSKCN1IW2VE |
May 5, 2018 / 7:32 PM / in 24 minutes Soccer - Ferguson recovering in hospital following brain surgery Reuters Staff 3 Min Read
LONDON (Reuters) - Alex Ferguson, the most successful manager in Manchester United’s history, underwent emergency surgery on Saturday for a brain haemorrhage, the club said. Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs Manchester United - Stoke, Britain - September 9, 2017 Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson watches the match from the stands REUTERS/Peter Powell
“The procedure has gone very well but he needs a period of intensive care to optimise his recovery,” a statement said. “His family request privacy in this matter.”
United captain Michael Carrick tweeted: “Absolutely devastated to hear about Sir Alex being unwell in hospital. All my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Be strong boss.”
Ferguson’s son Darren, the manager of Doncaster Rovers, was reported to have missed his team’s match on Saturday for family reasons.
The 76-year-old was United manager from 1986 to 2013, winning the Champions League twice, the Premier League 13 times and five FA Cups.
He was knighted in 1999, the year United achieved a treble by winning those three trophies in one season.
He made his managerial reputation in his native Scotland with Aberdeen, winning three Scottish League titles and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
After taking Scotland to the 1986 World Cup following the death of Jock Stein, Ferguson joined United in November 1986 after Ron Atkinson was sacked.
It took three and a half years to achieve his first success with them, the FA Cup title in 1990.
From there he was unstoppable, quickly achieving his ambition to “knock Liverpool off their perch” as United became the team of the 90s and beyond.
In 2001 he decided to leave the following year but was persuaded by his family to change his mind and stayed on until 2013.
He remained a regular visitor to Old Trafford and was there last Sunday to make a presentation to old rival Arsene Wenger on the Arsenal manager’s last appearance at the ground before he leaves the London club.
Since Ferguson left, United have struggled to repeat his triumphs and great rivals Manchester City have now won two titles in that time, including this season’s.
City were quick to tweet: “Everyone at Manchester City wishes Sir Alex Ferguson a full and speedy recovery after his surgery”.
Managers Sam Allardyce of Everton and Southampton’s Mark Hughes, a former United player under the Scot, also added their best wishes following the first Premier League game after the news broke.
Scottish politicians joined in with tributes to a life-long socialist.
Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, wrote: “My thoughts are with Alex Ferguson and his family - wishing him a full and speedy recovery.”
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, tweeted: “So many people will be wishing Alex Ferguson well and sending their thoughts to his family tonight.” | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-mun-ferguson/soccer-ferguson-recovering-in-hospital-following-brain-surgery-idUKKBN1I60TT |
LAFAYETTE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PHI, Inc. (The Nasdaq Select Global Market: PHII (voting) PHIIK (non-voting)) today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.
Consolidated operating revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were $160.4 million, compared to $134.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017, an increase of $25.8 million. Oil and Gas segment operating revenues increased $23.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018. This increase is attributable principally to revenue derived from our newly-acquired HNZ offshore business and secondarily from an increase in revenues from our legacy Oil and Gas operations. Air Medical segment operating revenues increased $1.7 million due principally to increase in revenue from our independent provider operations due to increased patient transports. Technical Services segment operating revenues increased $0.2 million due primarily to an increase in technical services provided to a third party customer.
Oil and Gas segment loss was $5.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared to a loss of $11.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The $5.9 million decrease in segment loss is primarily attributable to a $23.9 million increase in revenues, partially offset by $18.0 million increase in expenses.
Air Medical segment loss was less than $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared to a segment profit of $1.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The $1.6 million decrease in profit is primarily attributable to increased employee compensation costs, partially offset by the increased revenues.
Technical Services segment profit was $1.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared to $2.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The $0.8 million decrease in revenue is due primarily to a decrease of technical services provided to a third party customer whose service requirements typically vary from period to period.
For additional information, please see (i) the attachments hereto and (ii) Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 that we filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
PHI provides helicopter transportation and related services to a broad range of customers including the oil and gas and air medical industries, and also provides third-party maintenance services to select customers. PHI Voting Common Stock and Non-Voting Common Stock are traded on The NASDAQ Global Market (symbols PHII and PHIIK).
PHI, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(Thousands of dollars and shares, except per share data)
Quarter Ended
March 31,
2018 2017 Operating revenues, net $ 160,370 $ 134,618 Expenses: Direct expenses 156,226 136,513 Selling, general and administrative expenses 15,459 13,044 Total operating expenses 171,685 149,557 Loss (gain) on disposal of assets 879 — Equity in loss (earnings) of unconsolidated affiliates, net 37 1,003 Operating (loss) income (12,231 ) (15,942 ) Interest expense 8,197 8,195 Other income – net 1,045 (1,064 ) 9,242 7,131 Loss before income taxes (21,473 ) (23,073 ) Income tax benefit (4,490 ) (7,825 ) Net loss $ (16,983 ) $ (15,248 ) Weighted average shares outstanding: Basic 15,806 15,689 Diluted 15,806 15,689 Net loss per share: Basic $ (1.07 ) $ (0.97 ) Diluted $ (1.07 ) $ (0.97 ) A-1
Unaudited summarized financial information concerning our reportable operating segments for the quarters ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 is as follows:
Quarter Ended
March 31,
2018 2017 (Thousands of dollars) Segment operating revenues, net Oil and Gas $ 95,640 $ 71,731 Air Medical 56,988 55,338 Technical Services 7,742 7,549 Total operating revenues, net 160,370 134,618 Segment direct expenses (1) Oil and Gas (2) 96,544 81,728 Air Medical 53,832 50,842 Technical Services 5,887 4,946 Total segment direct expenses 156,263 137,516 Segment selling, general and administrative expenses Oil and Gas 4,921 1,720 Air Medical 3,167 2,881 Technical Services 370 338 Total segment selling, general and administrative expenses 8,458 4,939 Total segment expenses 164,721 142,455 Net segment (loss) profit Oil and Gas (5,825 ) (11,717 ) Air Medical (11 ) 1,615 Technical Services 1,485 2,265 Total net segment profit (4,351 ) (7,837 ) Other, net (3) (1,924 ) 1,064 Unallocated selling, general and administrative costs (1) (7,001 ) (8,105 ) Interest expense (8,197 ) (8,195 ) (Loss) earnings before income taxes $ (21,473 ) $ (23,073 ) (1) Included in segment direct expenses and unallocated selling, general, and administrative costs are the depreciation and amortization expense amounts below:
Depreciation and
Amortization Expense
Quarter Ended March 31, 2018 2017 (Thousands of dollars) Segment Direct Expense: Oil and Gas $ 11,783 $ 9,862 Air Medical 5,624 5,477 Technical Services 145 146 Total $ 17,552 $ 15,485 Unallocated SG&A $ 1,915 $ 1,360 (2) Includes Equity in loss of unconsolidated affiliate.
(3) Consists of gains on disposition of property and equipment and other income.
A-2
View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180504005848/en/
PHI, Inc.
Trudy McConnaughhay, 337-235-2452
Source: PHI, Inc. | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/04/business-wire-phi-inc-announces-results-for-the-first-quarter-ended-march-31-2018.html |
NEW YORK, May 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Boards of Trustees/Directors of the PIMCO closed-end funds (each, a “Fund” and, collectively, the “Funds”) have declared a monthly distribution for each Fund’s common shares as summarized below. The distributions are payable on June 1, 2018 to shareholders of record on May 11, 2018, with an ex-dividend date of May 10, 2018.
Fund NYSE Symbol Monthly
Distribution
Per Share PIMCO Corporate & Income Strategy Fund (NYSE:PCN) $0.112500 PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund (NYSE:PTY) $0.130000 PIMCO Global StocksPLUS® & Income Fund (NYSE:PGP) $0.122000 PIMCO High Income Fund (NYSE:PHK) $0.080699 PIMCO Income Opportunity Fund (NYSE:PKO) $0.190000 PIMCO Strategic Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE:RCS) $0.072000 PCM Fund, Inc. (NYSE:PCM) $0.080000 PIMCO Income Strategy Fund (NYSE:PFL) $0.090000 PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II (NYSE:PFN) $0.080000 PIMCO Dynamic Income Fund (NYSE:PDI) $0.220500 PIMCO Dynamic Credit and Mortgage Income Fund (NYSE:PCI) $0.164063 PIMCO Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:PMF) $0.059670 PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:PCQ) $0.077000 PIMCO New York Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:PNF) $0.057000 PIMCO Municipal Income Fund II (NYSE:PML) $0.065000 PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund II (NYSE:PCK) $0.035000 PIMCO New York Municipal Income Fund II (NYSE:PNI) $0.050690 PIMCO Municipal Income Fund III (NYSE:PMX) $0.055750 PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III (NYSE:PZC) $0.045000 PIMCO New York Municipal Income Fund III (NYSE:PYN) $0.042250 Distributions from PMF, PML, PMX, PCQ, PCK, PZC, PNF, PNI and PYN are generally exempt from regular Federal income taxes. In addition, distributions from PCQ, PCK and PZC are also generally exempt from California state income taxes, and distributions from PNF, PNI and PYN are generally exempt from New York State and city income taxes. There can be no assurance that all distributions paid by these Funds will be exempt from federal income taxes or applicable state or local income taxes.
Distributions may include ordinary income, net capital gains and/or returns of capital. Generally, a return of capital occurs when the amount distributed by a Fund includes a portion of (or is comprised entirely of) your investment in the Fund in addition to (or rather than) your pro-rata portion of the Fund’s net income or capital gains. A Fund’s distributions in any period may be more or less than the net return earned by the Fund on its investments, and therefore should not be used as a measure of performance or confused with “yield” or “income.” A return of capital is not taxable; rather it reduces a shareholder’s tax basis in his or her shares of the Fund. If a Fund estimates that a portion of its distribution may be comprised of amounts from sources other than net investment income, such Fund will notify shareholders of the estimated composition of such distribution through a separate written Section 19 notice. Such notices are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be used for tax reporting purposes. Final tax characteristics of all Fund distributions will be provided on Form 1099-DIV, which is mailed after the close of the calendar year.
It is important to note that differences exist between a Fund’s daily internal accounting records and practices, a Fund’s financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and recordkeeping practices under income tax regulations. It is possible that a Fund may not issue a Section 19 Notice in situations where the Fund’s financial statements prepared later and in accordance with U.S. GAAP and/or the final tax character of those distributions might later report that the sources of those distributions included capital gains and/or a return of capital. Please see the Funds’ most recent shareholder reports for more details.
A Fund’s distribution rate may be affected by numerous factors, including changes in realized and projected market returns, Fund performance, and other factors. There can be no assurance that a change in market conditions or other factors will not result in a change in a Fund’s distribution rate at a future time.
Certain Funds may engage in investment strategies, including the use of derivatives, to, among other things, generate current, distributable income, even if such strategies could potentially result in declines in the Fund’s net asset value. A Fund’s income and gain-generating strategies, including certain derivatives strategies, may generate current income and gains taxable as ordinary income sufficient to support monthly distributions even in situations when the Fund has experienced a decline in net assets due to, for example, adverse changes in the broad U.S. or non-U.S. equity markets or the Fund’s debt investments, or arising from its use of derivatives. A Fund may enter into opposite sides of interest rate swap and other derivatives for the principal purpose of generating distributable gains on the one side (characterized as ordinary income for tax purposes) that are not part of the Fund’s duration or yield curve management strategies (“paired swap transactions”), with a substantial possibility that the Fund will later realize a corresponding capital loss and potential decline in net asset value with respect to the opposite side transaction (to the extent it does not have corresponding offsetting capital gains). Consequently, common shareholders may receive distributions and owe tax at a time when their investment in a Fund has declined in value, which tax may be at ordinary income rates, and which may be economically similar to a taxable return of capital. The tax treatment of certain derivatives may be open to different interpretations. Any recharacterization of payments made or received by a Fund pursuant to derivatives potentially could affect the amount, timing or character of Fund distributions. In addition, the tax treatment of such investment strategies may be changed by regulation or otherwise.
As with any stock, the price of a Fund’s common shares will fluctuate with market conditions and other factors. Shares of closed-end management investment companies frequently trade at a price that is less than (a “discount”) or more than (a “premium”) their net asset value. If a Fund’s shares trade at a premium to net asset value, there is no assurance that any such premium will be sustained for any period of time and will not decrease, or that the shares will not trade at a discount to net asset value thereafter.
The Funds’ daily New York Stock Exchange closing market prices, net asset values per share, as well as other information, including updated portfolio statistics and performance are available at pimco.com/closedendfunds or by calling the Funds’ shareholder servicing agent at (844) 33-PIMCO. Updated portfolio holdings information about a Fund will be available approximately 15 calendar days after such Fund’s most recent fiscal quarter end, and will remain accessible until such Fund files a Form N-Q or a shareholder report for the period which includes the date of the information.
About PIMCO
PIMCO is one of the world’s premier fixed income investment managers. With our launch in 1971 in Newport Beach, California, PIMCO introduced investors to a total return approach to fixed income investing. In the 45+ years since, we have continued to bring innovation and expertise to our partnership with clients seeking the best investment solutions. Today we have offices across the globe and 2,150+ professionals united by a single purpose: creating opportunities for investors in every environment. PIMCO is owned by Allianz S.E., a leading global diversified financial services provider.
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements. These statements may involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the performance of financial markets, the investment performance of PIMCO's sponsored investment products and separately managed accounts, general economic conditions, future acquisitions, competitive conditions and government regulations, including changes in tax laws. Readers should carefully consider such factors. Further, such forward-looking statements speak only on the date at which such statements are made. PIMCO undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statement.
This material has been distributed for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission. PIMCO is a trademark of Allianz Asset Management of America L.P. in the United States and throughout the world. ©2018, PIMCO
For information on PIMCO Closed-End Funds:
Financial Advisors: (800) 628-1237
Shareholders: (844) 337-4626 or (844) 33-PIMCO
PIMCO Media Relations: (212) 597-1054
Source: PIMCO Account Management | ashraq/financial-news-articles | http://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/01/globe-newswire-pimco-closed-end-funds-declare-monthly-common-share-distributions.html |
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are climbing Wednesday morning, recovering most of the ground they lost the day before, as investors hope Italy might be able to avoid a new round of elections. Banks are rising along with bond yields after outsize losses a day ago and energy companies are breaking out of a five-day losing streak as oil prices rise. Smaller companies are surging after they suffered only modest losses the day before.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index gained 25 points, or 1 percent, to 2,715 as of 11 a.m. Eastern time. It lost 1.2 percent Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 209 points, or 0.9 percent, to 24,570. The Nasdaq composite added 60 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,457. The Russell 2000 index leaped 23 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,647, which put the index on pace for another record close.
The Russell fared far better than the rest of the market on Tuesday and has done better than other indexes in recent weeks. It closed at an all-time high on May 21.
ITALY IN FOCUS: Stocks in the U.S. and Europe sank Tuesday as investors worried that Italy would have new elections in a few months and that the vote would become a referendum on whether Italy, the third-largest economy in Europe, would stay in the euro. On Wednesday, premier-designate Carlo Cottarelli said there were "new possibilities" to form a government.
Italy's FTSE MIB stock index climbed 1.5 percent after a 2.7 percent drop a day earlier. Prices for Italian government bonds also rose, sending yields down following a huge surge the day before.
BONDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.84 percent from 2.79 percent.
Interest rates rose and bank stocks recovered some of their losses from the previous day. When rates rise, banks can make more money on mortgages and other types of loans. JPMorgan Chase gained 1.3 percent to $107.27 and Bank of America picked up 1.4 percent to $53.69. Both stocks fell about 4 percent Tuesday.
EUROPE: The euro rose to $1.1606 from $1.1531 a day earlier, which was its lowest level in almost a year. The dollar rose to 108.88 yen from 108.24 yen.
Germany's DAX climbed 0.4 percent while the FTSE 100 index in Britain rose 0.2 percent. The CAC 40 in France lost 0.6 percent.
EARNINGS: Wall Street continued to pore over quarterly results from retailers. Dick's Sporting Goods soared 23.9 percent to $37.78 after it raised its annual profit forecast. Its first-quarter report was better than expected thanks in part to strong online sales. Printer and PC maker HP also raised its profit projections after its earnings and sales surpassed analyst estimates. HP climbed 3 percent to $21.94. Watchmaker Movado Group rallied 15.7 percent to $48.83.
Clothing company Chico's FAS plunged 20.7 percent to $7.92 after its profit fell short of expectations and luxury retailer Michael Kors dropped 12 percent to $60 following a disappointing forecast for the year. Shoe retailer DSW gave up some of its gains from earlier in the year as it lost 9.8 percent to $23.52.
ENERGY: Energy companies rose as U.S. crude oil climbed 1.6 percent to $67.81 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 1.6 percent to $76.67 a barrel in London.
Exxon Mobil jumped 2.9 percent to $80.70 and Chevron rallied 2.2 percent to $124.09.
Oil prices fell 7.6 percent in the last week following reports OPEC countries and Russia might start producing more oil soon. Those countries cut production at the start of 2017, which helped take U.S. crude from about $50 a barrel in late 2016 to more than $70 this month. They had agreed to keep production at its current levels until the end of this year, but upheaval in Venezuela and new sanctions on Iran could change their plans.
SURVEY SAYS: Payroll processor ADP said private U.S. businesses added 178,000 jobs in May. That's a solid number even though it's not as many jobs as they added over the winter. ADP reported strong hiring in the construction, education and health care fields as well as professional and business services. The federal government will release a jobs report Friday that also includes hiring by government agencies.
ALL'S WELLCARE: WellCare will pay $2.5 billion to become the biggest Medicaid coverage provider in Michigan and Illinois and add a pharmacy benefits management business, following the lead of competitors like UnitedHealth and Cigna. Pharmacy benefit managers run prescription drug coverage and insurers have been building or buy them to improve how they share patient data and manage care. They're also trying to gain better control of prescription drug costs.
The stock rose 2.8 percent to $227.30.
ASIA: Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index dropped 1.5 percent and the Kospi of South Korea dropped 2. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 1.4 percent.
AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay | ashraq/financial-news-articles | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/30/the-associated-press-us-stocks-jump-as-italian-worries-ease-oil-prices-climb.html |
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