European Stocks

[gfp927z]

>>> How Trump’s policies could dethrone ‘king dollar’ and make the euro great again

A stronger euro would give European economies and companies competitive advantages


MarketWatch

By Hélène Rey

May 21, 2025


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-euro-could-dethrone-king-dollar-and-make-europe-great-again-bc4a3c49?mod=home_lead


The Trump administration sees the dollar’s dominance as a negative.

The economic and financial distress Trump initiated in the U.S. creates an opportunity for the eurozone.

International monetary and financial systems may not be immutable, but nor do they change often. That is why the upheaval spurred by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade and tariff war is so remarkable — and difficult to decipher.

To figure out what is going on, it is worth revisiting Charles P. Kindleberger’s theory of hegemonic stability, which he spelled out in his book “The World in Depression: 1929-1939.” Kindleberger’s theory essentially states that an open and stable international system depends on the presence of a dominant world power.

In the 19th century, that power was Great Britain. As the world’s financial hegemon — leader of the global economic system and issuer of the dominant international currency — Britain supplied critical public goods. These included, as Kindleberger put it, a “market for distress goods, provided by British free trade,” and a countercyclical flow of capital, produced by the City of London.

The U.S. dollar is dropping, which puts its role as the world’s top safe haven in doubt. Aggressive tariffs and political pressure on the Fed are fueling the slide. Here’s why it matters — and what other assets in your portfolio might benefit.

Britain also supported “coordination of macroeconomic policies and exchange rates” through the “rules of the gold standard,” which were “legitimized and institutionalized by usage.” Finally, the Bank of England served as a “lender of last resort.”

But World War I took its toll on Great Britain, which by the 1930s no longer had sufficient resources to underpin the international monetary system. And though the United States was an ascending power, it was not yet ready to fill Britain’s shoes. This “Kindleberger gap” — the period between world hegemons — coincided with the Great Depression and the escalating political turmoil that led to World War II.

Near the end of the war, in 1944, delegates from 44 countries met in Bretton Woods, N.H., where they orchestrated a smooth transition between the old and the new hegemons. In doing so, they validated the de facto supremacy of U.S. trading, financial and military power.

At the time, the U.S. accounted for 35% of global gross domestic product. But though America’s share of global GDP has declined, the U.S. dollar has retained its dominance as a reserve asset, invoicing currency and anchor for fixed exchange rates. Moreover, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decisions and the U.S. economy’s performance still shape the global financial cycle.

Mind the ‘Kindleberger gap’

Nonetheless, we seem to be approaching a new Kindleberger gap. The existing hegemon — the U.S. — appears to be self-destructing, as it refuses to supply global public goods, and there is no clear candidate to fill its shoes. The European Union is not prepared to take up the mantle, and China is not even integrated into global financial markets.

Whereas the rest of the world views the U.S. dollar’s primacy as an “exorbitant privilege,” the Trump administration appears convinced that global demand for dollar assets is a burden, as it believes it drives up the currency’s value. But if the U.S. continues on its current policy trajectory, it will soon be relieved of this burden, whether it likes it or not.

If a currency is to serve an international role, the country issuing it generally needs to enjoy economic pre-eminence and occupy a central position in global trade. These qualities depend on innovative capabilities and growth potential, with military power and geopolitical alliances also playing a role. None of this is possible without an open economy and high-quality, stable institutions.

By pursuing policies that undermine U.S. institutions, fundamental research, multilateralism and the economy’s long-run growth prospects, the U.S. under Trump is rapidly eroding trust in the dollar. Never has this been more apparent than in the wake of Trump’s announcement, in early April, of ultrahigh tariffs on goods from dozens of countries running bilateral trade surpluses. U.S. Treasury yields rose, the U.S. stock market fell and the dollar depreciated — a combination often seen in emerging economies.

Trump’s gift to Europe: a stronger euro and increased geopolitical influence.

The economic and financial distress Trump has initiated in the U.S. creates an opportunity for the eurozone — which issues the world’s second most important international currency, the euro — to capture some of the exorbitant privilege long enjoyed by the U.S. This includes cheaper capital for eurozone governments and businesses — which could support fiscal sustainability — and easier refinancing during times of crises, since demand for “safe” euro assets would rise. It also includes increased geopolitical clout — crucial at a moment when the EU is working to achieve strategic autonomy.

While internationalization does carry risks, the eurozone is well positioned to mitigate them. For example, the eurozone’s macroprudential policy frameworks, which are much stronger than those in the U.S., can help it cope with increased capital-flow and asset-price volatility. Europe also boasts powerful institutions, starting with the European Central Bank, and a robust rule of law.

But more must be done to enable the eurozone to raise the euro’s international profile. For starters, the eurozone must deepen its single market in goods and services and strengthen its trade relationships wherever possible. Given Europe’s global climate leadership, it could consider starting to invoice climate-friendly products — such as decarbonized energy equipment, electric vehicles and commodities used in electrification — in euros, while building up corresponding financial instruments (such as those linked to hedging climate risk).

The eurozone should also commit to completing the banking union and the savings and investment union, as spelled out in multiple recent policy reports. To deliver deep and integrated capital markets — crucial for innovation and growth — efforts should be made to deliver a true eurozone-wide safe asset. Joint debt issuance for emergency defense spending could be a good starting point.

Moreover, rather than allowing eurozone payments to remain largely dependent on U.S. payment systems, the euro bloc must increase the sovereignty of its own. This would probably rely on a central bank digital currency, complemented with a robust payment system that may or may not involve euro stablecoins. Finally, the ECB’s function as lender of last resort must be carefully structured so as to ensure widespread and strong confidence in the euro.

These changes will not be easy to implement. But if Kindleberger taught us anything, it is that the world economy will be better off if, as America retreats from global economic and financial leadership, Europe steps quickly into the breach.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Pfizer Divests Remaining Stake in Haleon

3-21-25

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pharma-stock-roundup-pfes-final-162600943.html

Pfizer divested 7.3% remaining stake in Haleon, or approximately 662 million shares, to institutional investors and Haleon itself for £3.85 per ordinary share (around £2.5 billion). Pfizer sold 618 million ordinary shares of HLN to institutional investors worth around $3.1 billion (around £2.4 billion). Per a previous share buyback plan, Pfizer sold around 44.14 million shares worth approximately $220 million (£170 million) directly to Haleon.

Haleon was a consumer health joint venture jointly created by Pfizer and GSK in 2019. GSK owned a controlling stake of 68% in the Consumer Healthcare JV (CHC JV). GSK/Pfizer divested the CHC JV to form Haleon in July 2022. GSK, which initially owned a nearly 13% stake in Haleon, sold its entire stake in May 2024. Pfizer originally held a 32% stake in Haleon, which it had started gradually reducing since 2022.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Trump has blown up the world order - and left Europe's leaders scrabbling


BBC

by Allan Little

2-26-25


https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2er9j83x0zo


This is the gravest crisis for Western security since the end of World War Two, and a lasting one. As one expert puts it, "Trumpism will outlast his presidency". But which nations are equipped to step to the fore as the US stands back?

At 09.00 one morning in February 1947, the UK ambassador in Washington, Lord Inverchapel, walked into the State Department to hand the US Secretary of State, George Marshall, two diplomatic messages printed on blue paper to emphasise their importance: one on Greece, the other on Turkey.

Exhausted, broke and heavily in debt to the United States, Britain told the US that it could no longer continue its support for the Greek government forces that were fighting an armed Communist insurgency. Britain had already announced plans to pull out of Palestine and India and to wind down its presence in Egypt.

The United States saw immediately that there was now a real danger that Greece would fall to the Communists and, by extension, to Soviet control. And if Greece went, the United States feared that Turkey could be next, giving Moscow control of the Eastern Mediterranean including, potentially, the Suez Canal, a vital global trade route.

Almost overnight, the United States stepped into the vacuum left by the departing British.

President Truman said the United States must support free nations

"It must be a policy of the United States," President Harry Truman announced, "to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure."

It was the start of what became known as the Truman Doctrine. At its heart was the idea that helping to defend democracy abroad was vital to the United States' national interests.

There followed two major US initiatives: the Marshall Plan, a massive package of assistance to rebuild the shattered economies of Europe, and the creation of Nato in 1949, which was designed to defend democracies from a Soviet Union that had now extended its control over the eastern part of Europe.

It is easy to see this as the moment that leadership of the western world passed from Britain to the United States. More accurately it is the moment that revealed that it already had.

The United States, traditionally isolationist and safely sheltered by two vast oceans, had emerged from World War Two as the leader of the free world. As America projected its power around the globe, it spent the post-war decades remaking much of the world in its own image.

The baby boomer generation grew up in a world that looked, sounded and behaved more like the United States than ever before. And it became the western world's cultural, economic and military hegemon.

Yet the fundamental assumptions on which the United States has based its geostrategic ambitions now look set to change.

Donald Trump is the first US president since World War Two to challenge America's global role

Donald Trump is the first US President since World War Two to challenge the role that his country set for itself many decades ago. And he is doing this in such a way that, to many, the old world order appears to be over - and the new world order has yet to take shape.

The question is, which nations will step forward? And, with the security of Europe under greater strain than at any time almost in living memory, can its leaders, who are currently scrabbling around, find an adequate response?

A challenge to the Truman legacy

President Trump's critique of the post-1945 international order dates back decades. Nearly 40 years ago he took out full-page advertisements in three US newspapers to criticise the United States' commitment to the defence of the world's democracies.

"For decades, Japan and other nations have been taking advantage of the United States," he wrote in 1987. "Why are these nations not paying the United States for the human lives and billions of dollars we are losing to protect their interests?

"The world is laughing at America's politicians as we protect ships we don't own, carrying oil we don't need, destined for allies who won't help."

It's a position he has repeated since his second inauguration.

And the fury felt by some in his administration for what they perceive as European reliance on the United States was apparently shown in the leaked messages about air strikes on Houthis in Yemen that emerged this week.

In the messages, an account named Vice-President JD Vance wrote that European countries might benefit from the strikes. It said: "I just hate bailing Europe out again."

Another account, identified as Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, responded three minutes later: "VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC."

In leaked messages, an account named Vice President JD Vance wrote: "I just hate bailing Europe out again."

Trump's own position appears to go beyond criticising those he says are taking advantage of the United State's generosity. At the start of his second presidency, he seemed to embrace Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling Russia that Ukraine would not be granted Nato membership and that it should not expect to get back the territory it has lost to Russia.

Many saw this as giving away two major bargaining chips before talks had even started. He apparently asked Russia for nothing in return.

On the flipside, certain Trump supporters see in Putin a strong leader who embodies many of the conservative values they themselves share.

To some, Putin is an ally in a "war on woke".

Trump told Russia that Ukraine would not be granted Nato membership and should not expect to regain the territory it has lost
The United States' foreign policy is now driven, in part at least, by the imperatives of its culture wars. The security of Europe has become entangled in the battle between two polarised and mutually antagonistic visions of what the United States stands for.

Some think the division is about more than Trump's particular views and that Europe can not just sit tight waiting for his term in office to end.

"The US is becoming divorced from European values," argues Ed Arnold, senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. "That's difficult [for Europeans] to swallow because it means that it's structural, cultural and potentially long-term. "

"I think the current trajectory of the US will outlast Trump, as a person. I think Trumpism will outlast his presidency."

Nato Article 5 'is on life support'

The Trump White House has said it will no longer be the primary guarantor of European security, and that European nations should be responsible for their own defence and pay for it.

"If [Nato countries] don't pay, I'm not going to defend them. No, I'm not going to defend them," the president said earlier this month.

For almost 80 years, the cornerstone of European security has been embedded in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that an attack on one member state of the alliance is an attack on all.

In Downing Street last month, just before his visit to the White House, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told me during an interview that he was satisfied that the United States remained the leading member of Nato and that Trump personally remained committed to Article 5.

Others are less sure.

Ben Wallace, who was defence secretary in the last Conservative government, told me earlier this month: "I think Article 5 is on life support.

"If Europe, including the United Kingdom, doesn't step up to the plate, invest a lot on defence and take it seriously, it's potentially the end of the Nato that we know and it'll be the end of Article 5.

"Right now, I wouldn't bet my house that Article 5 would be able to be triggered in the event of a Russian attack… I certainly wouldn't take for granted that the United States would ride to the rescue."

According to polling by the French company Institut Elabe, nearly three quarters of French people now think that the United States is not an ally of France. A majority in Britain and a very large majority in Denmark, both historically pro-American countries, now have unfavourable views of the United States as well.

"The damage Trump has done to Nato is probably irreparable," argues Robert Kagan, a conservative commentator, author and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington DC who has been a long time critic of Trump.

"The alliance relied on an American guarantee that is no longer reliable, to say the least".

And yet Trump is by no means the first US president to tell Europe to get its defence spending in order. In 2016 Barack Obama urged Nato allies to increase theirs, saying: "Europe has sometimes been complacent about its own defence."

Has a 'fragmentation of the West' begun?

All of this is great news for Putin. "The entire system of Euro-Atlantic security is crumbling before our eyes," he said last year. "Europe is being marginalised in global economic development, plunged into the chaos of challenges such as migration, and losing international agency and cultural identity."

In early March, three days after Volodymyr Zelensky's disastrous meeting with Trump and Vance in the White House, a Kremlin spokesman declared "the fragmentation of the West has begun".

Zelensky's tense meeting with Trump and Vance at the White House earlier this month prompted a Kremlin spokesman to declare that "the fragmentation of the West has begun"

"Look at Russia's objectives in Europe," says Armida van Rij, head of the Europe programme at Chatham House. "Its objectives are to destabilise Europe. It is to weaken Nato, and get the Americans to withdraw their troops from here.

"And at the moment you could go 'tick, tick and almost tick'. Because it is destabilising Europe. It is weakening Nato. It hasn't gone as far as to get the US to withdraw troops from Europe, but in a few months time, who knows where we'll be?"

'We forgot the lessons of our history'

One of the great challenges Europe, in particular, faces from here is the question of how to arm itself adequately. Eighty years of reliance on the might of the United States has left many European democracies exposed.

Britain, for example, has cut military spending by nearly 70% since the height of the Cold War. (At the end of the Cold War, in the early 1990s, Europe allowed itself a peace dividend and began a decades-long process of reducing defence spending.)

"We had a big budget [during the Cold War] and we took a peace dividend," says Wallace. "Now, you could argue that that was warranted.

"The problem is we went from a peace dividend to corporate raiding. [Defence] just became the go-to department to take money from. And that is where we just forgot the lessons of our history."

The prime minister told parliament last month that Britain would increase defence spending from 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% by 2027. But is that enough?

"It isn't enough just to stand still," argues Wallace. "It wouldn't be enough to fix the things we need to make ourselves more deployable, and to plug the gaps if the Americans left."

Uncertainty remains over whether the US, under Trump, can still be relied upon to defend its Nato allies

Then there is the wider question of military recruitment. "The West is in freefall in its military recruiting, it's not just Britain," argues Wallace.

"At the moment, young people aren't joining the military. And that's a problem."

But Germany's new Chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, has said Europe must make itself independent of the United States. And "Europeanising" NATO will require the build up of an indigenous European military-industrial complex capable of delivering capabilities that currently only the United States has.

Others share the view that Europe must become more self reliant militarily - but some are concerned that not all of Europe is on board with this.

"Where we are at the moment is that the East Europeans by and large, don't need to get the memo," says Ian Bond, deputy director, Centre for European Reform. "The further west you go, the more problematic it becomes until you get to Spain and Italy."

Mr Arnold agrees: "The view in Europe now is this isn't really a debate anymore, it's a debate of how we do it and maybe how quickly we do it, but we need to do this now."

Piecing together a new world order

There is a short list of "very important things" that only the United States currently provides, according to historian Timothy Garton Ash.

"These are the so-called strategic enablers," he says. "The satellites, the intelligence, the Patriot air defence batteries, which are the only ones that can take down Russian ballistic missiles. And within three to five years we [countries other than the US] should aim to have our own version of these.

"And in this process of transition, from the American-led Nato [the idea is] you will have a Nato that is so Europeanised that its forces, together with national forces and EU capacities, are capable of defending Europe - even if an American president says 'leave us out of this'."

The question is how to achieve this.

Ms van Rij stresses that, in her view, Europe does need to build a Europe-owned European defence industrial base - but she foresees difficulties.

"What's really difficult are the divisions within Europe on how to actually do this and whether to actually do this."

Former U.S President Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) signs the North Atlantic Treaty, formally establishing NATO
The European Commission and experts have been trying to figure out how this defence may work for several decades. "It has traditionally been very difficult because of vested national interests... So this is not going to be easy."

In the meantime, Trump appears ready to turn the page on the post-Cold War rules-based international order of sovereign states that are free to choose their own destinies and alliances.

What he seems to share with Vladimir Putin is a desire for a world in which the major powers, unconstrained by internationally agreed laws, are free to impose their will on smaller, weaker nations, as Russia has traditionally done in both its Tsarist and Soviet Empires. That would mean a return to the "spheres of interest" system that prevailed for 40 years after the Second World War.

We don't know exactly what Donald Trump would do were a Nato country to be attacked. But the point is that the guarantee of US help can no longer be taken for granted. That means Europe has to react. Its challenge appears to be to stay united, finally make good on funding its own defence, and avoid being drawn into the "sphere of influence" of any of the big powers.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Rheinmetall AG (RNMBY) provides mobility and security technologies worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Vehicle Systems, Weapon and Ammunition, Electronic Solutions, Sensors and Actuators, and Materials and Trade.

The Vehicle Systems segment offers combat, logistics, support, and special vehicles, including armored tracked vehicles, CBRN protection systems, artillery, turret systems, and wheeled logistics and tactical vehicles.

The Weapon and Ammunition segment provides firepower and protection solutions, such as weapons and munition, protection systems, propellants and international projects and services.

The Electronic Solutions segment offers a chain of systems network, such as sensors, networking platforms, automated connected effectors for soldiers, and cyberspace protection solutions, and training and simulation solutions. Its products include air defense systems; soldier systems; command, control, and reconnaissance systems; fire control systems; sensors; and simulations for the army, air force, navy, and civil applications.

The Sensors and Actuators segment provides a portfolio of products comprising exhaust gas recirculation systems; throttle valves, control dampers, and exhaust flaps for electromotors; solenoid valves; actuators and valve train systems; oil, water, and vacuum pumps for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and light and heavy-duty off-road applications; and industrial solutions.

The Materials and Trade segment develops system components for the basic motors, such as engine blocks, structural components, and cylinder heads; plain bearings, and bushes; and replacement parts. It also engages in the aftermarket activities.

The company has a strategic collaboration with Bohemia Interactive Simulations to promote the development of innovative simulation solutions for modern combat training. The company was formerly known as Rheinmetall Berlin AG and changed its name to Rheinmetall AG in 1996. Rheinmetall AG was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.

<<<

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/RNMBY/profile/


---

[gfp927z]

>>> Thales S.A. (THLLY) provides various solutions in the defence and security, aerospace and space, digital identity and security, and transport markets worldwide. It operates through Aerospace, Defence & Security, Digital Identity & Security, and Ground Transportation Systems business segments. The company offers communications, command, and control systems; mission services and support; protection and mission/combat systems; surveillance, detection, and intelligence systems; training and simulation solutions for air, land, naval, and joint forces; and digital identity and security solutions. It also provides air traffic management solutions; flight decks and avionics equipment and functions; in-flight entertainment, connectivity, and services; drone solutions; aerospace trading solutions; navigation solutions; support and services for civil aviation; and connectivity solutions. In addition, the company designs, operates, and delivers satellite-based systems for telecommunications, navigation, earth observation, environmental management, exploration, and science and orbital infrastructures; signaling, communications and supervision, and fare collection management systems and related services; cybersecurity and railway digitalization systems; and main line rail, and urban and intermodal mobility solutions. Further, it provides solutions for various markets and applications, including radiology, radio frequency, microwave sources, training and simulation solutions, lasers, and microelectronics solutions for science, industry, space, defense, automotive, railways, and energy conversion platforms.

The company was formerly known as Thomson-CSF and changed its name to Thales S.A. in 2000. Thales S.A. was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Meudon, France.

<<<


https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/THLLY/profile/


---

[gfp927z]

>>> BAE Systems plc (BAESY) provides defense, aerospace, and security solutions worldwide. The company operates through Electronic Systems, Platforms & Services, Air, Maritime, and Cyber & Intelligence segments.

The Electronic Systems segment offers electronic warfare systems, navigation systems, electro-optical sensors, military and commercial digital engine and flight controls, precision guidance and seeker solutions, military communication systems and data links, persistent surveillance capabilities, space electronics, and electric drive propulsion systems, as well as spacecraft, ground systems, and mission-enabling technologies.

The Cyber & Intelligence segment provides cyber security activities for national security, central government, and government enterprises.

The Platforms & Services segment manufactures, and upgrades combat vehicles, weapons, and munitions, as well as provides naval ship repair services and the management of government-owned ammunition plants.

The Air segment develops future combat air systems and falconworks.

The Maritime segment provides maritime and land activities, including submarine, ship build, and support programs.

The company was formerly known as British Aerospace plc and changed its name to BAE Systems plc in May 2000. BAE Systems plc was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Camberley, the United Kingdom.

<<<

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BAESY/profile/

---

[gfp927z]

>>> Europe announces unprecedented $840 billion rearmament plan to tackle ‘grave’ threats, sending defense giants BAE and Thales soaring


Fortune

by Ryan Hogg

March 4, 2025


https://www.yahoo.com/news/europe-announces-unprecedented-840-billion-115215757.html


Europe’s leaders rallied around Ukraine as the union pledged to beef up defense spending.
Europe laid down the gauntlet as it unveiled a defense plan that could free up €800 billion ($840 billion) to rearm the continent amid the most significant shock to Western international relations in decades.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday a “ReArm” plan to stock up Europe’s defenses against a looming threat from Russia as the U.S. walks back its military support of Ukraine.

The announcement offered concrete figures on investment following Monday’s pledge by European leaders to beef up their defense capabilities as they rallied around Volodymyr Zelensky.

Europe is reeling from an intense opening two months of the Donald Trump administration, which has left the U.S. set to abandon its position as the West’s peace broker.

In announcing the ReArm plan, von der Leyen spoke candidly about the existential threats Europe will face in the coming years. The EU’s announcement came as the U.S. said it was suspending military aid to Ukraine following a heated argument between Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday.

“We are living in the most momentous and dangerous of times. I do not need to describe the grave nature of the threats that we face. Or the devastating consequences that we will have to endure if those threats would come to pass,” von der Leyen said in Brussels.

“Because the question is no longer whether Europe's security is threatened in a very real way. Or whether Europe should shoulder more of the responsibility for its own security. In truth, we have long known the answers to those questions.”

Freeing up the cash to stockpile Europe will require a level of cooperation on defense unprecedented in the EU’s 32-year history.

Each of the bloc’s 27 member states will need to increase their defense spending by an average of 1.5% of GDP, which von der Leyen says would create fiscal headroom of €650 billion over the next four years.

The EU also plans to create a new instrument that would unlock €150 billion ($158 billion) in loans to member states for investment in defense.

Europe’s quest to rearm itself will inevitably leave tough decisions for the region’s policymakers. In announcing an increase in defense spending to 2.5% of GDP, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the country would cut its aid spending to fill the funding gap.

“We will continue working closely with our partners in NATO. This is a moment for Europe. And we are ready to step up,” said von der Leyen.

Defense giants soar higher

As Europe ponders how to ramp up its military budget, shares in Europe’s largest defense contractors, BAE Systems, Rheinmetall, and Thales, soared as the extent of Europe’s renewed defense plans were realized. Collectively, the groups have added around $30 billion in market value since the start of the week.

Thales received an extra boost after announcing earnings on Tuesday, showing an 8.3% increase in revenues in 2024.

In a call with reporters following the company’s results, Thales CEO Patrice Caine said that Europe had the technology to fend for itself on defense, and indicated it has the capacity to meet the region’s growing defense demand.

In February, BAE similarly said it would be able to cope with Europe’s newfound military appetite.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Defense Rally Pushes European Stocks Toward New Record


Wall Street Journal

by Angus Berwick

February 17, 2025


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/defense-rally-pushes-european-stocks-124500474.html


European defense stocks surged Monday, buoyed by the prospect of higher military spending, while global markets were largely subdued with the U.S. closed to mark Presidents Day.

Stocks such as London-listed BAE Systems, Thales in France, and Germany’s Rheinmetall, climbed more than 7%. The gains came after North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies said they needed to boost defense budgets to support Ukraine and deter Russia from any potential further attacks.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose about 0.5% by midafternoon in London, putting it on course for a new closing high. It has already notched seven record closes in 2025, as European markets have made a strong start to the year.

U.S. index futures inched higher. This week is set to bring more blue-chip earnings, including from Walmart and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

So far in this results season, 383 members of the S&P 500 have reported, with earnings on aggregate beating expectations by 6.3%, according to LSEG. That is better than a long-term average of 4.2% outperformance.

In Japan, benchmark borrowing costs hit the highest since 2010, after data showed the economy grew at a faster-than-expected 2.8% annualized rate in the final quarter of last year. That bolstered expectations the Bank of Japan would lift interest rates further this year.

Ten-year yields rose to 1.393%. The Nikkei 225 stock index eked out a 0.1% gain.

Stocks in China were mixed, despite Chinese leader Xi Jinping meeting with leaders of the technology industry Monday, including Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, signaling a tech crackdown was over. China is contending with fresh U.S. tariffs imposed by President Trump.

“The meeting shows that Beijing is turning more pro-business as the trade war 2.0 looms,” wrote Larry Hu, Macquarie’s chief China economist, in a note.

China’s beaten-down tech stocks have rallied recently, helped by optimism about the emergence of artificial-intelligence upstart DeepSeek.

Shares in Alibaba slipped in Hong Kong Monday. They had jumped in New York trading Friday, taking year-to-date gains to 47%. Stock in Tencent—which is testing integrating DeepSeek into its Weixin messaging app—advanced.

Overall, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended close to flat. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%.

Oil prices edged higher, pushing most actively traded Brent crude futures toward $75 a barrel. Bitcoin traded a bit above $96,000.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

Less than 2 weeks in office, and dimwit Don is already burning bridges with key allies, and promising tariffs on Europe. Next these former allies will be joining BRICS.


>>> ‘Complete Betrayal’: Canada Reels as Trump Tariff Rattles Major Trading Relationship


Bloomberg

by Thomas Seal, Laura Dhillon Kane, Brian Platt and Randy Thanthong-Knight

February 1, 2025


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/complete-betrayal-canada-reels-trump-013500759.html


(Bloomberg) -- Canada braced for economic turmoil and announced retaliatory trade measures after President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing 25% tariffs on almost everything the US imports from the country, and 10% on energy.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will respond by placing 25% counter-tariffs on C$155 billion ($107 billion) worth of American-made products. That will include tariffs on C$30 billion worth as of Tuesday, with the rest coming later in February, to allow Canadian companies to adjust their supply chains and find alternatives.

American beer, wine, food and appliances will be among the many items subject to Canadian tariffs, and the country is also considering measures related to critical minerals, Trudeau said. He encouraged Canadians to buy locally made products and skip US vacations.

Before announcing those measures, Trudeau invoked the shared history of the two neighboring countries, including their longstanding security and military alliances.

“From the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of the Korean Peninsula, from the fields of Flanders to the streets of Kandahar, we have fought and died alongside you during your darkest hours,” Trudeau said, addressing Americans directly on Saturday night.

“Yes, we’ve had our differences in the past, but we’ve always found a way to get past them. As I’ve said before, if President Trump wants to usher in a new golden age for the United States, the better path is to partner with Canada, not to punish us.”

Trump’s executive orders invoked emergency powers to justify tariffs starting at 12:01 a.m. Washington time on Tuesday, blaming Canada and Mexico for insufficient action to curb the production and trafficking of fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid that has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in North America.

Trump’s emergency declaration means he won’t wait for formal procedures outlined in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which the president signed in 2020 and hailed as a “colossal victory” in an update to the North American trade deal that was crafted in the early 1990s.

Trump’s order included a clause setting out even higher duties if Canada retaliates, which its leaders have pledged to do in a way that aims to insulate Canadians and pressure Americans.

“Trump’s tariffs will devastate our economy,” said Doug Ford, leader of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and the home to an automotive industry that’s tightly integrated with the US and Mexico.

Other Canadian officials announced their own measures. David Eby, the premier of British Columbia, directed the provincially owned liquor distributor to remove some alcohol brands made in Republican-led states from the shelves of retail stores — and to cease further purchases. The province will adopt a Canada-first policy for all government procurement, he said.

“President Trump’s 25% tariffs are a complete betrayal of the historic bond between our countries and a declaration of economic war against a trusted ally,” Eby said.

Rapid Impact

Business groups expressed outrage and dismay to Trump’s order. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said it was a “profoundly disturbing” decision and will “drastically increase the cost of everything for everyone.”

Linda Hasenfratz, executive chair of auto parts manufacturer Linamar, said in an interview before the announcement: “It will lead to markets collapsing, sales dropping, layoffs, all the things that President Trump doesn’t want.” Linamar operates in all three USMCA countries.

“The impact is going to be rapid, in terms of our customers on the auto side. I just don’t think they can sustain production, which in turn has a pretty immediate impact on our production levels.” The US is by far Canada’s most import market for exports.

The US had a trade deficit in goods of about $55 billion in the first 11 months of last year. The US exported $320 billion worth of products to Canada and imported $375 billion. Crude oil is the biggest reason for the gap — excluding energy, the US had a trade surplus with Canada.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party, which is ahead in public opinion polls, called for a “Canada First” dollar-for-dollar retaliation against the US, echoing Trump’s “America First” slogan.

Poilievre said income from Canadian tariffs should be earmarked for supporting workers and businesses, alongside tax cuts, expanding energy and trade infrastructure, and investing in its military and borders.

A softwood lumber trade group in British Columbia decried what it called “a punitive, unjustified protectionist measure” and said Trump’s tariffs will increase building costs at a time when affordability is already a concern for Americans. The new tariffs add to existing duties already imposed by the US.

Danielle Smith, premier of Canada’s oil heartland of Alberta, took partial credit for the lower 10% tariff on energy and reiterated her opposition to restricting or taxing Canadian energy exports in retaliation.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> RELX PLC (RELX), together with its subsidiaries, provides information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Risk; Scientific, Technical & Medical; Legal; and Exhibitions.

The Risk segment offers information-based analytics and decision tools that combine public and industry specific content with technology and algorithms to assist clients in evaluating and predicting risk.

The Scientific, Technical & Medical segment provides information and data sets that help researchers and healthcare professionals to advance science and health outcomes.

The Legal segment provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics that help customers in decision-making, as well as increases the productivity.

The Exhibitions segment is involved in the business that combines face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source products, and complete transactions.

The company was formerly known as Reed Elsevier PLC and changed its name to RELX PLC in July 2015. RELX PLC was incorporated in 1903 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

<<<

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/RELX/profile/

---

[gfp927z]

>>> Haleon plc (HLN), together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands. It also offers various over-the-counter products comprising nasal drops, and cold, flu, and allergy relief products under Otrivine, Theraflu, and Flonase brands for respiratory issues; anti-inflammatory and pain relief products under Voltaren, Panadol, and Advil brands; and antacids and antihistamine products under TUMS, ENO, and Fenistil brands for digestive health and other issues. The company was formerly known as DRVW 2022 plc and changed its name to Haleon plc in February 2022. Haleon plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Weybridge, the United Kingdom. <<<


https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/HLN/profile/


---

[CyberMunk]

US markets seems to rise more which will be directly impacting the European markets.

Cyber Munk SEO Agency

[gfp927z]

While the US markets zoom, it looks like most of the global markets are tanking, with numerous countries down 2-3%, especially in Europe. But beyond Trump's proposed 10% tariff on European imports, having the Ukraine war ended should be a big plus for Europe.

Some regions / countries are up today, including Israel, India, Turkey, Vietnam, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Kuwait.


https://seekingalpha.com/etfs-and-funds/etf-tables/countries


---

[gfp927z]

>>> Switzerland abandons neutrality


MSN

Tagtik

10-19-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/switzerland-abandons-neutrality/ar-AA1synRT?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=10705d38fe3c4d4382f620a7e2c1ec7e&ei=17


Switzerland is set to join the European Sky Shield Initiative, a project aimed at creating a shared missile defense system for Europe, as announced by the Swiss government on Friday.

This initiative began after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with Germany proposing the joint defense project.

Urs Loher, Switzerland's head of armaments, signed the agreement, making Switzerland the 15th member of the initiative.

"With its participation in the ESSI, Switzerland is increasing international opportunities for cooperation: ESSI enables better coordination of procurement projects, training and logistical aspects in the area of ground-based air defence," the government said in a statement.

The countries involved aim to develop a defense system against medium-range missiles, although other plans are also under consideration, according to the Swiss government.

However, the move has faced criticism, as it marks a departure from Switzerland's long-standing tradition of neutrality. The government has argued that the initiative is still compatible with its neutral stance because it doesn't impose any obligations, allowing Switzerland to choose its level of involvement in the joint military project.

Additionally, Switzerland reserves the right to withdraw if any member becomes involved in a conflict.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Allegion plc (ALLE) manufactures and sells mechanical and electronic security products and solutions worldwide. The company offers door controls and systems and exit devices; locks, locksets, portable locks, and key systems and services; electronic security products and access control systems; time, attendance, and workforce productivity systems; doors, accessories, and other. It also provides services and software, which includes inspection, maintenance, and repair services for its automatic entrance solutions; and software as a service, including access control, IoT integration, and workforce management solutions, as well as aftermarket services, design and installation offerings, and locksmith services.

The company sells its products and solutions to end-users in commercial, institutional, and residential facilities, including education, healthcare, government, hospitality, retail, commercial office, and single and multi-family residential markets under the CISA, Interflex, LCN, Schlage, SimonsVoss, and Von Duprin brands.

It sells its products and solutions through distribution and retail channels, such as specialty distribution, e-commerce, and wholesalers, as well as through various retail channels comprising do-it-yourself home improvement centers, online and e-commerce platforms, and small specialty showroom outlets. Allegion plc was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

<<<


https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ALLE/profile/


---

[gfp927z]

>>> BAE Systems Uses 3D Printing for New Tempest Fighter Jet Demonstrator


3D Printing Industry

by Alex Tyrer-Jones

July 26th 2024


https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/bae-systems-uses-3d-printing-for-new-tempest-fighter-jet-demonstrator-231884/


British aerospace firm BAE Systems is producing a supersonic demonstrator to support the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).

The piloted aircraft prototype will be used to test a slew of new technologies, including stealth-compatible features. Set to be the first UK combat air demonstrator in 40 years, these tests will support the development of the Tempest next-generation fighter jet.

Initiated in 2022, GCAP has combined Japan’s F-X program with the UK and Italy’s Team Tempest project. It is working to produce a sixth-generation supersonic combat aircraft by 2035. BAE is leading the project alongside Italian defense contractor Leonardo, and Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The British defense firm is leveraging additive manufacturing to produce primary structural components for the demonstrator, most of which are being made in the UK. According to Paul Wilde, head of Tempest at BAE Systems, “There are parts on the aircraft that you can't make in other ways now than using additive processes.”

3D printing was already understood to be playing a key role in developing and manufacturing the Tempest aircraft. BAE previously claimed that 30% of the Tempest’s parts will be 3D printed.

The company has also unveiled the latest design of the GCAP fighter aircraft, showcasing a life-sized Tempest replica at the Farnborough International Air Show this week. The model incorporates new design features, including a larger wingspan than previous concepts. This will reportedly improve the aircraft’s aerodynamics.

BAE officials have reported that the demonstrator passed a critical design review (CDR) in May. Half the aircraft prototype’s weight has now been manufactured or assembled, with the front center, rear and wing sections being built.

Structural parts are being produced using additive manufacturing processes, including industrial 3D printing and Hot Isostatic Press (HIP).

HIP presses powdered titanium together under intense heat and pressure to produce metal parts. This minimizes waste and significantly reduces the lead times associated with forgings. According to BAE, project engineers have also leveraged design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) when producing structural parts.

The time savings enabled by additive manufacturing will likely play a key role in achieving the short development time of the Tempest. The aircraft is set to be delivered just 12 years after signing the trilateral agreement. This is roughly half the time it took to produce the previous-generation Eurofighter Typhoon.

According to a report from the Financial Times, BAE is 3D printing molds that will be used to manufacture carbon fiber components for the Tempest. These “mold tools” are traditionally made from steel, generally taking 26 weeks to produce with conventional manufacturing methods. Using additive manufacturing, BAE can fabricate a complete tool in just three weeks.

By creating the Tempest, GCAP is seeking to produce one of the most advanced, interoperable, adaptable and connected fighter jets in the world. It is set to incorporate an intelligent weapons system, a software-driven interactive cockpit, and integrated sensors. Next-generation radar will reportedly provide 10,000 times more data than current systems.

According to BAE, the Tempest will also become the first UK-made tactical combat aircraft to feature an “integrated payload bay” since the Blackburn Buccaneer in 1958. Additionally, the supersonic fighter jet is expected to be the first flying platform with a Pyramid avionic design architecture, increasing its adaptability.

BAE’s demonstrator will provide evidence for the critical technologies, methods and tools to be incorporated into the future combat air system.

In Warton, Lancashire, test pilots from BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, and the Royal Air Force (RAF) have already spent over 215 hours in the demonstrator’s flight simulator. While the Tempest demonstrator is a UK sovereign effort, the lessons learned will be fed back into the tri-national GCAP program.

Japan has already flown its future fighter demonstrator, the Mitsubishi X-2, which took to the air back in 2016. Under current plans, BAE’s demonstrator is expected to fly within the next three years.

By adopting additive manufacturing for fighter jet production, Western countries are seeking to gain an edge in an increasingly fraught geopolitical environment. However, Russia and China have also adopted 3D printing to boost their military aircraft production capabilities.

The Russian military has previously used 3D printing to upgrade MiG-31 jets. Carried out by UEC-Perm Motors and UEC-Star, an affiliate of the state-owned Rostec conglomerate, the upgrades significantly enhanced the interceptor aircraft’s engine performance.

Engineers at UEC-Perm Motors and UEC-Star reportedly 3D printed parts of the MiG’s D-30F6 engine, allowing it to perform at a ‘new qualitative level.’ Additional R&D reportedly enable the production of ‘native engines’ that deliver ‘much better performance.’ Prior to this, Rostec gained a license from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade to serially 3D print aerospace parts. This followed a successful state-backed test of an additive-manufactured aircraft engine.

Elsewhere, it has been reported that China’s Shenyang Aircraft Company (SAC) has extensively used 3D printing in fighter jet production. Additive manufacturing technology is understood to have enabled lighter, more durable aircraft part assemblies.

In 2022, Doctor Li Xiaodan of Shenyang Aircraft Company’s craft research institute told China Central Television (CCTV) that “3D printed parts were widely used on a newly-developed aircraft that has made its maiden flight not long ago.” He added that “We are applying 3D printing technologies on aircraft on a large scale at an engineering level, and we are in a world-leading position.”

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Eaton Corporation (NYSE:ETN) is a multinational power management company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. With a diversified portfolio spanning electrical, hydraulic, vehicle transmissions, and industrial control systems, Eaton is able to cater to a wide range of industries.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-best-dividend-stocks-buy-114500212.html

Eaton’s relatively low payout ratio and growing cash flow display positive signs for future dividend raises. The company has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years and has maintained a payout ratio of around 40-50%. This is a testament to its diversified business model, providing stable revenue and cash flow from operations. Furthermore, its business has never looked stronger after emerging from its pandemic slump in 2020. Management’s strong execution has translated to significant revenue and earnings per share growth over the last 3 years.

Additionally, its growth is accelerating in the 2024 fiscal year. In Q1 FY24, revenue increased 8% year over year to $5.94 billion. It saw record segment margins of 23.1%, up 340 basis points from the year prior. For investors seeking the best dividend stocks to buy in 2024, ETN stock should certainly be kept on your radar.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Linde plc (LIN) operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene. The company also designs and constructs turnkey process plants for third-party customers, as well as for the gas businesses in various locations, such as air separation, hydrogen, synthesis, olefin, and natural gas plants. It serves a range of industries, including healthcare, chemicals and energy, manufacturing, metals and mining, food and beverage, and electronics. The company was founded in 1879 and is based in Woking, the United Kingdom.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Motorola (MSI) Opens R&D Facility in Ireland to Drive Innovation


Zacks Equity Research

Jul 8, 2024


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/motorola-msi-opens-r-d-161300593.html


Motorola Solutions, Inc. MSI recently announced the inauguration of a new research and development center in Cork, Ireland. Motorola already boasts a strong presence in the country. The company acquired TETRA Ireland Communications Limited in 2022 to strengthen its land mobile radio (LMR) communications portfolio and its worldwide Managed & Support Services business. Motorola currently provides its secure communications network to emergency services for Ireland’s National Digital Radio Service.

The latest R&D center at Cork's vibrant city center will house 200 highly skilled workers. The new facility will primarily focus on designing software for Motorola Solutions' LMR portfolio. Plans to expand into other technologies are also in the cards.

Motorola’s mission critical LMR technology is gaining solid traction due to its robust and secure communications capabilities, engineered to operate even in the most extreme environments. So far more than 13,000 LMR networks have been deployed by various government agencies and enterprises globally.

Motorola boasts a rich legacy of innovation; the launch of the first car radios in the 1930s and its role in Apollo missions are testaments of that heritage. Over the past decade, Motorola has invested more than $12 billion in R&D and acquisitions to develop a leading-edge and comprehensive safety and security portfolio. With LMR representing the foundational core, Motorola is at the forefront of developing communications, video security, artificial intelligence and command center technologies to address the diverse scale of safety and security challenges.

Motorola recently acquired Noggin, a global provider of critical event management software. Noggin’s product offerings facilitate effective communications and unified procedures during incidents, fostering enhanced collaboration and a more proactive approach to safety and security. The buyout has strengthened Motorola’s portfolio for emergency coordination solutions.

Management’s strong focus on innovations and expansion of technological capabilities combined with strategic buyouts will bolster its position in the industry. The company remains poised to benefit from strong commercial growth backed by a diversified portfolio for a large addressable market.

The stock has gained 31.9% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 45.9%.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

France - Far Right ->>> The Making of the 28-Year-Old Star of France’s Far Right


The Wall Street Journal

by Noemie Bisserbe, Stacy Meichtry

7-3-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-making-of-the-28-year-old-star-of-france-s-far-right/ar-BB1pjh2d?cvid=59bb8ebe8c9d43fcfc0a2406a85f8b44&ei=35


SAINT-DENIS, France—Six years ago, a media specialist was called to the headquarters of National Rally to groom the party’s new spokesman: a clean-cut 22-year-old by the name of Jordan Bardella.

The assignment was sensitive. Bardella was the protégé of Marine Le Pen and a key part of the party’s rebranding strategy.

The adviser was initially skeptical of whether Bardella was relatable. He was young but seemed rigid and stodgy, recalled Pascal Humeau, a former journalist who specializes in media training, in an interview. His style was formal, perennially dressed in a suit and tie, with hair neatly parted at the side. He lived in a manicured suburb and refused to take the subway, preferring to drive around town in the two-seat Smart car his father had given him.

But there was one facet of Bardella that Humeau found promising. He had grown up in a housing project in Saint-Denis, an area on the outskirts of Paris that to many voters was synonymous with crime, poverty and France’s decadeslong struggle to integrate its large Muslim minority.

Under the spin doctor’s tutelage, Bardella developed talking points that portrayed him as a guy who “comes from a place where you can die for refusing to give someone a cigarette, for a sideways glance,” Humeau recalled, adding: “I came up with that.”

Bardella’s new persona would come to embody the shapeshifting National Rally party and help carry it to the threshold of power. On Sunday, his forces clobbered those of President Emmanuel Macron in the first round of elections for the National Assembly, putting National Rally within striking distance of a majority in the 577-seat lower house. If National Rally prevails in final voting July 7, Bardella, now 28, is expected to become France’s first far-right head of government since the Vichy regime collaborated with Nazi Germany.

Taking the reins of government would allow National Rally to make its case that, after decades on the fringes of French politics, a Le Pen is ready for the presidency, the country’s highest office, when Macron’s term expires in 2027.

It’s a stunning turn of events as Paris is just weeks away from hosting the Summer Olympics.

The election has largely hinged on public anxieties over rising immigration and a perceived decline of living standards among working- and middle-class French. As immigrants from North Africa and other parts of the Muslim world have settled in France’s blighted banlieues—or suburbs—over the decades, they have brought with them religious customs that voters say collide with the strictly secular values of the French republic.

Le Pen, Bardella and National Rally have tapped into those anxieties, casting Macron and France’s political establishment as deeply out of touch with voters who fear immigration has changed the face of the country.

Gaining the top job would mark an extraordinary rise for Bardella, who is the day-to-day party chief but has no experience governing at the national level.

Still, he works closely with Le Pen, the party’s ideological authority, referring to her at times as “my other mom” or addressing her privately as “my queen,” according to Humeau.

Party’s metamorphosis

Bardella and Le Pen declined interview requests for this article. Interviews with current and former National Rally officials who mentored Bardella at the start of his meteoric rise reveal an adaptable politician who mirrors National Rally’s own metamorphosis.

Once a protest party defined by antisemitic and euroskeptic rhetoric, National Rally has morphed under Bardella into a mainstream force rooted in nationalist identity politics.

National Rally wants to restrict the rights of foreign residents living legally in France and tighten access to citizenship, welfare and housing. It also aims to bar people with dual nationality from holding “strategic” government jobs and to ban women from wearing Muslim headscarves in any public space—including the sidewalks of Paris—though Bardella has recently said the stance won’t be a priority.

Bardella has cast such measures as a means to defend France and French culture against an immigrant “submersion” that threatens to alter the country’s demography, echoing a conspiracy theory known as “le grand remplacement,” or great replacement, which was invented by French author Renaud Camus more than a decade ago and spread across the West. It asserts that global elites are bent on replacing Europe’s white population through mass migration from nonwhite regions of the world.

“I don’t like the word “great replacement” because I don’t think it’s clear. It’s a very intellectual slogan, but it points to a reality that is true,” Bardella said on national TV in 2021, adding: “Go for a walk in the neighborhoods where I grew up, in Seine-Saint-Denis.”

When a panelist interjected, asking Bardella if he was “talking about skin color,” Bardella replied: “I’m talking about culture, the implanting on our soil of a civilization with whom we share nothing.”

Located just north of Paris, Saint-Denis has long been a symbol of France’s national identity. Buried under its namesake basilica are the remains of French kings dating back to the Middle Ages. A stone’s throw away rises the Stade de France, the national soccer stadium that will be center stage when Paris hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics. Around two billion euros have been funneled into a sleek Olympic Village to house athletes nearby. Once the Games are over, the lodgings will be converted into offices and housing, some of it subsidized.

The investment is designed to turn around an area that suffers from joblessness and crime. In Saint-Denis, the rate of poverty stood at 36% in 2021, compared with the 14.5% national average. The number of drug trafficking offenses per capita was more than eight times the national average in 2023, and the number of assaults per capita was double, according to French authorities.

Saint-Denis was also the place where the carnage of the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, which killed 130 people, began and ended. Islamic State militants—some of whom were French nationals—attacked the Stade de France with suicide vests as their cohorts fanned out across central Paris, gunning down people in cafes, restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall. The militants’ ringleader holed up in Saint-Denis until, days later, he died in a shootout with police as explosions rocked the neighborhood.

Bardella grew up in a public-housing project with his mother, an Italian immigrant, who worked a low-paying job as a teacher’s assistant at a local nursery school. Bardella recalled looking down from his eighth-floor apartment at what he described as a Quranic school where young girls wore Muslim headscarves.

“For some people this isn’t a problem. For me it is,” he said.

Bardella spent weekends and holidays with his father, who ran a small business and lived in a more affluent Paris suburb. In Saint-Denis, he interned at a local police station and attended private Catholic schools that taught its religious precepts even though many students came from Muslim families in the neighborhood. His high school bars students from bringing cellphones on campus or wearing clothing such as tracksuits, headscarves and baseball caps. An administrator said the school didn’t have any problems with violence, and students who acted up were expelled.

“He didn’t see what I saw growing up,” said Fatih Murat, a 29-year-old driver, who attended the public high school around the corner from Bardella’s apartment. The only field trip Murat’s class ever took outside the area, he said, was to the main courthouse in central Paris.

In 2012, when he was just 16 years old, Bardella joined the National Front, as the party was then known. Jean-Marie Le Pen had recently handed the reins of his party to his daughter, Marine, who set out to “de-demonize” the image of a party founded by her father and Pierre Bousquet, who was a member of the French division of the Waffen-SS during World War II.

The National Front had been ostracized over the years as France grappled with its role in deporting tens of thousands of French Jews to Nazi death camps. The isolation deepened when Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1987 described the Nazi gas chambers as a mere “detail” of history. He would repeat the comment in 2015, prompting his daughter to oust him from the party.

Marine Le Pen set out to recruit a new generation of party leaders who weren’t weighed down by historical baggage. In Bardella, they found an energetic teen who was ready to pound the pavement in Saint-Denis, a city where the party was thin on the ground.

“He was really passionate about politics, which is quite rare. At his age people usually think about other things,” said Wallerand de Saint-Just, a longtime party member and regional councilor.

Le Pen wanted to broaden the party’s focus from immigration, which animated its base, toward economic issues such as housing and education that her lieutenant at the time, Florian Philippot, believed would appeal to mainstream voters. They crafted a platform that called for a rollback of the European Union and the euro as a way for France to take back its economic destiny.

Philippot took Bardella under his wing after he graduated from high school and became secretary of the party’s Seine-Saint-Denis chapter. One day Bardella invited Philippot to speak in his chapter before accompanying him on the car ride back to Paris.

“I’m fed up, in the banlieues, of only talking about immigration,” Philippot recalled Bardella telling him. “People have lots of other problems that need to be tackled head on.”

Philippot thought he had found a kindred spirit in Bardella, and he used his sway within the party to push the young politician up the party ticket in the 2015 local elections. The move helped Bardella, at 20 years old, become a regional councilor.

Bardella dropped out of the Sorbonne university, where he had been studying geography. By now, Bardella was living in an apartment that his father had lent to him in the more affluent town of Enghien-les-Bains. His father also gave him the Smart car so that he wouldn’t have to take the subway, something he’s always hated, according to Humeau, the media trainer.

Le Pen’s loss to Macron in the 2017 presidential election forced her ranks into yet another revamp. The party ditched its opposition to the euro, refocused around crime and immigration and changed its name to National Rally. Philippot, who opposed the shift, left the party, but Bardella stayed and thrived.

“He’s a chameleon. He’s not bothered by his convictions, because he doesn’t have any,” Philippot said.

‘Jordan, you’re handsome!’

In 2018, a close Le Pen aide reached out to Humeau to help the party improve its image and credibility. Le Pen wanted Bardella trained up. Humeau had seen interviews of her protégé on TV and thought he thought he was “extremely stiff.”

“I said ‘No, it’s not possible, he’s no good,’” Humeau recalled.

But the former journalist said he was pleasantly surprised when he finally met Bardella in person, finding him laid back and friendly.

Humeau advised Bardella to loosen up in public and start acting his age. He wanted Bardella, above all, to lean into his past. French voters, Humeau said, could relate to someone growing up on the mean streets of Saint-Denis and struggling to make ends meet, with “nothing but 10 euros on the kitchen table at the end of the month.”

Bardella went on to win a seat in the European Parliament in 2019.

He began dating one of Le Pen’s nieces and started building a following on TikTok. His posts alternated between clips of his biting repartee on debate shows and quieter moments, strolling through a field with Le Pen.

One video that was viewed 1.6 million times features him moving through a crush of young people in a Paris nightclub. The crowd chants his name amid the boom of techno music and cries of “Jordan, you’re handsome!”

Charlotte Gicquel, a 19-year-old student from Cholet, a town in western France, turned up at the Paris nightclub, waiting for over an hour to take a selfie with Bardella.

“Young people who were not at all interested in politics before, are now paying attention,” said Gicquel, who follows Bardella on TikTok. “He knows what he’s talking about, and he’s convincing.”

In early June, Gicquel and millions of other French voted to re-elect Bardella to the European Parliament in elections that saw National Rally garner 31% of the vote, an unprecedented score for the party.

Moments after the votes were counted, Macron went on national TV to announce he was calling snap elections for France’s own parliament. The president later cast the new vote as a moment of truth for whether voters were just blowing off steam with their European ballots or truly supported National Rally’s anti-immigrant agenda. It was a huge gamble. If Le Pen’s forces won a majority Macron would be compelled to appoint a prime minister from her ranks.

Le Pen responded by announcing Bardella would be the party’s choice, thrusting him into the brightest of political spotlights. Now, he had to win over a much tougher crowd: the country’s business establishment.

Patrick Martin, president of the national business lobby, summoned leaders of the top political parties to present their economic program to an amphitheater packed with entrepreneurs. Earlier in the day, Martin had been quoted in Le Figaro newspaper panning National Rally’s agenda as “dangerous for the economy.”

Bardella took the stage and immediately directed a quip at Martin. “It’s always nice to wake up in the morning and be called a danger by the person who invited you an hour later,” he said.

Business leaders wanted to know how Bardella was going to fund his plans to slash France’s value-added tax from 22% to 5.5% on fuel and electricity, a measure that would cost billions of euros. He said he planned to cut France’s contribution to the EU, and crack down on immigration. They also grilled him about whether National Rally would follow through on its pledge to roll back Macron’s pension overhaul, which raised the legal age of retirement to 64 from 62. Later retirements underpinned billions of corporate tax cuts that Macron had introduced.

Bardella responded that people who started to work before the age of 20 should be able to retire at 60. But given the current state of the country’s public finances, he said, the room for maneuver for other workers was limited. “I’m not going to sell you things that I won’t be able to do,” Bardella said.

A sigh of relief swept the room with one voice saying: “OK, so he’s not doing it.”

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Sino-French satellite launched into orbit, China's CCTV says


by Reuters

6-22-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sino-french-satellite-launched-into-orbit-china-s-cctv-says/ar-BB1oHazN?OCID=ansmsnnews11


SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - A satellite developed by China and France, the most powerful yet for studying the farthest explosion of stars, was launched into orbit on Saturday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The satellite to study phenomena including gamma-ray bursts was lifted into orbit by a Chinese carrier rocket launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, CCTV said.

The launch of the Space Variable Objects Monitor will play an important role in astronomical discoveries, the broadcaster said, citing the China National Space Administration.

It is the first astronomy satellite developed by China and France, although they developed the China-France Oceanography Satellite, launched in 2018, China Daily reported in April.

China's advances in space and lunar exploration are rapidly outpacing those of the United States, attracting partners from European and Asian countries as a result.

China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe this month carried to the far side of the moon payloads from the European Space Agency, as well as from Pakistani, French and Italian research institutes.

China is working with countries including Brazil, Egypt and Thailand to develop and launch satellites.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Far-right, nationalist parties gain strong support in European Parliament election


Business Insider

June 9, 2024


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/far-right-nationalist-parties-gain-strong-support-in-european-parliament-election/ar-BB1nV4oJ?cvid=a95a360dcd934160a8c3d21e956b2feb&ei=69


Voters across the European Union are voting for a new European Parliament in elections this week.

Nationalist and populist figures now have an advantage in France, Italy, Austria, and Belgium.

Early results for the European Union's parliamentary elections show a surge in support for far-right and nationalist parties, according to multiple reports.


The EU elections, held in 27 countries from June 6 to 9, showed especially strong support for anti-immigrant, nationalist figures in France and Germany — two of the continent's largest powers often regarded as drivers behind the experiment of pooled sovereignty — The New York Times reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced he would dissolve France's National Assembly (the lower house of the French Parliament) after the country's far-right party, the National Rally, led by the French lawyer Marine Le Pen, handily defeated Macron's Renew Party, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The dissolution of the assembly is a high-stakes gamble that means new elections are being held between June 30 and July 7. It could result in Macron's Renew Party losing additional seats to rivals in the anti-immigrant National Rally.

"This is a serious, weighty decision, but above all, it's an act of trust," Macron said of his decision, according to the Journal. "Confidence in you, confidence in the ability of the French people to make the right choice for themselves and for future generations."

The Associated Press reported that Alternative for Germany, or AfD — considered a "suspected" extremist group by German authorities — also surged in support. AfD overtook Germany's Social Democratic Party, which has been the leading party in the country since Olaf Scholz was elected chancellor in 2021.

The AP reported that AfD received 16.5% of the vote, up from 11% in 2019, compared with a combined 30% for the three parties in Germany's governing coalition.

Polls also showed populist politicians had an advantage in Italy, Belgium, and Austria, the outlet reported.

The AP noted that since the 2019 European Parliament elections, far-right politicians have led in Hungary, Italy, and Slovakia and are part of ruling coalitions in Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands. The Times reported that the parties had gained support in large part because of a focus on nationalism and identity tied to anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.

If early results are confirmed, this year's elections would strengthen the right's power across the European Union and offer a stunning rebuke to Europe's political establishment. Should more far-right parties gain power, it would become harder for the parliament to pass laws across the EU and probably impact negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, as much of the EU's far-right has a pro-Russia stance, pushing for a peace deal between the countries on Russia's terms, the Times reported.

Firmer figures from this year's elections are expected late Sunday night.

Representatives for the European Parliament didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

European solar - >>> Losing hope of rescue, some European solar firms head to US


Reuters

by Sarah McFarlane and Riham Alkousaa

4-15-24


https://www.yahoo.com/news/losing-hope-rescue-european-solar-060514885.html


FRIEBERG, Germany (Reuters) - European governments due to move to support their solar power manufacturers this week will be too late to stop solar panel maker Meyer Burger packing up a German factory to send production to the United States.

The plant in Freiberg in eastern Germany closed in mid-March with the loss of 500 jobs, as the Swiss-listed firm joined a growing list of European renewable energy manufacturing factories shutting down or moving. In the past year, at least 10 have said they are in financial difficulties.

On a recent visit to the site, giant white robotic arms hung dormant over empty wooden pallets as workers prepared the last production line for shutdown. Talks with the German federal government to try to secure a future for the factory ended without success in late March, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

Germany's economy ministry said it was aware of the "very serious situation" of German companies and has been examining funding options with the industry for over a year. It agreed to give Meyer Burger an export credit guarantee for equipment produced in Germany to be used at the U.S. factories, which will help a site nearby but won't save the Freiberg one.

The closure, which in one sweep reduced European solar panel production by 10%, comes despite a boom in wind and solar energy in Europe. Additions to renewable energy capacity, including solar panels, are running at record pace, according to data from the International Energy Agency.

But Europe-based manufacturers that supply those panels are being crushed by competition from China and the U.S., whose governments give more support to their producers.

The situation poses a dilemma for European governments keen to fight climate change: Either offer more support to ensure local production can stay competitive, or allow the unfettered flow of imports to keep up the pace of installations. A meeting in Brussels between European energy ministers on Monday will make a gesture of support for the struggling industry.

China is expanding solar output and now accounts for 80% of the world's solar manufacturing capacity. The cost of producing panels there is around 12 cents per watt of energy generated, compared with 22 cents in Europe, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie.

U.S. subsidies announced as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allow some renewable energy manufacturers and project developers to claim tax credits, which are attracting businesses from within the European Union and beyond.

Meyer Burger says its plans include a solar panel factory in Arizona and a solar cell factory in Colorado.

"We made a bold move in the absence of any industry policy support in Europe and shifted a solar cell expansion project from Germany to the U.S.," its chief executive Gunter Erfurt told Reuters in an interview.

Similarly, battery company Freyr which operates mostly in Norway, has stopped work at a half-finished plant near the Arctic Circle and is focusing on plans for a plant in the U.S. state of Georgia after Washington announced the policy.

Freyr said in February it had changed its registration to the U.S. from Luxembourg.

"We did spend quite a bit of time trying to really make sure that we weren't committing a mistake," said Birger Steen, chief executive of Freyr: The company first hunted for support from Norwegian or European governments.

"We got to the point where we concluded that that form of policy level response was not forthcoming."

Asked to comment, Norway's ministry of trade and industry said that it had launched an industrial policy framework targeting energy transition technologies including solar and batteries, but did not directly address questions about additional funding for the companies in this story.

CHARTER

At Monday's meeting, the European Commission will launch a voluntary charter for governments and companies to sign in support of solar manufacturing plants. Industry association Solar Power Europe will coordinate company signatories. But the charter, which says that buyers of solar panels should include some domestic production in what they buy, is not enforceable, Solar Power Europe said.

Michael Bloss, EU parliament member for Greens, launched a petition earlier this month calling for action at a European level to rescue panel manufacturers.

Bloss says he is pushing for the European Commission to set up a 200 million euro ($213 million) fund to buy up unused European-made solar panels, but Europe has been unwilling to pursue that. The European Commission declined to comment.

"We are -- in headlines and Sunday speeches -- very much in favour of creating our own solar industry, but then in action, nothing happens," Bloss told Reuters.

"The charter will be more like a political declaration signed by member states, solar companies and the Commission, it's more long term, it has no immediate effect."

In February, European policymakers adopted the Net-Zero Industry Act, a set of measures including a target to produce 40% of the region's clean tech needs by 2030.

The previous month, the EU also approved almost $1 billion of German state aid for a Swedish battery producer, Northvolt, to help it set up a production plant in Germany after Northvolt threatened to take its business to the United States. It was the first time the bloc made use of an exceptional measure allowing member countries to step in with aid when there's a risk of investment leaving Europe.

But aid for ongoing operations has not been forthcoming, amid political disagreement over how much public funds should go to struggling businesses.

Decisions about supporting industries or firms like Meyer Burger are down to member states, a spokesperson for the European Commission told Reuters. Germany's economy and climate ministry believes aid to maintain an existing company like Meyer Burger would not be legal "if there is a lack of market prospects from the company's perspective," a spokesperson told Reuters.

Potential customers -- renewable energy installers that depend heavily on cheap Chinese imports -- have also pushed back against any new subsidies for local panels, arguing such moves could hurt them by causing consumers to postpone orders as they wait for the subsidies to kick in.

INTERTWINED

More than a year's worth of low-price imported panels sit in European warehouses awaiting installation, according to consultancy Rystad Energy and solar panel makers. Reuters could not independently verify that estimate.

That backlog could grow as Chinese capacity continues to expand, Rystad says: If all the plans Chinese firms have announced go ahead, China's industry will be able to make twice as many panels as are expected to be installed worldwide in 2024, said Marius Mordal Bakke, senior analyst at Rystad.

Dresden-based Solarwatt is carrying six to nine months of stocks, up from around six weeks, its chief executive Detlef Neuhaus told Reuters in March.

The company laid off around 10% of its employees last year and says its local panel production is running at roughly one-third of capacity.

"This industry is so important for the future, we cannot allow that we are losing all our competence," said Neuhaus.

Analysts say it's not clear what support could actually help, because firms like Meyer Burger produce a fraction of the volumes made by those in China, or planned in the U.S.

"They are tiny, so they will always struggle with volume, not just to compete with Chinese producers but also with U.S. producers," said Eugen Perger, senior analyst at Research Partners AG.

And local clean technology industries are so globally intertwined it's hard for European manufacturers to imagine a fully independent supply chain.

Norway-based NorSun, which produces solar wafers – thin silicon film used in panels – said Chinese equipment is crucial to both its plant in Norway and a proposed facility in the U.S. The company has halted production at the Norway plant while it decides whether to upgrade it.

Most of the equipment for either project would have to come from China. "There's essentially no other option," said Carsten Rohr, chief commercial officer at NorSun.

DEJA VU

Freiberg has been here before. Since the 1990s, companies setting up operations in the region have benefited from federal funding programmes to rebuild east Germany and help it close the gap with western Germany's prosperity.

New industries sprang up, including in solar and semiconductors. But Freiberg took a big hit in the 2010s after China's solar industry boosted production and undercut competitors.

In 2020, the German government removed a cap on subsidies for solar power installations which helped lift demand. In 2021, the EU's Green Deal signalled political support for future demand, and Russia's full invasion of Ukraine also helped solar deployment.

Meyer Burger, which is headquartered in Gwatt, Switzerland, only set up production in Freiberg in 2021 as the industry started coming back to life. It refurbished a bankrupt solar company's plant that had stood unused for almost three years.

For a while it became one of the town's largest employers, mayor Sven Krueger confirmed.

"This is the second time the German solar industry is at risk. They failed once already," said apprentice Max Lange, 19, greeting colleagues with a silent nod as they cleaned idled machinery on the factory floor.

"If it fails again, I doubt that I will be able to pursue a career in the European solar industry, because I don't think it will come back," he said, wondering aloud if he might instead find work in the U.S. solar industry.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Why the death of North Sea oil is a disaster for Britain


The Telegraph

by Jonathan Leake

April 7, 2024


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-death-north-sea-oil-050000216.html


Decommissioning is the new name of the game – despite an estimated 25 billion barrels of untapped oil

Far out in the North Sea a deserted but massive oil platform awaits its fate. Brent Charlie is the last remainder of the Brent field – a resource so big it once provided a third of the UK’s daily oil needs.

Discovered in the 1970s, the Brent field at one point produced 184 million barrels of oil a year, earning billions for Shell, its owner, plus £20bn in tax revenues for the Exchequer. It was so big it needed four massive platforms to extract its riches – Brent Charlie, Alpha, Bravo and Delta.

Today Alpha, Bravo and Delta have gone, cut from their supports and taken to the scrapyards.

Later this year Brent Charlie will also have its legs cut from under it and be lifted on to Pioneering Spirit – a giant ship specially designed to rip apart decaying oil and gas installations.

Pioneering Spirit and the growing fleet of similar oil rig-slaughtering vessels are set for some busy years. In the waters around the UK, hundreds more oil and gas installations are falling silent. Fifty years after the North Sea bonanza began, the final decline is upon us.

As well as hauling the retired rigs to shore, nearly 8,000 wells that were drilled deep into the seabed must also be plugged.

The decline of the North Sea has implications not just for energy policy and tax income, but public finances more broadly.

We face a huge bill – potentially up to £60bn – to clean up the North Sea.

The energy companies are responsible for decommissioning, but tax breaks mean much of that money will be reclaimed from the Exchequer - and ultimately taxpayers.

Last year alone more than 200 oil and gas wells were plugged, eight platforms were removed and 8,000 tonnes of subsea structures were taken out of the ocean – with another 250km of seabed pipelines being decommissioned. Another 180 of the UK’s 284 oil and gas fields will close down by the end of the decade.

Mass closures are not the result of eco-protests, nor because of a lack of demand.

Supply isn’t dwindling either. Over the last five decades oil and gas equivalent to 47 billion barrels of oil have been extracted, but seismic surveys suggest another 25 billion remain.

Instead, operators blame punitive taxes for the rapid pullback, with some facing levies of more than 100pc on their profits.

Production is now in rapid decline.

Data from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), the government’s regulator, shows UK oil production peaked at 150 million tonnes of oil a year in 2000 – roughly double the nation’s consumption. We also produced about 108 billion cubic metres of gas – about 20 billion more than we consumed.

Exports, jobs and taxes were all booming. The oil and gas industry was employing 500,000 people directly or in its supply chains and its products were the essential fuels powering not just our homes and vehicles but the whole UK economy.

Over the five decades to 2020 the offshore industry poured around £400bn of taxes into the Treasury’s coffers.

The contrast with now could hardly be greater. Last year the UK produced just 38 million tonnes of oil, down by 74pc from its peak and about 20 million tonnes less than we need. Gas production was 30 billion cubic metres – less than half our needs.

Employment has fallen to 130,000. So too has the tax take, to around £3bn.

Meanwhile, the UK’s reliance on oil and gas has hardly changed. We still get 75pc of our total energy from oil and gas – just like two decades ago.

Fossil fuels may be warming the climate but they are also essential to heating the 27 million homes reliant on gas or oil-powered boilers. Around 30 million vehicles still run on diesel or petrol and gas-fired power stations provide over a third of our electricity.

We still consume 77 billion cubic metres of gas a year or 1,100 cubic metres per person, the volume of 14 double-decker buses. We also consume about 60 million tonnes of oil – nearly a tonne per person. Imagine several wheelie bins of oil for each citizen, including children.

Whatever the green lobby claims and whatever politicians promise, the fact is that the UK remains a fossil-fuelled nation.

Will that change? Fossil fuel consumption has declined a little and should fall faster if the Government can persuade us to install heat pumps, buy electric cars and change our lives in all the other ways required by net zero.

But what’s becoming all too clear is that our consumption of fossil fuels will never fall as fast as the decline in our North Sea supplies.

It means that for at least the next few decades the UK will be increasingly reliant on imports – with all the vulnerability to global markets, price shocks and the whims of dictators such as Putin that this implies.

Two decades ago we were producing enough oil and gas for the nation and exporting some. Now we face energy poverty and reliance on other nations to keep our homes warm, our lights on and our vehicles moving.

How did it come to this?

Black gold

“Dear God, give us another oil boom. Next time we won’t p*** it up against the wall”.

The words of an anonymous graffiti artist scrawled on a wall some years ago in Aberdeen still resonate today.

The city’s roots as the UK’s oil and gas capital can be traced back to the mid-1960s when BP discovered the West Sole gas field, the first confirmation that more fossil fuel riches were waiting to be found in the North Sea.

Other companies soon came looking, with Philips Petroleum discovering Norway’s mighty Ekofisk field in 1969, followed by the UK’s colossal Brent field in 1971 and the Piper field in 1973.

These giant oilfields and others like them offered the potential to transform the UK’s economic landscape.

Tony Benn welcomed the first delivery from the Argyll field. A famous picture shows the then-Labour energy secretary opening a valve to release the first consignment of oil into the BP refinery on the Isle of Grain in Kent.

Tax receipts also started flowing in, hitting a record high of £12bn in the mid-1980s.

At its peak, roughly one in every £12 that the UK Government took in tax revenues came from the sector.

Today, that figure is less than £1 in every £100.

The oil boom sparked huge shifts in Britain’s economy as the pound soared in value, rendering huge swathes of British industry uncompetitive and destroying thousands of jobs.

It also helped to bankroll Thatcher’s tax-cutting drive in the late 1980s, cementing her legacy as a big reformer.

Politicians knew at the time they had a cash cow, and successive chancellors have been milking it ever since.

First came the petroleum revenue tax (PRT), introduced alongside the discovery of oil and gas. A new 20pc tax on North Sea oil was introduced in 1981 by Tory chancellor Geoffrey Howe.

Labour’s Gordon Brown introduced a 10pc “supplementary charge” on North Sea profits in 2002, effectively raising tax on the region’s production to 40pc from 30pc. He launched a second raid on profits in 2005 by doubling the supplementary charge in what the SNP branded a £2bn “smash and grab”.

George Osborne tinkered with North Sea taxes further, launching a £2bn raid in 2011 to pay for a one penny cut in fuel duty as oil prices soared above $100 a barrel.

Jeremy Hunt’s windfall levy in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helped to plug a hole in the public finances.

Countries such as Norway have taken a very different approach to managing their oil and gas wealth.

In 1990, when the UK was using its North Sea income to fund battles against the unions and prop up day-to-day finances, Norway set up a giant savings account – now known as a sovereign wealth fund.

That fund today controls assets worth £1.5 trillion, including a stake in 113 buildings on London’s Regent Street ranging from Apple’s flagship store to Hamleys toy shop.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund today holds the equivalent of about £250,000 for each citizen – enough to make the nation comfortable for many decades to come, including long after the oil and gas runs out.

There were people advocating for a similar UK North Sea wealth fund at the time of the industry’s beginnings. Labour’s Tony Benn was one of them, as was Bruce Millan, the former Scottish secretary of state. But they were overruled by the rest of the cabinet, who were becoming wary of the growing calls for Scottish independence.

Denis Healey, the former Labour chancellor, admitted in one of his final interviews that the government did “underplay the value of the oil to the country because of the threat of nationalism”.

Sukhdev Johal, accountancy professor at Queen Mary University, London, estimates that if the UK had set up a similar fund to the Norwegian it would be worth £850bn. Given the UK’s much larger population, that would work out to £13,000 per person – a smaller haul, but still significant.

Ultimately, the North Sea income helped support tax cuts for the better-off when the Tories ousted Labour. Nigel Lawson, chancellor under Margaret Thatcher, had cut the top rate of tax from 60p to 40p by 1988.

Healey told Holyrood magazine: “Thatcher wouldn’t have been able to carry out any of her policies without that additional 5pc on GDP from oil. Incredible good luck she had from that.”

Today the North Sea isn’t the cash cow that it used to be and the money is swiftly running out.

Operators’ revenues were £10bn in 2022-23, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimates, but this is projected to fall to £4bn this financial year and just £2bn by 2028-29.

Production costs are also mounting. Decades of extraction mean all the easily accessible oil has already been drilled out.

The UK’s mature fields are now one of the most expensive places in the world to extract oil from. It costs $26.20 to produce a barrel of the stuff today, compared with $5.50 in Saudi Arabia and $7.30 in Norway, according to Rystad Energy.

Scrapheap challenge

The big challenge today is decommissioning.

Six years ago the NSTA estimated that the cost of dealing with all the rusting remains of the UK’s North Sea ventures was £60bn. Its scrapheap challenge includes 320 fixed installations, 250 “subsea systems” – meaning wellheads and other kit on the seafloor – plus 20,000 miles of pipelines snaking between wells, platforms and the shore.

But the costliest challenge is dealing with the 7,800 wells, which often stretch over a mile into the bedrock. Each needs to have sections of its steel casings stripped out and plugged with cement, a process likely to consume half the entire decommissioning budget.

“Each unplugged well is a threat to the future, potentially leaking pollutant oils or methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the ocean above for decades or centuries,” says one of the industry’s most experienced engineers.

For the Treasury, however, the problem is not future pollution but cost.

The UK treats decommissioning as a business expense, meaning it can be offset against profits made in previous years to lower tax bills. Shell’s Brent clean-up alone has cost the Treasury £600m in tax rebates since 2018.

Just how much the end of the North Sea will ultimately cost taxpayers is a bone of contention.

The National Audit Office (NAO) estimated the Treasury faced a £24bn bill for such rebates in a 2019 report.

“Taxpayers are ultimately liable for the total cost of decommissioning assets that operators cannot decommission,” the NAO said.

The warning prompted the Treasury to put pressure on the NSTA to cut the cost of decommissioning. Its latest predictions show an astonishing reduction in the total cost from £60bn to £40bn, which combined with increases in oil prices and profits has reduced the Treasury’s predicted liability to £4.5bn.

Some critics suspect a politically inspired accountancy exercise, but the NSTA says the savings are genuine. It insists that knowledge-sharing and “more sophisticated” forecasting have helped, adding: “Setting cost reduction targets sharpened industry’s focus on the need to improve.”

Industry insiders beg to differ, questioning how any sector could slash costs by a third in an era of rampant inflation.

Gilad Myerson, executive director of Ithaca Energy, one of the UK’s largest offshore operators, said the NSTA’s estimates took too little account of the impact of the UK windfall tax, which has restricted investment and “will bring forward the timing of decommissioning programmes whilst reducing production from existing UK fields”.

Myerson says: “These changes to fiscal policies were designed to boost taxes, but in reality will cost the economy more as fields shut early, reducing tax payments and driving up decommissioning costs.”

More than 250 decommissioning plans have been lodged so far. Each sets out in detail what will be removed but also what will be left in place, including pipelines, concrete mattresses (used to protect pipelines) and other redundant metalwork or concrete.

In theory all such dumping is banned under the Ospar Convention on maritime pollution, an agreement between the UK and 14 other European governments, plus the EU, aimed at protecting the north-east Atlantic.

In practice, however, a relaxed approach from the regulator means the UK’s seabeds will never be put back to their natural state – a saving that will benefit companies and the Treasury, but infuriate environmentalists.

More cost savings may come from derogations, where Ospar signatories permit companies to leave massive installations in the sea forever despite official rules.

The UK has approved 10 such derogations and Ospar warns many more are likely: “There are currently 59 steel installations weighing more than 10,000 tonnes and 22 gravity-based concrete installations, for which [more] derogations from the dumping ban may yet be considered.”

Protests at Shell Brent field in the North Sea

Ageing oil rig structures left to rust in the North Sea have infuriated environmental groups - Greenpeace

Shell in particular wants derogations for the 165-metre tall legs that once supported three of its Brent platforms, claiming leaving them in place is the cleanest and safest option.

These “gravity-based structures” were built from concrete reinforced with steel bars at a time when the main thought was how to survive the 200mph winds and 80-foot waves found in the Atlantic seas north east of Shetland.

No-one thought about their eventual removal. The resulting structures each weigh 300,000 tonnes, the same as New York’s Empire State Building.

They also served as oil storage tanks and so contain thousands of tonnes of toxic oily sludge.

Shell believes leaving them in place was the best option: “Our recommendations are the result of 10 years of research, involving more than 300 scientific and technical studies.”

Others disagree. Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, an NGO that campaigns to shut down UK fossil fuel production, said: “Oil and gas companies that have profited from the basin for decades, and which are sitting on huge windfall profits today, should obviously be made to clean up after themselves, like any other business.

“It’s even more scandalous that the Government has caved to industry lobbying such that taxpayers now pick up a chunk of the clean-up bill.”

Energy insecurity
What does the future hold? For offshore contractors, pulling apart oil and gas installations is becoming the most reliable source of income.

Spending on decommissions has risen from £1.39bn in 2019 to £2bn this year and there will be far more spent in future especially if, as expected, the NSTA’s £40bn predicted total proves too optimistic.

Increased spending on decommissioning comes as investment in exploration for new oil and gas fields tumbles - from £800m in 2019 to just £330m this year.

Only a handful of new wells have gone into production in the last five years compared with the many hundreds that have shut down.

Some believe there is still money to be made in the North Sea. The NSTA has approved 51 new exploration licences in the last year with up to 60 more pending. Energy secretary Claire Coutinho has argued for more, saying the domestic oil and gas industry is vital to the UK’s energy security and economy.

However, energy companies are not impressed by such blandishments. Few are investing and some are walking away – for reasons that have nothing to do with geology and everything to do with politics.

The current government’s windfall tax has raised the levy on oil and gas production profits from 40pc to 75pc. The vagaries of the tax system mean some operators have in fact faced tax rates in excess of 100pc.

Harbour Energy, the UK’s largest oil and gas producer, blamed the tax burden for halting its investment in the UK.

The likely next government has only added to the uncertainty. Labour has pledged to halt all new licensing, add another 3pc to the windfall tax and potentially even backdate it.

The impacts of those policy swings from the UK’s two main political parties are proving disastrous for both the industry and the country, argues Chris Wheaton, an analyst with Stifel who specialises in the offshore industry.

In a recent note, he estimated that the UK Government would lose out on £20bn of tax income if investment is “effectively being shut down by higher taxes or stopping any future developments”.

Energy security would also suffer, he argues. “UK gas production would see an accelerated decline, forcing more gas to be imported… with impacts on energy costs for consumers. We estimate the UK would be importing 80pc of its gas demand as early as 2030.”

Mike Tholen, policy director at Offshore Energies UK, the oil, gas and wind industries trade body, said shutting down UK oil and gas without first building the low-carbon systems to replace them, would leave the UK exposed to global price spikes and the whims of dictators.

“Over 23 million homes rely on gas boilers for heat and hot water and gas provides 40pc to 60pc of our electricity depending on wind strength,” he says.

“We can choose an energy transition where [oil and gas] infrastructure continues to offer opportunities for UK companies and workers. Or we can choose increasing reliance on energy from other countries.”

These arguments appear to be falling on deaf ears in Westminster, with no meaningful proposals to reduce the tax burden. Instead, decommissioning is the new name of the game.

This year’s general election will roughly coincide with Brent Charlie being cut away and melted down for scrap.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> nVent Electric plc (NVT), together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, markets, installs, and services electrical connection and protection solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Enclosures, Electrical & Fastening Solutions, and Thermal Management.

The Enclosures segment provides solutions to protect electronics and data in mission critical applications, including data solutions. This segment also offers digital and automation solutions, system integrations, and global services.

The Electrical & Fastening Solutions segment provides solutions that connect and protect power and data infrastructure. This segment also offers power connections, fastening solutions, cable management solutions, grounding and bonding systems, and tools and test instruments.

The Thermal Management segment offers heat management solutions that protect people and assets. This segment includes heat tracing for freeze protection and process temperature maintenance and control; pipe freeze protection, surface deicing, hot water temperature maintenance, floor heating, fire-rated wiring, and leak detection; and heat trace systems, connected controls, remote monitoring, and annual service programs.

The company markets its products through electrical distributors, contractors, and original equipment manufacturers under the CADDY, ERICO, GARDNER BENDER, HOFFMAN, ILSCO, RAYCHEM, SCHROFF, and TRACER brand names. Its products are used for various applications, such as industrial, commercial and residential, infrastructure, and energy. nVent Electric plc was founded in 1903 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

<<<


https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NVT/profile



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Microsoft investing billions in Spain for AI, cloud in latest EU spending spree


TechRadar

by Craig Hale


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/microsoft-investing-billions-in-spain-for-ai-cloud-in-latest-eu-spending-spree/ar-BB1izmG6?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Microsoft has confirmed plans to bolster its artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure in Spain with a substantial $2.1 billion investment over the next two years.

The news came as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took to X to announce Microsoft’s decision to quadruple its investment in the country.

The investment follows closely on the heels of other commitments by the company, such as its $3.45 billion investment in Germany, emphasizing Redmond’s plans to expand AI and cloud services across Europe.

Microsoft continues to invest in European AI

In December, Microsoft revealed a similar $3.2 billion spend in the UK, aimed at expanding its AI datacenter infrastructure, increasing skills, and improving security.

Spain’s Sánchez commented on X: “I want to thank [Microsoft’s] president, Brad Smith, for his trust in the Spanish economy and in our roadmap for an inclusive and secure digital transformation.”
He added that the investment would help the country strengthen cybersecurity and promote artificial intelligence in public administration.

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Braad Smith commented: “Our investment is beyond just building data centers, it’s a testament to our 37-year commitment to Spain, its security, and development and digital transformation of its government, businesses, and people.”

Specific details about the company’s investment in Spain are yet to be confirmed, but it’s reasonable to suspect it will be on similar grounds to other cash injections announced by Microsoft in recent months.

Besides giving the country’s business sector access to better technologies, with the hope of boosting its economy, Microsoft also looks to be increasing its presence across Europe, an area that it’s previously had plenty of trouble with in relation to antitrust allegations, including its own cloud platform.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> RELX PLC (RELX), together with its subsidiaries, provides information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Risk; Scientific, Technical & Medical; Legal; and Exhibitions.

The Risk segment offers information-based analytics and decision tools that combine public and industry specific content with technology and algorithms to assist clients in evaluating and predicting risk.

The Scientific, Technical & Medical segment provides information and analytics that help institutions and professionals to progress in science and advance healthcare.

The Legal segment provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics that help customers in decision-making, as well as increases the productivity.

The Exhibitions segment is involved in the business that combines face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source products, and complete transactions. The company was formerly known as Reed Elsevier PLC and changed its name to RELX PLC in July 2015. RELX PLC was incorporated in 1903 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

<<<


https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/RELX/profile?p=RELX



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Nestlé S.A. (NSRGY), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food and beverage company. The company operates through Zone North America; Zone Europe; Zone Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Zone Latin America; Zone Greater China; Nespresso; and Nestlé Health Science segments. It offers baby foods under the Cerelac, Gerber, Nido, and NaturNes brands; bottled water under the Nestlé Pure Life, Perrier, Vittel, Buxton, Erikli, and S.Pellegrino brands; cereals under the Fitness, Nesquik, cheerios, and Lion Cereals brands; and chocolate and confectionery products under the KitKat, Smarties, Aero, Nestle L'atelier, Milkybar, Baci Perugina, Quality Street, and Fitness brands. The company also provides coffee products under the Nescafé, Nespresso, Nescafé Dolce Gusto, Starbucks Coffee At Home, and Blue Bottle Coffee brands; culinary, chilled, and frozen foods under the Maggi, DiGiorno, MEZEAST, Thomy, Garden Gourmet, Sweet Earth, Hot Pockets, Stouffer's, Buitoni, Lean, and Life Cuisine brands; dairy products under the Carnation, Nido, Bear, Coffee-Mate, and La Laitière brands; and drinks under the Nesquik, Nestea, Nescafé, and Milo brands. In addition, it offers food service products under the Milo, Nescafé, Maggi, Chef, Nestea, Stouffer's, Chef-Mate, Sjora, Minor's, and Lean Cuisine brand names; healthcare nutrition products under the Boost, Garden of Life, Nature's Bounty, Persona, Vital Proteins, Solgar, Peptamen, Resource, Vitaflo, Impact, and Compleat brands; ice cream products under the Dreyer's, Movenpick, Häagen-Dazs, Nestlé Ice Cream, and Extrême brands; and pet care products under the Purina, ONE, Alpo, Felix, Pro Plan, Cat Chow, Fancy Feast, Bakers, Friskies, Dog Chow, Beneful, and Gourmet brands. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Bundesbank denies it may need recapitalisation on bond-buying losses


Reuters

June 26, 2023


https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/bundesbank-may-need-recapitalisation-cover-bond-buying-losses-ft-2023-06-26/


FRANKFURT, June 26 (Reuters) - Germany's Bundesbank denied on Monday a report that it might need a bailout to cover losses arising from the European Central Bank's bond-buying scheme.

Earlier, the Financial Times had cited a report by Germany's federal audit office as saying possible Bundesbank losses were substantial and could required recapitalisation of the bank with budgetary funds.

The Bundesbank said its balance sheet would probably be considerably burdened in the future by the rapid and strong rise in interest rates in connection with large bond holdings.

In 2023, the financial buffers would probably still be sufficient, it said. After that, the burdens could temporarily exceed the buffers.

However, it said that would not necessarily cause a need for recapitalisation by the federal government. Instead, the Bundesbank would report losses carried forward, which it could offset with future profits.

Even in the case of a loss carry-forward, the Bundesbank's balance sheet would be sound, it said, adding it had considerable own funds, including valuation reserves.

Last year the Bundesbank recorded its first loss in more than four decades as a string of ECB rate hikes cut the value of its bond holdings and generated a loss on ultra cheap loans to commercial banks.

It said at the time that further losses were likely as interest rates keep rising, reducing the value of bonds accumulated during the years when inflation was very low.

The German federal audit office declined to comment on the FT report.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Eurozone sinks into recession as cost of living crisis takes toll

GDP shrank 0.1% in first quarter of 2023 and final three months of 2022 after revisions to earlier estimates


The Guardian

by Richard Partington

Jun 8, 2023


https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/08/eurozone-sinks-into-recession-as-cost-of-living-crisis-takes-toll#:~:text=Figures%20from%20Eurostat%2C%20the%20EU's,consecutive%20quarters%20of%20negative%20growth.


The eurozone slipped into recession in the first three months of the year, after official figures were revised to show the bloc’s economy shrank as the rising cost of living weighed on consumer spending.

Figures from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, showed gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023 and the final three months of 2022 after revisions to earlier estimates. A technical recession is generally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Previous estimates suggested the single-currency bloc had narrowly avoided recession with zero growth in both quarters.

The updated figures showed the wider EU swerved a recession after GDP rose by 0.1% in the first three months of the year, after a contraction of 0.2% in the final quarter of 2022.

The UK avoided entering a recession at the start of the year, while growth in the US also remained positive. However, GDP volumes in the eurozone and the EU are more than 2% higher than the level recorded in the final quarter of 2019 before the Covid pandemic struck – unlike in the UK, where the economy remains 0.5% smaller.

Households across the eurozone have come under pressure from rising living costs after the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered a sharp increase in gas prices, fuelling the highest rates of inflation since the foundation of the single-currency bloc.

With consumers under pressure from the higher energy and food prices, household final consumption dragged down GDP across the euro area by 0.1 percentage points, after a larger 1 percentage-point drop in the previous quarter.

Several eurozone economies were in recession or came close to recording two consecutive quarters of decline, including Germany, the EU’s largest economy. France recorded close to zero growth, with flatlining growth in the fourth quarter and a modest increase of 0.2% in the first three months of 2023.

Growth across the 20-country single currency area was, however, also dragged down by Ireland, where GDP fell by 4.6% in the first quarter of this year. However, economists have questioned whether the country’s GDP figures reflect the performance of the Irish economy.

Inflation across the eurozone has fallen sharply in recent months, with the annual rate cooling from a peak of 10.6% last autumn to reach 6.1% in May – fueling speculation that the European Central Bank could be near the end of its cycle of interest rate increases to tame rapid growth in prices.

Diego Iscaro, the head of European economics at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said evidence of a technical recession was unlikely to dissuade the ECB from raising interest rates at its policy meeting next week.

“We see rates rising by 25 basis points. However, the figures reinforce our view that, while policy rates will rise further in the short term, they are nearing their peak,” he said. “With the effect of higher interest rates still to be fully felt, we project economic activity to remain sluggish during the rest of 2023.”

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Business dangers loom as the U.S. and EU converge on ‘de-risking’ from China


Fortune

by Peter Vanham, Chloe Taylor

May 26, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/business-dangers-loom-u-eu-101911864.html


Good morning, Peter Vanham here in Geneva, filling in for Alan.

It’s the chronicle of a death foretold: Germany, Europe’s largest economy, entered a recession yesterday. The recession was widely expected, but beneath its surface lies a major dilemma for the German economy: to “de-risk” or depend on China, that’s the question.

The question became acute because Germany’s engine sputtered partially due to faltering exports to China. German companies saw an 11.3% drop in their exports to the world’s second-largest economy so far, whereas most other European economies exported more. What happened?

Part of it can be brought back to conventional factors. Cars typically represent a large share of German exports, but Chinese consumers are increasingly buying Chinese brands, and government subsidies which pushed German car sales higher last year, ended.

Since a few months, though, there is another major factor, and it is one that represents a seismic shift: German politicians are steering their companies away from China.

The country’s political leaders won’t go as far as some in the U.S. have, pursuing a policy of “decoupling”. But Europe’s largest economy is increasingly aligning with the U.S., anyway.

“The U.S. and the European Union have converged on using the term 'de-risking' [from China], and Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized the term in his [G7] speech as well,” Costanze Stelzenmueller, director of the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings told me.

A few months ago, leaked documents also indicated “Germany’s foreign ministry wants to take a tougher line on China and push companies to reduce their dependency on Beijing”, Politico reported.

It means German executives still depending on China, and wanting to expand their market share there, such as Siemens, are facing an uphill battle. “I will defend my market share, and if I can, I will expand it,” Siemens CEO Roland Busch told the Financial Times this week.

Back in the U.S., Nvidia chief Jensen Huang also warned about the consequences of the G7’s desire to de-risk from China. “There is no other China, there is only one China,” he said this week, warning of “enormous damage to American companies” if the trade in chips stopped.

But if exports falter, and the notion of “economic dependency” becomes a political problem on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s hard to see how this wouldn’t have any long-term effects.

CEO Daily is off on Monday for Memorial Day. We'll see you back here Tuesday. More news below.

Peter Vanham
Executive Editor
[e-mail]
@petervanham

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Aptiv PLC (APTV) engages in design, manufacture, and sale of vehicle components worldwide. The company provides electrical, electronic, and safety technology solutions to the automotive and commercial vehicle markets. It operates in two segments, Signal and Power Solutions, and Advanced Safety and User Experience. The Signal and Power Solutions segment designs, manufactures, and assembles vehicle's electrical architecture, including engineered component products, connectors, wiring assemblies and harnesses, cable management products, electrical centers, and hybrid high voltage and safety distribution systems. The Advanced Safety and User Experience segment provides critical technologies and services for vehicle safety, security, comfort, and convenience, such as sensing and perception systems, electronic control units, multi-domain controllers, vehicle connectivity systems, application software, autonomous driving technologies, and end-to-end DevOps tools. The company was formerly known as Delphi Automotive PLC and changed its name to Aptiv PLC in December 2017. Aptiv PLC was incorporated in 2011 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> L'Oréal S.A. (LRLCY), through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic products for women and men worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Consumer Products, L'oréal Luxe, Professional Products, and Active Cosmetics. It offers shampoos, hair care products, shower gels, skin care products, cleansers, hair colors, styling products, deodorants, sun care products, make-up, perfumes, etc. The company provides its products under the L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, NYX Professional Makeup, Essie, Niely, Dark and Lovely, Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Kiehl's, Urban Decay, Biotherm, Ralph Lauren, IT Cosmetics, L'Oréal Professionnel, Kérastase, Redken, Matrix, Biolage, Pureology, Decléor, Carita, Vichy, La Roche-Posay, SkinCeuticals, Roger&Gallet, CeraVe, Stylenanda, Mixa, Magic Mask, Prada, Helena Rubinstein, Valentino, Mugler, Shu Uemura, Viktor&Rolf, Azzaro, Diesel, Atelier Cologne, Cacharel, and Yue Sai brands. It sells its products through distribution channels, such as hair salons, mass-market retail channels, perfumeries, department stores, pharmacies, drugstores, medispas, branded retail, travel retail, and e-commerce. L'Oréal S.A. was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Clichy, France.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

Qiagen - >>> Strong core growth offsets dwindling COVID-19 demand for Qiagen


Reuters

February 7, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/strong-core-growth-offsets-dwindling-210500265.html


BERLIN, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Medical diagnostics company Qiagen offset a sharp fall in demand for COVID-19 products at the end of the year with a strong performance in its core businesses, the company said, announcing its full-year and fourth quarter results on Tuesday.

Fourth quarter revenues came in at $498 million, a 14% fall compared with the same period last year. Revenues from COVID products fell 64% to $66 million, but this was offset by strong growth in non-COVID products, where revenues rose 8% to $432 million.

For 2023, the molecular diagnostics test maker expects revenues of $2.05 billion, compared with $2.14 billion for 2022, and an adjusted profit per share of $2.10.

"We have positioned Qiagen well to successfully navigate 2023's volatile macroeconomic environment," said Chief Executive Thierry Bernard.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Central Bank’s $143 Billion Record Loss Costs Swiss Government Usual Payout


Bloomberg

by Bastian Benrath

January 9, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/central-bank-132-billion-record-063017399.html


Central Bank’s $143 Billion Record Loss Costs Swiss Government Usual Payout

(Bloomberg) -- Switzerland’s government will not receive a payout from the Swiss National Bank for 2022, as the central bank projects the biggest loss in its 116-year history.

The SNB expects an annual loss of about 132 billion francs ($143 billion), more than five times the previous record, it said Monday in preliminary results. The largest part of this, 131 billion francs, stems from collapsed valuations of its large pile of holdings in foreign currencies, accrued as a result of decade-long purchases to weaken the franc.

The value of the SNB’s foreign-exchange reserves fell some 17% last year. As of December, it held 784 billion francs, down from 945 billion francs a year earlier. Still, the year-end number exceeds the gross domestic product of Saudi Arabia.

Positions in Swiss francs saw a valuation loss of around 1 billion francs, while the SNB earned about 400 million francs on its gold holdings.

It is only the second time since the SNB was established in 1906 that it has to skip its yearly payment to the federal government and Swiss cantons, forcing many of the 26 administrative districts to adjust their spending plans. For 2021, the institution had paid out 6 billion francs.

The conference of cantonal finance chiefs told SDA that while the loss is “regrettable,” interim earnings had suggested such an outcome. “It’s an established fact that SNB profits fluctuate widely and distributions cannot be taken for granted,” the body was cited as saying.

Broader Trend

The 2022 loss in Switzerland is one of the most startling examples of how the global environment of rising interest rates has shifted the financial backdrop for central banks with associated fiscal consequences.

In the neighboring euro zone, national central bank governors face increasing pressure to explain why contributions to domestic public finances from their activities are ceasing. In the UK, the Bank of England is no longer paying into the public purse and instead is receiving transfers from the Treasury to cover projected losses in its bond-buying program.

The SNB’s private shareholders will not receive a dividend for 2022 either. Unlike other central banks, the Swiss institution is a publicly traded joint-stock company, with about half the shares held by the public sector and the rest by companies and private individuals.

Earnings from the SNB’s operations don’t influence monetary policy. Final results are due on March 6.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

Steris - >>> Buy These 2 Evergreen Growth Stocks Today to Beat the Bear Market Blues


Motley Fool

By Alex Carchidi

Oct 30, 2022


https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/10/30/buy-these-2-evergreen-growth-stocks-today-to-beat/?source=eptyholnk0000202&utm_source=yahoo-host&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article


KEY POINTS

Steris isn't going to be out of business unless hospitals stop sterilizing their spaces.

Costco's warehouses are popular destinations, especially in difficult economic times.

Thin margins aren't scary for companies that can count on massive sales volume.


Both have loyal and long-term customers, as well as plenty of accessible growth for years to come.

Regardless of the market's daily gyrations, the downtrend over the last year is enough to rattle many investors. It can get pretty discouraging to see your portfolio falling week after week, and it's even harder to see this happen without knowing for how long the market can fall.

Nonetheless, right now's the time when the fortunes of 2030 are being made. With the right investments in businesses that have long-term appreciation potential, you could at least feel a bit better about what's happening in the present.

There are a couple of stocks that are particularly alluring right now, so let's dive into a discussion of each.

1. Steris

Steris (STE -0.03%) makes the sterilization products that your doctor's office uses to keep its clinical areas safe, clean, and ready for patients, which is what makes it a prime candidate for a long-term investment.

Indeed, 80% of its revenue, which totaled more than $3.1 billion in 2021, is from recurring sales of things that healthcare companies will always need more of, like antiseptic wipes and disinfectants. The rest is from sales of its capital equipment, which includes products like autoclaves that are designed for customers to use to sterilize their tools and to render biohazard waste safely disposable.

Furthermore, because hospitals need to sterilize practically everything, the more people who utilize healthcare and the more procedures that hospitals perform, the more demand there will be for Steris' goods and services. That means population growth is a driver of future returns, as is the advancement of medical technologies that enable more conditions to be treated.

Importantly, healthcare systems need Steris' offerings regardless of how dire economic conditions are, as they can't provide their services to patients otherwise. So when management estimates that the company's total revenue will grow at between 5% and 9% every year for the long term, it's a pretty safe bet that they're right.

And over the years, that'll add up into tidy returns for shareholders, especially thanks to the stock's dividend. It grew 147% over the last 10 years and currently has a forward yield of around 1.1%.


2. Costco

Costco Wholesale (COST 0.45%) is another growth stock that could be a source of portfolio optimism during this bear market if you invest. The company's network of 838 warehouses are favorites among consumers as they're where you can find cheap but decent-quality goods sold in bulk. Costco charges a membership fee of $60 per year for the privilege of shopping at its locations, and 92.6% of its members renew every year, so it has a customer base that's quite loyal on average.

Part of its pitch to investors is that it's always going to be selling the groceries, gasoline, clothing, medicines, and practically everything else that consumers are going to need, and it can always pad its profit margin by hiking the membership fee. In its 2021 fiscal year, Costco brought in more than $192 billion in sales, making it among the largest companies in the world.

What's more, despite its razor-thin profit margin, it has a long history of growing its earnings year after year. In the last 10 years, its trailing-12-month net income rose by 224%, and thanks to constantly adding new product and service offerings, it should be able to do roughly the same in the next 10 years without changing anything significant about its business model.

With such steady earnings growth, it's no surprise the company opts to pay a dividend, which it hikes frequently. While its forward yield of around only 0.7% won't make investors rich quickly, Costco occasionally pays special dividends when it has extra cash, such as most recently in late 2020.

Even if its shares dip during this bear market, this business isn't going anywhere, and in the long run, its ongoing expansion into Canada and other international locales only furthers its prospects -- making this a good growth stock to bet on today.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Linde Inaugurates World's First Hydrogen Refueling System for Passenger Trains


Accesswire

Linde plc

August 24, 2022


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/linde-inaugurates-worlds-first-hydrogen-085000823.html


WOKING, UK / ACCESSWIRE / August 24, 2022 / Linde (NYSE: LIN; FWB: LIN) today announced it has inaugurated the world's first hydrogen refueling system for passenger trains in Bremervörde, Germany.

Linde's hydrogen refueling system, which it built, owns and operates, will refuel 14 hydrogen-powered passenger trains, enabling each train to run for 1,000 km emission-free on a single refueling. It has a total capacity of around 1,600 kg of hydrogen per day, making it one of the largest hydrogen refueling systems ever built. Linde's future-ready hydrogen refueling system has been designed and constructed with the ability to integrate future on-site green hydrogen generation. The new hydrogen trains will replace existing diesel-powered trains.

"Linde is committed to making a significant contribution towards decarbonizing transport in Europe," said Veerle Slenders, President Region Europe West, Linde. "We are proud that Linde's innovative technology plays a key role in supporting this project and establishing a blueprint for cleaner public transport systems around the world."

"The world's first hydrogen train, the Coradia iLint, demonstrates a clear commitment to green mobility combined with the latest technology," said Müslüm Yakisan, President of Alstom in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. "We are very proud to see the first series operation in action together with our partners Linde, LNVG and evb."

Linde is a global leader in the production, processing, storage and distribution of hydrogen. It has the largest liquid hydrogen capacity and distribution system in the world. The company operates the world's first high-purity hydrogen storage cavern plus pipeline networks totaling approximately 1,000 kilometers globally, to reliably supply its customers. Linde is at the forefront in the transition to clean hydrogen and has installed over 200 hydrogen fueling stations and 80 hydrogen electrolysis plants worldwide. The company offers the latest hydrogen technologies through its world class engineering organization, key alliances and partnerships.

About Linde

Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2021 sales of $31 billion (€26 billion). We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain and protect our planet.

The company serves a variety of end markets including chemicals & energy, food & beverage, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and mining. Linde's industrial gases are used in countless applications, from life-saving oxygen for hospitals to high-purity & specialty gases for electronics manufacturing, hydrogen for clean fuels and much more. Linde also delivers state-of-the-art gas processing solutions to support customer expansion, efficiency improvements and emissions reductions.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> ECB ends bond buys, signals rate hikes; yields rise


Reuters

June 9, 2022


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/instant-view-ecb-ends-bond-122739772.html


LONDON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank confirmed on Thursday it will end a long-running bond buying scheme on July 1 and signaled a string of interest rate hikes from July as it battles stubbornly high inflation.

With price growth surging last month to a record-high 8.1% and broadening quickly, the ECB is rolling back stimulus measures it has had in place for most of the last decade.

It aims to stop rapid price growth from seeping into the broader economy and becoming perpetuated via a hard-to-break wage-price spiral.

MARKET REACTION:

The euro is volatile after the rate decision while money markets have ramped up bets of more policy tightening from the central bank by the end of 2022. Benchmark 10-year German bond yields climbed to fresh eight-year highs at 1.41%.

REACTION:

BILL PAPADAKIS, MACRO STRATEGIST, LOMBARD ODIER:

"The possibility of a larger increase from September raises the risk of an ECB policy mistake."

“Markets currently point to an ECB policy rate peaking above 2%. We think this would make monetary policy restrictive, and doubt that the euro region’s economy could sustain such tight conditions, given its present challenges."

SANDRA HOLDSWORTH, HEAD OF UK RATES, AGEON ASSET MANAGEMENT:

“It gave a strong signal that more increases are to come in the future – in its words, ‘a gradual and sustained path of increases in interest rates’. It also highlighted the possibility of a larger increase in rates in September, making this meeting its most hawkish to date by far.

MARCHEL ALEXANDROVICH, EUROPEAN ECONOMIST, SALTMARSH ECONOMICS, LONDON:

"It is a hawkish pivot, what they are delivering now is not just one or two rate hikes but a clear message that they will have to get rates a lot higher over the coming quarters. She talks about gradualism but in reality there is not a lot in here that backs it up - the forecasts speak for themselves and that suggests a series of rate hikes.

Markets were used to the ECB being consistently dovish so it won't be one and done but that's not the message she's sending with the forecasts."

TD SECURITIES:

"ECB institutionalized dovishness wins out by essentially saying that it "intends to" hike by 25bp in July. The ECB did throw a bone to the hawks by opening the door to a 50bp hike in September if high inflation is sustained."

ANDREW KENNIGHAM, CHIEF EUROPE ECONOMIST, CAPITAL ECONOMICS:

"The failure to provide any new details about a possible backstop QE programme means peripheral bonds will remain vulnerable to a sell-off."

"The most significant thing about the statement is what it does not say. There is no new detail whatsoever about the putative “spread-fighting tool” which is intended to prevent peripheral spreads widening too far."

"All eyes now turn to the press conference, beginning at 13:30 BST (14.30 CET). We suspect she will be unable to provide more detail about a possible backstop programme which in turn means that investors are likely eventually to test the ECB’s resolve."

BAS VAN GEFFEN, SENIOR MACRO STRATEGIST, RABOBANK:

"They did add an explicit caveat that they may consider a bigger hike to be warranted in September, depending on the inflation outlook by then. So basically they are putting more weight on the updated projections in a three months from now."

"So in the longer term, that does make it look a bit more hawkish perhaps, which I would say explains that seesaw in market."

HETAL MEHTA, SENIOR EUROPEAN ECONOMIST, LEGAL & GENERAL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT:

“The central bank will hope that it will not need to construct another programme to support Italy. Persistently low yields over the last eight years have allowed the Italian Treasury to refinance existing debt at lower funding costs, significantly reducing its debt servicing costs and making its high debt burden more manageable. Higher ECB interest rates and Italian borrowing costs call into question Italian debt sustainability.”

ANNA STUPNYTSKA, GLOBAL ECONOMIST, FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL:

"We believe it will be difficult for the ECB to execute a rapid return of policy rates into positive territory given the growth and fragmentation constraints and the tightening path will be less steep and shorter than what is currently implied by market pricing. While a new spread management tool might help prevent spread fragmentation, it will not be a silver bullet as will likely bring a new set of issues for the ECB, including moral hazard.”

ROBERT ALSTER, CEO, CLOSE BROTHERS ASSET MANAGEMENT CIO:

“Holding rates at minus 0.5% despite record inflation, the ECB looks late to the party compared to the Fed. The ECB does appear to be joining the 'hike-brigade' but we do not expect Europe to attempt to overtake the Fed. Rather, the ECB is simply following the US lead, and we do not expect more aggressive tightening whilst the war in Ukraine continues to weight on sentiment.”

SAM COOPER, VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKET RISK SOLUTIONS, SILICON VALLEY BANK:

“Euro direction will be dictated by the timing and the pace of future interest rate hikes beyond July, in particular any hints that we could observe increases in 0.50% installments rather than 0.25%. Focus will now turn to ECB President Lagarde at the upcoming press conference, any deviation from market expectations could send further shockwaves to the euro and the wider FX market.”

ARNE PETIMEZAS, SENIOR ANALYSTS, AFS GROUP, AMSTERDAM:

"I think it is pretty weak. I don't understand why they don't end negative rates at one go in July. Instead they fix July at 25bps. They also make the same mistake of lowballing inflation in their new forecasts. 50bps in September is thus very likely. The 'sustained' and 'gradual' language suggest they see more hikes in 2023 than is currently priced in by OIS. It would be better if they acted more forcefully in the near term instead of pushing things out to the future, which as we all know is very uncertain."

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Here's Why You Should Hold STERIS (STE) Stock in Your Portfolio


Zacks Equity Research

May 17, 2022


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-why-hold-steris-ste-134101330.html


STERIS plc STE has been gaining from a robust performance across three of its reporting segments in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022. A significant revenue contribution from acquisitions in the quarter buoys optimism. However, mounting operating expenses and stiff competition are concerning.

Over the past year, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 11.2% against the industry’s 15.4% rise. The S&P 500 fell 3.2% in the same period.

The renowned provider of infection prevention as well as other procedural products and services has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion. Its earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2%.

Let’s delve deeper

Factors at Play

Impressive Q4 Results: STERIS exited fourth-quarter fiscal 2022 with better-than-expected earnings and revenues. Year-over-year growth in revenues and earnings appears promising. Robust performances across three of STERIS’ reporting segments contributed to top-line growth. A significant revenue contribution from acquisitions in the quarter buoys optimism. The expansion in the gross margin is an added advantage. The bullish guidance for fiscal 2023 is indicative that the growth momentum will continue.

STERIS' Infection Prevention and Sterilization Wing Grows Globally: With the acquisition of the U.K.-based outsourced sterilization services provider Synergy Health, STERIS has become the new global leader in infection prevention and sterilization. The company is currently providing improved healthcare services to medical device companies, pharma companies, hospitals and other healthcare facilities across the globe.

The company continues to benefit from the acquisition of Synergy Health. The consolidation has boosted STERIS' presence in the international markets since its inception, as it combines STERIS’ strong presence in North America with Synergy's solid footprint across Europe, which is encouraging. It has also provided STERIS an opportunity to better serve the emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

Overall Strong Solvency Position: STERIS exited fiscal 2022 with cash and cash equivalents of $348.3 million compared with $220.5 million at the end of fiscal 2021. Total debt (short and long term) at the end of 2022 was $2.95 billion compared with $1.65 billion a year ago. However, the company has no short-term debt on its balance sheet at the end of fiscal 2022. This is good news for its solvency level, at least during the pandemic when companies have been majorly facing manufacturing and supply halts.

Downsides

Mounting Expenses: In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, SG&A expenses climbed 105.2% year over year, whereas R&D expenses rose 49% year over year. These escalating operating expenses led to an 858-basis-points (bps) contraction in the operating margin, building pressure on the bottom line.

Competitive Landscape: STERIS competes for pharmaceutical, research and industrial customers against several large companies that have robust product portfolios and global reach, and a number of small companies with limited product offerings and operations in one or a few countries. In the Healthcare segment, STERIS’ notable competitors are 3M, Belimed, Ecolab, Getinge, Go Jo, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Skytron and Stryker.

Estimate Trend

STERIS has been witnessing a positive estimate revision trend for fiscal 2023. In the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for STERIS’ earnings has moved 0.1% north to $8.79.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2023 revenues is pegged at $4.89 billion, suggesting 6.7% growth from the fiscal 2022 reported number.

<<<



---

[gfp927z]

>>> Accenture Gains on New Guidance, Cloud Driving Record Bookings


Investing.com

March 17, 2022

By Dhirendra Tripathi


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/accenture-gains-guidance-cloud-driving-081030394.html


Investing.com – Accenture (NYSE:ACN) stock jumped 4.5% in premarket trading Thursday as the company raised its annual guidance one more time after grabbing market share in the second quarter.

The company now sees annual revenue rising 24-26% in local currency and profit per share between $10.61-$10.81. At the time of the last revision in December, revenue growth was seen at 19-22% and EPS at $10.32-$10.60.

The company saw record quarterly bookings in both consulting and outsourcing of $10.9 billion and $8.7 billion, respectively, riding on increasing appetite among clients for spending on technology as they pivot to digital. Demand for cloud and security-related services, Accenture’s forte, was strong in the recent quarter through February.

The company’s clients include more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500 companies across communications, media, and technology as well as financial services industries.

Geographically, U.S. grew the most, at 26%, followed by Europe at 24%. Growth markets also rose a strong 22%.

Revenue in the second quarter topped $15 billion, rising 24% in U.S. dollars and around $300 million above the top end of the company’s guided range of $14.30 billion-$14.75 billion.

Operating margin was unchanged from last year at 13.7%. Profit per share rose 25% to $2.54, reflecting a mix of higher revenue and lower non-operating expenses.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> Accenture Boosts Revenue Forecast. The Stock Is Rising.


Barron's

By Joe Woelfel

March 17, 2022


https://www.barrons.com/articles/accenture-acn-stock-earnings-revenue-forecast-51647506664?siteid=yhoof2


Accenture shares were rising in premarket trading Thursday after the management consulting company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street forecasts and boosted its fiscal-year revenue outlook.

Accenture (ticker: ACN) stock was up 5% to $340.99.

Accenture reported second-quarter earnings of $2.54 a share on revenue of $15.05 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Accenture to report fiscal second-quarter earnings of $2.37 a share on revenue of $14.65 billion. A year earlier, Accenture earned $2.23 a share on revenue of $12.09 billion.

New bookings in the second quarter were a record $19.6 billion.

The company said it expects fiscal-year revenue to rise 24% to 26%, higher than its previous forecast of up 19% to 22%. It expects earnings of $10.61 to $10.81 a share, an increase of 21% to 23% from adjusted profit in fiscal 2021 of $8.80; Accenture previously expected fiscal 2022 earnings of between $10.32 to $10.60.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> Chubb Limited (CB) provides insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. The company's North America Commercial P&C Insurance segment offers commercial property, casualty, workers' compensation, package policies, risk management, financial lines, marine, construction, environmental, medical, cyber risk, surety, and excess casualty; and group accident and health insurance to large, middle market, and small commercial businesses. Its North America Personal P&C Insurance segment provides affluent and high net worth individuals and families with homeowners, automobile and collector cars, valuable articles, personal and excess liability, travel insurance, and recreational marine insurance and services. The company's North America Agricultural Insurance segment offers multiple peril crop and crop-hail insurance; and coverage for farm and ranch property, and commercial agriculture products. Its Overseas General Insurance segment provides coverage for traditional commercial property and casualty; specialty categories, such as financial lines, marine, energy, aviation, political risk, and construction risk; and group accident and health, and traditional and specialty personal lines for corporations, middle markets, and small customers through retail brokers, agents, and other channels. The company's Global Reinsurance segment offers traditional and specialty reinsurance under the Chubb Tempest Re brand to property and casualty companies. Its Life Insurance segment provides protection and savings products comprising whole life, endowment plans, individual term life, group term life, medical and health, personal accident, credit life, universal life, and unit linked contracts. The company markets its products primarily through insurance and reinsurance brokers. The company was formerly known as ACE Limited and changed its name to Chubb Limited in January 2016. Chubb Limited was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO), a healthcare company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products worldwide. It operates in two segments, Diabetes and Obesity care, and Biopharm. The Diabetes and Obesity care segment provides products in the areas of insulins, GLP-1 and related delivery systems, oral antidiabetic products, obesity, and other chronic diseases. The Biopharmaceuticals segment offers products in the areas of haemophilia, growth disorders, and hormone replacement therapy. The company collaboration agreements with Gilead Sciences, Inc. Novo Nordisk A/S also has a research collaboration with Lumen Bioscience, Inc. to explore strategies for delivering oral biologics for cardiometabolic disease. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Bagsvaerd, Denmark.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases. The company's marketed products also comprise Synagis for respiratory syncytial virus; Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent for Influenza; Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR for schizophrenia bipolar disease; Nexium, and Losec/Prilosec for gastroenterology; and Vaxzevria and Evusheld for covid-19. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule medicines for obesity; Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop eplontersen, a liver-targeted antisense therapy in Phase III development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis; Proteros Biostructures GmbH to jointly discover novel small molecules for the treatment of hematological cancers; Sierra Oncology, Inc. to develop and commercialize AZD5153. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> STERIS plc (STE) provides infection prevention and other procedural products and services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, and Life Sciences. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; accessories for gastrointestinal (GI) procedures, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services. It also provides capital equipment installation, maintenance, upgradation, repair, and troubleshooting services; preventive maintenance programs and repair services; instrument and endoscope repair and maintenance services; and custom process improvement consulting and outsourced instrument sterile processing services. This segment offers its products and services to acute care hospitals and other healthcare settings. The Applied Sterilization Technologies segment provides contract sterilization and testing services for medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers through a network of approximately 50 contract sterilization and laboratory facilities. The Life Sciences segment designs, manufactures and sells consumable products, such as formulated cleaning chemistries, barrier and sterility assurance products, steam and vaporized hydrogen peroxide sterilizers, and washer disinfectors. This segment also offers equipment installation, maintenance, upgradation, repair, and troubleshooting services; and preventive maintenance programs and repair services. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> ICON PLC (ICLR), a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. It offers clinical development services, including early development, patient recruitment and retention, strategy and analytics, late phase research, data and technology solution, and consulting and analytics services. The company's clinical development services also comprise medical imaging, clinical research and laboratory services, project management, site monitoring and management services, data management, biostatistics and programming, medical writing and publishing, medical affair, endpoint adjudication/data monitoring committees, pharmacovigilance, interactive response technologies, clinical supplies management, strategic regulatory, medical communication, and consulting and advisory services. It serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries, as well as government and public health organizations. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> Symrise AG (SYIEY) supplies fragrances, flavorings, cosmetic active ingredients and raw materials, and functional ingredients. It operates through two segments, Taste, Nutrition & Health, and Scent & Care. The Taste, Nutrition & Health segment provides functional ingredients and flavor solutions used in the production of food and beverages; savory flavors; natural and sustainable ingredients for food and beverage manufacturers, baby food, and dietary supplements; product solutions and services for pet food manufacturers; sustainable ingredients and services for aqua feed manufacturers to develop solutions for fish and shrimp farms; and probiotics for food supplements and functional foods. The Scent & Care segment develops, produces, and sells fragrance ingredients and compositions, aroma molecules, cosmetic ingredients, and mint flavors, as well as specific application processes for such substances. This segment's products are used by manufacturers of perfumes, personal care and cosmetic products, cleaning products, detergents, air fresheners, and oral care products. It operates in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Symrise AG was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Holzminden, Germany.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> Givaudan SA (GVDNY), together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, supplies, and sells fragrance, beauty, taste, and wellbeing products to the consumer goods industry. The company operates through in divisions, Fragrance & Beauty, and Taste & Wellbeing. The Fragrance & Beauty division offers fine fragrances, consumer products, and fragrance ingredients and active beauty products. The Taste & Wellbeing division provides beverages, such as carbonated soft drinks, juices, bottled waters, ready-to-drink products, alcoholic beverages, hot drinks, and others; dairy and cheese products, including dairy drinks, yoghurt, ice cream, chilled desserts, cream cheese, and spreads; snacks comprising rice crackers and cassava chips; savory and nutraceutical products; and biscuits, crackers, and cereals, as well as confectionery products, such as chewing gums, chocolates, and sweets. It operates in Switzerland, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1796 and is headquartered in Vernier, Switzerland.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> Accenture plc (ACN), a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, interactive, and technology and operations services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management, intelligent automation comprises robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents, and liquid application management services, as well as program, project, and service management services; strategy consulting services; critical data elements, data management and governance, data platform and architecture, product-based organization and skills, business adoption, and value realization services; engineering, and research and development digitization; smart connected product design and development; product platform engineering and modernization; product as-a-service enablement; products related to production and operations; autonomous robotics systems; the digital transformation of capital projects; and digital industrial workforce solutions. It also provides data-enabled operating models; technology consulting and artificial intelligence services; services related to talent and organization/human potential; digital commerce; infrastructure services, such as hybrid cloud, network, digital workplace and collaboration, service and experience management, infrastructure as code, and managed edge and IoT devices; cyber defense, applied cybersecurity, managed security, OT security, security strategy and risk, and industry security products; services related to technology innovation; and intelligent automation services. In addition, the company offers cloud, ecosystem, marketing, supply chain management, zero-based budgeting, customer experience, finance consulting, mergers and acquisitions, and sustainability services. Accenture plc was founded in 1951 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.

<<<

[gfp927z]

>>> Nestle S.A. (NSRGY), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food and beverage company. The company operates through Zone Europe, Middle East and North Africa; Zone Americas; and Zone Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa segments. It offers baby foods under the Cerelac, Gerber, Nido, and NaturNes brands; bottled water under the Nestlé Pure Life, Perrier, and S.Pellegrino brands; cereals under the Fitness, Nesquik, cheerios, and Lion Cereals brands; and chocolate and confectionery products under the KitKat, Nestle L'atelier, Nestle Toll House, Milkybar, Smarties, Quality Street, Aero, Garoto, Orion, and Cailler brands. The company also provides coffee products under the Nescafé, Nespresso, Nescafé Dolce Gusto, Starbucks Coffee At Home, and Blue Bottle Coffee brands; culinary, chilled, and frozen foods under the Maggi, Hot Pockets, Stouffer's, Thomy, Jacks, TombStone, Herta, Buitoni, DiGiorno, and Lean Cuisine brands; dairy products under the Carnation, Nido, Coffee-Mate, and La Laitière brands; and drinks under the Nesquik, Nestea, Nescafé, and Milo brands. In addition, it offers food service products under the Milo, Nescafé, Maggi, Chef, Nestea, Stouffer's, Chef-Mate, Sjora, Minor's, and Lean Cuisine brand names; healthcare nutrition products under the Boost, Peptamen, Resource, Optifast, and Nutren Junior brands; ice cream products under the Dreyer's, Mövenpick, Häagen-Dazs, Nestlé Ice Cream, and Extrême brands; and pet care products under the Purina, ONE, Alpo, Felix, Pro Plan, Cat Chow, Fancy Feast, Bakers, Friskies, Dog Chow, Beneful, and Gourmet brands. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland.

<<<