Russia to receive people fleeing Russian-held parts of Ukraine’s Kherson

Russia to receive people fleeing Russian-held parts of Ukraine’s Kherson

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) – A Russian region adjoining Ukraine said it was preparing to receive refugees from the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Kherson province, after its Russian-appointed leader proposed on Thursday that residents leave to seek safety as Ukrainian forces advance.Most of the Kherson region was seized in the first days of Russia’s invasion as it sent in troops from adjoining Crimea. It is one of four partly occupied Ukrainian regions that Russia proclaimed as its own last month in a move overwhelmingly condemned on Wednesday by the U.N. General Assembly.However, since August it has been the scene of a major advance by Ukrainian forces.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterIn a video statement on Telegram, Vladimir Saldo publicly asked for government help in moving civilians to safer regions of Russia.”Every day, the cities of Kherson region are subjected to missile attacks,” Saldo said.”As such, the leadership of Kherson administration has decided to provide Kherson families with the option to travel to other regions of the Russian Federation to rest and study,” he said, adding that people should “leave with their children”.He said the suggestion applied foremost to residents on the west bank of the Dnipro River – an area that includes the regional capital, Kherson.Kherson region during Ukraine-Russia conflictLocal residents visit a street market during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the Russia-controlled city of Kherson, Ukraine July 26, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko”But at the same time, we suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a desire, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, also go to other regions.”The TASS news agency quoted the governor of Russia’s Rostov region, Vasily Golubev, as saying that a first group of people from Kherson would arrive there on Friday.”The Rostov region will accept and accommodate everyone who wants to come to us from the Kherson region,” he said.Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said those leaving Kherson would be provided with free accommodation and necessities – and, if they decided to remain outside Kherson permanently, with housing.Russia’s incorporation of the four regions has been denounced by Kyiv and the West as an illegal annexation like that of Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014. At the U.N. General Assembly, 143 of 193 countries condemned it in Wednesday’s vote.Ukrainian authorities say hundreds of thousands of Kherson’s residents have fled, mostly to unoccupied parts of Ukraine, including half the pre-war population of the regional capital.Any major territorial losses in Kherson would restrict Russia’s access to the Crimean peninsula further south, whose return Kyiv has coveted since 2014.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Mark Trevelyan and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .

Sony, Honda aim to deliver premium EV with subscription fees in 2026

Sony, Honda aim to deliver premium EV with subscription fees in 2026

TOKYO, Oct 13 (Reuters) – A joint venture set up by Japan’s Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and Honda Motor (7267.T) is aiming to deliver its first electric vehicles by 2026 and will sell them online, starting in the United States and Japan.The new EV will also be priced at a premium, offering a new software system developed by Sony that would open the way to recurring revenue from entertainment and other services that would be billed monthly, the companies said.The update from the joint venture, Sony Honda Mobility, is the first since the two companies launched the project in June.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterKey details, including pricing, battery range and even the platform for the new vehicle have not been determined, but representatives of the new company detailed a vision for a vehicle that would function almost like a rolling smartphone.Sony will provide the software system for the new car, from the onboard controllers to cloud-based services that will connect with entertainment and payment systems.It will also provide sensors and other technology for a Level 3 autonomous drive system that will allow for drivers to pay more attention to the content and software services that will be offered.In Level 3 systems, also known as limited self-driving automation, drivers can ride without watching the road or handling the wheel on highway driving but need to be ready to take back control.Tesla (TSLA.O), General Motors(GM.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Mercedes Benz(MBGn.DE) all offer some form of hands-free driving assist systems.“As safe driving technology will continue to evolve and the amount of concentration required to drive will be reduced, we should consider new ways to enjoy and spend time in the cabin space as a whole,” said Izumi Kawanishi, the joint venture’s president and executive at Sony.Honda will decide on the platform that the new vehicle will use and details like the battery supplier. The still-to-be named EV will likely be manufactured by Honda at one of its plants in Ohio.Honda, like its bigger rival Toyota Motor (7203.T), has been slow to shift its fleet to electric. It has also struggled over the years to make gains in the luxury vehicle market with its Acura brand.Yasuhide Mizuno, the joint venture’s chairman and chief executive, and a senior Honda executive, said the project was important for Honda to develop a “longer-term relationship” with its car buyers as the vehicle shifts to become more of a connected device.Mizuno said Honda believed that 2025 would be a crucial year in the shift toward EVs in the U.S. market and that the joint-venture believed it had to hit that opening even though it means a compressed development cycle for the new EV.The new EV will be delivered to the Japanese market in the second half of 2026. The two companies are considering a launch for Europe, but no plan has been set. Orders for the new EV should open in 2025, the companies said.($1 = 146.8300 yen)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da CostaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .

U.S. says Russia price cap should take risk premium out of oil market

U.S. says Russia price cap should take risk premium out of oil market

Liberia-flagged Aframax tanker Suvorovsky Prospect discharges fuel oil from Russia at the Matanzas terminal, in Matanzas, Cuba, July 16, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterSINGAPORE/WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) – The price cap that G7 countries want to impose on Russian oil to punish Moscow should be set at a fair market value minus any risk premium resulting from its invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. Treasury Department official told reporters on Friday.The price should be set above the marginal production cost of Russia’s oil and take into consideration historical prices, said Elizabeth Rosenberg, U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes.The G7 price cap plan agreed last week calls for participating countries to deny insurance, finance, brokering and other services to oil cargoes priced above a yet to be set price cap on crude and two oil products. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterRosenberg said services providers would not have to police price cap compliance themselves but could rely on the attestations of buyers and sellers, leaving enforcement to participating jurisdictions.She said the G7 countries – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – would work together in coming weeks to determine the capped price and other key implementation details.”There are several key data points we are considering and how the prices should ultimately be set and that includes the marginal cost of production for Russian oil,” Rosenberg told a briefing call held for media in Asia.”The price cap price should be … in line or consistent with historical prices accepted by the Russian market.”That could imply a potential cap of around $60 a barrel, experts say, as Russian Urals crude, based off of benchmark Brent, sold for $50 to $70 a barrel in 2019.Russian government documents have identified a marginal crude production cost of $44 per barrel, although some Western officials believe it may be somewhat lower.A European official said G7 members had not begun formal discussions about the price cap, although officials had “notions” about what was possible.”The idea is that you still incentivize Russian oil producers to export by guaranteeing a price in line with their cost of production with a small incentive,” the official said.U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other Biden administration officials have been travelling to oil consuming countries to promote a mechanism that seeks to cut Russia’s oil export revenues, the lifeblood of its war machine, without reducing volumes of Russian shipments to global markets.Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia would halt shipments to countries that impose the price cap. read more Putin says Russia is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine to protect his country’s security against expansion of the Western military alliance NATO. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, and David Lawder, Timothy Gardner and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Writing by Timothy Gardner and David Lawder; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .

Wall St Week Ahead Recession fears loom over U.S. value stocks

Wall St Week Ahead Recession fears loom over U.S. value stocks

A screen displays trading informations for stocks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterNEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) – Fears of a potential economic slowdown are clouding the outlook for value stocks, which have outperformed broader indexes this year in the face of surging inflation and rising interest rates.Value stocks – commonly defined as those trading at a discount on metrics such as book value or price-to-earnings – have typically underperformed their growth counterparts over the past decade, when the S&P 500’s (.SPX) gains were driven by tech-focused giants such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Apple Inc (AAPL.O).That dynamic shifted this year, as the Federal Reserve kicked off its first interest rate-hike cycle since 2018, disproportionately hurting growth stocks, which are more sensitive to higher interest rates. The Russell 1000 value index (.RLV) is down around 13% year-to-date, while the Russell 1000 growth index (.RLG) has fallen about 26%.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterThis month, however, fears that the Fed’s monetary policy tightening could bring on a U.S. recession have shifted the momentum away from value stocks, which tend to be more sensitive to the economy. The Russell value index is up 0.7% in July, compared with a 3.4% gain for its growth-stock counterpart.”If you think we are in a recession or are going into a recession, that does not necessarily … work to the advantage of value stocks,” said Chuck Carlson, chief executive at Horizon Investment Services.The nascent shift to growth stocks is one example of how investors are adjusting portfolios in the face of a potential U.S. economic downturn. BofA Global Research on Thursday cut its year-end target price for the S&P 500 to 3,600 from 4,500 previously and became the latest Wall Street bank to forecast a coming recession. read more The index closed at 3,863.16 on Friday and is down 18.95% this year.Corporate earnings arriving in force next week will give investors a better idea of how soaring inflation has affected companies’ bottom lines, with results from Goldman Sachs , Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and Tesla among those on deck.For much of the year, value stocks benefited from broader market trends. Energy shares, which comprise around 7% of the Russell 1000 value index, soared over the first half of 2022, jumping along with oil prices as supply constraints for crude were exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.But energy shares along with crude prices and other commodities have tumbled in recent weeks on concerns that a recession would sap demand.A recession also stands to weigh on bank stocks, with a slowing economy hurting loan growth and increasing credit losses. Financial shares represent nearly 19% of the value index. read more An earnings beat from Citigroup, however, buoyed bank shares on Friday, with the S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK)gaining 5.76%.At the same time, tech and other growth companies also tend to have businesses that are less cyclical and more likely able to weather a broad economic slowdown.”People pay a premium for growth stocks when growth is scarce,” said Burns McKinney, portfolio manager at NFJ Investment Group.JPMorgan analysts earlier this week wrote they believe growth stocks have a “tactical opportunity” to make up lost ground, citing cheaper valuations after this year’s sharp sell-off as one of the reasons.Value stock proponents cite many reasons for the investing style to continue its run.Growth stocks are still more expensive than value shares on a historical basis, with the Russell 1000 growth index trading at a 65% premium to its value counterpart, compared to a 35% premium over the past 20 years, according to Refinitiv Datastream.Meanwhile, earnings per share for value companies are expected to rise 15.6% this year, more than twice the rate of growth companies, Credit Suisse estimates.Data from UBS Global Wealth Management on Thursday showed value stocks tend to outperform growth stocks when inflation is running above 3% – around a third of the 9.1% annual growth U.S. consumer prices registered in June. read more Josh Kutin, head of asset allocation, North America at Columbia Threadneedle, believes a possible U.S. recession in the next year would be a mild one, leaving economically sensitive value stocks primed to outperform if growth picks up.”If I had to pick one, I’d still pick value over growth,” he said. “But that conviction has come down since the start of the year,” Kutin said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Lewis Krauskopf, additional reporting by David Randall and Ira Iosebashvili; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .

EXCLUSIVE French nationalisation of EDF set to cost more than 8 bln euros

EXCLUSIVE French nationalisation of EDF set to cost more than 8 bln euros

PARIS, July 11 (Reuters) – The French government is poised to pay more than 8 billion euros ($8.05 billion) to bring power giant EDF (EDF.PA) back under full state control, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, adding the aim is to complete the deal in the fourth quarter.One of the sources said the cost of buying the 16% stake the state does not already own could be as high as almost 10 billion euros, when accounting for outstanding convertible bonds and a premium to current market prices. EDF and the economy ministry declined to comment.The French government, which already has 84% of EDF, announced last week it would nationalise the company, which would give it more control over a revamp of the debt-laden group while contending with a European energy crisis.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterThe sources said the state would likely launch a public offer on the market at a premium to the stock price because the other option – a nationalisation law to be pushed through parliament – would take too long.When Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced the nationalisation plan on July 6, the stake held by minority shareholders was worth around 5 billion euros.In addition, the French government would also have to buy 2.4 billion euros of convertible bonds and offer a premium to current stock market prices to entice minority shareholders, with the cost of the transaction going well beyond 8 billion euros, the sources said.They did not give details of the size of the premium, with one of them saying no final decision had been taken.TIMELINEFrance wants the buyout to take place in October or November, and for that to happen it would have to move quickly, the sources said, asking not to be named because the matter is confidential.The next step will be for the government to announce the offer price and make an official filing, the sources said. Then EDF will need to give its opinion while an independent expert will be drafted in to review the offer price.All this will take some time, given the holiday season lull.France may have to announce the terms of the offer over the coming weeks, before the holiday period in August, to ensure it can have a deal in the fourth quarter, one of the sources said.French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said at the weekend: “It won’t be an operation that will be fulfilled in days and weeks, it will take months. I will provide all the necessary precisions in the coming weeks, but not now.”The government last week increased the amount of money available for financial operations related to its state shareholding portfolio by 12.7 billion euros in the second half of the year, with officials saying this would cover the EDF deal and other, unspecified transactions.Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) are working with the government to secure a deal, sources had previously said, while EDF is being advised by Lazard (LAZ.N) and BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA). read more ($1 = 0.9921 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Pamela Barbaglia, additional reporting by Leigh Thomas and Michel Rose, writing by Silvia Aloisi, editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .