Town Hall News

By Harry Robertson LONDON (Reuters) – Italian bonds face a rockier road in the coming months after a period of unusual calm, starting with credit ratings decisions over the next two weeks. Ratings agency Fitch will pronounce on Italy’s creditworthiness on Friday. Moody’s will follow suit on May 19, and there is a small risk it could downgrade the country to “junk” status. Such a downgrade – although not expected […]

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish telecoms firm Telefonica said on Thursday its first-quarter net profit fell 58% from the same period a year earlier to 298 million euros ($328 million) on higher debt costs. The bottom line was affected by a 19% increase in debt costs to 667 million euros, Telefonica said, adding the company had booked a 200 million euro capital gain in the first quarter of 2022 on the sale […]

By Ian Ransom BALI, Indonesia (Reuters) – Bali’s iconic surf breaks have nurtured generations of local talents whose dreams of going professional have invariably been dumped by the high costs of pursuing success. But some may now push a little harder against the tide after seeing trailblazer Rio Waida on the Championship Tour of the World Surf League. Waida became the first Indonesian and first Asia-born surfer to qualify for […]

By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Oil prices bounced back on Thursday after dropping by more than a dollar a barrel the previous day, supported by stronger fuel demand data from the United States, the world’s top oil consumer. Brent crude futures rose by 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $76.58 a barrel by 0653 GMT, while U.S. crude futures climbed 17 cents, also up 0.2%, to $72.73. A sharper-than-expected drop in […]

LONDON (Reuters) – British engine maker Rolls-Royce said it performed as expected in the first part of the year, with flying hours recovering, and steps taken by its new CEO to find savings putting it on track to meet 2023 targets. Tufan Erginbilgic, who took over as boss in January, has said Rolls is a “burning platform” which needs to improve its cash generation, cut debt and invest for the […]

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Apple Inc supplier Foxconn reported on Thursday a 56% fall in first-quarter net profit, lagging forecasts in its biggest quarterly fall in three years, as global economic woes hurt demand for smart consumer electronics. The Taiwanese company, which is the world’s largest contract electronics maker, said net profit for the January-March quarter fell to T$12.8 billion ($417.17 million) from T$29.45 billion in the same period the previous year. […]

By Andrea Shalal NIIGATA, Japan (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen highlighted the fight against climate change and other goals shared by the United States and Brazil, in a meeting with Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in Japan on Thursday. Japan, chairing the Group of Seven advanced economies this year, invited Brazil to take part in this week’s meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bankers, along with India, […]

MILAN (Reuters) – Italian payments group Nexi stuck to its guidance for the year after posting a 13.6% rise in first quarter core profit as the volume of transactions grew by double-digit percentages across all its markets, a trend that continued in April. Revenues rose 9% from a year before in January-March to 741.7 million euros, above an analyst consensus gathered by the company. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and […]

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish telecom firm Telefonica said on Thursday its first-quarter net profit fell 58% from the same period a year earlier, although at 298 million euros ($328 million) still beating expectations. Overall revenues rose 6.7% to 10.05 billion euros, the company also said, while core earnings fell 2.4% to 3.12 billion euros. A company-provided consensus of analysts expected net profit of 279 million euros, revenues of 9.74 billion […]