Growth momentum is however facing new headwinds, as global supply-chain disruptions and high energy prices are set to take their toll on activity next year, the European Commission said.
UK Economic Growth Slowed in Third Quarter
The U.K. economy lost momentum through the summer as the reopening rebound from the Covid-19 lockdown faded, while persisting supply-chain bottlenecks and weaker consumer spending are expected to continue to hold back growth for the remainder of the year.
The U.K. economy expanded 1.3% in the third quarter of the year compared with the previous three-month period, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday. The rate marks a sharp deceleration from the 5.5% on-quarter growth registered from April to June.
Sika to Acquire MBCC Group for $5.99 Billion
Swiss chemicals company Sika AG said Thursday that it would acquire MBCC Group from an affiliate of Lone Star Funds, in a transaction with an enterprise value of 5.5 billion Swiss francs ($5.99 billion).
MBCC, formerly BASF Construction Chemicals, is based in Germany. The deal will be highly complementary across most of Sika's core technologies, applications, and solutions, Sika said.
Siemens Beat FY Guidance as It Overcame Supply-Chain Obstacles
Siemens on Thursday posted earnings that beat expectations and its own fiscal-year targets, and proposed boosting its 2021 dividend after overcoming supply-chain issues caused by the pandemic.
The German industrial company's net profit attributable to shareholders jumped to 6.16 billion euros ($7.07 billion) in the 2021 fiscal year, from EUR4.03 billion last year.
Johnson Matthey Shares Plunge After Profit Warning, Intention to Exit Battery Materials
Shares in Johnson Matthey PLC fell Thursday in early trading after the company issued a profit warning and announced that it intends to sell its battery-materials business as it doesn't expect it to generate enough returns.
Shares at 0830 GMT were down 13% at 2,402 pence.
Burberry Shares Fall on Lower Tourism Flows Despite 1H Profit, Revenue Growth
Shares in Burberry Group PLC fell Thursday after the company said performance dipped in China in August and in the EMEA region during the first half of fiscal 2022 due to significantly lower tourism flows.
Shares at 1002 GMT were down 6.8% at 1,833.00 pence.
ArcelorMittal Swung to 3Q Net Profit as Sales Gained
ArcelorMittal swung to a third-quarter profit as sales rose, the company said Thursday.
The steel-and-mining company said sales increased to $20.23 billion from $13.27 billion a year earlier. They also beat the second-quarter figure of $19.34 billion because of higher realized average steel selling prices and higher mining revenue, after the resolution of a labor strike action allowed for higher shipment volumes, the company said.
Delivery Hero 3Q Revenue, Orders Jumped
Delivery Hero SE said Thursday that revenue and orders for the third quarter jumped, and raised its 2021 revenue guidance.
The Berlin-based food-delivery company said revenue for the quarter was 1.79 billion euros ($2.06 billion), an 89% jump from the same period the previous year.
Generali Profit, Premiums Rose Ahead of Views Despite High Catastrophe Claims
Assicurazioni Generali SpA said Thursday that net profit and premiums written topped expectations in the first nine months of the year, despite high natural-catastrophe claims.
Italy's largest insurer said January-September net profit was 2.25 billion euros ($2.58 billion), up from EUR1.30 billion in the same period last year.
Merck KgaA 3Q Earnings Fell Despite Sales Growth; Confirms Raised Guidance
Merck KgaA said Thursday that third-quarter earnings declined slightly on year, though sales increased, and confirmed a raised guidance for 2021 it had previously given.
The German pharmaceuticals-and-chemicals company posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 1.50 billion euros ($1.72 billion) for the quarter, down from EUR1.62 billion the year prior. After-tax profit also declined to EUR764 million from EUR806 million for the same period of 2020.
Afghan Pilots Who Fled Taliban to Tajikistan Begin Transfer to U.S.
More than 140 Afghan Air Force pilots and personnel flew out of Tajikistan on a U.S.-chartered flight, after months of detention following their escape from Afghanistan over the summer, officials said Wednesday.
Hundreds of Afghan pilots flew themselves in helicopters and airplanes to safety in neighboring Central Asian countries in August, when the Taliban overran Afghanistan and toppled the government in Kabul.
Airlines Move to Secure Scarce Low-Emission Jet Fuel
Airlines have made a number of commitments to scale up the use of low-emission jet fuel as discussions at the United Nations climate-change conference in Glasgow focused on the future of transportation.
Wednesday's announcements come as carriers pin their decarbonization hopes on low-carbon alternatives to the kerosene that burns in jet engines. But the new fuels are a long way from replacing conventional fuel.
GLOBAL NEWS
Avis, the Latest Meme Stock Frenzy, Is Driving the Dow Transports Index
Meme trading has come for transportation stocks.
Shares of Avis Budget Group Inc. have increased nearly sevenfold this year, helped by a bounceback in travel and popularity with the online day-trading crowd. The company's stock has accounted for about one-third of the 2021 gains of the Dow Jones Transportation Average, according to Dow Jones Market Data. It has made up more than half of the index's gains since the start of September.
Q&A: The Path to Greener Mining
Miners are getting more aggressive with efforts to curb carbon emissions from their own operations but are struggling with one particularly thorny problem: how to also lower their customers' emissions.
While some companies have recently set goals to reduce so-called Scope 3 pollution, others say it is too early to put targets on those emissions, which dwarf their own operational footprints and are hard for raw-materials producers to influence.
Broad Selloff Signals Inflation Fears Are Warming
For months, there has been relatively little investor angst about rising prices. On Wednesday, there were signs that might be changing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 240 points, or 0.7% while the technology-fueled Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 264 points, or 1.7%. In the government bond market, longer-term Treasury securities, which generally are most sensitive to inflation expectations, fell in price, as did short-term Treasurys, which tend to anticipate interest-rate moves by the Federal Reserve. The 10-year Treasury yield posted its largest rise in a year. When bond prices fall, yields rise.
Inflation Pickup Makes Fed More Likely to Raise Rates Next Year
The latest rise in inflation helps to explain why investors are increasingly asking not whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next year but rather how much and how quickly it may do so.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices rose strongly in October, up 0.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the prior month. Over the last 12 months, inflation is up 6.2%. So-called core prices, which exclude food and energy items, rose 4.6% over the past year. Both are the largest annual increases in more than 30 years.
China Borrows Again at Negative Rates in Euros
China sold about $4.6 billion of bonds denominated in euros, taking advantage of superlow yields in the eurozone to raise shorter-term funds at negative rates for the second year running.
China Weighs Moderating Property Curbs to Help Troubled Developers Unload Assets
Chinese regulators, wary of financial risks spreading as a result of their crackdown on property lending, are considering easing the rules to let struggling developers sell off assets to avoid defaults and hits to the broader economy.
Currently, rules put in place late last year to restrict how much property firms can borrow, dubbed the "three red lines" on leverage ratios, are so strict that they have hurt the ability of developers like China Evergrande Group to sell assets to repay debts.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-11-21 0646ET
