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On January 7th, UBS analysts noted in a report that European oil giants may slow their quarterly share buyback pace. Analysts believe that companies may use this opportunity to reassess their capital frameworks in conjunction with updated earnings outlooks. Shell, listed in London, is expected to see the most significant reduction, with its quarterly buybacks falling from $3.5 billion to $3 billion. BP should be able to maintain its buyback levels using cash proceeds from asset divestitures; the British oil giant had previously cut its quarterly buybacks from $1.75 billion to $750 million early last year. Furthermore, Total Energy of France is expected to reduce its buybacks from $1.5 billion to $750 million. Analysts also indicated that Eni of Italy and Statoil of Norway may announce reductions in their buyback amounts on their respective capital markets days.January 7th - Since the imposition of sanctions on Venezuela, U.S. refineries have increased their crude oil imports from Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and the Middle East. This increased U.S. imports from Venezuela will replace some of these crude oil supplies, primarily from Canada. Canada aims to increase oil production to record levels by 2025 and export approximately 90% of its crude oil to the United States. A refining industry source stated, "At a time when Venezuela is struggling, Canadian heavy crude oil has filled the market gap. Now, different grades of crude oil will compete, which is beneficial for the U.S. refining industry but detrimental to Canada." Randy Olenburg, Managing Director of Barmos Capital Markets, stated that the long-term growth in Venezuelan oil production will put pressure on Canadian oil prices and further highlight the need to build a new Canadian export pipeline to the Pacific coast.The UKs December construction PMI came in at 40.1, below the expected 42.5 and the previous reading of 39.4.On January 7th, Futures reported that driven by the continued rise in prices of upstream polysilicon, silicon wafers, and solar cells, some leading companies raised their N-type module prices, sending a clear signal of price support. However, actual transactions did not follow suit. Currently, it is the traditional off-season at the end of the year, with most large-scale domestic projects nearing completion and overseas shipments slowing due to the Spring Festival and holidays. End-users have extremely low acceptance of price increases. Most buyers are choosing to wait and see or suppress prices to fulfill previous low-priced orders, making it difficult to implement new quotes, resulting in a "high price but no sales" market. Low-priced goods below 0.68 yuan/watt are still circulating in some channels, further suppressing the potential for price increases. In the short term, while the module segment has cost support, it lacks effective demand. If end-user projects fail to start as scheduled after the Spring Festival, high prices may be unsustainable. The core contradiction in the current market remains the resolute price increases from upstream suppliers and weak downstream demand. Whether prices can truly stabilize depends on the pace of demand recovery at the end of the first quarter.On January 7th, Alibabas (09988.HK) Gaode Maps announced an upgrade to its "Street View Ranking," launching a "Flying Street View" feature based on its self-developed world model technology and expanding the rankings coverage from food to more scenarios. For small and micro-sized merchants, Gaode announced a support plan, stating that the platform will cover the computing costs to provide free access to the aforementioned "Flying Street View" feature for 1 million small and micro-sized merchants. In addition, Gaode plans to cooperate with 100 cities nationwide, lowering the entry threshold for merchants while providing resources such as data analysis and travel subsidies. Currently, Shanghai, Sichuan, Jinan, and other cities have already launched related cooperation.

After A Record Loss, Star Entertainment Raises $545 Million And Suspends Dividends

Skylar Williams

Feb 23, 2023 13:54

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Star Entertainment Group Ltd. announced that it would raise A$800 million ($545 million) to repay debt and suspend dividend payments, as it reported a record statutory loss for the first half of the year due to challenging business conditions in Sydney.


Star, Australia's second-largest casino operator, has seen its profits eroded by regulatory restrictions on its Sydney operations beginning in mid-September and intense competition from larger competitor Crown Resort, which began operations in Sydney in August.


The capital raising, which consists of a A$685 million 3-for-5 rights offer and a A$115 million institutional placement, will enable Star to repay debt and increase liquidity, the company announced Thursday. End of 2022, it had a net debt of A$1.11 billion.


Capital-raising shares are being sold at $1.20 each, which is 21% below Star's most recent closing price of $1.50.


Star stated that major shareholders Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium have exercised their rights and committed $80 million to the capital raise.


Star reported a record statutory net loss after tax of A$1.26 billion for the six months ended December 31, compared to a loss of A$74,2 million a year earlier.


Star had previously warned of an impairment charge of up to A$1.6 billion in the first half as a result of a proposal by the New South Wales government to increase taxes on casino poker machine operators. Sydney is the state's capital.


Tax resolution with the New South Wales government remains the most important catalyst for investors, according to Jefferies analysts.


In the first half, the casino operator wrote down the goodwill of its Sydney casino from A$851 million to zero.


In an effort to reduce its debt, the company announced it would suspend dividend payments, and its casino licences were in full operation.


The company posted a normalised nett profit after taxes of $43,6 million, compared to A$73,7 million in losses in the prior year.


Thursday is a trading suspension for Star shares while the capital raise is in progress.