Latest news with #geopoliticaluncertainty
Reuters
7 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
ASML warns it may not achieve growth in 2026
VELDHOVEN, July 16 (Reuters) - ASML ( opens new tab, the world's biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment, on Wednesday warned that it may not achieve growth in 2026, even after its second quarter bookings beat market expectations. Analysts had hoped that the quarter would provide some reassurance over its outlook for 2026. However, the company warned that geopolitical uncertainty continued to cloud its prospects. "The level of uncertainty is increasing, mostly due to macroeconomic and geopolitical consideration. And that includes, of course, tariffs", ASML's chief executive Christophe Fouquet said in an internal interview published on the company's website. "While we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage", Fouquet said in a statement. If it materialized, 2026 would be the first flat year in over a decade of uninterrupted revenue growth since 2012. ASML investor Han Dieperink, chief investment officer at investment firm Aureus, said he was not worried about the upcoming year, noting that the quarter pointed to solid demand. The Dutch group's net bookings, the most closely watched figure in the industry, were 5.54 billion euros ($6.4 billion). That was ahead of analysts' consensus estimate of 4.44 billion euros, according to researcher Visible Alpha. "The second quarter beats from top to bottom", analyst Michael Roeg of Degroof Petercam said. Roeg cited strong demand from artificial intelligence related chipmakers. ASML's EUV lithography machines, the world's most advanced chip circuit printing system, is the key enabling technology behind leading-edge chips like those used in Nvidia's (NVDA.O), opens new tab GPUs, or Apple's (AAPL.O), opens new tab Macs and iPhones. ($1 = 0.8608 euros)
Times
07-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Shell warns that its gas trading business has weakened
The performance of Shell's gas trading business has weakened during the second quarter, hampered by geopolitical uncertainty. The FTSE 100 group said that its trading business would be 'significantly lower' and reduced the top end of its production guidance for the integrated gas division to 940,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) from the 950,000 boe/d previously expected. The lower end of its guidance range was raised to 900,000 boe/d, from 890,000 boe/d. The outlook for volumes at its liquefied natural gas business also shifted to between 6.4 million and 6.8 million tonnes (mt), from the 6.3 mt to 6.9 mt previously expected. The downbeat update breaks a streak of positive quarterly numbers, which has also led to the group buying back billions in shares. In May it said it would repurchase another $3.5 billion of its shares after reporting better-than-expected profits of $5.6 billion for the first quarter of the year. The investment bank RBC Capital cut its net profit forecast to $3.6 billion, from $4.8 billion, for the second quarter. The shares were 64p, or 2.4 per cent, lower at £25.64 in afternoon trading. Shell is one of the largest traders of gas in Europe and has forecast a rise of 60 per cent in LNG demand by 2040, largely driven by Asia and a shift away from coal as a fuel source. At its capital markets day in March, Shell said it would grow LNG sales at a compound annual rate of between 4 and 5 per cent by 2030, in addition to an existing target to grow liquefaction capacity by 25 to 30 per cent by the same date. The group has, however, faced a backlash from some shareholders over its plans to grow its LNG business. In May a special resolution filed by three British local authority pension schemes and the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility calling on Shell to give more information on its LNG business and spending plans and explain how its targets were compatible with its climate goals, won the support of 20.6 per cent of shareholders. Shell has global operations that range from drilling for oil and gas to retailing petrol. Wael Sawan, who became chief executive at the start of 2023, is attempting to close a valuation gap with its American rivals such as Exxon and Chevron. He has scaled back its investment in green energy and doubled down on fossil fuels. The group, which is due to release its second-quarter results on July 31, said that overall upstream production was expected to come in at 1.66 million to 1.76 million boe/d for the three months. Over the weekend Opec+, the group of the biggest oil-producing nations, announced a higher-than-expected increase in output for August of 0.55 million barrels a day. The markets shrugged off the impact of the cartel unwinding its production cuts, however, and Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up $0.82, or 1.2 per cent, to $69.1 in afternoon trading.
Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Saint Laurent sees Irish revenue tumble 34 per cent
Revenue for the Irish subsidiary of luxury French fashion brand Saint Laurent fell by 34 per cent last year while its profit declined 23 per cent with the brand noting the sector saw 'lower store footfall' amid 'geopolitical uncertainty'. Accounts just filed here by Saint Laurent Ireland Ltd show that it made a profit of €228,885 on revenue of €6.18 million for the 12 months to December 2024. This compared with a profit of €336,729 on income of €9.4 million for a 14-month period to the end of December 2023. The brand, which also goes under the Yves Saint Laurent and YSL brands, is part of the Kering Group, which saw revenue of €17.2 billion in 2024, down 12 per cent against €19.6 billion the year prior. In accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office, Saint Laurent's directors said the brand faces the risk every year that its new collections 'may be received less positively than anticipated'. READ MORE The brand noted that macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical uncertainty affected 'consumers' real incomes and confidence levels' and that the market was impacted by 'lower store footfall and lower sales volume' across the board which were not offset by increased prices. One of the largest luxury fashion brands in the world, Saint Laurent opened a concession store in Brown Thomas' Grafton Street store in July 2021 and recorded strong post-tax profit of €397,307 in its first, extended, financial period from revenue of €9.18 million. Revenue continued to grow in a 14-month financial period ending in December 2023, reaching €9.4 million from retail and ecommerce sales, making slightly lower post-tax profit of €336,729 due to increased administrative expenses. In its 2024 financial year, the fashion brand recorded weaker revenue of €6.18 million and post-tax profit of €228,885. Against the two-month longer financial period in 2023, the brand's accounts show that administrative expenses reduced by nearly €1.2 million. Its 11 employees, down from 13 in 2023, accounted for total staff costs of €434,878, against €601,815 the year prior. The brand was part of Paris Fashion Week in June, featuring creations from Belgian designer Anthony Vaccarello for the fashion house. The collection was described by the show notes as 'somewhere between Paris and Fire Island, where escape becomes elegance, and desire becomes a language'. Saint Laurent was contacted for comment.
Times of Oman
03-07-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
CII expects Indian Economy to grow in the range of 6.4-6.7% in FY26
New Delhi: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday said that it sees India's economy growing at a pace of 6.4-6.7 per cent in 2026-27, boosted by strong domestic demand. At a press conference in New Delhi CII President however believes that geopolitical uncertainty could pose downside risk to Indian economic growth. Amidst this global flux, India has shown resistance and has shown better growth trajectory as compared to other major economies such as China, United Kingdom (UK), US and Euro area. Industry body CII also proposed a series of next-generation reforms needed to enhance ease of doing business in India. These reforms span across multiple domains, including taxation, manufacturing costs, fiscal policy, environmental compliance, and logistics. On GST reforms, CII recommends rate rationalisation from 5 slabs of current rates to three slabs. Essential items at 5 per cent, luxury and sin goods at 28 per cent, and a unified rate of 12-18 per cent for other items. CIIs other recommendations include streamlining of Input Tax Credit (ITC) to eliminate credit blockages, coordinating audits across states, and reducing litigation through a National Appellate Authority. The Industry body also proposes bringing petroleum, electricity, and real estate under the GST ambit. CII also asked for direct tax reforms, it recommends implementing the Income Tax Bill to simplify processes and reduce litigation. Measures such as Advance Pricing Agreements and Dispute Resolution Schemes should be encourage to avoid legal delays. For Customs Duty reforms, CII proposed a 3-tier structure, 0-2.5 per cent for raw materials, 2.5-5 per cent for intermediates, and 5-7 per cent for final goods to streamline imports and enhance competitiveness. Under Rationalising Cost of Manufacturing, land reforms suggest reducing over 50 zoning categories to 5-7 for more flexible land use, easing urban restrictions, and unlocking land held by PSUs. In power sector, CII advocates tariff rationalisation, digitisation of distribution, and improved grid transmission.
Forbes
23-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Successful CEO In A World Of Uncertainty
Concept for success. Given today's global economic and geostrategic uncertainty, its small wonder CEO turnover, which reached record heights in 2024, continues into 2025*. Managing company and industry risk effectively is increasingly difficult in the midst of major exogenous forces destabilizing the business environment critical to success. As Peter Drucker used to say, the root cause of crisis in every organization is when the assumptions on which the enterprise was built and run no longer fit reality. Surely those assumptions about markets, customers, competitors, and technology are now compounded by greater geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty than at any time in the last half century. It would be hard to argue that the assumptions on which most business were built and run are not today in a major state of flux. So the need for CEOs to have dynamic strategic foresight tools to help discern these changes and, to the extent possible, get out ahead of them, is critical to their success. From my extensive interaction with CEOs around the world these days I see three fundamentally different ways CEOs are reacting to these changing assumptions. These different ways of responding to the new global business environment will in large measure, determine whether or not they can succeed, and hence, their longevity. The first group of CEOs I would call 'delusional'. They are clinging on to old realities because that's what they know, are comfortable with, and require the least amount of change. I recall vividly delivering a paper in Davos in 2016 in which I asserted that we were moving from 'globalization to islandization'. But most in the audience clung onto the notion that at best, globalization and integration had reached a bump in the road, believing that globalization was inevitable, immutable and irreversible. Now, nine years later, we know nothing could be further from reality. The second group of CEOs I would call 'mesmerized'. They see dramatic change, challenges and complexity, but they are content to admire the fire. They are either unwilling to change or are frozen in place waiting for the proverbial fog of war to lift and hoping for a return to the status quo ante. The third group of CEOs, and the ones most likely to succeed in a world of continuous, convulsive change, I would call the 'agile'. They are willing to ask the critical questions and put in place strategic foresight and risk management capabilities, as well as rely on a network of informed advisors (which should include their Board of Directors), to provide the peripheral vision needed to be competitive. They establish a dynamic strategy around which they improvise guided by a sophisticated system to monitor early warning signs for changes in their planning assumptions compelling a change in direction. The successful CEO, able to navigate in these chronically uncertain waters, needs also to double down on developing a corporate culture at all levels of the enterprise able to keep their collective ears to the railroad track, monitoring new forces of change potentially affecting corporate operations and competitiveness. As Peter Drucker would say, 'culture eats strategy for breakfast every morning'. Too much attention, often understandably driven by shareholder and financial analyst anxiety, is being placed on the lagging indicators of current performance. Surely good current performance is an indicator of corporate health but largely tells us what a company did six months or even years before that which has yielded current financial performance. More importantly, the successful CEO focuses corporate attention on the leading indicators of likely future performance. This future-focused attention is critically important when the future business conditions are evolving and shifting rapidly. Finally, in this chronically complex and volatile world the temptation in the C-suite is to avoid communicating with stakeholders in the absence of certainty. But some degree of volatility and uncertainty is likely to be steady state as far as the eye can see. This is not an excuse to fail to communicate. In fact, in this environment, the successful CEO communicates more frequently and broadly than ever, authentically sharing their own anxiety, but importantly also informing their stakeholders that corporate strategy is well-tuned to changing direction as conditions might demand. Rather than unsettling employees, shareholders, financial analysts, the CEO who demonstrates an appreciation for business environment volatility accompanied by agile planning and risk management protocols will reassure key stakeholders. In this world of uncertainty, the agile CEO is more likely to succeed than their delusional or mesmerized competitors.
