Novartis launches $15bn share buyback as strong sales boost outlook
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has launched a $15bn share buyback programme after raising its outlook for the year on the back of strong sales.
Second-quarter sales grew 7 per cent to $13.7bn at constant currencies, the company said on Tuesday. Novartis now expects revenues for 2023 to grow at a high single digit, up from mid, with core operating income set to grow in the low double digits, up from a previous forecast of high single digits.
“Our growth drivers and rich pipeline continue to provide confidence in our mid-term growth outlook,” said chief executive Vas Narasimhan.
Novartis also said its board of directors has “unanimously” endorsed the total spin-off of generics division Sandoz, first announced last year.
John Kerry says climate talks can improve US-China relations
China and the US can resolve their differences through environmental cooperation, Washington’s climate envoy John Kerry told Beijing’s top diplomat on Tuesday, sounding a rare note of optimism amid strained ties.
“We are very hopeful that this can be the beginning not just of a conversation . . . on the climate track, but that we can begin to change the broader relationship,” Kerry told Wang Yi in Beijing, according to Reuters.
Kerry’s third trip to China as US special presidential envoy for climate has restarted halted dialogue over global warming between the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters.
What to watch in Europe today
UK economy: Kantar’s grocery market share figures and price inflation numbers are expected.
Europe-Africa ties: Portugal hosts the two-day EurAfrican Forum for business and political leaders and non-government organisations. Attendees include Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo, Angolan health minister Silvia Lutucuta and Portuguese foreign minister João Gomes Cravinho.
Corporate results: Updates are expected from British private bank Arbuthnot, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, UK retailer Ocado, Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto, Sweden’s Swedbank and UK fintech Wise.
Asian stocks dip following release of weaker-than-expected China data
Asian stocks opened lower Tuesday on the heels of weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data.
The Hang Seng Index declined 1.77 per cent after Hong Kong markets resumed trading following a daylong halt triggered by a storm. The CSI 300 benchmark of mainland equities fell 0.41 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.62 per cent. Japan’s Topix index climbed 0.38 per cent.
Official Chinese data released Monday added to concerns over decelerating growth in Asia’s largest economy, with gross domestic product expanding only 0.8 per cent quarter on quarter in the April-June period, compared with 2.2 per cent in the first quarter.
Chinese developer Evergrande unveils $80bn in losses since 2021
Chinese property developer Evergrande has for the first time unveiled the scale of financial losses incurred by a 2021 default that sparked a crisis in the country’s property sector.
The group, which is in the midst of a lengthy restructuring process, reported losses of Rmb476bn and Rmb106bn ($66.4bn and $14.8bn) for 2021 and 2022, respectively.
The reports are a rare glimpse into the scale of the company’s plight, which has been characterised by a lack of disclosure and opaque discussions with creditors.
The company at the time of its default had borrowed about $20bn from international creditors. At the end of 2022 Evergrande had Rmb2.4tn in total liabilities.
Australian state cancels Commonwealth Games hosting over spiralling costs
The Australian state of Victoria has cancelled plans to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games due to the event’s spiralling costs.
Daniel Andrews, Victoria’s premier, said the budget had blown out to A$7bn ($4.8bn) from an initial forecast of A$2.6bn.
The surprise move will rekindle concerns over the future of the games, which has struggled to convince cities to bear its costs. The 2022 games featured teams from 54 countries and 18 territories that are mostly former or current British colonies.
Victoria emerged last year as the only bidder. The games would have been held in several rural cities rather than in Melbourne, the capital.
What to watch in Asia today
Thailand: Thailand’s legislature holds a second round of voting to name a prime minister. On July 13, Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat — the only nominee — fell short of the necessary 375 votes in a joint session of both houses of parliament. Pita’s coalition plans to nominate him again.
Events: Elsewhere, the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors concludes in Gandhinagar, India, while officials from South Korea and the US meet in Seoul discuss nuclear deterrence against North Korea. Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida returns from a Middle East trip, covering Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar concludes his seven-day visit to Indonesia and Thailand.
Data: Hong Kong issues June unemployment rates. The Reserve Bank of Australia releases the minutes of its July monetary policy meeting.
Companies: Adani Enterprises and Adani Gas hold their first annual meetings since US-based short seller Hindenburg Research produced a report critical of Adani Group companies. India’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises presents first-quarter earnings, while Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto offers a second-quarter operations review.
BlackRock adds Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser to board
BlackRock has named Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, an independent director, as the $9.4tn money manager looks to bolster Middle East expertise on its board and fight US Republican claims that it is hostile to fossil fuel.
Nasser has headed Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, since 2015. His addition brings BlackRock’s board to 17 members, with 15 independent directors.
Chief executive Larry Fink said the board would benefit from Nasser’s “unique perspective” including his “understanding of the global energy industry and the drivers of the shift towards a low-carbon economy as well as his knowledge of the Middle East region”.
US criticises Russia for abandoning Black Sea grain export deal
The US criticised Russia’s exit from the Black Sea grain deal, with US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby calling the move an “irresponsible and dangerous decision”.
Kirby on Monday told reporters that the move would “exacerbate food scarcity and harm millions of vulnerable people around the world”.
He added: “Russia will be fully and solely responsible for the consequences of this military act of aggression,” saying Washington urged the Kremlin to “immediately reverse its decision”.
US stocks rise as investors brace for busy week of corporate earnings
Wall Street stocks rallied on Monday as investors weighed the outlooks for the world’s two biggest economies and prepared for this week’s wave of US corporate results.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 closed 0.4 per cent higher, driven by technology and financial stocks, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9 per cent.
Helping boost US equities at the opening bell was a manufacturing index compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that came in well above expectations, in a sign that businesses remain resilient to rising interest rates.
Read more on the day’s market moves here.
Italy’s Giorgia Meloni slams Russia for pulling out of Ukraine grain deal
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni has slammed Russia’s decision to pull out of the Black Sea grain deal, saying that “using the commodities that feed the world as a weapon is another offence against humanity”.
Meloni on Monday said Moscow’s termination of the agreement — which had enabled the export of 33mn tonnes of Ukrainian wheat by sea, more than half of it to developing countries — “is further evidence of who is a friend and who is the enemy of poorer countries”.
She added that Moscow’s actions should prompt reflections by “the leaders of those nations that do not want to distinguish between the attacked and the aggressor”.
