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Tata’s Air India to seal half of jumbo plane order: sources

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Air India will on Friday seal half of an order for some 495 jets with Boeing (BA.N) and engine suppliers General Electric (GE.N) and CFM International, industry sources said, as its new owner seeks to revive the airline and compete with larger rivals. After months of closely guarded, tough negotiations, Air India is set to place an order for 190 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody planes as well as some 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777X on a day marking one year since Tata Group took control of the former state-run carrier, two sources told Reuters. The second half of the order, which industry sources have told Reuters includes about 235 Airbus (AIR.PA) single-aisle jets and about 40 Airbus A350 widebody aircraft, is expected to be formally wrapped up over the coming days. Senior Boeing officials, including Stanley Deal, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, along with GE and CFM executives are expected in India to mark the deal on Friday. Despite earlier expectations of a single coordinated announcement, it remains unclear when either deal may be publicly disclosed, especially with the Aero India air show looming in February when deals like this are usually revealed. Manufacturers Boeing and Airbus, as well as CFM s joint venture partners GE and Safran declined to comment. Air India did not respond to a request for comment but in a note to employees on Friday, marking its first anniversary under Tata s ownership, the airline said it is "finalising a historic order of new aircraft to power future growth". Reuters reported last month Air India was closing in on a deal for about 500 jets. The order, once finalised, aims to put Air India in the league of large global airlines and make it an influential customer for planemakers and suppliers at a time when its home market is seeing a strong post-COVID-19 travel surge. Domestic passenger air traffic in India grew 47% in 2022 from a year earlier, government data showed. Analysts caution the airline faces intense competition given the connectivity carved out by domestic and international rivals. India, which is set to overtake China as the world s most populous country, has a large, under-served air travel market dominated by budget carrier IndiGo (INGL.NS). The bulk of India s outbound passenger traffic, however, is carried by Middle Eastern airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways. RESURGENT AIR INDIA Under its new owners, Air India is looking to restore its reputation at home and abroad as a storied carrier with impeccable service and world-class planes. It has put back in service nearly 20 aircraft that had been grounded for years due to lack of parts and money. The airline has also said it will spend more than $400 million to refurbish its entire legacy wide body fleet of 27 Boeing 787-8s and 13 777 aircraft. The aim is to corner 30% of the domestic market over the next five years thus narrowing the gap with market leader IndiGo. It also wants to increase by "multiples" its share of international travel, the airline s chief executive, Campbell Wilson, has said. Tata s four airlines, including two budget carriers, Air India and Vistara its joint venture with Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI), have a combined market share of 24%. Analysts have said Air India has the ability to claw back some passengers from rival Gulf carriers but not before it matches their quality of fleet and service. Nor will the domestic battle with IndiGo happen without tough competition from a carrier that continues to expand.

Air India will on Friday seal half of an order for some 495 jets with Boeing (BA.N) and engine suppliers General Electric (GE.N) and CFM International, industry sources said, as its new owner seeks to revive the airline and compete with larger rivals.

After months of closely guarded, tough negotiations, Air India is set to place an order for 190 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody planes as well as some 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777X on a day marking one year since Tata Group took control of the former state-run carrier, two sources told Reuters.

The second half of the order, which industry sources have told Reuters includes about 235 Airbus (AIR.PA) single-aisle jets and about 40 Airbus A350 widebody aircraft, is expected to be formally wrapped up over the coming days.

Senior Boeing officials, including Stanley Deal, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, along with GE and CFM executives are expected in India to mark the deal on Friday.

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Despite earlier expectations of a single coordinated announcement, it remains unclear when either deal may be publicly disclosed, especially with the Aero India air show looming in February when deals like this are usually revealed.

Manufacturers Boeing and Airbus, as well as CFM s joint venture partners GE and Safran declined to comment.

Air India did not respond to a request for comment but in a note to employees on Friday, marking its first anniversary under Tata s ownership, the airline said it is “finalising a historic order of new aircraft to power future growth”.

Reuters reported last month Air India was closing in on a deal for about 500 jets.

The order, once finalised, aims to put Air India in the league of large global airlines and make it an influential customer for planemakers and suppliers at a time when its home market is seeing a strong post-COVID-19 travel surge.

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Domestic passenger air traffic in India grew 47% in 2022 from a year earlier, government data showed.

Analysts caution the airline faces intense competition given the connectivity carved out by domestic and international rivals.

India, which is set to overtake China as the world s most populous country, has a large, under-served air travel market dominated by budget carrier IndiGo (INGL.NS). The bulk of India s outbound passenger traffic, however, is carried by Middle Eastern airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways.

RESURGENT AIR INDIA

Under its new owners, Air India is looking to restore its reputation at home and abroad as a storied carrier with impeccable service and world-class planes.

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It has put back in service nearly 20 aircraft that had been grounded for years due to lack of parts and money. The airline has also said it will spend more than $400 million to refurbish its entire legacy wide body fleet of 27 Boeing 787-8s and 13 777 aircraft.

The aim is to corner 30% of the domestic market over the next five years thus narrowing the gap with market leader IndiGo. It also wants to increase by “multiples” its share of international travel, the airline s chief executive, Campbell Wilson, has said.

Tata s four airlines, including two budget carriers, Air India and Vistara its joint venture with Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI), have a combined market share of 24%.

Analysts have said Air India has the ability to claw back some passengers from rival Gulf carriers but not before it matches their quality of fleet and service. Nor will the domestic battle with IndiGo happen without tough competition from a carrier that continues to expand. 

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China wins WTO dispute with Australia over steel products

China wins WTO dispute with Australia over steel products

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China wins WTO dispute with Australia over steel products

China has won a nearly three-year-long dispute with Australia at the World Trade Organization over tariffs on steel products that began during a low point of bilateral relations between the countries, and Australia’s trade minister said Wednesday his government accepted the ruling.

Beijing took its complaint to the WTO in June 2021 over Australia’s extra duties on railway wheels, wind towers and stainless steel sinks imported from China. Trade in these products was worth 62 million Australian dollars ($40.4 million) in 2022.

On Tuesday, the WTO panel adjudicating the case in Geneva, Switzerland, found that Australia’s investigating authority, the Anti-Dumping Commission, had acted inconsistently with some articles of the anti-dumping agreement.

Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell said in a statement Wednesday that Canberra accepted the WTO’s ruling and supported a rules-based trading system.

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“Australia will engage with China and take steps to implement the panel’s findings,” Farrell said.

“Australia remains committed to a fully functioning WTO dispute settlement system so that the rights and obligations of all WTO members can be enforced,” he added.

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Trade tariffs have been a hot topic between Beijing and Canberra in recent years after China imposed a raft of sanctions on Australian goods in 2020 during the most recent nadir in the bilateral relationship. It is estimated that the tariffs cost the Australian economy 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion).

Most of the tariffs have since been lifted as the relationship thawed, but tariffs on wine, rock lobster and some abattoirs still remain.

In April, Australia suspended a complaint to the WTO in a bid to reopen the Chinese market to Australian barley, which had been one of the products targeted by the tariffs and was widely seen as the new Australian government’s attempts to repair relations with Beijing.

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The Australian government has also halted another WTO dispute against China over sanctions on Australian wine worth about 1.1 billion Australian dollars ($720 million) in exchange for a review by China to be completed by the end of March. 

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GameStop shares fall as video game retailer faces competition, weak spending

GameStop shares fall as video game retailer faces competition, weak spending

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GameStop shares fall as video game retailer faces competition, weak spending

GameStop’s (GME.N), opens new tab shares fell more than 14% on Wednesday, as the brick-and-mortar video game retailer reported a decline in fourth-quarter revenue on the back of a spending slowdown and rising competition from e-commerce firms.

The Grapevine, Texas-based company also said late on Tuesday that it had cut an unspecified number of jobs, joining Japan’s Sony (6758.T), opens new tab and Electronic Arts (EA.O), opens new tab in a bid to reduce costs as economic uncertainty hits discretionary spending.

GameStop is set to lose more than $700 million in its market capitalization if the losses hold.

As of Tuesday, GameStop’s stock had fallen nearly 12% this year, as the retail and ecommerce environment remains intensely competitive for the company, which was once a mainstay of American malls.

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The company has a total of 4,169 stores as of Feb. 3, compared with 4,413 in January last year.

GameStop was hailed as the pioneer of Wall Street’s so-called meme stocks. The stock’s price rose as much as 100 times over several months in 2021, largely on the sentiment of individual buyers connected through the Reddit (RDDT.N), opens new tab community forum WallStreetBets.

“No sooner has the meme stock craze been resurrected by Donald Trump’s media company enjoying a big share price boost, it’s somewhat ironic that the grandfather of meme has fallen flat on its face,” AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.O), opens new tab rose more than 12% on Wednesday, a day after its stellar Nasdaq debut.

GameStop’s first adjusted per share profit in four quarters also failed to lift investors’ spirits. The company’s earnings were 22 cents per share on an adjusted basis for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, after breaking-even in the third quarter.

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Exclusive: First Quantum execs discuss investment, disputed copper with Chinese officials

Exclusive: First Quantum execs discuss investment, disputed copper with Chinese officials

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Carnival Corp (CCL.N), opens new tab, (CCL.L), opens new tab raised its annual profit forecast on Wednesday, betting on a record year of bookings for its cruises as the industry has its “revenge travel” moment.

Cruise companies are experiencing all-time high booking rates as travelers switch to cheaper sea-borne experiences over expensive land-based alternatives such as booking hotels or flights, allowing operators to hike prices.

However, U.S.-listed shares of the company, which owns the Cunard and Holland America Line cruise lines, reversed course from premarket and were last down about 3%. They have risen about 94% in the last 12 months.

“This has been a fantastic start to the year,” CEO Josh Weinstein said in a statement.

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“We delivered another strong quarter that outperformed guidance on every measure, while concluding a monumental wave season that achieved all-time high booking volumes at considerably higher prices.”

The company’s first-quarter revenue rose to $5.41 billion, roughly in line with analysts’ expectations.

Bookings for the rest of 2024 remain the best year on record with total customer deposits reaching a first-quarter all-time high of $7 billion, the company said.

Carnival has estimated an impact of up to $10 million on both adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income for the full year following the Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on Tuesday.

The company said in January that strong demand trends during the year were expected to offset the impact it was seeing due to the re-routing of ships in the Red Sea region.

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The cruise operator now expects adjusted profit per share of 98 cents in 2024, compared with its prior forecast of 93 cents. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $1 per share, according to LSEG data.

Adjusted cruise costs, excluding fuel in constant currency, were up 7.3% in the first quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier. 

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