Microsoft data centres to heat Finnish homes
Finnish utility Fortum said that it will use waste heat from two new Microsoft data centres to warm homes and businesses in and around the capital Helsinki. Meanwhile, they are also cutting carbon emissions. Microsoft simultaneously announced plans for the construction of the data centres. This will be powered by renewable energy, with their location chosen to […]
China’s ZTE headed to court
Lawyers for ZTE Corp have been summoned to U.S. federal court in Texas. This is for a hearing over whether the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker violated probation in connection with an alleged conspiracy to commit visa fraud. ZTE is on probation in the United States after pleading guilty in Dallas in 2017 to illegally shipping U.S. […]
Serena Williams backed – venture capital firm raises $ 111 million funding
Tennis superstar Serena Williams-owned Serena Ventures. This is an early-stage venture capital entity. And it has raised a debut asset of $111 million. In a tweet, she said, that they are thrilled to be announcing their inaugural fund. With an angel portfolio with 13 unicorns and 6 exits, launching a fund was the logical next […]
France’s AXA doubles 2021 profit
Axa reported a profit that more than doubled from last year. This is with the French insurer recovering from pandemic related claims. Mainly during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis. The company is Europe’s second-biggest insurer after Allianz. They said that it expected underlying earnings per share to grow at the high end of its […]
Air France KLM ready to move
Air France-KLM has gained shareholder approval for its proposed capital increase. French financial newspaper Les Echos reported that it is ready to move swiftly. The airline had announced that it plans to raise up to 4 billion euros. Because, it seeks to repay state pandemic handouts, but neither terms nor timing were disclosed. The recapitalisation […]
Russian bonds would weather sanctions
Any tightening of western sanctions on an already stressed Russian domestic bond market would make borrowing more expensive for the government. A deputy finance minister stated this and also said that this can cause significant short-term volatility. But a strong domestic investor base means the market, is where a politically driven selloff has sent benchmark. […]
German minister urges overhaul of EU green energy finance rules
Germany’s environment minister called for a complete overall of proposed European Union rules on which types of energy should be labelled as green. This is after Brussels policymakers ignored German objections to the inclusion of nuclear power. The draft EU plan published last year, that would classify investments in some natural gas and nuclear power […]
Philips expects summer recovery from supply chain woes
Dutch health technology company Philips said that it expects sales to recover strongly in the second half of the year. In the coming months, a steep decline due to global shortage of parts is likely to persist. Earlier this month they had warned that supply chain woes would hit their profit. A ventilator recall needed […]
EDF hit by cap on power prices
The French government said that it had ordered state-owned utility EDF. This is to sell more of its cheap nuclear power to smaller competitors. So that, they can limit the increase of electricity prices in France. EDF said that the measure could cost it up to 8.4 billion euros. It dropped its earnings guidance. The […]
Italy’s Fiat need not pay $30 MLN in back taxes
An adviser to Europe’s top court stated that Italian carmaker Fiat Chrysler need not pay 30 million euros ($33.95 million) in back taxes to Luxembourg. The Fiat case was part of European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s crackdown on deals between European Union countries and multinationals. In this, the highest profile of which were Apple’s Irish […]