Business Archives - Page 53 of 70

December 17, 2021

UK Governing Conservatives Suffer Shock By-Election Loss | Business News

By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has suffered a stunning defeat in a parliamentary by-election that was a referendum on his government amid weeks of scandal and soaring COVID-19 infections.

Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan overturned a Conservative majority of almost 23,000 votes from the last election to win Thursday’s contest in North Shropshire, a rural area of northwest England that has been represented by a Conservative almost continuously since 1832. The election was called after the former Conservative member of Parliament resigned amid a corruption scandal.

The result will heap pressure on Johnson just two years after he was reelected with a seemingly unassailable 80-seat majority in Parliament. But his authority has been dented in recent weeks by allegations that he and his staff attended Christmas parties last year while the country was in lockdown, efforts to shield an ally from allegations of illegal lobbying and suggestions that he improperly accepted donations to fund the lavish refurbishment of his official residence.

Against this backdrop, supporters and opponents are questioning Johnson’s handling of the pandemic after coronavirus infections soared to records this week as the highly transmissible omicron variant swept through the U.K.

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“Tonight the people of North Shropshire have spoken on behalf of the British people,” Morgan said in her victory speech. “They said loudly and clearly, ’Boris Johnson, the party is over. Your government, run on lies and bluster, will be held accountable. It will be scrutinized, it will be challenged, and it can and will be defeated.”’

Thursday’s result is the second by-election defeat for the Conservatives this year. In June, the Liberal Democrat Sarah Green won a by-election in Chesham and Amersham, a constituency northwest of London that has been a traditional Conservative stronghold.

Johnson became prime minister almost 2½ years ago, riding his support for Brexit and his carefully curated image as a bumbling but likable politician.

He solidified his position by calling a snap election just five months later after Parliament rejected the withdrawal agreement he negotiated with the European Union. The Conservatives won 365 seats in the election, 80 more than all the other parties combined.

But Brexit is no longer the central issue in British politics.

Many voters are frustrated after two years of a pandemic that has claimed more than 145,000 lives, triggered a series of lockdowns and battered the economy.

Conservative lawmakers rebelled earlier this week, with 99 members of Johnson’s party voting against his proposal to require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter nightclubs and large events. The measure passed only because the opposition Labour Party supported it.

Then there are the scandals and missteps that have made Johnson look more like someone who has lost control than his preferred persona of a slightly disheveled leader who’s so busy he can’t be bothered to comb his hair.

He was forced to apologize last month after trying to change parliamentary rules to avoid censure for Conservative lawmaker Own Paterson who lobbied government agencies on behalf of companies he worked for. Paterson eventually resigned, triggering the by-election in North Shropshire.

Since then Johnson has been buffeted by a series of news reports alleging that he and his staff attended Christmas parties last November and December at a time when COVID-19 restrictions barred everyone else from visiting friends or even comforting dying relatives in the hospital.

Johnson initially stonewalled, saying that there were no parties and no rules had been broken. After a video surfaced in which staff members appeared to make light of the violations Johnson was forced to call for an investigation.

Even some members of Johnson’s own party have now had enough.

Roger Gale, a Conservative lawmaker since 1983, said the result in North Shropshire was a clear indication that the public is dissatisfied with the way Johnson is running the government.

“I think this has to be seen as a referendum on the prime minister’s performance, and I think that the prime minister is now in last orders time,” Gale told the BBC. He has “two strikes already. One earlier this week in the vote in the Commons, now this. One more strike and he’s out.”

But Charles Walker, another Conservative member of Parliament, said the result was more about the anger and fatigue people are feeling after two years of the pandemic.

While he acknowledged that mistakes have been made, Walker stressed said it isn’t unusual for the governing party to suffer defeats in by-elections.

“Every time there’s a result like this people say it’s seismic, people say it’s a shockwave, it’s a tsunami of change, and sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t,” he told the BBC. “I don’t think we can read too much into this.”

December 16, 2021

Neogen to acquire 3M’s food safety business | 2021-12-14

LANSING, MICH. — Neogen Corp. is acquiring 3M’s food safety business. The acquisition will be in the form of a Reverse Morris Trust where 3M’s food safety business will be spun-off to 3M shareholders and then merged with a subsidiary of Neogen.

At the completion of the transaction, Neogen will issue shares to 3M shareholders such that 3M shareholders will receive approximately 50.1{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of the combined company and existing Neogen shareholders will continue to own approximately 49.9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of the combined company. In connection with the transaction, 3M also will receive consideration valued at approximately $1 billion, subject to closing and other adjustments.

The transaction values 3M’s food safety business at approximately $5.3 billion. Once completed, the combined business is expected to have a value of $9.3 billion based on Neogen’s closing share price as of Dec. 13.

“This combination will enhance Neogen’s position in this new era of food security, equipping us with an expanded product line that enables us to capitalize on our growing footprint, reaching more customers, more often, while continuing our track record of strong and consistent growth,” said John Adent, Neogen’s president and chief executive officer. “The heightened global focus on food security, sustainability and supply chain solutions around the world presents exciting opportunities for Neogen to be positioned as an innovative leader at the forefront of the growth and digitization of the industry.”

Specifically, Neogen said the merger will expand its capabilities in indicator testing and pathogen detection. It also will expand Neogen’s opportunities beyond the US and Europe and give the company greater capabilities to lead the digitization of the food security industry.

Mr. Adent and the company’s existing management team will lead the combined company. The size of Neogen’s board of directors will be increased by two independent board members appointed by 3M at the closing.

“By combining our food safety business with Neogen, we will create an organization well positioned to capture long-term profitable growth,” said Mike Roman, CEO of 3M. “This transaction further evolves our strategy, focuses our health care business and benefits our stakeholders, as we actively manage our portfolio to drive growth and deliver shareholder value.”

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2022.

December 14, 2021

Building “a fine-tuned Swiss watch” of a specialty insurance business

This is the latest milestone in Canopius USA’s quick evolution since Davis joined the firm as president and chief underwriting officer in September 2020. A 30-year insurance veteran and experienced leader in the US specialty insurance industry, Davis was hired with the remit of bringing Canopius’s existing US business units together, and building a specialty insurance company with a flexible and entrepreneurial spirit, backed by the strength and stability of multiple world-class insurance platforms.

Prior to Davis’s appointment, Canopius was operating in the US via two distinct platforms: Canopius US Insurance, Inc. (CUSI), an insurance company licensed in all 50 states that writes excess and surplus (E&S) lines binding authority business through select distribution partners; and Canopius Underwriting Agency, Inc. (CUAI), an MGA, underwriting solutions for open market property, ocean marine, management & professional lines, and cyber business.

“There was not a lot of interaction between the organizations [CUSI and CUAI], and as we look to grow in the US, we identified a need to bring everything together,” said Davis. “That’s what I was hired to do. We’ve been working on that for the past year, and I feel like we’re in a really good spot in terms of connecting all the dots together.”

Read next: Canopius Group names new COO

Over the past few years, Canopius USA has achieved significant growth in gross written premium (GWP), jumping from approximately $100 million across CUSI and CUAI in 2019 to $200 million by the end of 2020, and the business is now on track to close 2021 with about $400 million in GWP.

“We’re in the process right now of putting together our full five-year plan for the US that will encompass additional growth, with a goal of getting us to somewhere around $1.5 billion or $2 billion GWP over the next five years. So, it’s ambitious,” Davis told Insurance Business. “[At present] we’re tiny in the US, but that really opens up a lot of opportunity because when you’re small, there’s a lot of things you obviously haven’t explored yet.

“We’re in the process of exploring: How do we grow the lines that we’re currently in? Are there adjacent lines we can add to that? Are there things we can do more on admitted paper that we haven’t really had the ability to do in the past? It’s a combination of all those three things that [will enable us] to make that real growth trajectory.”

As a first step under the agreement with SFMI, the ocean marine and management & professional lines teams of CUAI will write admitted business using SFMI’s paper. This complements Canopius USA’s existing ability to write non-admitted business through CUSI and Canopius Lloyd’s Syndicate 4444.

“My vision for Canopius USA as an organization is really to be able to write on Lloyd’s paper, other non-admitted paper, as well as SFMI paper,” said Davis. “I think it gives us a really distinct opportunity in the specialty market to really have multiple platforms, multiple distributions, and really concentrate on following and finding solutions for different niche areas.

“We’re not trying to be all things to all people. We’re really trying to set up something that’s a little bit more boutique and focused on specific risks. What we’re looking to do, and what we can do, is build really deep expertise in a few areas, and then use that as our base jumping off point [for] adjacent lines of business. We differentiate ourselves by being nimble, responding quickly [to the market], and developing products in partnerships.”

Read more: Canopius launches algorithmic underwriting MGA

The finalization of the admitted partnership with SFMI will fuel Canopius USA’s plans to expand its offerings in the specialty insurance market. Currently they include open market property, ocean marine, management and professional and cyber business distributed through a broad range of insurance market intermediaries including retail and wholesale agents and brokers. Canopius USA also supports additional lines including property, general liability, auto and surety through partnerships with specialized MGAs.

While Canopius USA is a relatively young firm in the grand scheme of things, Davis insists it is not a start-up. “We’re not starting from scratch like so many others in the class of 2020,” she said, referring to Canopius USA’s parent company Canopius Group, a global specialty (re)insurer with underwriting operations in Australia, Bermuda, China, Singapore, the UK and US, as well as its relationships with Lloyd’s and established partners like SFMI.

“We already have a strong base, and now we’re ramping up what we’ve been doing with more focus. I think that that gives us a little bit of an edge over some of the other folks out there that are trying to make every step all at once,” said Davis. “We’ve already made the baby steps, and now we’re looking to really accelerate and grow.”

December 14, 2021

Stocks End Higher, Closing Out Best Week Since February | Business News

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

Technology companies led a rally on Wall Street that powered the S&P 500 to an all-time high and gave the index its best weekly gain since February.

The S&P 500 rose 1{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, enough to recoup its losses from a day earlier. The benchmark index closed higher four of the last five days, finishing 3.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} higher for the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, both recovering from declines in the early going. Smaller-company stocks lagged the broader market, leaving the Russell 2000 index 0.4{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} lower.

A late wave of buying solidified the gains for the market, which had wavered between small gains and losses in morning trading after the government reported another big rise in inflation last month.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics said prices for U.S. consumers jumped 6.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} in November compared with a year earlier. Surging costs for food, energy, housing and other items have left Americans enduring their highest annual inflation rate since 1982. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 4.9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} year over year.

Still, markets were relieved to see that the report was in line with expectations.

“Many have felt the effects of inflation in their day-to-day, so this likely isn’t a huge shocker to the market,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director, investment strategy at E-Trade.

The S&P 500 rose 44.57 points to 4,712.02, a new high. It set its previous record high on Nov. 18.

The Dow gained 216.30 points to 35,970.99. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 113.23 points to 15,630.60. The Russell 2000 fell 8.40 points to 2,211.81. The indexes all posted weekly gains.

The latest inflation data comes ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting of policymakers next week. Rising inflation has prompted the central bank to speed up the pace at which it trims its bond purchases, which have helped keep interest rates low.

Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell has suggested the central bank could move more quickly to pare back, or taper, the amount of bonds it’s been purchasing each month to keep long-term interest rates low.

Analysts say the elevated inflation figures ramp up the pressure on the Fed to follow through on Powell’s comments. Many investors also expect the Fed to start raising interest rates from current ultra-low levels starting in the middle of next year.

“The inflation print from this morning will reinforce the Fed’s resolve to accelerate tapering. With the strength in the economic recovery, it is time to take the crutches away,” said Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network.

Apart from a decline Thursday, stocks have bounced back this week following two weeks of volatile trading that left the S&P 500 with back-to-back weekly losses. The index has now recovered most of the losses after the discovery of the omicron variant of COVID-19 was announced last month. It’s now up 25.5{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} for the year.

Investors’ worries over omicron eased this week amid encouraging signs that the variant may be less dangerous than delta. Pfizer said this week that its lab tests suggest the drugmaker’s COVID-19 boosters provide protection against the new strain.

More than 70{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of the stocks in the S&P 500 rose, with technology companies doing most of the heavy lifting. Business software maker Oracle surged 15.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after reporting strong quarterly results. Microsoft and Apple each rose 2.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

Makers and sellers of household goods also helped lift the S&P 500. Costco climbed 6.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, while Coca-Cola rose 2.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

Energy futures closed higher. The price of U.S. crude oil rose 1{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}. That helped give a modest boost to energy sector stocks in the S&P 500. Devon Energy rose 2.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.48{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} from 1.51{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} just before the inflation report came out. The yield on the two-year note dropped to 0.66{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

December 13, 2021

Business News for Dec. 9, 2021

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers of both parties came out swinging in a hearing on Wednesday with Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, expressing deep skepticism and anger toward the company for not doing enough to protect young users.

In a hearing held by a Senate subcommittee on consumer protection, lawmakers grilled Mr. Mosseri on internal research leaked by a whistle-blower that showed Instagram had a toxic effect on some teenagers. They pressed him to commit to share data with researchers on algorithmic ranking systems and to support legislation for stronger privacy and security protections for children online.

Even Instagram’s announcements this week on new safety tools for children were too little and too late, they said.

“Facebook’s own researchers have been warning management, including yourself, Mr. Mosseri, for years,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the subcommittee. “Parents are asking, what is Congress doing to protect our kids and the resounding bipartisan message from this committee is that legislation is coming. We can’t rely on self-policing.”

The hearing is part of a growing effort in Washington to rein in the power of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies. Antitrust regulators are seeking to break up Google and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and lawmakers have introduced dozens of data privacy, speech and competition bills.

Calls for legislative changes have intensified in recent weeks, after a whistle-blower at Facebook leaked internal research that said Instagram led one out of three teenagers to feel worse about their body image and for as many as 16 percent of some teenagers in Britain to have thoughts of suicide. The documents obtained by the whistle-blower, Frances Haugen, often contradicted public statements made by Meta officials, who have long underplayed or rebutted criticism that Instagram harms the mental and emotional well-being of younger users.

“You better tell the truth,” Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat of Minnesota, told Mr. Mosseri. “You’re under oath.”

Mr. Mosseri, 38, was appearing before Congress for the first time. He is a longtime executive at Facebook and is considered a close lieutenant of the company’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. He joined the company in 2008 as a designer and gradually rose in the ranks to run the News Feed, a central feature of the Facebook app. In October 2018, he was named head of Instagram, weeks after the sudden resignations of the app’s founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.

He told lawmakers that Instagram often had a positive role in the lives of teenagers, such as by helping them establish connections during difficult times. He tried to direct attention at rivals, noting that more teenagers use TikTok and YouTube. He also acknowledged the skepticism among members of Congress toward Meta.

“I recognize that many in this room have deep reservations about our company,” Mr. Mosseri said. “But I want to assure you that we do have the same goal. We all want teens to be safe online.”

On Tuesday, Instagram announced new safety features for children. Mr. Mosseri mentioned those changes in the hearing, which include tools like a “take a break” function that is meant to help limit time spent online. (TikTok has a similar function that appears when users are spending too much time on the app.)

But Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, the ranking Republican member of the subcommittee, said even the basic promises of privacy and security from the company had failed users.

This week, her staff set up an experimental account for a fictional 15-year-old and were surprised to find the profile automatically set to public exposure. Instagram says teenage accounts automatically default to the private setting.

Mr. Mosseri acknowledged the error and said Ms. Blackburn’s office exposed a flaw in Instagram’s controls that sets teenage accounts that were created on a web browser — and not on a mobile app — to public. “We will correct that,” Mr. Mosseri said.

Mr. Blumenthal’s office has received hundreds of calls and emails from parents about their negative experiences with Instagram, he has said. One parent recounted how her daughter’s interest in fitness on Instagram led the app to recommend accounts on extreme dieting, eating disorders and self-harm.

Mr. Blumenthal has homed in on the algorithms, which he called “800-pound gorillas in black boxes,” that push such recommendations.

Lawmakers, including Mr. Blumenthal and Ms. Blackburn, have proposed stronger data privacy rules aimed at protecting children and greater enforcement of age restrictions. They have also called for young users to be able to delete information online. Lawmakers have pursued similar legislation before, with little success. Though lawmakers often show bipartisan unity in the hearings, dozens of data privacy bills have been stymied by intense industry lobbying and partisan disagreement over how stringent laws should be.

Senator John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota, has introduced a bill that would force companies to reveal more about their algorithmic ranking system. He asked if Instagram would allow users to rank their content chronologically, instead of through opaque decisions based purely on engagement.

Mr. Mosseri said the company was working on the feature, which could be available next year.

Though Mr. Mosseri repeated his support for regulations, he demurred when asked about specific proposals. He said he hadn’t read a bill introduced by Mr. Blumenthal and other lawmakers that could hold Meta liable for hosting harmful content. He wouldn’t commit to give up completely on the idea of building a version of the Instagram app for users under the age of 13. And he didn’t directly answer questions as to whether victims should be able to sue Meta for hosting sex-trafficking content.

Child advocacy groups said Mr. Mosseri failed to provide any greater assurances that Instagram would prioritize child safety.

“Today’s hearing was just more of the same: evasions, empty promises, and too-little, too-late gestures aimed at forestalling congressional action instead of meaningfully addressing Instagram’s harmful business model and design choices,” said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay.

Leaders of the subcommittee said they would hold additional hearings, which may include more executives of Meta. Mr. Blumenthal said Mr. Mosseri’s vague commitment for “directional” support on laws “doesn’t cut it.”

“This industry has said it is in favor of government regulation but they have opposed specific measures with armies of lawyers and lobbyists and tons of money,” Mr. Blumenthal said.

December 12, 2021

Asia Stocks Follow Wall Street Lower as Rally Cools | Business News

By JOE McDONALD, AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower Friday as a rally cooled and investors waited for U.S. inflation data that might influence a Federal Reserve decision on when to roll back economic stimulus.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney retreated.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell after three days of gains. More than three-quarters of companies in the index closed lower.

Investors looked ahead to U.S. consumer price data for November. Fed officials, due to meet next week, said earlier they were ready to take action if needed to cool inflation, which hit a 30-year high in October.

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Traders were “potentially taking some risks off the table” while they wait for the numbers, said Yeap Jun Rong of IG in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 3,662.72 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 0.4{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 28,609.84. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong retreated 0.5{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 24,138.40.

The Kospi in Seoul gave up 0.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 3,011.44 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 was 0.5{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} lower at 7,346.00.

New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets also declined.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 4,667.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped less than 1 point to 35,754.69. The Nasdaq lost lost 1.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 15,517.37.

The S&P 500 had gained 3.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} over the previous three days after the chief White House medical adviser said the omicron variant might not be as dangerous as the earlier delta. That eased fears of more restrictions on travel and business.

Technology stocks and a mix of retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending weighed the most on the S&P 500. Chipmaker Nvidia fell 3.4{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, while Tesla slid 6.1{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} for the biggest drop in the index.

Travel-related companies slipped after spending the last few days gaining ground. Carnival fell 1.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} and United Airlines fell 1.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

Health-related stocks rose. Pfizer, which is touting the potential benefits of a vaccine booster against the omicron variant, rose 1.3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits plunged last week to the lowest level in 52 years.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude gained 7 cents to $71.01 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.42 on Thursday to $70.94. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, advanced 8 cents to $74.50 per barrel in London. It lost $1.40 the previous session to $74.42.

The dollar was little-changed at 113.49 yen. The euro gained to $1.1301 from $1.1289.