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(Reuters) -Swedish telecom operator Telia reported third-quarter core earnings slightly above market expectations on Thursday, driven by profitable service revenue growth and lower operational expenses across most of its markets.  The group's quarterly adjusted operating profit before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 4.4% on a like-for-like basis to 8.46 billion Swedish crowns ($898.52 million), slightly higher than analysts' average forecast of 8.45 billion crowns in a poll provided by Telia. Service revenue increased 1.0% like-for-like driven by continued strong momentum in Sweden and the Baltics, the company said. The company upgraded its free cash flow outlook to around 8 billion crowns for the year, from around 7.5 billion crowns previously. Telia also said that it expected its full-year booked capital expenditures to be around 13 billion crowns, versus a previous forecast of below 14 billion crowns. The company reiterated its 2025 forecast for adjusted EBITDA growth of at least 5% and service revenue growth of around 2%, both on a like-for-like basis. "We have healthy operational momentum in Sweden and the Baltics, and are executing on our plan to strengthen both revenue and overall performance in Norway and Finland," Telia CEO Patrik Hofbauer said in a statement. ($1 = 9.4155 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Elviira Luoma in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Matt Scuffham)

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By Giulia Segreti and Tim Hepher ROME/PARIS (Reuters) -European aerospace groups unveiled an initial deal on Thursday to pool their loss-making satellite manufacturing activities, combining forces after months of negotiations to counter the runaway growth of rivals led by Elon Musk's Starlink. The keenly awaited deal between Airbus, Thales and Leonardo aims to forge a new venture starting from 2027, subject to approval by European regulators who have resisted such moves in the past. The unnamed new entity will employ 25,000 people across Europe with annual revenues of 6.5 billion euros ($7.58 billion), based on 2024 figures, the companies said in a statement. Airbus will hold 35%, while Thales and Leonardo will each hold 32.5%, the statement said, adding it would operate under joint control "with a balanced governance structure". The space combination is expected to generate "mid-triple digit" millions of euros of synergies on operating income per year, starting after five years, the companies said. Code-named "Project Bromo," talks between the three aerospace groups started last year in a bid to copy the co-operation model of European missile maker MBDA, which is owned by Airbus, Leonardo and BAE Systems. Europe's top satellite makers have long competed to build complex spacecraft in geostationary orbit but have been hit by the arrival of cheap tiny satellites in low Earth orbit. The CEOs of the three companies said in a joint declaration that the merger would help governments ensure "Europe’s autonomy across the strategic space domain". The deal will combine manufacturing and services activities of Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio – two joint ventures between Leonardo and Thales – as well as various Airbus space and digital businesses, the remaining space activities owned by Leonardo and Thales SESO. The companies, who have already cut a combined total of some 3,000 jobs in space, made no mention of any further job cuts, but said unions would be consulted on the project. Reuters reported earlier this week that the three aerospace groups had reached a framework deal on a proposed tie-up of their satellite businesses. Agreement between the three companies – each of which has had periods of prickly relations in the past – was salvaged after sources familiar with the matter said the talks had hit obstacles over governance and valuation during the summer. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) (Reporting by Giulia Segreti in Rome and Tim Hepher in Paris;Editing by Alvise Armellini/Sudip Kar-Gupta)

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(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is in talks with several quantum-computing companies to take equity stakes in exchange for federal funding, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Companies including IonQ, Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum are discussing the government becoming a shareholder as part of the agreements, the report said, adding that the discussions include minimum funding awards from Washington of $10 million each. Other companies such as Quantum Computing and Atom Computing are considering similar arrangements, the Journal added. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. A U.S. Commerce official told Reuters in an emailed statement that the department is not currently negotiating with any of the companies. Earlier this year, Trump said the U.S. would take a 10% stake in Intel that converts government grants into an equity share, the latest extraordinary intervention by the White House in corporate America. Other deals include an agreement for the Pentagon to become the largest shareholder in a small mining company, MP Materials to boost output of rare earth magnets and the U.S. government's winning a "golden share" with certain veto rights as part of a deal to allow Japan's Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel. Ion declined to comment while the White House, Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Quantum, Atom Computing and Quantum Computing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. U.S. Deputy Commerce Secretary Paul Dabbar, a former quantum-computing executive and Energy Department official, is leading the funding discussions with companies in the industry, the WSJ report said, citing people familiar with the matter. In February, Microsoft unveiled a new chip that it said showed quantum computing is "years, not decades" away, joining Google and IBM in predicting that a fundamental change in computing technology is much closer than recently believed. (Reporting by Devika Nair and Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Lincoln Feast.)

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(Reuters) -STMicroelectronics, on Thursday said that it expected sales to rise in the fourth quarter compared with the current quarter, showing evidence of a sustained recovery after a multi-year downturn in its main markets. One of Europe's largest chipmakers, whose clients include Tesla and Apple, sees fourth quarter revenue reaching $3.28 billion, up from the $3,19 billion it reported this quarter. Analysts polled by LSEG expected fourth quarter revenue at $3.34 billion, and $3.12 billion in the third quarter. "Our strategic priorities remain clear: accelerating innovation; executing our company-wide program to reshape our manufacturing footprint" STMicroelectronics' Chief Executive Jean-Marc Chery said in a statement. Chipmakers exposed to the struggling automotive, industrial, and consumer chip markets such as STMicro, Texas Instruments, or NXP have faced a multi-year long sales slump since the pandemic's end, hit by low demand, high inventories, and geopolitical disruptions. Analysts had raised concerns after U.S.' Texas Instruments forecast a dour fourth quarter on Wednesday, with sales falling more than expected. The Franco-Italian firm also trimmed its capital expenditure plans for the year of 2025, citing current market conditions as a reason. STMicro's capex plan is now slightly below $2 billion, from a range of 2$ to $2.3 previously. The firm also said its cost-cutting plan "remains on schedule" after it faced opposition in Italy over its implementation. (Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk; editing by Matt Scuffham)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Giulia Segreti and Tim Hepher ROME/PARIS (Reuters) -European aerospace groups unveiled an initial deal on Thursday to pool their loss-making satellite manufacturing activities, combining forces after months of negotiations to counter the runaway growth of rivals led by Elon Musk's Starlink. The keenly awaited deal between Airbus, Thales and Leonardo aims to forge a new venture starting from 2027, subject to approval by European regulators who have resisted such moves in the past. The unnamed new entity will employ 25,000 people across Europe with annual revenues of 6.5 billion euros ($7.58 billion), based on 2024 figures, the companies said in a statement. Airbus will hold 35%, while Thales and Leonardo will each hold 32.5%, the statement said, adding it would operate under joint control "with a balanced governance structure". The space combination is expected to generate "mid-triple digit" millions of euros of synergies on operating income per year, starting after five years, the companies said. Code-named "Project Bromo," talks between the three aerospace groups started last year in a bid to copy the co-operation model of European missile maker MBDA, which is owned by Airbus, Leonardo and BAE Systems. Europe's top satellite makers have long competed to build complex spacecraft in geostationary orbit but have been hit by the arrival of cheap tiny satellites in low Earth orbit. The CEOs of the three companies said in a joint declaration that the merger would help governments ensure "Europe’s autonomy across the strategic space domain". The deal will combine manufacturing and services activities of Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio – two joint ventures between Leonardo and Thales – as well as various Airbus space and digital businesses, the remaining space activities owned by Leonardo and Thales SESO. The companies, who have already cut a combined total of some 3,000 jobs in space, made no mention of any further job cuts, but said unions would be consulted on the project. Reuters reported earlier this week that the three aerospace groups had reached a framework deal on a proposed tie-up of their satellite businesses. Agreement between the three companies – each of which has had periods of prickly relations in the past – was salvaged after sources familiar with the matter said the talks had hit obstacles over governance and valuation during the summer. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) (Reporting by Giulia Segreti in Rome and Tim Hepher in Paris;Editing by Alvise Armellini/Sudip Kar-Gupta)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -STMicroelectronics, on Thursday said that it expected sales to rise in the fourth quarter compared with the current quarter, showing evidence of a sustained recovery after a multi-year downturn in its main markets. One of Europe's largest chipmakers, whose clients include Tesla and Apple, sees fourth quarter revenue reaching $3.28 billion, up from the $3,19 billion it reported this quarter. Analysts polled by LSEG expected fourth quarter revenue at $3.34 billion, and $3.12 billion in the third quarter. "Our strategic priorities remain clear: accelerating innovation; executing our company-wide program to reshape our manufacturing footprint" STMicroelectronics' Chief Executive Jean-Marc Chery said in a statement. Chipmakers exposed to the struggling automotive, industrial, and consumer chip markets such as STMicro, Texas Instruments, or NXP have faced a multi-year long sales slump since the pandemic's end, hit by low demand, high inventories, and geopolitical disruptions. Analysts had raised concerns after U.S.' Texas Instruments forecast a dour fourth quarter, with sales falling more than expected. (Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk; editing by Matt Scuffham)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -STMicroelectronics, on Thursday said that it expected sales to rise in the fourth quarter compared with the current quarter, showing evidence of a sustained recovery after a multi-year downturn in its main markets. One of Europe's largest chipmakers, whose clients include Tesla and Apple, sees fourth quarter revenue reaching $3.28 billion, up from the $3,19 billion it reported this quarter. Analysts polled by LSEG expected fourth quarter revenue at $3.34 billion, and $3.12 billion in the third quarter. (Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk; editing by)

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(Reuters) -French software maker Dassault Systemes reported stable total revenue in the third quarter on Thursday, slightly below market estimates. The group, which sells its software to automakers, plane makers and industrial companies, said its total revenue stood at 1.46 billion euros ($1.70 billion) in the reported quarter. Analysts, polled by LSEG, had projected average revenue of 1.51 billion euros. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) (Reporting by Olivier Cherfan in Gdansk; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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BEIJING (Reuters) -Alibaba launched a new AI chatbot assistant service on Thursday, refreshing its push into a consumer-facing space that is dominated by ByteDance and Tencent. The Chinese e-commerce firm integrated the chat assistant into its Quark app, a platform that began as a browser but has been repositioned this year as Alibaba's flagship consumer application, with added artificial intelligence functions including search capabilities. The new service, which is free to use, allows people to access a chatbot interface for conversations via text or voice, providing real-time information and services, the company said in a statement. Alibaba's AI efforts have focused largely on enterprise clients through its cloud services division. The latest move is another attempt to capture consumers in a market where the company has struggled to gain traction with its Tongyi AI assistant app. Despite being among the first Chinese companies to release a consumer AI assistant app to the public in late 2023, Tongyi has failed to achieve widespread adoption. The app had 6.96 million monthly active users in September, according to AI product tracker Aicpb.com. Market leader ByteDance's Doubao had 150 million monthly active users, while DeepSeek had 73.4 million and Tencent followed with 64.2 million. Globally, AI assistants have been gaining traction for companies like Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, who have embedded them into their Gemini, Copilot and ChatGPT platforms. Powered by Alibaba's latest Qwen3 models, Quark's AI chat assistant offers enhanced reasoning, understanding and execution capabilities, the company said. Separately on Thursday, Alibaba said pre-sales for its Quark AI Glasses would begin at midnight on Friday on its Tmall e-commerce platform. The company said it would begin fulfilling orders progressively from December, with the glasses priced at 4,699 yuan ($659.69). Alibaba unveiled its smart glasses in July, joining companies like Meta Platforms in the market for wearable AI devices. ($1 = 7.1230 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus.)

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