Inkhabar webdesk

(Refiles to fix links to earlier stories in copy; no change to text) PARIS(Reuters) -Gucci owner Kering said on Sunday it has agreed to sell its beauty business to L'Oreal for 4 billion euros ($4.66 billion), as new CEO Luca de Meo moves to tackle the luxury group's high debt and refocus on its core fashion business. Under the deal, French beauty giant L'Oreal will acquire Kering's fragrance line Creed, as well as rights to develop fragrance and beauty products under Kering's fashion labels Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga under a 50-year exclusive license. The licence for Gucci fragrances is currently held by Coty and the new deal will commence when that expires, believed by analysts to be in 2028. The sale is a major step towards reducing Kering's net debt, which stood at 9.5 billion euros at the end of June, on top of 6 billion euros in long-term lease liabilities which have sparked investor concern. The company has struggled to reverse declining growth at its largest brand Gucci, which was hit hard by slowing demand in the key Chinese market. With the deal struck less than two months after taking over the helm, de Meo is unwinding one of the biggest strategic pivots made by his predecessor Francois-Henri Pinault, whose family controls the group, in recent years. Kering set up its beauty business in 2023 after acquiring perfume maker Creed for 3.5 billion euros in an effort to diversify and reduce its reliance on its Gucci brand, which accounts for most of its profits. But the group has struggled to ramp up the business, posting a 60 million euro operating loss for the first half of the year. Gucci's revenue meanwhile plummeted 25% year-on-year in the last reported quarter, increasing the pressure on Kering to deleverage to avoid further credit downgrades.  De Meo, who took over as CEO in September, had told shareholders he planned to take some difficult decisions to reduce debt at the group, including rationalising and reorganising where necessary. L'Oreal, the world's biggest dedicated cosmetics and beauty player, already produces blockbuster perfumes under the Yves Saint Laurent label after acquiring rights to the brand from Kering for 1.15 billion euros in 2008.  The deal for Kering beauty will be L'Oreal's largest to date, bigger than its purchase of Australian brand Aesop for $2.5 billion in 2023. L'Oreal, which said there were "plenty" of acquisitions being looked at this year, has also been approached by representatives of Armani Group, Reuters reported this month, after the beauty conglomerate was named in the will of late designer Giorgio Armani as one of the preferred buyers for a minority stake in his fashion house. ($1 = 0.8576 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Patton and Tassilo Hummel in Paris, Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Klamann, Diane Craft and Lincoln Feast.)

(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) -Sany Heavy Industry is seeking to raise as much as HK$12.36 billion ($1.59 billion) through its Hong Kong listing, a filing showed on Monday, as the machinery maker taps into renewed investor appetite for Chinese listings in the city. The company is selling 580.4 million shares in a price range of HK$20.30 to HK$21.30 each, according to the filing. Reuters reported in February that Sany Heavy was looking to raise up to $1.5 billion. Cornerstone investors have taken up stock worth about $759 million in the deal, the filings showed. Singapore's Temasek will invest about $75 million in the stock, while Hillhouse, UBS Asset Management, BlackRock and Oaktree will also subscribe, according to the filings.  The listing underscores Hong Kong’s resurgence as the premier offshore fundraising hub for Chinese companies, as mounting U.S. scrutiny pushes more firms to pivot away from American exchanges. Toymaker Miniso said in late September it would spin off its brand Top Toy and list the same in Hong Kong, while Reuters has reported that China's Momenta was mulling shifting its initial public offering to Hong Kong from New York. Hong Kong, fuelled by the influx of Chinese companies, has emerged as the top global bourse by volume of IPOs and second listings so far this year, overtaking its biggest rival, the New York Stock Exchange, according to data from LSEG. Sany Heavy Industry specializes in heavy equipment, making a wide range of machinery including excavation, lifting, road construction and pile-driving equipment. Sany Heavy Industry has operations and factories in the United States, Europe, India, Brazil and Germany, as well as five manufacturing hubs in China, according to its website.     ($1 = 7.7669 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 7.1264 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Diane Craft and Tom Hogue)

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

PARIS(Reuters) -Gucci owner Kering said on Sunday it has agreed to sell its beauty business to L'Oreal for 4 billion euros ($4.66 billion), as new CEO Luca de Meo moves to tackle the luxury group's high debt and refocus on its core fashion business. Under the deal, French beauty giant L'Oreal will acquire Kering's fragrance line Creed, as well as rights to develop fragrance and beauty products under Kering's fashion labels Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga under a 50-year exclusive license. The licence for Gucci fragrances is currently held by Coty and the new deal will commence when that expires, believed by analysts to be in 2028. The sale is a major step towards reducing Kering's net debt, which stood at 9.5 billion euros at the end of June, on top of 6 billion euros in long-term lease liabilities which have sparked investor concern. The company has struggled to reverse declining growth at its largest brand Gucci, which was hit hard by slowing demand in the key Chinese market. With the deal struck less than two months after taking over the helm, de Meo is unwinding one of the biggest strategic pivots made by his predecessor Francois-Henri Pinault, whose family controls the group, in recent years. Kering set up its beauty business in 2023 after acquiring perfume maker Creed for 3.5 billion euros in an effort to diversify and reduce its reliance on its Gucci brand, which accounts for most of its profits. But the group has struggled to ramp up the business, posting a 60 million euro operating loss for the first half of the year. Gucci's revenue meanwhile plummeted 25% year-on-year in the last reported quarter, increasing the pressure on Kering to deleverage to avoid further credit downgrades.  De Meo, who took over as CEO in September, had told shareholders he planned to take some difficult decisions to reduce debt at the group, including rationalising and reorganising where necessary. L'Oreal, the world's biggest dedicated cosmetics and beauty player, already produces blockbuster perfumes under the Yves Saint Laurent label after acquiring rights to the brand from Kering for 1.15 billion euros in 2008.  The deal for Kering beauty will be L'Oreal's largest to date, bigger than its purchase of Australian brand Aesop for $2.5 billion in 2023. L'Oreal, which said there were "plenty" of acquisitions being looked at this year, has also been approached by representatives of Armani Group, Reuters reported this month, after the beauty conglomerate was named in the will of late designer Giorgio Armani as one of the preferred buyers for a minority stake in his fashion house. ($1 = 0.8576 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Patton and Tassilo Hummel in Paris, Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Klamann, Diane Craft and Lincoln Feast.)

(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 Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) -China's economic growth likely slowed to a one-year low in the third quarter as a prolonged property downturn and trade tensions weigh on demand, keeping pressure on policymakers to roll out more stimulus to shore up confidence and momentum. Beijing has unveiled modest support measures this year to preserve policy space for future shocks, helped by resilient exports and strong stock markets. Renewed U.S.-China trade tensions pose risks, however, and while there is room for more stimulus, analysts are divided on whether policymakers will act this year. Data due Monday is expected to show gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.8% year-on-year in July-September, the slowest pace since the third quarter of 2024, and down from the 5.2% rate clocked in the second quarter, according to a Reuters poll. GDP growth is projected to slow to 4.3% in the fourth quarter, bringing full-year expansion to 4.8% – below the official target of around 5%, the poll showed. Economic growth is expected to ease further to 4.3% in 2026. "We do not anticipate any new reflationary policies in the near term," Xing Zhaopeng, senior China strategist at ANZ, said in a note. "The 5% GDP growth target remains easily achievable – with 5.3% growth already recorded in H1 2025, only 4.6% growth is needed in H2 to meet the full-year goal." Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley, expects limited stimulus of between 500 billion yuan ($70.22 billion) and 1 trillion yuan, and forecasts second half growth of 4.5% or lower. Renewed trade tensions with Washington have highlighted the vulnerabilities of China's lopsided economy, which relies heavily on manufacturing and overseas demand. This has raised expectations that Chinese leaders may embrace painful changes to rebalance growth towards domestic consumption. On a quarterly basis, the economy is forecast to have expanded 0.8% in the third quarter, slowing from 1.1% in April-June, the poll showed. GDP data is due on Monday at 0200 GMT. Separate data on September activity is expected to show both industrial output and retail sales slowing. Chinese leaders will hold a closed-door meeting from Monday through to Thursday to discuss, among other things, the country's 15th five-year development plan, which is expected to prioritise high-tech manufacturing in the wake of the intensifying rivalry with the United States. Investors are also looking to a Politburo meeting and the Central Economic Work Conference, expected in December, for clues on economic policy for next year. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods by an additional 100% starting November 1. However, U.S. officials have signalled that both countries were prepared to lower the temperature in their tariff spat. While China's export growth rebounded in September, much of the recent data show the world's second-largest economy has lost momentum, and deflationary pressures have persisted despite efforts to curb overcapacity and fierce competition among firms. PAINFUL REBALANCING Policymakers face a delicate balancing act between stimulating growth and addressing acute supply-demand imbalances reflected in entrenched deflation. Boosting private spending to foster sustainable longer term economic growth will require painful reforms. China's stimulus spending has traditionally focused on infrastructure investment and manufacturing, even as the government has increased subsidies for consumers. The People's Bank of China (PBOC), which has kept its policy rate steady for four consecutive months, is likely to dole out more modest easing steps in the coming weeks, analysts say. Analysts polled by Reuters expect a 10-basis point cut in the seven-day reverse repo rate – the central bank's key policy rate – in the fourth quarter, along with a similar reduction to the benchmark loan prime rate (LPR). In August, Beijing announced interest subsidies on loans to households and businesses to boost consumption. China also plans to deploy 500 billion yuan of policy-based financial tools to speed investment projects to shore up its slowing economy. ($1 = 7.1207 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Kevin YaoEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

(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 Leika Kihara WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda likely left Washington last week with little conviction that global headwinds will allow the central bank to raise interest rates as soon as this month, with finance officials from around the world warning of downside risks amid renewed U.S.-China trade tensions. But the resilience of the global economy, which was touted by the International Monetary Fund in its latest World Economic Outlook last week, also gives him cover to proceed with a near-term rate hike if a hawkish-leaning BOJ board prefers to move sooner rather than later. Ueda, as a result, left his options open by offering few clues on the timing of a rate hike, which markets bet will happen by January of next year. "There's not much of a gap in how I see global and U.S. economies now and how I saw it back in Japan," Ueda said in a press conference on Thursday after attending the G20 finance leaders' gathering in Washington. "I would like to keep gathering more information and scrutinize various data that comes out leading up to our October policy meeting," he said, when asked about the chance of a rate hike at the October 29-30 session. Markets have been focusing on Ueda's comments in Washington, after he said earlier this month he hoped the talks with finance officials and bankers would provide information that helped BOJ policymakers decide whether to hike rates in late October. Ueda has repeatedly cautioned against raising borrowing costs too soon, stressing the need to gauge the strength of the U.S. economy and the extent of the damage from President Donald Trump's tariffs on Japan's export-reliant economy. The meetings in Washington likely gave Ueda little clarity on how soon the fog shrouding the global outlook would clear. PRESSURE WITHIN BOJ BOARD TO RAISE RATES QUICKER The IMF last week lifted its 2025 global growth forecast but warned that a renewed U.S.-China trade war could slow output. While describing global growth as resilient, IMF member countries voiced concerns about emerging strains and risks to the outlook. A senior IMF official told Reuters there were downside risks to Japan's economy and urged the BOJ to be "very gradual" in raising rates due to high uncertainty about the outlook. While Ueda may have plenty of reasons to put rates on hold, he faces pressure from within his board to move quicker. With inflation above the BOJ's 2% target for three straight years and Japan's economy weathering the hit from U.S. tariffs so far, the central bank's board is gradually leaning toward resuming rate hikes that had been put on hold since it raised its key interest rate to 0.5% in January. Two of the BOJ's nine board members unsuccessfully proposed raising rates in September on mounting inflationary pressure. Another dovish member then surprised markets by saying the need for a rate hike was increasing "more than ever." Delaying rate hikes for too long could also trigger a renewed slide in the yen, which could further push up the cost of living by inflating import prices. "If the BOJ holds off on raising rates in October, the next chance would be in December," said Tomoyuki Shimoda, a former BOJ executive. "During that time, there's a risk the yen could slide further." Still, the overall tone of Ueda and his staff suggests the BOJ will take a go-slow approach partly because hiking its key rate to 0.75% would bring it to levels unseen in three decades. Japan's parliament will likely vote to choose a new prime minister on Tuesday, giving the BOJ little time to communicate with a new administration before its next policy meeting. The expected new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is a proponent of loose monetary policy. "We don't know how exactly the economy will react" to rate hikes, BOJ Assistant Governor Seiichi Shimizu said during a seminar in Washington on Thursday. "This is another type of uncertainty we are facing now" that warrants moving cautiously, he said. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Paul Simao)

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