Category: 3. Business

In conformity with market best practices, Air Liquide announces today that its Pre-FY 2025 results communication document is available on the company’s corporate website under the “Investors” section:

 

https://www.airliquide.com/2025-annual-results

 

This quarterly document aims to assist in the financial modeling of the Group’s performance.

 

The FY 2025 results will be published on February 20, 2026.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wavered on Wall Street Friday to kick off the new year as early gains led by technology stocks failed to hold up.

The S&P 500 fell 0.1% after having been up as much as 0.7% at the start of trading. The benchmark index is coming off a gain of more than 16% in 2025.

The Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a gain of 84 points, or 0.2%, as of 11:09 a.m. Eastern.

Major indexes are closing a mostly tepid, shortened holiday week. Markets were closed Thursday for New Year’s Day.

Markets in Europe and Asia made strong gains. Indexes in Britain and South Korea hit records.

Technology stocks were steering the market, especially companies with a focus on artificial intelligence, continuing the trend that pushed the broader market to records in 2025.

Nvidia jumped 1.3% and was the biggest force trying to push the market higher. Broadcom jumped 1.9%. But a 0.2% drop from Google’s parent company Alphabet and a 2.1% fall for Microsoft helped to counter those gains.

Those technology companies are among the most valuable companies in the world and their outsized valuations give them more influence on the market’s direction. That includes sometimes pushing the market up and down from hour to hour.

Technology companies have been a major focus because of advancements in artificial intelligence technology and the potential for growth within the sector. Wall Street has been betting that demand for computer chips and other items needed for data centers will help justify the big investments from technology companies and their pricey stock values.

Tesla fell 0.6% after reporting falling sales for a second year in a row.

E-commerce giant Alibaba climbed 4.3% and Baidu, maker of the Ernie chatbot, jumped 9.4% in Hong Kong after it said it plans to spin off its AI computer chip unit Kunlunxin, which would list shares in Hong Kong early in 2027. The plan is subject to regulatory approvals.

Crude oil prices slipped. Prices for U.S. crude oil fell 1.1% to $56.77 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 1.2% to $60.13 per barrel.

Gold prices kicked off the new year with more gains. The price of gold rose 0.2%.

Treasury yields held steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.18% from 4.17% late Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, slipped to 3.47% from 3.48% late Wednesday.

Wall Street will move past the mostly quiet holiday season after Friday. The first full week of the new year will include several closely watched economic updates. They will also be some of the last big updates the Fed sees before its next meeting at the end of January.

Next week will feature private reports on the status of the services sector, which is the largest part of the U.S. economy, along with consumer sentiment. Government reports on the job market will also be released. They will all help paint a clearer picture of how various parts of the U.S. economy closed out 2025 and where it might be headed in 2026.

The Fed has had a more difficult task because of the complex shifts within the economy. It cut interest rates three times toward the end of 2025, partly to help counter a weakening jobs market. But inflation remains above its target rate of 2% and cutting interest rates could add more fuel to rising prices. Consumers have already expressed more caution amid the squeeze from stubborn inflation and the U.S. trade war with much of the world has added more uncertainty.

The Fed has already signaled concern and caution. Wall Street is betting that the central bank will hold its benchmark interest rate steady at its January meeting.

AP business writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Crowds braved the cold weather to take part in a New Year tradition unique to an East Yorkshire town.

Scrambling, believed to have been held annually in Driffield town centre for more than 200 years, sees the town’s children visit shops in the high street where shopkeepers throw out sweets and let the children scramble for them.

Michelle Flake, town development officer at Driffield Town Council, said there was a “great turnout” for Friday’s event, with at least 50 children and 53 businesses taking part.

She added: “The kids left with very heavy bags.”

The Brighton Pier Group has announced that Brighton Palace Pier is being offered for sale and they have appointed Knight Frank to seek a buyer.

Brighton Palace Pier is a cultural icon and a much-loved attraction, central to the city’s identity and the local visitor economy. As a Grade II* listed landmark, the Pier attracts millions of visitors each year, supporting jobs and businesses across the city and contributing significantly to Brighton & Hove’s reputation as a leading UK destination.

Councillor Jacob Taylor, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and City Regeneration, said: “Brighton & Hove is a city on the rise – full of energy, creativity and opportunity. Brighton Palace Pier is an iconic part of our seafront, and its sale is an important moment.

“We’re confident that, alongside major investments like the restoration of Madeira Terrace and new leisure spaces at Black Rock and Hove Beach Park, Brighton & Hove will continue to thrive. This is a city with a proven track record and a bold vision for what’s next.

“While it is privately owned, we will work closely with the current and new owners to ensure the Pier and our seafront continues to thrive.”

Brighton & Hove was recently recognised on the world stage by Time Out magazine as one of the top 50 cities globally and ranked among the top three destinations in the UK, its reputation as a welcoming, colourful and vibrant place to live, work and visit is stronger than ever.

In 2024, Brighton & Hove attracted 12.2 million trips, generating an impressive £1.39 billion for the local economy and supporting more than 25,600 jobs across accommodation, retail, catering and entertainment.

The council continues to collaborate with partners, businesses, and the community to transform public spaces and support a strong, sustainable tourism offer and a seafront to be proud of.

The city’s Seafront Development Board, also play a key role in shaping regeneration, unlocking investment and guiding a long‑term vision for the whole waterfront.

Steve Bassam, the Rt Hon Lord Bassam of Brighton, chairs the seafront development board. He said: “The Palace Pier is a jewel in our crown,a much-loved part of Brighton’s heritage and a key attraction for visitors. Its future matters to us all.

“The sale presents an opportunity for new investment and innovation to protect our heritage and keep it accessible while also supporting a modern, thriving economy.

“We need to work together and look for the right investment to keep Brighton & Hove a world‑class destination for residents and visitors alike.”

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US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is not the only fan of nicotine pouches, gum-sized parcels that — say users — pack a punch when nestled between gum and lip. Students, young professionals and sundry others claim it enhances concentration.

Investors are along for the ride. Smokers may be confined to huddles outside pubs, but Big Tobacco can deliver predictable and bountiful returns: British American Tobacco’s shares have outperformed artificial intelligence poster child Nvidia in the past year.

Zyn, with net revenue around $2bn, and fellow products deliver an added boost. The number of smokers has fallen from a third of the global population over the age of 15 at the turn of the century to under a fifth now, says the World Health Organization, so Zyn manufacturer Philip Morris and its peers need to find growth beyond cigarettes.

Like the latter in their Hollywood heyday, pouches have garnered celebrity magic. The Jonas Brothers, a US pop band, are investors in a start-up called @Sesh, and armies of “Zynfluencers” continue to populate social media. Since Philip Morris says it does not pay the latter, that amounts to free marketing.

All of which boosts volumes: Philip Morris aims for smoke-free products, including pouches, to make up two-thirds of revenue by 2030. In the first nine months of the year, they accounted for more than two-fifths of sales and, in 2024, boasted slightly higher gross margins than its traditional tobacco.

This might sound familiar: vapes enjoyed similar attributes, until they didn’t. Altria ended up writing down virtually its entire $12.8bn investment in vape maker Juul after being smoked out by regulatory bans and a flurry of lawsuits.

So far, regulators in the US, the dominant market, are relaxed: the US Food and Drug Administration has authorised marketed products. But European regulators are more jittery. Pouches are banned in Belgium and the Netherlands; France is due to follow suit in April.

More commercial matters weigh, too. Philip Morris wooed consumers with free cans in September, part of an exercise that cost about $100mn in marketing and forgone sales. Giveaways amounted to a single-digit share of its third-quarter shipments; at 9 per cent, say, that would imply 20mn or so cans while other promotions further dent operating margins.

That may be a one-off, prompted by a need to win back consumers after supply issues earlier in the year. But all the big tobacco companies have skin in the pouches game, as do a host of arrivistes. Barriers to entry are low, so the industry may end up stuck in continuing promotional wars. Pouches may be less toxic than cigarettes, but still merit a health warning for investors.

louise.lucas@ft.com

This story has been corrected to reflect that Philip Morris is targeting two-thirds of revenue from smoke-free products by 2030.

An Coimiúsin Pleanála (ACP) has confirmed that plans have formally been withdrawn for a €1.4 billion wind farm comprising “30 Eiffel Tower sized turbines” off the coast of Co Clare and Co Galway.

Comedian Tommy Tiernan was one of 177 third parties to lodge submissions on the contentious plan to construct the 450MW wind farm with 30 turbines over 1,000ft high in the Atlantic ocean.

Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta (FST) was planning to construct its Sceirde Rocks wind farm on waters located 5km to 11.5m km off the west coast with Carna in Galway the nearest settlement.

The commission has informed Mr Tiernan and other third parties, along with local authorities, that FST has withdrawn its planning application.

With the abandonment of the project, FST has forfeited the €35.4 million performance security bond it lodged with the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment connected to the proposal.

[ ‘Disgusting thing to do’: Tommy Tiernan objects to proposed Connemara offshore wind farmOpens in new window ]

This is in addition to the substantial costs it incurred in preparing the planning documentation, which was lodged with the marine section of the commission on January 17th last year.

In a letter to the commission, Sharn Ward, a director at FST, stated that representatives of FST and ACP met on December 4th “and FST noted its intention to withdraw the planning application”.

Ms Ward added: “With this letter, FST formally withdraws the planning application.”

Ms Ward said that “by way of background, FST notified the Dept of Climate, Energy and the Environment by letters dated April 25th and May 29th of the cessation of the Sceirde Rocks project”.

A spokesman at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment said on Friday that the project was owned by Corio Generation, who announced a planned corporate restructuring on April 8th 2025 that would see it focus on a smaller portfolio of projects worldwide.

He said the department had drawn down the performance security of €35.4 million.

He said: “Under the terms and conditions of ORESS 1 (the Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme), abandonment of the project results in forfeiture of the performance security. Following abandonment of the Sceirde Rocks project, its performance security was forfeited. There is no provision in the terms and conditions for its return.”

In his objection to the Sceirde Rock proposal, Mr Tiernan wrote: “I’m objecting to the proposed offshore wind farm near Carna, Connemara, County Galway on the grounds of desecration of that area of natural beauty.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has approved the prospectus for the Offer for Sale and Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Signature Residency REIT, paving the way for the public offering of 8.25 million units, equivalent to 25 percent of the total units of the trust.

The approval continues the IPO momentum in the ongoing fiscal year 2025–26, with Signature Residency REIT set to become the fifth listing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Main Board during the year and the second REIT to be listed so far.

Upon listing, the total number of REITs listed on the PSX will increase to five. SECP added that this offering signals renewed issuer confidence in capital market–based financing and underscores the expanding range of real estate–linked investment opportunities available to public investors through regulated market structures.