Category: 3. Business

WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency will soon select the finalists for a competition intended to support the development of new launch vehicles by European companies.

During a panel discussion at the Paris Air Show June 17, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said that the agency received 12 proposals for the European Launcher Challenge, a program to award launch contracts to new vehicles as well as fund demonstrations of upgraded vehicles. Companies are eligible for up to 169 million euros ($199 million) each.

Those 12 proposals are currently going through technical reviews by ESA, which will select a group of them for funding consideration at the ESA ministerial conference in late November.

“It will be that not all 12 of these proposals will go the ministerial,” he said. “I cannot predict how many will be left after this evaluation period and therefore how many will go to the ministerial.”

ESA is using an alternative approach to funding the European Launcher Challenge than its traditional georeturn approach, where member states subscribe to programs and are guaranteed contracts in amounts proportional to the funding they provide. Instead, ESA plans to select a group of companies, after which member states at the ministerial will determine which ones they want to fund.

“Quite a few member states are preparing their decisions in case their candidates are selected as being brought forward for funding at the ministerial conference,” he said. “If you ask me the number that will go to the ministerial, it’s too early to say, but we should know in a couple of weeks.”

Toni Tolker-Nielsen, ESA’s director of space transportation, said after the panel that he expected the downselected companies to be announced as soon as July 7.

ESA has not disclosed the companies that did submit European Launcher Challenge proposals, although some companies widely believed to be participating have been announcing milestones in recent weeks to emphasize the progress they are making.

MaiaSpace, a French company developing a launch vehicle with a reusable first stage, hosted several French government ministers at its facilities outside Paris June 13. There, the company announced its intent to build a 10,000-square-meter factory there for producing the vehicle.

Yohann Leroy, chief executive of MaiaSpace, said at the Paris Air Forum earlier the same day that there was demand for small launch vehicles despite competition from rideshare services that have stymied other vehicle developers. Dedicated small launchers are often compared to taxis while rideshares are linked to buses.

“The market for microlaunchers exist. There are a lot of people who are interested in a taxi, provided the taxi can be the price of the bus,” he said. “If you want to succeed in launching a taxi, you have to make the price close to the price of the bus.”

Some companies have hinted they are interested in using the European Launcher Challenge to support work on larger vehicles. “Microlaunchers can never compete in price per kilo” against larger vehicles, said Miguel Bello Mora, chairman of the board of Orbex, said at the same Paris Air Forum panel.

That company is working on its Prime small launcher but has announced plans for a larger vehicle, Proxima, even before the first Prime launch. “We believe there is a gap and there is room for several players,” he said. “Medium size is where we target.”

Not everyone in the European small launch vehicle industry is satisfied with the competition. “It’s a pretty weird program,” said Stanislas Maximin, executive chairman of Latitude, in an interview. He said he felt the competition was either a way to help companies already far advanced in technology and fundraising or those who have struggled to raise private financing.

Nonetheless, he said Latitude submitted a proposal for the competition. “It will help us improve the launch system,” he said, such as increasing the payload capacity of its Zephyr rocket from 200 to 300 kilograms. “It allows us to go faster.”

Latitude, based in France, is also using the competition to expand its presence in Europe. “What it helps us to do is be more European. We’re building relationships with European partners,” he said.

While he said he was concerned the program will be used by some countries to support companies that don’t necessarily need such assistance, “we feel like we are in a good position to win it.”

Related

Changes to Companies House rules that would have axed an exemption allowing smaller businesses to file abbreviated accounts have been delayed amid concerns they could burden them with more red tape.

Legislation brought in by the previous Conservative administration is due to compel companies with a turnover under £10.2m, balance sheets under £5.1m and fewer than 50 employees to disclose more detail in their annual accounts from April 2027.

However, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, is understood to be have reversed the move to reduce regulatory hurdles for small firms. A government source said: “We have paused them, Jonny is worried it’s too burdensome”.

Last month the government unveiled its industrial strategy in which it said it aims to “reduce regulatory burdens and speed innovation [by] cutting the administrative costs of regulation for business by 25%”.

The proposals to make companies publish more comprehensive financial information were designed to remove longstanding exemptions that allowed small firms to file “abridged accounts” and counter criticisms that the more relaxed rules for qualifying businesses had enabled fraud.

The intention had been that small companies would be required to use a set format to electronically file a profit and loss statement, which would be able to be viewed by the public and would include information such as turnover and costs.

Business groups had criticised the move saying that small companies would be forced to pay to use expensive computer software to meet the new regulations. However, Companies House had said the measures, which were set out in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, would “be a critical step towards improving the quality of the data on the register”.

Companies House has long faced criticism of how it polices the information that it holds. In April it emerged that the agency had collected just £1,250 in fines after being given new powers to crack down on corruption.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: “This government is committed to avoiding undue burdens on businesses as part of our plan for change.”

Qantas has said it will beef up its security and threat detection in the wake of a cyber-attack affecting up to 6 million customers, as Australia’s privacy watchdog has warned attacks using social engineering to gain access to data are on the rise.

In an update to customers on Thursday, the airline said more security measures would be put in place after cybercriminals were able to gain access to a third-party system used by a Qantas airline contact centre to steal customers’ personal information.

“We’re … putting additional security measures in place to further restrict access and strengthen system monitoring and detection,” the company said.

Qantas began emailing affected customers on Wednesday evening, but had not indicated as of Thursday afternoon whether any compensation would be provided to those who had their personal information compromised.

Cybersecurity analysts indicated to Guardian Australia that, as of Thursday afternoon, the data had not yet been posted on forums or dark web locations that attackers commonly frequent.

The alleged culprit of the attack has yet to be identified but has similarities to a ransomware group known as Scattered Spider. The group has targeted airlines in the US in recent weeks by engaging in what are called social engineering attacks, or “vishing”. They involve calling the IT support for large companies, often impersonating employees or contractors to deceive IT help desks into granting access and bypassing multi-factor authentication.

An Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) report on data breaches, released in May and covering the second half of last year, noted a rise in the number of social engineering attacks resulting in data breaches in Australia. The attacks made up 28% of all reported breaches resulting from malicious or criminal attacks.

The OAIC noted at the time that the “significant increase” was particularly significant within Australian government agencies, which reported 60 out of the 115 breaches of that kind – a 46% increase on the previous six months.

Google’s threat intelligence report in recent months has also warned of multiple threat actors using these methods to get into companies’ systems.

In a June update, Nick Guttilla, from Google’s Mandiant threat intelligence, said threat actors first build up intelligence on their target, reviewing employee positions and titles, information about their networks, cloud and email providers, and searching for publicly exposed documentation.

Some of this information can be found on company websites, as well as social media like LinkedIn.

From there, threat actors may test the IT service desk, which would routinely deal with a high volume of calls from staff needing help on password resets. According to Guttilla, attackers will see how far they can get before a staff member requests ID verification, feigning ignorance of the process to see if the staff member will relent and forgo normal procedure.

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An attacker may also pretend their phone is unavailable and that they need urgent account access.

In some attacks, they persuade an employee to install an application that helps exfiltrate the data from a system quickly. It is unknown at this stage if this is what happened in the Qantas breach.

Guttilla said training staff to rigorously perform ID checks on all calls, particularly for privileged accounts with more systems access, was critical.

The minister responsible for cybersecurity, Tony Burke, did not confirm whether the Qantas attack was associated with the Scattered Spider group, but said he had been briefed and would allow the cybersecurity agencies to make announcements on any alleged culprits.

“The reality is with these networks, they’ll go where they can find vulnerability,” he said.

Burke said when companies relied on third parties for their systems, it made their cybersecurity obligations “more complex”.

The Australian Signals Directorate was approached for comment.

A twice-yearly biologic appears to significantly reduce asthma exacerbations, even in patients whose asthma was under control at baseline.

Investigators found that most patients who received the ultra–long-acting interleukin-5-targeting antibody depemokimab experienced clinically meaningful responses after 52 weeks.¹ The study was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The new results were part of a post hoc subgroup analysis of pooled data from the SWIFT-1/2 studies of depemokimab. The new analysis was designed to compare outcomes based on Asthma Control Questionnaire-5 (ACQ-5) scores at baseline.

Previous phase 3A data showed that depemokimab led to a significant reduction in the annualized rate of exacerbations compared to placebo in a cohort of nearly 800 patients with an eosinophilic phenotype of asthma who continued to have exacerbations despite the use of medium- or high-dose inhaled glucocorticoids.²

Those earlier trials were open to patients regardless of ACQ-5 scores and thus included patients with and without uncontrolled asthma. The new study stratified patients to examine patient outcomes based on whether they had an ACQ-5 score below 1.5 or at or above 1.5. The latter group would qualify as having uncontrolled asthma symptoms.

The analysis included patients ages 12 and older who used medium- to high-dose corticosteroids, had at least 2 exacerbations in the past year, and had a blood eosinophil count of at least 150 cells/µL at screening or ≥ 300 cells/µL any time in the year before the trial’s initiation. Those patients were randomized on a 2:1 basis to receive either depemokimab or placebo every 26 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in annualized exacerbation rate at 52 weeks. Secondary endpoints included change in St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score and change in ACQ-5 score. The majority of the 744 patients included in the analysis had ACQ-5 scores above 1.5 at baseline (75%), while one-quarter of patients had scores below 1.5 at baseline.

The investigators found that the annualized exacerbation rate for the controlled asthma group fell by 53% after a year. It fell by 54% for the uncontrolled asthma group. Among those with uncontrolled asthma, 69% were classified as responders to therapy based on improvement in SGRQ score, compared to 63% among the patients treated with placebo. Those in the controlled-asthma group had an SGRQ-based response rate of 51%, compared to 55% in the placebo group. There was a trend toward improvement in ACQ-5 scores compared to placebo in the uncontrolled asthma group, first author I.D. Pavord, DM, of the University of Oxford, and colleagues wrote.

The investigators noted that it was significant that the benefits in exacerbation reduction were similar notwithstanding the patient’s baseline ACQ-5 score.

“Twice-yearly depemokimab consistently reduced exacerbations versus placebo regardless of baseline asthma control, suggesting uncontrolled asthma symptoms are not required to experience an exacerbation reduction in patients with a history of exacerbations,” they wrote.

In March, depemokimab’s developer, GSK, announced the FDA had accepted for review a biologics license application for depemokimab in 2 indications, including asthma with type 2 inflammation.³ The application has a Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of December 16. If eventually approved by the agency, the drug would become the first ultra–long-lasting biologic with 6-month dosing to be approved by the agency, the company said.

References

1. Pavord ID, Chupp GL, Jackson DJ, et al. Twice-yearly depemokimab reduces exacerbations and improves quality of life in patients with uncontrolled asthma symptoms at baseline: subgroup analyses of the phase III SWIFT-1/2 studies. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2025;211:A5234. doi:10.1164/ajrccm.2025.211.Abstracts.A5234
2. Jackson DJ, Wechsler ME, Jackson DJ, et al. Twice-yearly depemokimab in severe asthma with an eosinophilic phenotype. N Engl J Med. 2024;391(24):2337-2349. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2406673
3. Depemokimab applications accepted for review by the US FDA for asthma with type 2 inflammation and for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). News release. GSK. Published March 3, 2025. Accessed June 18, 2025. https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/depemokimab-applications-accepted-for-review-by-the-us-fda/

KARACHI – Auto industry of Pakistan is still reeling as sales went to all time low in last couple of years. In surprising twist of fiscal priorities in Budget 2025, the government slapped new taxes which pushed price of affordable cars like Suzuki Alto, while slashing duties on imported SUVs like Toyota Land Cruiser.

The price disparity, which favors wealthy over the average consumer, raised eyebrows across the automotive and economic circles. Long seen as a go-to vehicle for middle-class families and first-time car buyers, the Suzuki Alto has now been pushed further out of reach.

Alto Prices Pakistan 2025

After Pak Suzuki’s official price revision notice, the Alto lineup saw increases of up to Rs1lac 80 thousand, with on road price of top of line model now stands at Rs3.32 million.

Model	New Price
Alto VXR	2,994,861
Alto VXR AGS	3,166,480
Alto VXL AGS	3,326,446

A targeted tax increase on vehicles with engines of 850cc or less. The General Sales Tax (GST) on such cars has been raised from 12.5% to 18%, coupled with a 1% NEV (New Economic Value) levy. That’s a double hit to Pakistan’s lowest-priced car segment.

Land Cruiser Prices in 2025

As all Suzuki vehicles got expensive, luxury SUVs become cheaper due to revised import duty structures as authorities slashed Customs Duty, Regulatory Duty, and cut Additional Customs Duty to 6pc.

Model	Year	Price Cut in Lac
LC300 ZX	2024	76 – 80 lakh
Lexus LX570	2021	75 – 78 lakh
LC300 ZX	2023	70 – 71 lakh
Prado LC150	2021	29 – 30 lakh

Buyers of Land Cruiser are now saving millions in stark reversal from policies that typically aim to tax luxury more heavily than necessity.

These plethora of new taxes could deepen economic disparities in already struggling automotive market. While majority of working-class citizens see their affordable car options becoming more expensive, high-income buyers are being incentivized with reduced costs on multimillion-rupee vehicles.

As government claims reduced duties on imports aim to formalize trade and discourage smuggling and misuse of amnesty schemes.

Toyota Vitz Latest Rates in Pakistan after Revised Import Duties

 

 

 

Artificial intelligence has emerged as one of the most powerful and pervasive investment themes of the modern era. But investing in AI isn’t as simple as chasing the latest breakthrough or jumping into a hyped fund. Successful thematic investing requires thoughtful evaluation—of the theme itself, the investment vehicle, and the fund’s execution strategy.

To help financial advisors better assess which funds are the best fit for clients, our 2025 Investing in Artificial Intelligence Funds report shares a practical framework for evaluation—breaking down the investment into three key components.

1. Evaluating the Theme

The first step in assessing a thematic fund is evaluating whether the underlying theme is well-defined, investable, and durable.

Clarity and Investability

AI is clearly investable, with most funds in this space concentrating on large-cap, highly liquid companies. Our holdings frequency analysis shows a strong consensus on core holdings across AI and big data funds. This is important, as it indicates that investors generally agree on what constitutes AI exposure—typically including chip manufacturers and software firms.

Performance and Responsiveness

The Morningstar Global Artificial Intelligence + Big Data Consensus Index—a proxy for the theme—has behaved in line with expectations. It surged after the launch of ChatGPT 3.5 in late 2022 and responded to geopolitical shocks like US export restrictions on AI chips in early 2025. These reactions confirm that the theme reflects real and distinct risk/return drivers.

Durability and Growth Potential

AI has been an investable theme via funds since at least 2015, making it one of the more mature technology narratives. Its use cases—ranging from customer service automation to drug discovery—are expanding rapidly. But the theme isn’t without obstacles.

Inhibitors to Growth

Two major headwinds could slow AI’s momentum:

• Energy Consumption: The computing demands of AI are enormous and growing, straining existing power infrastructure and raising sustainability concerns.
• Regulation: Geopolitical tensions and regulatory actions—such as export restrictions on chips or emerging AI usage laws—could limit global scalability and increase compliance costs.

2. Assessing the Investment Vehicle

Once the theme is validated, the next step is selecting the right vehicle. While buying individual stocks can offer precision, thematic funds offer important benefits.

Why Choose a Fund?

• Stock-specific risk diversification: They reduce stock-specific risk. For instance, Tesla’s TSLA decline in early 2025 due to Elon Musk’s political activity highlights the downside of concentrated bets.
• Exposure to the value chain: Funds can target high-potential segments within the theme, from AI infrastructure to applications.
• Winner-take-all dynamics: In technology themes driven by scale—such as AI and big data—we often see winner-take-all outcomes. By investing in a basket of thematic stocks, investors can ensure exposure to any potential “shooting stars.”

Portfolio Impacts

Two major US funds focused on the AI and big data theme illustrate the diversity in approaches.

Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF AIQ

This is the oldest and largest US-domiciled AI ETF, following a rules-based index. It allocates across software (for example, natural language processing, AI-as-a-service) and hardware (for example, chips, quantum computing).

• Selection: Uses a proprietary scoring system to assess thematic relevance.
• Weighting: Applies caps (3% maximum per stock) to avoid overconcentration.
• Stability: Rebalances annually, favoring structured implementation over rapid responsiveness.
• Limitations: The indexed approach means the strategy is slow to incorporate changes in the market, important IPOs, and so on. Despite being indexed, the selection methodology is not fully transparent, and fees are higher than many more vanilla indexed ETFs.

Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF CHAT

This newer, actively managed fund targets companies focused on generative AI.

• Focus: High conviction, fewer holdings (often less than 40), and concentrated sector exposure.
• Flexibility: Can quickly pivot to new opportunities—like its early investment in CoreWeave, a cloud infrastructure firm that went public in 2025. However, poor timing decisions on investments such as SoundhoundAI SOUN and SenseTime Group have weighed heavily on returns, highlighting how flexibility can work against the fund, too.
• Challenges: Higher portfolio turnover, greater reliance on manager skill, and higher monitoring demands for investors.
• Differentiation: Excludes well-known names like Tesla and Netflix NFLX because of limited generative AI exposure, and maintains a 25% allocation to the Magnificent Seven (compared with 20% in Global X).

Each fund has its own strengths. Global X offers broader, more stable exposure, while Roundhill aims for a higher conviction full active strategy—which places a higher emphasis on manager skill and therefore warrants even more rigorous due diligence before investing.

3. Implementing Thematic Funds Wisely

Even a well-designed fund can disappoint if misused. Proper implementation is critical.

Portfolio Fit

AI and big data funds are typically highly volatile and sit in the high-growth quadrant of the Morningstar Style Box. They’re best deployed as tactical or satellite allocations—not as core holdings.

• Overlap Risks: Many AI funds have exposure to the Magnificent Seven, already widely held in most portfolios. This concentration risk should be monitored.
• Growth Bias: AI funds often exhibit high beta, amplifying broader market swings.

Timing and Behavior

Investors frequently mistime thematic entries, buying during hype and selling during drawdowns. Given their volatility, AI funds are best approached with a long-term, buy-and-hold mindset.

Valuation Awareness

Chasing themes without regard for valuation can lead to underperformance. Using price/fair value metrics may help pick entry points that will give longer-term investors the best chance of success. For instance, investors who bought into AI funds in September 2022—when valuations were lowest—benefited from the subsequent ChatGPT-fueled rally. However, valuation alone isn’t a silver bullet, as sentiment and narrative often drive short-term flows.

Identify the Right AI Funds for Clients

A winning thematic investment entails selecting the right investment, exposed to the right theme, and deploying it sensibly. By knowing how to efficiently assess US AI funds and beyond, financial advisors can find investment opportunities and deliver value to clients.

Today, Diageo announces the completion of the sale of its 80.4% shareholding in Guinness Ghana Breweries plc to Castel Group. The sale was initially announced on 28^th January 2025.

Diageo has retained ownership of the Guinness brand and other Diageo brands currently produced by Guinness Ghana. Those brands will continue to be brewed, produced and distributed by Guinness Ghana under the terms of new long-term licence and royalty agreements. Guinness Ghana will also continue to distribute Diageo’s international premium spirits brands in Ghana.

– ENDS –

For further information, please contact:

Investor relations: Sonya Ghobrial Andrew Ryan	+44 (0) 7392 784 784 +44 (0) 7803 854 842 [email protected]
Media relations: Clare Cavana Isabel Batchelor	+44 (0) 7751 742 072 +44 (0) 7731 988 857 [email protected]