BBVA assumes a strategic role as one of the key banking partners in the financing of the second phase of Northern Lights, the landmark CO₂ storage initiative developed in Norway. Through its involvement in this financing, the bank plays a role in enabling a significant expansion of the project’s storage capacity, from 1.5 million to minimum 5 million tonnes per year, while reaffirming its firm commitment to accelerating industrial decarbonisation and advancing the energy transition across Europe.
Northern Lights is a joint venture established by Shell, Equinor, and TotalEnergies with the aim of developing and operating the world’s first commercial-scale, cross-border carbon capture, transport, and storage system. Located in Norway and already operational, it is also the first open-access infrastructure in Europe designed to enable the transport and permanent storage of CO₂ across national borders.
The project’s design will allow industrial emitters across the continent to leverage this solution beyond the Norwegian context. Its recent entry into operation, including the commencement of actual CO₂ storage, marks a milestone in the maturity of CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation and/or permanent Storage) technologies and consolidates Europe’s leadership in delivering scalable climate solutions for hard-to-abate sectors.
BBVA’s involvement in this project further strengthens its position as a strategic financial partner in the clean technologies space, building on its proven track record in supporting pioneering industrial decarbonisation efforts.
“We are proud to have supported our clients in a transaction of such significance, which not only represents a major technological milestone, but also a decisive step towards the tangible decarbonisation of European industry. The scalability and commercial viability of Northern Lights set a precedent for the future of CCUS as a key enabler in the energy transition,” said Carlos Zuloaga, Global Sector Head of Energy in BBVA CIB.
“This project not only represents a major technological milestone, but also a decisive step towards the tangible decarbonisation of European industry”
BBVA believes that carbon capture, utilisation and permanent storage technologies are essential to achieving climate neutrality, particularly in sectors where emissions are inherently difficult to eliminate. As part of its commitment to the energy transition, the bank continues to enhance its capabilities in financing clean and innovative infrastructure, with a proactive focus on cleantech projects that accelerate progress towards a low-carbon economy.
Chubb Studio’s new AI capability personalizes insurance offers, boosting digital partner revenue and data-driven insights
NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Chubb, a world leader in insurance, debuted today a new AI-powered optimization engine within Chubb Studio, its global technology platform for embedded insurance distribution partnerships, at the Singapore Fintech Festival. The new capability uses proprietary AI to analyze data and deliver personalized insurance offerings at the point of sale, making it one of the first solutions of its kind available to digital distribution partners in the insurance industry.
The optimization engine will enable Chubb’s partners to increase customer engagement and build stronger brand loyalty with measurable growth by aligning protection solutions with the unique needs of their customer base. Consumers gain access to simple, highly curated insurance options offered from the platforms and apps that they trust and within everyday digital experiences, providing peace of mind when it matters most.
“The launch of the Chubb Studio optimization engine represents a significant leap forward in how we empower our digital distribution partners to engage their customers, increase conversion and build financial resilience through highly relevant insurance protection,” said Sean Ringsted, Chief Digital Business Officer at Chubb. “By combining data-driven insights with Chubb’s breadth of products and deep industry and regional market expertise, we’re enabling unique insights for our partners, and delivering tailored insurance products and services that drive results.”
Chubb Studio enables digital platforms worldwide to seamlessly integrate insurance products into their customer journeys via APIs and SDKs. The new capability combines data-driven insights, click-to-engage technology and direct marketing strategies. These market-leading tools empower Chubb’s partners to offer the most relevant products — such as phone damage, travel, or hospital cash and life protections — through marketing campaigns based on their specific customer personas.
Key features of Chubb Studio’s AI optimization engine include:
Personalized Recommendations: Artificial intelligence driven insights identify customer personas and recommend products and engagement channels tailored to individual needs.
Click-to-Engage Technology: A frictionless way for customers to instantly engage with a trusted advisor via phone, video or text to learn more about higher-value, complex insurance products.
Flexible Integration Models: The platform offers three integration options— Chubb managed, partner managed and hybrid —allowing partners to choose the level of control and data sharing that best suit their needs.
Data-Driven Insights: Performance data is analyzed in real-time, feeding back into the recommendation model to continuously refine and enhance insurance marketing campaigns.
“This latest Chubb Studio innovation underscores our commitment to providing the latest technology to benefit our digital partners and their customers,” Ringsted added. “It’s about delivering customer-first experiences through precision, personalization, and innovation.”
For more information about Chubb Studio, visit studio.chubb.com.
About Chubb Chubb is a world leader in insurance. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. The company is defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb employs approximately 43,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: www.chubb.com.
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Global law firm Squire Patton Boggs announced that it has incorporated and registered a presence in Azerbaijan and imminently will open its 48th office worldwide in Baku, the nation’s capital and commercial center.
“The opening of our Baku office represents an important milestone in our firm’s continued international expansion,” said Chair and Global CEO Mark Ruehlmann. “Azerbaijan is a growing and strategically important market, and our new office will allow us to be even closer to our clients and the opportunities driving investment and development across the region.”
Richard Gibbon, Head of our Azerbaijan practice and Managing Partner of the Baku office, commented: “We are delighted to be establishing a permanent presence in Baku, building on our long-standing and deep relationships with valued clients across sectors of the country’s increasingly diverse economy. Having worked closely with many of these clients for years, we look forward to continuing to support their growth and success from within the country’s vibrant capital.”
“As one of the only international firms with an established presence in Azerbaijan, our first-mover status demonstrates our commitment to the market and gives us an important advantage as we continue our growth trajectory for years to come,” said Steve Mahon, the firm’s Global Managing Partner – Clients and Strategy.
Mahon continued, “Under Rich’s leadership, our growing relationships and workflows are a true team effort involving partners from across our transactional, disputes and policy practices. We are ideally positioned to support clients as they navigate the opportunities emerging from Azerbaijan’s dynamic economy, energy transition, and expanding role in regional and global trade.”
The new office is expected to open in the first quarter of 2026, following the completion of a fit-out of premises in Port Baku Tower 2, located in the city’s central business district and heart of its financial hub.
Foxconn Chairman Young Liu delivers a speech during the Hon Hai Tech Day in Taipei on Oct. 18, 2023.
I-hwa Cheng | AFP | Getty Images
Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, reported Wednesday that its third-quarter profit jumped 17% from a year earlier.
Here’s how Foxconn did in the September quarter compared with LSEG SmartEstimates, which are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:
Revenue: $2.06 trillion New Taiwan dollars ($66.29 billion) vs. NT$2.06 trillion expected
Net profit: NT$57.67 billion vs. NT$50.41 billion
Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is best known as the world’s largest manufacturer of Apple‘s iPhones, but has been shifting into other business avenues, including AI.
The firm manufactures server racks designed for AI workloads and has become a key partner to American AI chip darling Nvidia.
Foxconn’s server manufacturing business is currently in a strong growth phase, underpinned by robust demand, Ivan Lam, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC.
The company is leveraging its dominance in contract manufacturing to secure both current and future orders, Lam said, describing it as a clear case of “follow the cash” — a strategy that naturally involves sacrificing some consumer electronics orders.
He added that Foxconn’s pivot toward high-growth server manufacturing “is clearly paying off,” even as it trades parts of its consumer electronics footprint for longer-term momentum.
While component price volatility, currency swings, and logistics challenges can pressure margins, Lam said he expects Foxconn’s fourth-quarter results to “remain favorable.”
Headquartered in Berlin, PIK employs around 170 people and primarily operates in northern and eastern Germany. The company specialises in the integration, and maintenance of complex audiovisual systems, particularly for conference rooms, lecture halls and concert halls. Its comprehensive service portfolio includes the full integration of audiovisual and lighting technologies — from planning and project management to installation, commissioning, service, and maintenance. PIK works with clients from various industries, including critical infrastructure.
In the 2024 financial year, PIK generated revenue of around €42 million. The company has achieved steady organic growth and maintains a solid customer base.
Niklas Niehuus, who took over PIK in 2018 as part of a succession process and has successfully expanded the company since then, is pleased about this next step: “I am proud of what we have accomplished in recent years and deeply grateful for the outstanding commitment of the entire team. Now is the right time for the next phase of development. I am confident that SPIE is the right choice for PIK’s future.”
The experienced management team Christoph Wegner (CEO), Christian Hieckel (CFO), Daniel Gallin (CSO), and André Rechenberg (CTO) will continue to lead the company’s future development: “We are looking forward to the future as part of SPIE and are confident that we will make a strong contribution with our experience and enthusiasm for audiovisual systems. Together with the entire team, we want to further develop the business and systematically expand the strong position we have built up over the past few years and continue to gain strength.”
Marcus Hänsel, Member of the Management Board of SPIE Germany Switzerland Austria and General Manager of the Operational Division Information & Communications Services (ICS): “Welcome to SPIE! With a strong presence in this exciting market environment, high technical expertise, and a broad customer portfolio, we are deliberately strengthening our position in the field of audiovisual systems and related service models. We look forward to shaping the future together with the entire PIK team and driving the company’s successful development alongside the experienced management team.”
Markus Holzke, Managing Director/CEO of SPIE Germany Switzerland Austria: “With PIK, we are gaining a strong team with a high level of technical expertise. The existing project pipeline is well filled, and demand in critical and digitally driven infrastructure areas continues to grow — a good basis for long-term, profitable growth. We look forward to our future together!”
SPIE acquires 89% of the shares in PIK AG, while 11% of the shares are held by the previous owner and the management team. The agreement includes put and call mechanisms related to these 11%. The transaction is expected to be finalised in December and is subject only to approval by the antitrust authorities.
Item 1 of 2 People stand near a Gulfstream Aerospace logo at the 54th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 18, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
[1/2]People stand near a Gulfstream Aerospace logo at the 54th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 18, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Gulfstream poised to lift output rates through 2029
Demand for business jets from Fortune 500 companies growing
Hopeful that US-China trade tensions will be resolved
Nov 12 (Reuters) – U.S. trade tensions have slowed opportunities for business jet deals in China, the president of corporate planemaker Gulfstream Aerospace said, in a rare case of demand softening in an otherwise upbeat global market for private aircraft.
U.S.-based Gulfstream Aerospace, a division of General Dynamics (GD.N), opens new tab, is set to grow output of its private jets through 2029, underpinned by strong U.S. demand and new aircraft models coming to market, President Mark Burns said.
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The U.S. is the world’s largest market for business jets.
Burns said he sees broader global strength, but U.S. trade tensions with Beijing have “definitely slowed a number of opportunities” in China, where the U.S. planemaker has about 150 aircraft flying.
“It’s a good market for us,” Burns said. “But you know, obviously the trade tensions do create some slowdown in that marketplace. So I’m hopeful that there’s something that gets done in the near future.”
China and the United States have taken steps to ease tensions in recent days following a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Business jet makers are seeing swelling order books after demand for private flying grew by high-net-worth individuals during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In the U.S., affluent consumers remain resilient, even as lower-income customers scale back purchases.
Gulfstream is also seeing higher demand from Fortune 500 corporate customers, following quarters of strong results, Burns said. As of November 7, more than 82% of 446 S&P companies beat third-quarter earnings expectations, compared with a long-term average of 67.2%, according to LSEG data.
Burns said Gulfstream could expect to grow its share of the expanding private aviation market with the certification and entry into service of the company’s recently announced super-mid-sized G300 jets, which fly up to 10 passengers and would compete with Bombardier’s (BBDb.TO), opens new tab Challenger 3500 jets. Gulfstream has not disclosed a date for certification and entry into service.
Burns said Gulfstream expected to grow plane production through 2029, following long-term company plans, assuming demand remains robust and its supply chain has capacity.
“Our plans are to continue to grow,” he said. “The supply chain right now is supporting that ability to grow.”
Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Jamie Freed
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Aims to double fashion, home and beauty online sales
LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Marks & Spencer is revamping its supply chain from “factory to floor”, the retailer’s new fashion boss told Reuters, as it looks to double annual online non-food sales to nearly 3 billion pounds ($4 billion).
John Lyttle, who joined M&S (MKS.L), opens new tab as managing director fashion, home and beauty (FH&B) in March, said the 141-year-old retailer has regained its footing after a cyberattack in April paralysed online sales and cost about 300 million pounds in lost profit.
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He said M&S had done a good job re-establishing its value, quality and style credentials, with FH&B sales up 9% over three years and market share rising to 10.5% in 2024/25, from 9.1% in 2021/22.
It now needs to focus on becoming a truly omnichannel retailer, said Lyttle, in his first interview since joining M&S.
“So from where we make our goods, to how we flow that all the way into our warehouses, how our warehouses operate, and then how we feed those products out to our customers – whether that’s online, whether that’s in our stores,” he said.
Simplifying and cutting supply chain costs has been a priority for many companies after COVID-19, war in Ukraine, Red Sea shipping disruption and broader global trade upheavals, most recently due to U.S. tariffs.
MORE LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIPS WITH SUPPLIERS
M&S, which mainly sources products from China, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Turkey, wants to create more long-term partnerships to reduce the risks to supplies.
While progress has been made in recent years through consolidating suppliers, M&S has “much more opportunity to go after through resetting how we buy, unlocking more margin from our scale, increasing cost discipline and reducing complexity,” said Lyttle.
The cyber hack knocked what had been a strong turnaround under Stuart Machin, CEO since 2022, with M&S’ 2024/25 profit its highest in over 15 years and its stock at near-decade highs.
Dominic Younger, fund manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, one of M&S’ top 10 investors, said it had made huge and hard-won strides in fixing the FH&B front-end.
“But one of the most exciting aspects from an investment point of view is that, together with continuing to drive the food division, there is so much opportunity out there in terms of modernising the clothing supply chain,” he said.
With a clothing customer base of 21 million, Lyttle said overhauling M&S’ supply chain can double FH&B’s online sales over the long term from about 1.4 billion pounds in 2024/25, while lifting its online operating margin to double digits.
M&S is also aiming to increase online’s share of total FH&B sales from about 34% to 50% in the medium term, said Lyttle, a former Boohoo CEO who was also an executive at Primark.
“If you look at our online sales participation today versus the market, we’re about 10 (percentage) points behind,” said Lyttle, noting M&S was even further behind some top competitors, such as Next (NXT.L), opens new tab.
Next, an early adopter of warehouse and distribution automation, makes about 59% of its UK sales online.
M&S can increase online sales by optimising the breadth and depth of its product range, encouraging more customers to use its more than 1,000 stores for ‘click and collect’ and returns, and utilising more channels such as lockers, Lyttle said.
It will also introduce more payment methods and relaunch its ‘Sparks’ loyalty programme to drive more frequent purchases.
INVESTMENT IN AUTOMATION
Part of M&S’ plan is a 120 million pound three-year investment in automation to increase capacity, reduce complexity and deliver cost savings worth “multi-millions” of pounds.
M&S is spending 600 million to 650 million pounds on capital investment in 2025/26 of which between 200 million and 250 million is being invested in technology infrastructure, store maintenance and upgrades to its logistics fleet.
In its vast Castle Donington warehouse in central England, M&S is investing in robotic technology that will speed up sorting ‘click and collect’ parcels and extend cut-off times for next-day delivery to nearly midnight.
Further investment at the 900,000-square foot site and another in Bradford, northern England, will increase boxed storage capacity by more than 30%.
M&S is also accelerating the implementation of a new planning platform, with a new merchandising capability already delivered, automating what was previously largely a manual task.
Cost savings will not need to come at the expense of the 63,000-strong M&S workforce, Lyttle said, adding: “Growing our business means we’re moving more product, therefore we need more people to help us do that”.
CYBER HACK LESSONS
While the cyber hack, which forced M&S to revert to manual processes, had not changed its strategy or longer-term plans, important lessons had been learned, Lyttle said.
“It’s not just lessons of the actual incident. It’s just general things that we could have done better, or we could have done faster,” he said, without giving away any specifics.
“You don’t want people who impacted us at the beginning to understand in any way,” he added.
($1 = 0.7451 pounds)
Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Alexander Smith
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
There are calls for Labor to force banks to put the brakes on landlord lending after investors accounted for two in every five home loans from July to September.
New ABS data reveals more than 57,000 investors borrowed nearly $40bn to buy homes over the three months, a 17.6% increase in the combined value of the loans on the previous three months. First home buyer numbers rose just 2.3% over the same period.
The Greens senator Barbara Pocock has urged the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to “urgently rein in” the credit market, and encouraged Jim Chalmers to direct Apra to intervene as house prices surge.
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In pictures
‘As we entered, David was sitting very pretty in this amazingly bright and tight outfit, lazily smoking a cigarette and reading a book.’ Photograph: Barrie Wentzell
Music photographer Barrie Wentzell shot the world’s biggest stars between 1965 and 1975. He talks us through some of his favourite moments, from David Bowie (pictured) to the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Freddie Mercury.
What they said …
South Australian senator Leah Blyth. Photograph: Leah Blyth – Liberal Senate Candidate Facebook Page
“I’ve never had a cabin fill with smoke quite like that before.” – Leah Blyth
A group of Liberal politicians including the South Australian senator were headed to Canberra today for a party room meeting on net zero emissions policy – then forced to turn back to Adelaide after smoke was detected on their Qantas flight.
Full Story
Composite: Guardian Australia
Why a neo-Nazi rally was allowed to happen
Over the weekend, a neo-Nazi rally overtly targeting Jewish people took place in front of New South Wales parliament.
Reporter Jordyn Beazley speaks to Reged Ahmad about why NSW police allowed the protest to take place and if it can be stopped from happening again.
Listen to the episode here.
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Why a neo-Nazi rally was allowed to happen
Before bed read
‘I’ve learned that grief and love can coexist, not as opposites but as two currents running in the same river.’ Photograph: Tatyana Antusenok/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Lauren Farrugia is now in her third trimester of pregnancy. She has also carried a baby she never got to meet. “Both of my babies have changed me,” she writes. “One taught me how to love without certainty. The other teaches me how to hope again.”
Daily word game
Photograph: The Guardian
Today’s starter word is: GIRL. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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