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7 lawmakers quit UK Labour Party over Brexit, anti-Semitism

Seven British lawmakers say they are quitting the main opposition Labour Party over its approach to issues including Brexit and anti-Semitism.

Many Labour lawmakers are unhappy with the party's direction under leader Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran socialist who took charge in 2015 with strong grass-roots backing.

They accuse him of mounting a weak opposition to the Conservative government's plans for leaving the European Union, and of failing to stamp out a vein of anti-Jewish prejudice in the party.

Luciana Berger, one of those who announced Monday she is leaving, said Labour has become "institutionally anti-Semitic."

The quitters are only a fraction of Labour's 256 lawmakers. But this is the biggest split in the party since four senior members quit in 1981 to form the Social Democratic Party.

Source: Fox News World

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NHL notebook: Panthers hire Quenneville as coach

NHL: Winter Classic-Practice Day
FILE PHOTO: Jan 1, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville talks to the media during practice for the Winter Classic hockey game at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

April 9, 2019

One day after firing head coach Bob Boughner, the Florida Panthers hired Joel Quenneville as his successor.

Quenneville, who was fired by the Chicago Blackhawks in November, landed a multiyear contract worth more than $6 million a year with bonuses, according to ESPN. The Panthers announced his hiring Monday.

The Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups during Quenneville’s tenure that began in 2008, and they missed the playoffs just once. He left with a record of 452-249-96 in 797 games. Quenneville, 60, also coached a combined 11 seasons in Colorado and St. Louis and has an overall record of 890-532-77-137.

The Panthers were 79-62-22 in Boughner’s two seasons at the helm, missing the playoffs both times. This season was the 16th time in 18 seasons that Florida has missed the playoffs.

–The New Jersey Devils and general manager Ray Shero agreed to a multiyear contract extension, the team announced.

Contract details were not disclosed. The Devils hired Shero on May 4, 2015, to replace Lou Lamoriello. In his four seasons at the helm, the team has made the playoffs just once — in 2017-18 — and lost in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Devils finished 31-41-10 this season, 15th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference, and had the third-worst record in the NHL. Shero, 56, previously served as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2006-14.

–Forward J.T. Brown missed the Minnesota Wild’s regular-season finale on Saturday night after being arrested for suspicion of public intoxication in the early hours that day.

The team had said he was out for the game with an illness, but police documents show he had been arrested around 2 a.m. at the British Beverage Company in Dallas, according to the Star Tribune. Brown, 28, apologized in a statement to the newspaper.

Brown just completed his first season with the Wild, having signed a two-year deal last offseason, and finished with three goals and five assists in 56 games. The Wild, who lost to the Stars 3-0 in Saturday’s finale, finished the season 37-36-9 (83 points) — in last place in the Central Division.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Pakistan seeks to cool row over PM’s comments on Afghanistan

FILE PHOTO: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan attends a welcome ceremony in Beijing
FILE PHOTO: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan attends a welcome ceremony hosted by China's Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 3, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

March 27, 2019

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s foreign ministry moved on Wednesday to cool a row with Afghanistan over reported comments by Prime Minister Imran Khan that were taken to suggest that Kabul should set up an interim government to help smooth peace talks with the Taliban.

The comments, made to Pakistani journalists on Monday, prompted a furious reaction in Afghanistan and led to the government recalling its ambassador to Islamabad in protest at what it described as “irresponsible” remarks by Khan.

It was the third time in just over a month that Kabul has demanded an explanation from Islamabad over comments related to peace talks aimed at ending 17 years of war in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani foreign ministry issued a statement saying that Khan’s comments, reported in various forms by Pakistani media outlets and picked up in Afghanistan, had been taken out of context and misinterpreted.

“In his comments, the PM had referred to Pakistan’s model where elections are held under an interim government. The comments should not be misinterpreted to imply interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs,” the statement said.

“Pakistan has no other interest in Afghanistan but to promote peace through an ‘Afghan owned’ and ‘Afghan led’ political process.”

Under the Pakistani system, a neutral caretaker government is appointed shortly before national elections are held to take care of running business during the election campaign.

President Ashraf Ghani, whose mandate officially expires in May, faces a re-election battle this year, but amid gathering political uncertainty the election date has been twice postponed and is now due to take place on Sept. 28.

U.S. and Taliban officials have held several rounds of talks but the Taliban have refused to talk to the Afghan government which they consider an illegitimate “puppet” regime.

Shut out from the talks, Ghani has faced pressure from political rivals to step aside and allow a caretaker government to take over, a suggestion he has rejected.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie)

Source: OANN

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EU competition head unlikely to rule on UK tax probe this month

FILE PHOTO: European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager attends the weekly College of Commissioners meeting in Brussels
FILE PHOTO: European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager attends the weekly College of Commissioners meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Februray 6, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

March 14, 2019

By Foo Yun Chee and Klaus Lauer

BERLIN (Reuters) – European Union regulators are unlikely to rule by the end of March on whether a UK tax scheme for multinationals breaches EU rules on state aid, Europe’s competition chief said on Thursday.

The European Commission opened an investigation in October 2017 into the scheme, which exempts multinationals from UK taxes.

Diageo, London Stock Exchange, Imperial Brands, BBA Aviation, Chemring Group, Euromoney, Inchcape, Meggitt, Smith & Nephew and WPP are among the companies that have referred to the EU investigation in their accounts.

“We would prefer to take it (a decision) before Brexit would happen. I don’t know whether that will happen before the end of March. Likely not,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told reporters on the sidelines of a conference organized by the German cartel office.

Vestager has led an EU crackdown on tax avoidance, ordering Apple, Starbucks, Fiat and others to pay back taxes totaling billions of euros to various EU governments.

Vestager also said that she took Swedish music streaming service Spotify’s complaint about Apple very seriously. Spotify filed a complaint this week charging Apple unfairly limits rivals to its own Apple Music streaming service.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee and Klaus Lauer; editing by Larry King)

Source: OANN

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Galaxy to face FC Dallas without Ibrahimovic

MLS: Chicago Fire at LA Galaxy
Mar 2, 2019; Carson, CA, USA; LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (9) reacts during the first half against the Chicago Fire at StubHub Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

March 9, 2019

The Los Angeles Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not play Saturday afternoon at FC Dallas after the striker did not travel in advance of the second regular-season MLS game for both teams.

Ibrahimovic, who scored the game-winning goal in the 80th minute of last Saturday’s season-opening victory over the Chicago Fire, has been bothered by a sore Achilles.

The Galaxy also will be without Romain Alessandrini, who came away with a hamstring injury in the game against the Fire. The Galaxy are expected to have new arrival Joe Corona on hand after he was added March 6 from Tijuana of Liga MX.

Ibrahimovic, who is in his second season with the Galaxy, scored 22 goals last season, second most in MLS.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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USTR names new general counsel to replace departing Vaughn

Members of the U.S. trade delegation Robert Lighthizer and Steven Mnuchin arrive at a hotel in Beijing
FILE PHOTO: Members of the U.S. trade delegation Robert Lighthizer and Steven Mnuchin arrive at a hotel in Beijing, China March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

April 22, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Monday that his agency’s general counsel, Stephen Vaughn, will depart the Trump administration in coming weeks and be replaced by veteran Washington lawyer Joseph Barloon.

Barloon is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP. Both he and Vaughn worked with Lighthizer at the Washington office of Skadden, Arps for years, as did Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish.

Vaughn “has played a central role in shaping and implementing the president’s trade policies, especially related to China and the World Trade Organization,” Lighthizer said.

Vaughn, who represented United States Steel Corp alongside Lighthizer for years, handled the legal aspects of USTR’s “Section 301” investigation into China’s trade and intellectual property practices, which led to tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports and current U.S.-China trade negotiations.

Barloon, who specializes in government enforcement actions along with civil and criminal investigations at Skadden Arps, would bring “legal expertise and sound judgment” to USTR’s trade negotiations and efforts to rebalance trade and reform global trading rules, Lighthizer said.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Ukrainian president visits US destroyer on port call

Ukraine's president has gone aboard a U.S. warship making a call at a Ukrainian port, hailing its visit as a warning to Russia.

President Petro Poroshenko visited the destroyer USS Donald Cook in the port of Odessa on Tuesday. He said in a statement that the ship's visit was "an important signal to the Kremlin," underlining close U.S.-Ukrainian military cooperation.

Poroshenko also met with Kurt Volker, the U.S. special envoy on Ukraine, thanking the U.S. for expanding its presence in the Black Sea after the Russian seizure of three Ukrainian vessels and their crews in November. The incident further escalated the tug-of-war that followed Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

Volker described the destroyer's visit as "a strong symbol of the United States' commitment to the people of Ukraine."

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO - A worker sits on a ship carrying containers at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat
FILE PHOTO: A worker sits on a ship carrying containers at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat April 1, 2014. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – India has once again delayed the implementation of higher tariffs on some goods imported from the United States to May 15, a government official said on Friday.

The new tariff structure was to come into force from May 2, the spokeswoman said without citing reasons for the delay.

Angered by Washington’s refusal to exempt it from new steel and aluminum tariffs, New Delhi decided in June last year to raise the import tax from Aug. 4 on some U.S. products including almonds, walnuts and apples.

But since then, New Delhi has repeatedly delayed the implementation of the new tariff.

Trade friction between India and the U.S. has escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans earlier this year to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its exports to the United States.

In a further blow, U.S. on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers including India to continue importing limited volumes.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar in New Delhi and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Source: OANN

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One of Joe Biden’s newly-hired senior advisers has seemingly had a very recent change of heart.

Symone Sanders, a prominent Democratic strategist and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., staffer in 2016, was announced as one of the big-name members of Team Biden on Thursday.

But Sanders, who has also served as a CNN contributor, is seen in resurfaced footage from November 2016 expressing her opposition to a white person leading her party after Donald Trump’s election.

“In my opinion, we don’t need white people leading the Democratic party right now,” Sanders told host Brianna Keilar during a discussion on Howard Dean potentially becoming DNC chairman.

BIDEN HIRES FORMER BERNIE SANDERS’ SPOKESPERSON AS SENIOR ADVISER

“The Democratic party is diverse, and it should be reflected as so in leadership and throughout the staff, at the highest levels. From the vice chairs to the secretaries all the way down to the people working in the offices at the DNC,” she said.

Sanders wrapped up her remarks by saying: “I want to hear more from everybody. I want to hear from the millennials and the brown folks.”

Footage of the interview was resurfaced by RealClearPolitics.

After news of her hiring broke on Thursday, Sanders backed her new boss on Twitter.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG

“@JoeBiden & @DrBiden are a class act. Over the course of this campaign, Vice President Biden is going to make his case to the American ppl. He won’t always be perfect, but I believe he will get it right,” she wrote.

The hiring of Sanders has been viewed as another indication of the expected tough fight that Biden and Sanders are in for as the two frontrunners battle a deep Democratic field.

While Sanders himself didn’t torch Biden as he jumped into the race, it’s clear that many of his progressive supporters view the former vice president as a threat.

Biden’s entry into the race – at least in the early going – sets up a battle between himself and Sanders, who thanks to his fierce fight with eventual nominee Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, enjoys name ID on the level of the former vice president.

BIDEN VOWS THAT ‘AMERICA IS COMING BACK,’ SPARKING ‘MAGA’ COMPARISONS

Justice Democrats — who also called Biden “out-of-touch” – is an increasingly influential group among the left of the party. They’ve championed progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as well as Sanders. The group was founded by members of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

Biden has pushed back against the perception that he’s a moderate in a party that’s increasingly moving to the left. Earlier this month he described himself as an “Obama-Biden Democrat.”

And Biden said he’d stack his record against “anybody who has run or who is running now or who will run.”

Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile – a Fox News contributor – highlighted that “Joe Biden can occupy his own lane in large part because he’s earned it. He’s earned the right to call himself whatever.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But she emphasized that “elections are not about the past, they’re about the future…I do believe he has the right ingredients. The question is can he find enough people to help him stir the pot.”

Fox News Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who is facing increased calls for her immediate resignation, remains in poor health and is not “lucid” enough to decide whether to step down, her attorney told reporters late Thursday.

Steve Silverman, speaking outside one of Pugh’s residences which was raided by the FBI and IRS earlier in the day, said the embattled city leader could make a decision as early as next week.

“She is leaning toward making the best decision in the best interest in the citizens of Baltimore City,” he said, adding that Pugh has “several options” to consider.

“She just needs to be physically and mentally sound and lucid enough to make appropriate decisions.”

BALTIMORE MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH, ON LEAVE AMID BOOK PROBE, HAS HOMES AND CITY HALL OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDS

Silverman said Pugh met with a doctor at home Thursday and plans to do so again Friday, the Baltimore Sun reported.

In the latest image-tarnishing scandal for struggling Baltimore, the first-term Democratic mayor faces accusations that she used children’s book deals to cover up kickbacks for favorable treatment as a state lawmaker and city leader that earned her roughly $800,000 over several years.

BALTIMORE’S ACTING MAYOR SAYS HE ‘WOULD HATE TO SEE’ EMBATTLED MAYOR RETURN AFTER BOOK SCANDALS

As a state senator, 69-year-old Pugh sold $500,000 worth of her self-published “Healthy Holly” illustrated paperbacks to the University of Maryland Medical System, a major state employer whose board she sat on for nearly 20 years.

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

UMMS reportedly paid Pugh for 100,000 copies of her books between 2011 and 2018 with the stated intention of distributing the books to schools and day care centers. But some 50,000 copies remain unaccounted for and officials are probing if they were even printed.

Pugh also made $300,000 in bulk sales to other customers including health carriers that did business with the city of Baltimore.

BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL CALLS ON EMBATTLED MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY

The politically isolated Pugh slipped out of sight on April 1 after a hastily organized press conference where she called her no-contract book deals a “regrettable mistake.” That same day, Maryland’s governor called on the state prosecutor to investigate allegations of “self-dealing.”

Pugh took an indefinite leave of absence, citing her health deteriorating intensely after a bout with pneumonia.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide. (Loyd Fox/Baltimore Sun via AP)

On Thursday morning, agents with the FBI and IRS searched her two Baltimore homes, her City Hall offices, and a nonprofit organization she once led. The home of at least one of Pugh’s aides was also scoured.

Silverman said federal agents also served a subpoena at his law firm, retrieving Pugh’s original financial records. They did not seek any attorney-client privileged communications, he said.

Pugh’s attorney said she was “emotionally extremely distraught” following the searches by FBI and IRS agents.

“There was nothing incriminating that came out of her home,” Silverman said.

UMMS spokesman Michael Schwartzberg told reporters that the medical system received a grand jury witness subpoena seeking documents and information related to Pugh.

Other probes against Pugh include a review by the city ethics board and the Maryland Insurance Administration.

BALTIMORE MAYOR’S $500G DEAL FOR ‘HEALTHY HOLLY’ CHILDREN’S BOOKS DRAWS SCRUTINY

In recent weeks, the calls for Pugh’s resignation have intensified with the strongest voice coming from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who did not mince words after Thursday’s early morning raids.

“Now more than ever, Baltimore City needs strong and responsible leadership. Mayor Pugh has lost the public trust,” he said. “She is clearly not fit to lead. For the good of the city, Mayor Pugh must resign.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall.

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun via AP)

Many of her fellow Democrats, including those on Baltimore’s demoralized City Council and state lawmakers, are also insisting that Pugh put the citizens’ interests above any attempt to preserve her political career.

City Council member Brandon Scott called the Thursday raids “an embarrassment to the city.”

However, only a conviction can trigger a mayor’s removal from office, according to the city solicitor. Baltimore’s mayor-friendly City Charter currently provides no options for ousting its executive.

Six of Pugh’s staffers joined her on paid leave earlier this month; three of them were fired this week by the acting mayor.

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Pugh came to office in late 2016 after edging out ex-Mayor Sheila Dixon, who had spent much of her tenure fighting corruption charges before being forced to depart office in 2010 as part of a plea deal connected to the misappropriation of about $500 in gift cards meant for needy families.

She would certainly face a bruising 2020 Democratic primary if she were to return and run for reelection. Veteran City Council leader Bernard “Jack” Young, who is serving as acting mayor, said as she went on leave that he would merely be a placeholder. But this week, before the raids, he said “it could be devastating for her” if she tried to return.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad, California, U.S., April 22, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Amit Dave and Mayank Bhardwaj

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc has sued four Indian farmers for cultivating a potato variety that the snack food and drinks maker claims infringes its patent, the company and the growers said on Friday.

Pepsi has sued the farmers for cultivating the FC5 potato variety, exclusively grown for its popular Lay’s potato chips. The FC5 variety has a lower moisture content required to make snacks such as potato chips.

PepsiCo is seeking more than 10 million rupees ($142,840.82) each for alleged patent infringement.

The farmers grow potatoes in the western state of Gujarat, a leading producer of India’s most consumed vegetable.

“We have been growing potatoes for a long time and we didn’t face this problem ever, as we’ve mostly been using the seeds saved from one harvest to plant the next year’s crop,” said Bipin Patel, one of the four farmers sued by Pepsi.

Patel did not say how he came by the PepsiCo variety.

A court in Ahmedabad, the business hub of Gujarat, on Friday agreed to hear the case on June 12, said Anand Yagnik, the lawyer for the farmers.

“In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety,” A PepsiCo India spokesman said. “This was done to protect our rights and safeguard the larger interest of farmers that are engaged with us and who are using and benefiting from seeds of our registered variety.”

PepsiCo, which set up its first potato chips plant in India in 1989, supplies the FC5 potato variety to a group of farmers who in turn sell their produce to the company at a fixed price.

The All India Kisan Sabha, or All India Farmers’ Forum, has asked the Indian government to protect the farmers.

The farmers’ forum has also called for a boycott of PepsiCo’s Lay’s chips and the company’s other products.

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

PepsiCo is the second major U.S. company in India to face issues over patent infringement.

Stung by a long-standing intellectual property dispute, seed maker Monsanto, which is now owned by German drugmaker Bayer AG, withdrew from some businesses in India over a cotton-seed dispute with farmers, Reuters reported in 2017. (reut.rs/2ncBknn)

(Reporting by Amit Dave in AHMEDABAD and Mayank Bhardwaj in NEW DELHI; Editing by Martin Howell and Louise Heavens)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By P.J. Huffstutter and Shradha Singh

CHICAGO/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Archer Daniels Midland Co said on Friday it was considering spinning off its ethanol business after slim biofuel margins and Midwestern floods slammed the U.S. grains merchant’s profit, which tumbled 41 percent in the first quarter.

ADM said it was creating an ethanol subsidiary, which will include dry mills in Columbus, Nebraska; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Peoria, Illinois.

The ethanol subsidiary will report as an independent segment, the company said, allowing options “which may include, but are not limited to, a potential spin-off of the business to existing ADM shareholders.”

Results were hit by the “bomb cyclone” blizzards that devastated the Midwest and Great Plains this year, causing massive flooding across Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, washing out rail lines and wreaking havoc in the moving and processing of corn, soybeans and wheat. One-sixth of U.S. ethanol production was halted.

In March, ADM warned Wall Street that flooding and severe winter weather in the U.S. Midwest would reduce its first-quarter operating profit by $50 million to $60 million.

“The first quarter proved more challenging than initially expected,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano, with earnings down in its starches, sweeteners and bioproducts unit. Luciano said impacts of the severe weather ultimately “were on the high side of our initial estimates”.

Ongoing problems in the ethanol industry added to the problems and “limited margins and opportunities” for ADM, Luciano said.

The ethanol industry has been in the midst of a historic downswing due to the U.S.-China trade war, excess domestic supply and weak margins.

ADM, which had been an ethanol pioneer, signaled to Wall Street in 2016 that it was hunting for options and considering sales of its U.S. dry ethanol mills. Luciano told Reuters this year that offers ADM had received for the mills were too low.

In addition, ADM said it planned to repurpose its corn wet mill in Marshall, Minnesota, to produce higher volumes of food and industrial-grade starches.

Other major traders are alsy trying to distance themselves from struggling ethanol businesses. Louis Dreyfus Company BV spun off its Brazilian sugar and ethanol business Biosev in 2013. Rival Bunge sold its sugar book and has sought a buyer for its Brazilian mills since 2013.

ADM, which makes money trading, processing and transporting crops, such as corn, soybeans and wheat, has been looking to strengthen its core business. Last month it said it would seek voluntary early retirements of some North American employees and cut jobs as part of a restructuring effort.

The company expects to lower 2019 capital spending by 10 percent to between $800 million and $900 million.

Net earnings attributable to the company fell to $233 million, or 41 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $393 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $15.30 billion from $15.53 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 46 cents per share, while analysts on average had estimated 60 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Shradha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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