Back to petroleum? Oil majors aren't buying into threat from renewables

Two decades ago, BP set out to transcend oil, adopting a sunburst logo to convey its plans to pour $8 billion over a decade into renewable technologies, even promising to power its gas stations with the sun.

That transformation - marketed as "Beyond Petroleum" - led to manufacturing solar panels in Australia, Spain and the United States and erecting wind farms in the United States and the Netherlands.

Today, BP might be more aptly branded "Back to Petroleum" after exiting or scaling back its renewable energy investments. Lower-cost Chinese components upended its solar panel business, which the firm shed in 2011. A year later, BP tried to sell its U.S. wind power business but couldn't get a buyer.

"We made very big bets in the past," BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley told Reuters in an interview. "A lot of those didn't work. We're not sure yet what will be commercially acceptable."

The costly lesson of the biggest foray yet by an oil major into renewable energy was not lost on rival firms.

Even as governments and environmentalists forecast a peak in oil demand within a generation - and China and India say they may eventually ban gasoline and diesel vehicles - leaders of the world's biggest oil firms are not buying the argument that their traditional business faces any imminent threat.

A Reuters analysis of clean energy investments and forecasts by oil majors, along with exclusive interviews with top oil executives, reveal mostly token investments in alternative energy. Today, renewable power projects get about 3 percent of $100 billion in combined annual spending by the five biggest oil firms, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
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Leaks reveal Kremlin cash is behind billionaire's Twitter and Facebook investments

In the fall of 2010, the Russian billionaire investor Yuri Milner took the stage for a Q and A at a technology conference in San Francisco. Mr. Milner, whose holdings have included major stakes in Facebook and Twitter, is known for expounding on everything from the future of social media to the frontiers of space travel. But when someone asked a question that had swirled around his Silicon Valley ascent — Who were his investors? — he did not answer, turning repeatedly to the moderator with a look of incomprehension.

Now, leaked documents examined by The New York Times offer a partial answer: Behind Mr. Milner’s investments in Facebook and Twitter were hundreds of millions of dollars from the Kremlin.

Obscured by a maze of offshore shell companies, the Twitter investment was backed by VTB, a Russian state-controlled bank often used for politically strategic deals.

And a big investor in Mr. Milner’s Facebook deal received financing from Gazprom Investholding, another government-controlled financial institution, according to the documents. They include a cache of records from the Bermuda law firm Appleby that were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and reviewed by The Times in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Ultimately, Mr. Milner’s companies came to own more than 8 percent of Facebook and 5 percent of Twitter, helping earn him a place on various lists of the world’s most powerful business people. His companies sold those holdings several years ago, but he retains investments in several other large technology companies and continues to make new deals. Among Mr. Milner’s current investments is a real estate venture founded and partly owned by Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser.
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Millions of leaked Paradise Papers reveal where the elite hide their money

It’s called the Paradise Papers: the latest in a series of leaks made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists shedding light on the trillions of dollars that move through offshore tax havens.

The core of the leak, totaling more than 13.4 million documents, focuses on the Bermudan law firm Appleby, a 119-year old company that caters to blue chip corporations and very wealthy people. Appleby helps clients reduce their tax burden; obscure their ownership of assets like companies, private aircraft, real estate and yachts; and set up huge offshore trusts that in some cases hold billions of dollars.

The New York Times is part of the group of more than 380 journalists from over 90 media organizations in 67 countries that have spent months examining the latest set of documents.

As with the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers leak came through a duo of reporters at the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and was then shared with I.C.I.J., a Washington-based group that won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the millions of records of a Panamanian law firm. The release of that trove of documents led to the resignation of one prime minister last year and to the unmasking of the wealth of people close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

The predominantly elite clients of Appleby contrast with those of Mossack Fonseca — the company whose leaked records became the Panama Papers — which appeared to be less discriminating in the business it took on. Much of the material makes for dull reading: Spreadsheets, prospectuses and billing statements abound. But amid these are documents that help reveal how multinational companies avoid taxes and how the superrich hide their wealth. The records date back to 1950 and up to 2016.
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Paradise Paper leaks reveal US commerce chief, UK queen's offshore investments

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has business ties to a shipping firm linked to Vladimir Putin's inner circle, according to a vast leak of financial documents that also revealed Britain's Queen Elizabeth II's investments in tax havens.

It was also revealed that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's top fundraiser and senior advisor Stephen Bronfman, heir to the Seagram fortune, moved some $60 million to offshore tax havens with ex-senator Leo Kolber.

The findings have emerged as part of the Paradise Papers released by the US-based   (ICIJ), which was behind the Panama Papers made public last year.

There is no suggestion that Ross, Bronfman or the queen's private estate acted illegally.

But Ross's ties to Russian entities raise questions over potential conflicts of interest, and whether they undermine Washington's sanctions on Moscow.

The revelations about Bronfman could spell trouble for Trudeau, who was elected two years ago riding on the coattails of promises to reduce economic inequality and tax avoidance.

In the case of Queen Elizabeth's private estate, critics may question whether it is appropriate for the British head of state to invest in offshore tax havens.

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EU ministers approve new sanctions to punish North Korea

The European Union mposed fresh sanctions on North Korea today as part of international efforts to punish the pariah regime for its nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes.

Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg signed off a new package of measures including a ban on investments in North Korea and on EU exports of oil to Pyongyang.

They also tightened the restrictions on North Korean workers in the EU to try to stop money being sent home that could be used to fund the disputed weapons programmes.

The EU said the new steps were taken in view of the "persistent threat to international peace and stability" posed by Kim Jong-Un's regime.

The North carried out its sixth nuclear test -- and most powerful to date -- on September 3, sparking international outrage and a fresh round of sanctions.

More people and entities associated with Kim Jong-Un's regime have been blacklisted and the ceiling for payments that can be made to North Korea has been cut from 15,000 euros to 5,000 euros.

A total ban on EU investment in North Korea is now in force, along with a complete halt to sales of crude oil and refined petroleum products.

As part of efforts to ensure sanctions are effective, EU members will instruct their embassies in countries seen as a risk of evading North Korean sanctions to deliver formal warnings to comply.
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Alphabet beats Wall Street estimates; revenue up 21%

Google parent Alphabet has reported a quarterly profit of $3.5 billion, with a massive fine by the European Commission biting into earnings.

The technology giant yesterday reported that revenue grew to $26 billion in the recently ended quarter, and that profit would have tallied nearly $6.3 billion if it weren't for a $2.74 billion antitrust fine levied on search engine Google by the European Commission.

Revenue was up 21 percent from the same quarter last year, according to earnings figures.

"We're delivering strong growth with great underlying momentum, while continuing to make focused investments in new revenue streams," said Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat.

Alphabet shares slid about 2.9 percent to $969.03 in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings figures.

Investors have been concerned about what the regulatory trouble in Europe means for Alphabet, which gets most of its money from Google advertising while investing in "other bets" such as self-driving cars.

Alphabet took in $248 million in revenue and posted a narrowed loss of $772 million in its "other bets" category in the recently ended quarter.
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Tech Mahindra claims it has entered league of top 20 global services brands

IT firm Tech Mahindra on Sunday said it has entered into the Top-20 global tech services brands list (by brand value) in 2017,as per an independent assessment by a valuation and strategy consultancy, Brand Finance.

It also said the company has potential to be in the top-5 technology services brands by 2020.

Tech Mahindra has been ranked at No 14, with an impressive growth of 21 per cent over the previous fiscal, a joint release by Tech Mahindra and Brand Finance said.

"Tech Mahindra has delivered excellent brand value growth of 21 per cent. Its brand transformation journey from being an Information Technology player to a Digital Transformation partner has shown great progress," Brand Finance Founder and CEO David Haigh said.

"With its new brand promise of 'Connected World,Connected Experiences and the right brand investments, Tech Mahindra has all the potential to be in the top 5 by 2020," he added.

Tech Mahindra said it has recently embarked on a massive brand building campaign globally forging strategic partnerships with several Global Media Groups, local Governments and Trade Councils, to bring alive its 'Connected World, Connected Experiences' promise.

The company aspires to consolidate and improve its position through significant brand investments aligned to its core strategy in delivering tangible 'experience' outcomes to its 900+ customers worldwide, it said.

"We have embraced Digital Transformation as the bedrock of our brand journey, at a time when connectedness and experiences are the fundamentals for any business and consumer across all aspects of daily living," Tech Mahindra Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Jagdish Mitra said.
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Ola raises Rs 670 cr from Ratan Tata-backed fund, other investors

SoftBank-backed Ola has raised Rs 670 crore ($104.4 million) in fresh funding from investors including UC-RNT Fund, a venture between the University of California and Ratan Tata.

While UC-RNT Fund has pumped in Rs 267.99 crore, another Rs 402 crore has been infused by FO Mauritius I Ltd, according to regulatory filing by ANI Technologies, which runs Ola.

However, the valuation of the company benchmarked against the fresh round of funding could not be ascertained.

The said shares were allotted to the investors on March 31 2017.

An email sent to the company remained unanswered.

The Bengaluru-based firm, which is locked in an intense battle with US-based Uber for market leadership, had raised about $250 million from SoftBank in November, albeit at a lower valuation of $3 billion (compared to $4.5 billion earlier).

ANI Technologies, which is not a publicly-traded company, has raised investments of over $1.5 billion from investors, including SoftBank Group, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Accel Partners US and Falcon Edge.

While Ola has been successful in raising a sizable amount of funds, it continues to bleed on account of heavy advertising and promotional expenses and high employee cost.

The company posted a consolidated loss of over Rs 2,311 crore -- about Rs 6 crore a day -- during fiscal 2015-16.

ANI Technologies did see its revenues registering a stellar growth at Rs 758.23 crore during 2015-16 compared to Rs 103.77 crore in the previous fiscal.

Ola, which has a presence in 110 Indian cities compared to Uber's operations in 29, has been aggressively expanding its portfolio of services.
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Infosys invests over $62 mn in start-ups; Unsilo, Trifacta, Cloudyn in list

Latest News - Infosys has invested a little over $62 million from its $500 million innovation fund in start-ups covering areas like IoT, automation and drones.

The fund was set up in 2013 with a corpus of $100 million for start-ups and other innovative businesses outside the company. The size of the fund was expanded to $500 million in January 2015.

"The start-up world is incredibly exciting. We have been investing in companies there. We have been bringing these companies to our clients and that rate at which we bring these companies to clients is just exploding. So that's very exciting," Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said.

He added that $62.18 million has been spent from innovation fund so far.

Infosys has invested in a (Read More)