Advertisement
New Zealand markets closed
  • NZX 50

    12,105.29
    +94.63 (+0.79%)
     
  • NZD/USD

    0.5981
    -0.0025 (-0.42%)
     
  • NZD/EUR

    0.5530
    -0.0013 (-0.23%)
     
  • ALL ORDS

    8,153.70
    +80.10 (+0.99%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,896.90
    +77.30 (+0.99%)
     
  • OIL

    82.39
    +1.04 (+1.28%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,223.00
    +10.30 (+0.47%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    18,297.80
    +16.96 (+0.09%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,963.04
    +31.06 (+0.39%)
     
  • Dow Jones

    39,777.08
    +17.00 (+0.04%)
     
  • DAX

    18,496.47
    +19.38 (+0.10%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • NZD/JPY

    90.4160
    -0.3640 (-0.40%)
     

BP hikes dividend, Apollo in talks for Credit Suisse unit, SoftBank battles slumping valuations

Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman breaks down notable business headlines, which include BP posting record profits and slowing its shift away from oil, Apollo Global Management exploring a stake in a Credit Suisse unit, and SoftBank's vision fund battling hit by a tech slump. (Apollo Global Management is Yahoo Finance's parent company.)

Video transcript

JULIE HYMAN: Let's get you updated on some other headlines we're watching. Record annual profits for UK energy giant BP. The bottom line more than doubling to almost $28 billion last year. Of course, benefiting from prices soaring after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Shares are jumping this morning on this, as well as a dividend hike and a boost to share buybacks. Energy investors love that. But bad news for climate activists. BP announcing it's paring back plans to reduce oil and gas production by 2030. The oil major just one of the European energy companies benefiting from the jump in oil prices last year. Rival Shell also seeing record earnings of almost $40 billion.

ADVERTISEMENT

Apollo Global Management is reportedly one of a group of financial firms sizing up a stake in Credit Suisse's rebooted investment bank. This according to Bloomberg News. Credit Suisse last year announced plans to spin off the advisory arm of its investment bank into a new unit under the CS First Boston brand. Remember that? This entity had been identified as a home for CS's capital markets and advisory activities during a strategic overhaul that was announced in November.

The Swiss bank has for years made efforts to boost units outside its prestigious Wealth Management arm. It's also faced scrutiny from a series of high profile scandals. Apollo Global Management, by the way, is the parent company of Yahoo Finance.

And the higher rate environment causing problems for tech stocks and their biggest investor. SoftBank's flagship investment arm has reported its fourth straight quarterly loss, as the Japanese group battles slumping valuations across the sector. The business's Vision Fund posted a pre-tax loss of 660 billion yen in the December quarter. It's been a busy couple of years for SoftBank in 2022. It sold shares in Alibaba and all of its remaining stake in ride hailing giant Uber in a bid to raise cash.