Telefonica beats first-quarter profit forecasts

Spain’s Telefonica (TEF.MC) posted a smaller-than-expected fall in first-quarter net profit on Thursday helped by inflation-matching price rises in most markets, operating efficiencies and strength in its cloud and cybersecurity business.
SoftBank Vision Fund posts $26 bln loss; Son pledges defence

Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) reported a record $26.2 billion loss at its Vision Fund investment arm on Thursday, as rising interest rates and political instability whiplashed high-growth tech stocks.
Siemens to leave Russia due to Ukraine war, take hefty charge

Siemens (SIEGn.DE) will quit the Russian market due to the war in Ukraine, it said on Thursday, taking a 600 million euro ($630 million) hit to its business during the second quarter, with more costs to come.
China Resources in talks to take Sihuan Pharma private at $3 bln valuation -sources

State conglomerate China Resources is in early-stage talks with Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s (0460.HK) chairman about jointly taking the Hong Kong-listed company private in a deal valuing it at nearly $3 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
eCom Learning Solutions helps energy companies move towards net zero carbon emissions

Scotland’s leading digital learning and assessment specialist, eCom Learning Solutions, is helping energy companies and contractors transform their businesses to move – cost-effectively – towards being net zero carbon producers.
SoftBank seen posting bruising Vision Fund loss on tech sell-off

Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) is set to report a bruising loss at its Vision Fund investment unit on Thursday, analysts said, after investors sold off the high-growth stocks favoured by the fund with questions about their earnings potential.
EXCLUSIVE Ukraine war spurs U.S. to ramp up security probe of software maker Kaspersky

The Biden administration ramped up a national security probe into Russia’s AO Kaspersky Lab antivirus software earlier this year amid heightened fears of Russian cyberattacks after Moscow invaded Ukraine, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Analysis: Markets must face up to tightening financial conditions

Already sitting on double-digit losses this year, stock market investors must brace for more, as the realisation sinks in that the U.S. Federal Reserve intends to tighten financial conditions to get on top of red-hot inflation.
EXCLUSIVE Biden sidelined global energy partners with record emergency oil release

The United States announced a record-sized release of emergency crude oil reserves in March without consulting partners in the International Energy Agency, leaving them scrambling to match with releases of their own, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Dollar rides to two-decade highs as rates rise; euro struggles

The dollar climbed to its highest levels in two decades on Monday as a combination of rising U.S. Treasury yields and a tightening lockdown in China boosted the safe haven appeal of the greenback.