Wacker Chemie Raises FY Outlook

Wacker Chemie AG (WKCMY.PK,WKCMF.PK) said it once again raised its full-year guidance for sales and EBITDA, following the sustained positive performance of its business.

The company now expects full-year 2021 sales of around 6 billion euros compared to the prior outlook of some 5.5 billion euros.

Group EBITDA for 2021 is expected to be between 1.2 billion euros and 1.4 billion euros. Previously, it expected EBITDA to come in between 900 million euros and 1.1 billion euros.

For the third-quarter 2021, the company expects sales of about 1.6 billion euros and EBITDA of roughly 400 million euros.

The company noted that continued high polysilicon prices and the very strong demand in the chemical divisions, also during the summer months, are the reasons for the higher business expectations for the remainder of the year. At the same time, however, higher raw material prices and negative currency effects are expected to weigh on EBITDA and WACKER continues to anticipate an effect of more than 300 million euros.

China state planner approved 11 fixed-asset investments in August

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s state planner the National Development and Reform Commission said it approved 11 fixed-asset investment projects worth 100.6 billion yuan ($15.64 billion) in August, according to a spokesperson on Thursday.

($1 = 6.4323 Chinese yuan renminbi)

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By Farhad Manjoo

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World Bank discontinues Doing Business report after ethics review

The World Bank will work on anew approach to assessing countries’ business and investment climates.

The World Bank Group said on September 16 it has decided to discontinue publication of its ‘Doing Business” rankings of country business climates after a review of data irregularities in the 2018 and 2020 reports.

Comment | A development that will hardly put India at ease

In a statement, the World Bank said that after the irregularities raised ethical matters involving former bank staff and board officials, the development lender will work on anew approach to assessing countries’ business and investment climates.

Why U.S. Workers Are Earning $15 an Hour Without Much of a Fight

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The push for a $15 federal minimum wage may have stalled in Congress, but Covid-19 is helping steer the U.S. ever closer toward a key objective of labor unions and their allies in the White House and on Capitol Hill.

An analysis of jobs posted from spring 2019 to spring 2021 from a sampling of cities shows many service-sector industries crossed above a $15 starting wage during the period, often by significant margins, according to Emsi Burning Glass, an analytics firm that tracks job postings to glean labor market insights. The trend seems to have gathered steam in the recovery from the Covid recession, with several large employers, including Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Chipotle Mexican Grill, bumping up starting or average hourly pay to $15 or more. Amazon.com Inc. recently announced it was boosting average starting wages for open logistics jobs to $18 an hour.

Lowe JV Buys Three Hotels In The Woodlands From The Howard Hughes For $252 Mln – Quick Facts

A joint venture between Lowe and an institutional investor announced Thursday its acquisition of three hospitality assets located in The Woodlands, a 28,500-acre award-winning master planned community in the greater Houston area, from The Howard Hughes Corp. (HHC).

The Woodlands Resort; The Westin at The Woodlands; and Embassy Suites by Hilton, The Woodlands at Hughes Landing were purchased for $252 million.

They will continue to be managed by Lowe’s hospitality management subsidiary, CoralTree Hospitality, which took over management of the properties in September of 2020. Lowe will immediately begin a $25 million capital investment program at the three hotels, totaling 909 rooms.

With this sale, Howard Hughes has successfully closed on approximately $376 million of the targeted $600 million net proceeds in the sale of non-core assets outlined two years ago.

26 Fall Recipes Our Food Staff Can’t Wait to Make

It’s time for soul-warming food. Here’s what the New York Times Food staff hopes to be cooking.

By Nikita Richardson

For His Next Act, Anthony Doerr Wrote a Book About Everything

The author of “All the Light We Cannot See” has a new novel, “Cloud Cuckoo Land,” that seeks to tell a sprawling story linking past, present and future.

By Gal Beckerman