Beer Remains Top Alcoholic Drink Of Choice In US

Beer remains American drinkers’ alcoholic beverage of choice, a recent Gallup Poll shows.

Thirty seven percent of drinkers say they drink beer most often, while 31 percent prefer liquor and 29 percent favor wine.

Although it continues to hold on to the top spot, beer is less dominant now than at points in the 1990s and early 2000s, when close to half said it was their preferred alcoholic beverage.

The 31 percent of drinkers who currently say liquor is their favorite alcoholic drink is the highest on record.

Drinkers’ alcoholic beverage of choice varies based on their gender, age, education and income level, according to the poll.

Men are more than twice as likely as women to say they drink beer most often, and women are about three times as likely as men to say wine is their most common beverage.

Younger drinkers prefer beer and liquor, while older drinkers favor beer and wine.

Sixty two percent of U.S. adults drink alcohol while the rest abstain completely, the poll, tracking Americans’ drinking habits, has found.

Americans’ drinking habits are relatively steady, with more than three in five saying they consume alcohol and about one in five drinkers admitting to overindulging sometimes, say Gallup’s July 3-27 Consumption Habits poll.

LSL Property Services To Acquire TenetLime For Up To 12.9 Mln Pounds

LSL Property Services plc (LSL.L) on Monday announced that it has agreed to acquire mortgage network provider TenetLime Ltd. from Tenet Ltd., a unit of Tenet Group Ltd.

The consideration is expected to be up to 12.9 million pounds and is being financed from LSL’s existing cash resources.

The purchase price consists of an initial payment of up to 5.6 million pounds, a further payment of up to 4.5 million pounds, and an expected payment of 2.8 million pounds for assets which form part of TenetLime’s regulatory capital.

Under the deal, TenetLime will also recruit 47 mortgage and protection advisers operating within 24 appointed representative firms. These are currently members of TenetConnect Ltd and TenetConnect Services Ltd, and are expected to transfer to TenetLime prior to the deal closure.

Following the acquisition, subject to FCA approval, TenetLime will be completely integrated into operations of PRIMIS Network of LSL. The company believes this integration will enhance earnings in 2024.

The company is also expecting that the acquisition will allow it to leverage Tenetlime’s existing network infrastructure to deliver synergies and enhance the Group’s margin.

Cureently, shares of LSL are trading at 245 pence on the London Stock exchange.

RBC Bearings Acquires Specline For $18.7 Mln

RBC Bearings Incorporated (RBC) on Monday announced the acquisition of precision bearings manufacturer, Specline, Inc. for $18.7 million.

RBC’s Chief Executive commented, “The addition of Specline’s unique bearing and manufacturing processes increases the breadth of our aerospace product offering and enhances our production capacity.”

Over the past 12 months, Specline has generated around $8.4 million in net sales. It has a distinct aerospace customer base and employs 38 skilled professionals. It produces standard and custom configuration precision spherical bearings; rod ends and journal bearings.

On Friday, shares of RBC closed at $ 219.09 down 1.31% on the New York Stock exchange.

Broadcom Affirms Expectation VMware Deal Will Close On Schedule

Broadcom, Inc. (AVGO), a global technology leader that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, on Monday affirmed its expectation that its acquisition of VMware, Inc. (VMW) will close on October 30, 2023, and provided an update on its progress with various regulatory agencies.

On August 21, 2023, Broadcom received final transaction approval from the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority.

This follows legal merger clearance in the European Union, as well as in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, South Africa, and Taiwan, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions.

In the U.S., the Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger waiting periods have expired, and there is no legal impediment to closing under U.S. merger regulations.

Broadcom continues to work constructively with regulators in other jurisdictions for regulatory approvals, which Broadcom believes will be received before October 30, 2023.

Accordingly, VMware and Broadcom have also agreed to further extend the Outside Date as contemplated in the transaction agreement.

Broadcom said it is confident that the combination with VMware will enhance competition in the cloud and benefit enterprise customers by giving them more choice and control over where they locate their workloads.

Jiayin Group Q2 Earnings, Revenue Climb

Jiayin Group Inc. (JFIN), a Chinese fintech platform, on Monday posted an increase in earnings for the second-quarter of 2023, reflecting a rise in revenue particularly from loan facilitation services.

For the three-month period to June 30, the company posted a net income of RMB326.3 million or RMB1.52 per share, compared with RMB253.8 million or RMB1.18 per share, registered for the same period of 2022. Earnings per ADS were at RMB6.10, higher than last year’s RMB4.72 per ADS.

Income from operations moved up to RMB369.3 million from RMB344.467 million a year ago.

Revenue was RMB1.277 billion, up from previous year’s RMB811.554 million.

Revenue from loan facilitation services stood at RMB924.9 million, up 24.5 percent from last year. This improvement was primarily due to increased loan origination volume from the company’s institutional funding partners.

Looking ahead, for the third quarter, Jiayin expects its loan facilitation volume to reach around RMB24 billion.

For full year 2023, citing its current robust performance, the Group has raised its annual loan facilitation volume outlook to RMB85 billion against its previous guidance of RMB70 billion.