Goodman Group Q1 AUM Stable At A$51.7 Bln

Goodman Group (GMG.AX) reported that its first-quarter Assets Under Management or AUM was stable at A$51.7 billion with development progress, completions of A$0.9 billion and positive revaluations offsetting asset sales.

The company reported 2.9% like-for-like net property income growth in managed partnerships.

At 30 September 2020, development work in progress was A$7.3 billion across 47 projects.

It reported development commencements of A$1.7 billion with 62% pre-committed.

The company reaffirmed its earnings guidance for fiscal year 2021 at 62.7 cents per share, up 9% on the prior year, and full year distribution of 30 cents per share.

Judge Says USPS Chief DeJoy May Have to Testify About Failures

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy may have to testify under oath about the U.S. Postal Service’s apparent failures to adhere to court orders in a lawsuit over operational changes that disrupted the delivery of mail-in ballots during the election.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington said at a hearing Wednesday that he was “shocked” to hear about the USPS failures to follow through on the orders, including not completing a mandatory sweep of mail-processing facilities to look for undelivered ballots by 3 p.m. on Election Day.

“At some point, the postmaster is either going to have to be deposed or appear before me and testify under oath,” Sullivan said. “The court has been very clear that it expects full compliance” with its orders.

Vestas Q3 Profit Down; Backs FY Outlook

Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWDRY.PK) reported that its third-quarter profit attributable to owners of the company declined to 284 million euros or 1.45 euros per share from 306 million euros or 1.53 euros per share in the prior year.

EBIT before special items declined to 412 million euros from 429 million euros last year.

Quarterly revenue was 4.77 billion euros, an increase of 31 percent from last year.

Vestas maintained its full-year guidance for 2020. It expects revenue to be in the range of 14 billion euros – 15 billion euros, an EBIT margin before special items of 5-7 percent, and total investments below 700 million euros.

U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows In September Amid Jump In Exports

A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in the month of September.

The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to $63.9 billion in September from a revised $67.0 billion in August.

Economists had expected the deficit to narrow to $63.8 billion from the $67.1 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The narrower deficit came as the value of exports jumped by 2.6 percent to $176.4 billion, while the value of imports rose by 0.5 percent to $240.2 billion.

The spike in exports partly reflected a sharp increase in exports of soybeans as well as a notable increase in exports of capital goods.

Meanwhile, increases in imports of passenger cars and capital goods were partly offset by steep drops in imports of cell phones and other household goods and industrial supplies and materials.

The report said the goods deficit narrowed to $80.7 billion in September from $83.8 billion in August, while the services surplus was nearly unchanged at $16.8 billion

Lloyds Cuts 730 More Tech, Retail Jobs as Restructuring Deepens

Lloyds Banking Group Plc is cutting about 730 more jobs, mostly at its technology and retail units, as the British lender executes a restructuring plan that was paused by the pandemic.

Most of the affected staff won’t leave until January, the London-based bank said Wednesday. While the bank is creating more than 300 new positions, more than 1,000 roles are being eliminated.

Chief Executive Officer Antonio Horta-Osorio resumed his job-cutting program in September, taking the ax to the bank’s wealth and insurance division. British banks face headwinds ranging from rock-bottom interest rates to a fraught Brexit process, increasing the pressure to get costs under control.

The bank swung to a profit of more than 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) in its third quarter, helped by a buoyant U.K. housing market, but said that its outlook remains uncertain.

The Unite union said that the company’s commercial bank will also be hit, and asked that the cuts be postponed again given the positive earnings report and the continued threat from the pandemic.

Trump Supporters Chant ‘Fox News Sucks’ On MSNBC In Surreal Scene In Arizona

Some of President Donald Trump’s supporters turned on Fox News in an unexpected scene Wednesday in Arizona.

Unhappy that the network had called the state late Tuesday for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the Trump supporters in Phoenix chanted “Fox News Sucks.”  

Trump supporters ― egged on by the president ― have been gathering outside election offices in multiple states in an effort to interfere with vote counting. 

Some of the angriest crowds have been in Arizona, fueled by debunked rumors over ballots as well as the early call by Fox News.

Fox News was once the president’s favorite network, and he is still known to watch and call into shows such as “Fox & Friends” and “Hannity.” 

However, he has also grown unhappy with the network as well, openly grousing about its polling and complaining on Twitter when Fox News hosts interview Democrats.

Over the summer, he even suggested switching the channel… but based on his subsequent tweets and regular appearances on the network, he hasn’t actually done so. 

RELATED…