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Alliant Energy Corp. has posted $213 million in net income attributable to shareholders for the first quarter (Q1), up from $158 million for the same three-month period last year as power and gas utility revenue rose. The Madison, Wisconsin-based company’s earnings per share of $0.83 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate, an average of projections by brokerage analysts, of 57 cents. Revenue totaled $1.13 billion, up from Q1 2024’s $1.03 billion. Electric utility sales contributed $853 million, while $240 million came from natural gas utility – both up year-on-year. “We are off to a solid start in 2025, delivering more than 25…

At its ICON 2025 conference in Nashville, Blue Yonder unveiled five new AI agents designed to help companies move faster and respond better across the supply chain — from warehouse operations and inventory planning to logistics and store shelf management. What’s RelatedEach AI agent is focused on a specific area and is built to help supply chain teams make faster decisions, avoid manual work, and stay ahead of disruptions. The Inventory Ops Agent flags supply and demand mismatches and recommends fixes like alternate sourcing or demand swaps. The Warehouse Ops Agent reallocates labor, identifies outbound risks, and streamlines loading and unloading…

China’s CATL, the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker is scheduled to issue new shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange, eyeing proceeds of as much as $4 billion. This will make its issue the largest this year in Hong Kong, the Financial Times reported, citing a prospectus filed with the stock exchange.The investors that have already signed up for stock from the issue include China’s oil major CNOOC, the Kuwait Investment Authority, and investment firm Hillhouse Capital.  The offering could fetch more than $5 billion, the FT noted in its report, if demand proves even more robust than the…

Iberdrola SA has inked a deal to divest SP Smart Meter Assets Ltd. (SPSMAL) to Macquarie Group Ltd. for about GBP 900 million ($1.2 billion). SPSMAL manages 2.5 million meters in the United Kingdom. It would be taken over by Macquarie Specialized and Asset Finance, part of the Australian financial services provider’s Commodities and Global Markets business. The parties expect to complete the transaction in the third quarter, subject to approval by the Competition and Markets Authority. The acquisition would increase meters managed by Macquarie in the UK to over 13 million. Established 2003, its UK metering business currently manages…

Natural Gas (NG) Price Chart Natural gas futures are trading around $3.734, approaching the upper boundary of a well-defined ascending channel. The price recently pulled back from the $3.825 resistance level, a critical barrier that has capped gains in recent sessions. This level represents a key psychological zone for traders, with a potential breakout setting the stage for a move toward $3.926, followed by the significant $4.020 resistance. On the downside, immediate support lies at $3.722, aligning closely with the lower trendline of the ascending channel. A break below this level could expose natural gas to further downside toward the…

Saudi Aramco reported a decline in profit in the first quarter as lower crude prices put pressure on the finances of the world’s biggest oil exporter. Net income slipped 4.6 percent to 97.5 billion riyals ($26 billion) in the quarter, according to a statement Sunday. Free cash flow again failed to cover the dividend despite the total payout being lower. Operating profit, which fell 5.3 percent, beat analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.      The numbers are another sign of the pressures on Aramco’s balance sheet. As part of a previously announced plan, the company earlier this year decided to cut…

Employees stand inside a supermarket without lights in Burgos on April 28, 2025, during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France.Cesar Manso | Afp | Getty ImagesA catastrophic power outage affecting much of Spain, Portugal and the south of France has thrust the role of renewables and energy security into the spotlight.An abrupt and widespread blackout, one of Europe’s worst in living memory, affected the entire Iberian Peninsula on April 28.The outage, which lasted for several hours, plunged much of the region into darkness, stranded thousands of train passengers and left millions without…

The climate crisis is threatening the future of the world’s most popular fruit, as almost two-thirds of banana-growing areas in Latin America and the Caribbean may no longer be suitable for growing the fruit by 2080, new research has found.Rising temperatures, extreme weather and climate-related pests are pummeling banana-growing countries such as Guatemala, Costa Rica and Colombia, reducing yields and devastating rural communities across the region, according to Christian Aid’s new report, Going Bananas: How Climate Change Threatens the World’s Favourite Fruit.Bananas are the world’s most consumed fruit – and the fourth most important food crop globally, after wheat, rice…

Lower oil prices over the first quarter of the year weakened Aramco’s net profit, with the Saudi giant booking a net result of $26 billion, down from $27.3 billion a year earlier. Despite the weaker figures, the company decided to distribute a higher dividend for the quarter.While lower than a year ago, the net result was higher than what analysts expected, which was net earnings of $25.36 billion, per a Reuters poll. Dividend for the first quarter was set at $21.1 billion, up by 4.2% on the year and payable during the second quarter. The amount, however, was unchanged from…

Oil executive Osayande Igiehon grew up in an area of Nigeria intersected with pipelines — part of the extensive infrastructure established by foreign energy companies to tap his country’s rich reserves.Igiehon believes this first-hand knowledge of the country gives Heirs Energies, the company he leads, a distinct advantage as it steps in to fill the gap left by the majors pulling back from Africa’s largest oil producer.Heirs is among the domestic companies at the forefront of a historic shift in ownership of Nigeria’s oil wealth, as the international groups retreat and ambitious local companies step up to replace them.“The previous…