By Sruthi Shankar and Devik Jain

(Reuters) -European stocks slipped on Wednesday, hit by disappointing earnings reports from Wall Street’s tech giants, while a gloomy economic outlook overshadowed strong profits at some of Europe’s largest banks.

Technology stocks fell 1.8% to lead sectoral losses in Europe after their U.S. peers were dragged down by weak results from Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc. [.N]

Shares of Germany’s Deutsche Bank, Britain’s Barclays and Spain’s Santander came under pressure as they warned of risks after posting stronger-than-expected profits. The European banking index fell 0.7%.

Italy’s UniCredit was a rare bright spot as its shares rose 3.9% after the bank raised its 2022 profit goal.

“Impressive performance from the likes of UBS, Deutsche Bank, and UniCredit serve to highlight the benefits of higher interest rates and sizeable market movements,” said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at online trading platform IG.

“Nonetheless, we are likely to see some hesitation, with the economic implications of rising interest rates yet to be felt. That goldilocks situation of higher margins and economic health could soon come to an end given how the data has been shaping up.”

The pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 0.3% after hitting more than a one-month high in the previous session on hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will slow its pace of interest rate hikes.

A recent survey showed euro zone is likely entering a recession with business activity contracting at the fastest pace in nearly two years this month as the cost-of-living crisis keeps consumers cautious and saps demand.

Focus is on the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday where policymakers are widely expected to push ahead with another 75 bps rate increase on Thursday in an attempt to tame inflation.

“These bear market rallies lately are struggling to last very long with continued macroeconomic headwinds weighing on market sentiment,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.

Meanwhile, Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delayed the announcement of a keenly awaited plan for repairing the country’s public finances until Nov. 17.

London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.6% as the pound rallied on the news, while the domestically exposed FTSE 250 index jumped 0.7%.

Among other single stocks, Heineken NV slumped 6.3% after the world’s second-largest brewery reported a lower-than-expected rise in beer sales in the third quarter and said it has seen signs of slowdown in demand in some European markets.

ASM International tumbled 8.3% after the chip supplier said it expected new U.S. export restrictions to weigh heavily on its sales in China.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Danish brewer Carlsberg on Wednesday reported third-quarter sales broadly in line with expectations and lifted its profit forecast for the year despite weakening consumer sentiment.

The world’s third-biggest brewer said revenue in the quarter rose 14% to 20.2 billion Danish crowns ($2.72 billion) on the back of strong Asia sales, compared with the 20.3 billion forecast by analysts in a poll compiled by the company.

Sales in Asia grew 19% in the period, with volumes up 10%, but the firm cautioned that the outlook remained uncertain.

“The business environment remains challenging, with an uncertain macro situation, very high inflation and weakening consumer sentiment,” Chief Executive Cees ‘t Hart said in a statement.

   Heineken NV, the world’s second-largest brewer, said on Wednesday it had seen signs of slowdown in demand for its beer in some European markets over recent weeks, after its third-quarter sales rose by less than expected.

Carlsberg’s shares were down 2.5% at 1222 GMT, recouping much of its losses in early trading on the weak Heineken outlook.

Carlsberg lifted its outlook after a “better-than-expected performance in many of our markets” and now expects organic profit growth of 10-12% this year, compared to a previous guidance for “high single-digit-percentage” growth.

It also increased its share buy-back programme for the fourth quarter to 1.5 billion crowns from 1 billion crowns in the third quarter.

The firm, which released the numbers one day earlier than planned, does not provide earnings in its third-quarter trading statements.

($1 = 7.4243 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Jacob Grondholt-Pedersen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Bernadette Baum)

By Ruma Paul

DHAKA (Reuters) -A cyclone roared into the Bangladesh coast on Tuesday, killing at least 15 people, destroying houses, uprooting trees and disrupting road, power and communication links, officials said.

Mass evacuations before Cyclone Sitrang made landfall on the west coast helped save lives, but the full extent of the casualties and damage would only be known after communications were fully restored, they said.

“It was terrible. It looked like the sea was coming to grab us,” Mizanur Rahman, a resident of Bhola district, told Reuters after communications were restored in his neighbourhood.

“We spent a sleepless night, all we could do was pray.”

The cyclone barrelled in from the Bay of Bengal with winds gusting up to 88 kph (55 mph) and a storm surge of about 3 meters (10 feet) that flooded low-lying coastal areas.

Power and telephone links have largely been cut and coastal areas plunged into darkness, officials said.

Around 2,000 electric poles were damaged, leaving 8 million people without electricity, said Nasrul Hamid, junior minister for power, energy and mineral resources.

“Efforts are underway to restore electricity as soon as possible,” he told reporters.

Most of the people killed were crushed by falling trees.

Some 10,000 homes, 6,000 hectares (14,826 acres) of cropland and 1,000 fishing enclosures were damaged by the cyclone, Enamur Rahman, junior minister for disaster management, told reporters.

South Asia has experienced increasing extreme weather in recent years that has caused large-scale damage. Environmentalists warn that climate change could lead to more disasters, especially in places like densely populated Bangladesh.

CLIMATE EMERGENCIES

Farah Kabir, Bangladesh country director of ActionAid group, said 2022 had seen climate emergencies such as floods and droughts “on a scale that has never been witnessed before”.

“The climate crisis is growing, and here in Bangladesh we feel its ferocity,” she said.

“When extreme weather events like Cyclone Sitrang strike, communities are left devastated. We urgently need access to funds that support communities living through the reality of the climate crisis.”

No major damage was reported in refugee camps in southeast Bangladesh, where more than a million ethnic Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar were housed in flimsy shelters.

Officials advised nearly 32,000 Rohingya refugees who had moved from the camps to a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal to stay indoors.

“We felt the force of the strong wind but were spared,” Rohingya refugee Mohammed Arman told Reuters by phone.

Heavy rain fell on the streets of the capital, Dhaka, causing some flooding and disruption to commuters.

The cyclone also affected the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Additional reporting by Subrata Nagchoudhury in Kolkata, India; Editing by Robert Birsel and Bernadette Baum)

(Reuters) -Kraft Heinz Co beat third-quarter sales and profit estimates on Wednesday, benefiting from price increases in the face of rising costs for its packaged foods and condiments.

Shares of the Jell-O and Philadelphia Cream Cheese maker rose 3.5% in premarket trading as the company also reaffirmed its full-year sales and profit guidance.

Global packaged foods makers have been steadily raising product prices over the past year to counter increased costs tied to labor, ingredients and transportation at a time when consumers are steeling their wallets against skyrocketing energy and food prices.

Although the preference for cooking at home, which developed during the pandemic, has proven to be relatively sticky so far, cracks in demand are beginning to emerge as shoppers hunt for more affordable alternatives and analysts caution that packaged makers may be reaching their ceiling on price hikes.

Kraft said average selling prices rose 15.4 percentage points in the quarter, which partly dented sales volumes that fell 3.8 percentage points.

Still, Chief Executive Miguel Patricio said the Heinz ketchup maker was seeing continued consumption growth across all income levels in the quarter, with trends improving relative to the first half of the year.

The company’s net sales rose to $6.51 billion in the third quarter from $6.32 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected $6.27 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Excluding items, it earned 63 cents per share, above estimates of 56 cents.

(Reporting by Mehr Bedi and Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

By Karl Plume

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Agricultural commodities trader Bunge Ltd on Wednesday raised its full-year earnings outlook after posting an adjusted third-quarter profit that topped expectations, sending its shares up about 2% in premarket trading.

The improved forecast was attributed to favorable market conditions as tight global crop supplies and strong demand have benefited supply chain middlemen like Bunge, which buys and sells crops like soybeans and corn, and processes them into food, feed and biofuel.

Bunge’s earnings provided a glimpse into how grains merchants have weathered soaring crop and energy prices and supply chain disruptions, including export delays at Ukraine’s Black Sea ports following invasion by Russia.

Rival agribusiness Archer-Daniels-Midland Co on Tuesday reported its strongest-ever third-quarter profit and raised its full-year earnings outlook.

Bunge raised its full-year 2022 earnings guidance to $13.50 per share after raising it to $12 a share three months earlier as the profit outlook for its core business segments improved.

Its agribusiness unit posted mixed results in the quarter ended Sept. 30 as sharply higher energy costs in Europe and weaker demand in China due to COVID restrictions offset stronger oilseed processing results in North and South America.

The refined and specialty oils segment of Bunge, however, turned in stronger quarterly earnings on solid refined oils results in the Americas and Europe.

Net income attributable to Bunge fell to $380 million, or $2.49 cents per share, from $653 million, or $4.28 per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted for one-time items, earnings were $3.45 per share, down from $3.72 a share in the same quarter last year but above the consensus analyst estimate for $2.49.

Revenue rose to $16.759 billion, from $14.117 billion a year ago and topping the consensus outlook for $16.087 billion.

(Additional reporting by Arshreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

(Corrects day in first paragraph)

By Bianca Flowers

(Reuters) – Harley-Davidson on Wednesday reported better-than-expected profit as robust demand for popular bike models during the summer riding season boosted sales, easing investors’ fears of a slowdown in leisure spending due to high inflation.

Shares of the iconic motorcycle maker were 2.5% higher in pre-market trading after the company reported a 60% jump in quarterly profit, outpacing analyst estimates.

Chief executive Jochen Zeitz reaffirmed Harley’s full-year revenue growth outlook of 5% to 10% for motorcycle units and operating income margin of 11% to 12% on the back of strong demand.

“Harley-Davidson delivered a strong third quarter with solid growth for both revenue and operating income,” he said in a statement.

The company has ramped up production to ensure popular models are readily available as strong demand for leisure activities and road trips after pandemic lockdowns filled order books.

It has also doubled down on its production targets to make up for a two-week shutdown that suspended bike shipments in mid-May.

Sales from motorcycles and related products rose about 24% to $1.44 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 25 while operating income for motorcycles and related parts soared 164% from a year earlier.

Net profit rose to $261 million, or $1.78 per share, from $163 million, or $1.05 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 21% to about $1.65 billion.

(This story has been refiled to correct the day in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru and Bianca Flowers in Chicago; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Kirsten Donovan)

By Alexander Hübner and Joice Alves

BERLIN/LONDON (Reuters) – Shares in Puma fell 1.75% on Wednesday after the company confirmed its full-year guidance but flagged uncertainty in the global market.

The German sportswear maker reiterated its full-year operating result and sales outlook, after what it said was the best third quarter in its history.

“We expect continued volatility in the market during the fourth quarter but are confident that we can deliver according to our full-year outlook,” said Puma Chief Executive Bjorn.

The company said its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose by 12.6% on the year to 258 million euros ($257 million) while third-quarter sales rose a currency-adjusted 16.9% to 2.35 billion euros ($2.34 billion).

“Improved product availability due to a more stable supply chain, better than expected sell-through and Puma’s continued global brand momentum overcompensated all the negative external factors,” Gulden said.

Despite continued effects of COVID-19-related lockdown measures in China, Puma saw sales growth in the Asia/Pacific region in the third quarter, it said.

The company expects currency-adjusted sales growth of around 15% and an EBIT between 600 and 700 million euros for 2022.

Jefferies equity analysts said Puma’s results have proven resilient “in a worsening industry contest” after recent profit warnings from competitors Nike and Adidas highlighting excess inventories across the industry.

Last week, German sporting goods maker Adidas cut its full-year guidance, citing weaker expectations for China, lower demand in major Western markets and one-off expenses related to its exit from the Russian market.

($1 = 1.0029 euros)

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner and Joice Alves, Writing by Miranda Murray, editing by Paul Carrel and Bernadette Baum)

By Michel Rose and Andreas Rinke

PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) – When Germany unveiled a 200 billion euro ($200 billion) package to shield its industry and consumers from soaring energy prices, its government failed to notify neighbouring France beforehand, leaving French President Emmanuel Macron seething in private.

“We learnt about it in the press. That’s not the done thing,” a senior French official said.

German officials had visited the Elysée palace days earlier and said nothing about the package Paris believes hands an unfair advantage to German companies and threatens the European Union’s single market.

The number of issues on which France and Germany – the EU’s two richest and most influential members – are at odds is growing, from the bloc’s defence strategy to its response to the energy crisis, relations with China and even fiscal policy.

The standoff comes as the EU struggles to reach an agreement on whether to cap gas prices in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

It is also impacting Europe’s plans to build its next generation of fighter jets, gas pipeline projects across the EU, German plans to let China invest in its ports.

Macron’s decision last week to postpone a joint cabinet meeting underlined the French president’s frustration. Berlin blamed logistical difficulties and played down the rift.

To be sure, the Franco-German couple have had their ups and downs before and divorce has never ensued.

But Europe can ill afford a breakdown in relations that weakens EU unity as it firefights multiple crises: Russia’s war on its eastern fringe, spiralling inflation and its biggest economies teetering on the brink of recession.

“The goal is to make Berlin understand there’s a problem,” the senior French official said.

But beyond the different dossiers that have been the bane of French and German diplomats for years, a clash of personalities, rivalry for European leadership and wider strategic differences are now bursting out into the open, despite efforts to maintain a facade of unity, French and German sources say.

NO PERSONAL CHEMISTRY

Macron has found it disconcerting that Scholz shows little interest in investing personal time with his French counterpart, unlike his predecessor, Angela Merkel, and has instead cultivated links with the leaders of Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.

“Macron and Merkel exchanged texts every single day. Scholz doesn’t talk to Macron every day. We even struggled to get them to meet in person,” the French official said.

Beyond the lack of personal chemistry between the modest German leader and the more flamboyant French president, diplomats say the two leaders are at odds over the strategic lessons to be learned from the war in Ukraine.

After warning Germany in vain over the risk of an over-dependence on Russia for its gas, Macron feels vindicated in his push to strengthen European self-reliance, from energy to defence and trade, French officials say.

Scholz’s decision therefore to allow a Chinese company to buy a stake in its largest port and pursue what the French say is a short-sighted mercantilist policy towards China has baffled Paris.

“They still haven’t learnt their lesson,” another French official said.

German officials say that they are aware they need to reduce their reliance on China, but they add that this should not mean banning all Chinese investment in Europe.

On defence, the decision by Berlin to launch a European air defence system with 14 countries including Britain but not France – the EU’s most prominent military power – was the last straw, French officials said.

German officials say France had been invited to join but declined. The French say the proposal to buy non-European material, such as Israel’s Arrow 3 system, and U.S. Patriot and German IRIS-T units, was a non-starter.

‘GERMANY FIRST’

In Berlin, government officials play down any divisions. They point to common ground found recently on Macron’s European Political Community initiative and say France needs to understand Germany’s domestic challenges of contending with turbulent coalition partners which slow down decision-making.

“It’s not the end of the world,” one official said.

Scholz’s need to deal with a tricky coalition has led to Germany becoming more inward-looking and less consultative with partners like France, analysts say.

Tara Varma of the ECFR think-tank in Paris said there was a perception in Paris and other European capitals of German foreign and security policy being driven by a “Germany First” ethos.

Meanwhile Macron faces his own difficulties at home, shorn of a working majority in parliament that will curb his ability to act as a disrupter at home and distracts him in Brussels.

When Scholz flies to Paris for a hastily scheduled lunch with Macron, the handshakes and smiles will no doubt belie the simmering tensions.

“The ultimate reason is that both are locked in a competition for primacy in the EU,” said Ulrich Speck, a German analyst at Neue Zurcher Zeitung.

($1 = 0.9993 euros)

(Reporting and writing by Michel Rose; editing by Richard Lough and Hugh Lawson)

By Moira Warburton and Jason Lange

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two in five U.S. voters say they are worried about threats of violence or voter intimidation at polling stations during the country’s midterm elections, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

So far no violence has been reported at any early voting centers or ballot drop-off locations ahead of the Nov. 8 elections, when Republicans are favored to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.

But officials in Arizona, a key battleground, have already asked the federal government to probe a case of possible voter intimidation, after people casting ballots were conspicuously filmed and followed. An official complaint noted that the self-appointed monitors called the voters “mules,” a reference to a conspiracy theory popularized by supporters of former President Donald Trump’s false claim that his 2020 defeat was the result of widespread fraud.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll, completed on Monday, also found that two-thirds of registered voters fear that extremists will carry out acts of violence after the election if they are unhappy with the outcome.

The findings illustrate what some observers have said is growing evidence of a lack of trust in the nation’s democratic institutions, following decades of deepening partisanship.

Kathy Boockvar, a former top election official for Pennsylvania, said fears of voter intimidation and violence run counter to American tradition.

“Our country is based on democracy. We should be excited about Election Day,” said Boockvar, a member of the bipartisan Committee for Safe and Secure Election.

Distrust between America’s two political camps has grown over the last half century, with bipartisan legislation becoming rarer and a growing share of parents saying they would be displeased if their child married someone from the other political party.

Among the registered voters polled by Reuters/Ipsos, 43% were concerned about threats of violence or voter intimidation while voting in person. The fear was more pronounced among Democratic voters, 51% of whom said they worried about violence, although a still-significant share of Republicans – 38% – harbored the same concerns.

Graphic: America’s fears about upcoming midterm elections America’s fears about upcoming midterm elections https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION/POLLING/mopakmlkjpa/chart.png

About a fifth of voters – including one in 10 Democrats and one in four Republicans – said they were not confident their ballots would be accurately counted.

Fired up by his false fraud claims, thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

While voter rights advocates accuse far-right groups who believe those claims of sending poll watchers to intimidate minority voters aligned with the Democratic Party, U.S. conservative media highlight left-wing violence, frequently tying Democrats to riots sparked by the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Some two-thirds of registered voters – 67% – said they were concerned extremists will commit acts of violence after the election, including about three in four registered Democrats and three in five registered Republicans.

More than 10 million people have already cast ballots in the contests that will shape the rest of Democratic President Joe Biden’s term.

Republican control of either chamber of Congress would effectively torpedo Biden’s agenda.

About two-thirds of Republicans and one-third of Democrats think voter fraud is a widespread problem, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Two-thirds of Republicans think the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.

Trump’s claims of fraud were dismissed by dozens of U.S. courts, state reviews and multiple members of his administration. Nonetheless, they have found widespread acceptance, helping fuel a cottage industry of poll-watching tools.

One software application heavily promoted by far-right media organizations lets users view a map of reported polling station problems and abnormalities in vote counts. Conservative activists have set up a hotline to collect similar reports.

The Reuters/Ipsos online poll gathered responses from 4,413 U.S. adults nationwide and had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of between 2 and 5 percentage points.

(Reporting by Jason Lange and Moira Warburton; Editing by Scott Malone and Rosalba O’Brien)

By David Latona

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish utility Iberdrola posted a 29% rise in nine-month net profit on Wednesday as growth in the United States and Brazil helped offset a fall in Spain that the company’s chairman partly blamed on government overregulation.

Energy prices in Europe have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, which has hit markets that were still reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with additional uncertainty and supply disruptions.

Iberdrola reported a net profit of 3.1 billion euros ($3.09 billion) for the January-September period and said geographical diversification allowed it to maximise growth and benefit from positive currency swings.

In Spain, however, profit fell by 14% as summer droughts hampered hydroelectric generation, which was almost 48% lower than last year, Iberdrola said.

But Executive Chairman Jose Ignacio Sanchez Galan said the company’s results in Spain were also stymied by the government’s tax and regulatory measures, as well as high costs that were not passed on to customers due to Iberdrola’s fixed pricing policy.

In July, Spain’s ruling left-wing coalition introduced a bill to impose a 1.2% tax on utilities’ sales. The European Commission has meanwhile approved a temporary tax on windfall profits at fossil fuel companies benefiting from the surge in prices.

Galan warned that if the proposed revenue tax was imposed, the company would defend shareholders’ interests and fight it in court, saying it contradicted European directives.

Iberdrola has been vocal among companies objecting to intervention, arguing they fix contract prices far in advance of wholesale market price rises and that changing regulations might put off longer-term investment in cleaner energy.

Fernando Garcia, a London-based utilities analyst for RBC Capital Markets, described regulatory risk in Spain as “reduced and manageable”.

Galan said Iberdrola was not exposed to Russian gas, adding that world leaders have now realised gas market dynamics were “causing the problem and electricity is the solution”.

The company has invested 7.58 billion euros so far this year, a 14.2% increase compared to the same period in 2021. About 90% of investments were allocated to renewables and smart grids to reduce dependence on volatile oil and gas, it said.

Iberdrola also reiterated its forecast for an annual net profit of between 4 billion and 4.2 billion euros and announced a 5.9% higher interim dividend of 0.18 euros per share, payable in January 2023.

Shares were up 0.4% at 1010 GMT, slightly outperforming the blue-chip index and the broader industry index.

On Tuesday, Iberdrola announced it would separate the positions of executive chairman and chief executive officer, with Galan staying on as chairman and the business division head Armando Martinez promoted to CEO.

“Armando’s appointment as CEO is a sign of continuity, not revolution,” Galan told analysts in a call.

($1 = 1.0033 euros)

(Additional reporting by Jakub Olesiuk and Jesus Aguado; editing by Jason Neely and David Evans)