In today’s top stories, BP has taken a 40% stake in Harbour Energy’s carbon capture project Viking, prompting a slight rise in the former’s share price. Elsewhere, Hyundai has big and costly plans to become a top-three EV maker by the end of the decade, while Alibaba is rolling out its ChatGTP rival, Tongyi Qianwen, to all products and services. Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks has hit out at draft EU plans to cut exclusivity protection for drugs. Lastly, Apple is increasingly turning to India as a way to sidestep any geopolitical unpleasantness; it is also set to open its first store in the country next week.
BP shares rise on carbon capture deal
Oil giant BP [BP.L] has taken a 40% stake in Harbour Energy’s [HBR.L] carbon capture project, Viking, in the UK’s coastal Humber region. The two companies have agreed to work together to build infrastructure to transport CO2 from decommissioned gasfields to offshore storage sites. Anja Dotzenrath, BP’s executive vice president of gas and low carbon energy, said the project “can play an instrumental role in helping to decarbonise the UK”. The BP share price was up as much as 1.6% Tuesday morning.
Hyundai’s electric dreams
Korean automotive giant Hyundai [005380.KS] is set to splash 24trn won ($18.1bn) between now and 2030 in a bid to ramp up production and become a top-three electric vehicle (EV) maker. The company has also announced plans to help suppliers “play a leading role” in the transition. The US Department of Energy has proposed lowering mileage ratings on EVs in order to satisfy government fuel economy requirements, and may alter the formula it uses to determine fuel efficiency.
Alibaba launches ChatGTP rival
China tech giant Alibaba [BABA] is rolling out its chatbot, Tongyi Qianwen, to all products and services. The ChatGPT rival will have both Chinese and English language capabilities, and the company is hoping that it’ll help to attract more businesses to use its cloud services. “We are at a technological watershed moment driven by generative AI and cloud computing, and businesses across all sectors have started to embrace intelligence transformation to stay ahead of the game,” said group chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang.
Eli Lilly warns of new EU patent rules
Draft EU plans to cut exclusivity protection for drugs from 10 years to eight have been criticised by Eli Lilly [LLY] CEO David Ricks. At the end of March, the US pharma group edged closer to sealing EU approval for its ulcerative colitis drug Omvoh, but Ricks has warned that European patients could miss out on future treatments. “If you think we have enough innovation or too much of it, then this subtraction idea will achieve that goal,” he told the Financial Times.
Apple’s Q1 PC sales slump
Excess inventory and poor demand caused PC shipment volumes to fall 29% in the first quarter of 2023, according to the International Data Corporation. Slowing growth has led some companies to consider shifting production away from China: for example, Apple [AAPL], whose shipments slumped 40.5% compared to the year-ago quarter, is increasingly turning to India, and is set to open its first store in the country next week. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated India’s potential as a supply chain alternative to China during a week-long US visit, where she is joining the World Bank and IMF spring meetings.
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