NYCB looking to integrate Signature Bank in its reporting

 New York Community Bancorp said on Thursday it was working to integrate Signature Bank, the collapsed lender it had bought last year from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), into its overall financial reporting process.

It also estimated an increase in the special assessment fees charged by the FDIC to cover a hole in the deposit insurance fund that was drained in the regional banking turmoil of March 2023, but said it was not expected to be material.

NYCB also disclosed it had completed a sale of consumer loans with a net book value of $899 million.

Shares of the bank were up about 2% in early trading.

The lender delayed its annual report as it revised its quarterly loss 10 times higher than earlier due to a goodwill impairment charge and also warned of "material weakness" in internal controls.

The disclosures on Feb. 29 followed a surprise quarterly loss and a 70% reduction of its dividend in January, which rekindled fears over the banking sector's exposure to the under-stress commercial real estate business.

The lender has since stepped up efforts to win back investor confidence including naming Joseph Otting, former Comptroller of the Currency in the Trump administration, as CEO and concluding a $1 billion capital injection from a group of investors including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The bank has also said it was getting interest from non-bank bidders for some of its loans and will outline a new business plan in April as it slashed its dividend again and disclosed deposits fell 7%.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nycb-files-annual-report-sec-140744469.html

Spruce Biosciences cut at 5 sell siders

 

Today Downgrade RBC Capital Mkts Outperform → Sector Perform $9 → $2 Today Downgrade Leerink Partners Outperform → Market Perform $9 → $2 Today Downgrade Ladenburg Thalmann Buy → Neutral Today Downgrade H.C. Wainwright Buy → Neutral Today Downgrade Guggenheim Buy → Neutral

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=SPRB&p=d

Peruvian healthcare firm Auna targets up to $1.1 bln valuation in US IPO

Peruvian healthcare and insurance provider Auna said on Thursday that it aims for a valuation of up to $1.1 billion in its U.S. initial public offering(IPO).

The company, which operates in 3 Latin American countries and is controlled by private equity firm Enfoca, plans to raise up to $450 million by selling about 30 million class A shares priced between $13 and $15 each.

Despite an uneven recovery so far in the year, the U.S. IPO market is expected to rebound in 2024 as bets of a soft landing for the U.S. economy rise, following two weak years driven by geopolitical pressures and the Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening to get a hold on inflation.

Auna operates 15 hospitals with 2,308 beds across Mexico, Colombia, and Peru, offering oncology treatments alongside health and dental insurance.

The company was founded in 1989 as Oncosalud, offering members prepaid plans with comprehensive services for cancer prevention, detection, and treatment.

The company, which also offers health and dental insurance, is the leading health insurance provider in Peru, with a 29.3% market share, according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

IPO proceeds would be used to pay off debts and for other general corporate purposes, the company said.

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, BTG Pactual, Santander, Citigroup, and HSBC are the joint bookrunners for the offering.

Auna plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the "AUNA" ticker.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/peruvian-healthcare-firm-auna-targets-112633448.html

Shares in Spanish drugmaker Grifols tumble on Fitch, S&P downgrades

 Shares in Grifols fell more than 10% on Thursday after credit rating agencies Fitch and S&P downgraded their ratings for the beleaguered Spanish drugmaker, citing lower than expected free cash flow generation and refinancing risks.

The company's shares were down 10.6% at 1300 GMT, the worst performers in Spain's blue-chip index, which was down 0.15%.

Fitch said its downgrade to "B+" from "BB-", both in the so-called speculative part of the rating scale, reflected Grifols' "slower-than-expected deleveraging, caused by significantly lower free cash flow generation in 2023 and 2024 than previously forecast by Fitch".

However, the agency added that a successful sale of Grifols' 20% stake in Shanghai RAAS, which is pending regulatory approval and the company expects to close in the first half of 2024, "would help mitigate refinancing pressure".

Meanwhile, S&P lowered its rating to "B" from "B+" as it also highlighted the Spanish company's weaker cash flow generation and higher refinancing risks.

On March 1, Grifols announced a new operating cash flow generation target for 2024, expecting it to more than double to 900 million euros ($984 million) before one-off items this year.

The company is also seeking to generate between 2 billion and 2.5 billion euros in free cash flow before dividends from 2025 to 2027. In 2023 it posted negative free cash flow for the second straight year.

Since early January, a report by short-seller fund Gotham City Research that questioned Grifols' accounting and debt ratio has cast doubts about the company's business and wiped off billions of euros in market value.

On March 8, Grifols received a boost when auditor KPMG approved the company's 2023 results without modifying its reported profit and debt ratio.

Neither Fitch nor S&P made any reference to Gotham City's report.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/shares-spanish-drugmaker-grifols-tumble-133547231.html

'UK unveils new extremism definition amid rise in hate crimes against Jews, Muslims'

 Britain unveiled a new definition of extremism on Thursday in response to an eruption of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, although critics said the change risked infringing on freedom of speech.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned that Britain's multi-ethnic democracy was being undermined by both Islamist and far-right extremists.

Antisemitic incidents rose by 147% in 2023 to record levels, especially after the Oct. 7 attacks, according to Community Security Trust, a Jewish safety watchdog. Tell Mama, a group which monitors anti-Muslim incidents, said last month that anti-Muslim hate crimes also had grown by 335% since the attacks.

"Our democracy and our values of inclusivity and tolerance are under challenge from extremist groups, which are radicalising our young people and driving greater polarisation," said Michael Gove, the communities minister who heads the department that produced the new extremism definition.

Critics say it could be counter-productive and used to silence those who disagree with the government.

Concern has been voiced by figures ranging from the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, to former Conservative government ministers.

'IDEOLOGY BASED ON VIOLENCE'

In response, Gove said the definition would not embrace gender-critical campaigners, those with conservative religious views, transgender activists or environmental campaigners.

"It's important to stress that we are in no way intending to restrict freedom of expression, religion or belief," Gove told parliament.

But he named a number of organisations which will be assessed such as the far-right Patriotic Alternative, the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), and Cage, a group which gained notoriety in 2015 over its links to Mohammed Emwazi, known as "Jihadi John" who appeared in Islamic State beheading videos.

MAB and Cage have both condemned the definition change saying it was an assault on civil liberties which targeted Muslim groups.

The new definition states that extremism "is the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance" that aims to destroy fundamental rights and freedoms; or undermine or replace the UK's liberal parliamentary democracy; or intentionally create an environment for others to achieve those results.

Britain already bans groups which it says are involved in terrorism, and supporting or being a member of these organisations is a criminal offence. The militant Palestinian group Hamas is among the 80 proscribed international organisations.

Groups identified as extremist following assessment over the next few weeks will not be subject to any action under criminal laws and will still be permitted to hold demonstrations.

But the government will not provide them with any funding or other form of engagement. Currently, no groups have been officially defined as extremist using the former definition which has been in place since 2011.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/uk-unveils-extremism-definition-amid-000349216.html

Israel says air strike on Gaza UN food center killed Hamas militant head

 Israel said on Wednesday its airstrike on a U.N. food distribution centre in southern Gaza killed a Hamas commander whom it targeted, and Palestinian health officials said it killed four more people including a U.N. worker.

The Israeli military said the strike killed Mohammad Abu Hasna, whom it described as a Hamas militant who provided intelligence to the group on Israeli troops' positions and was "also involved in taking control of humanitarian aid and distributing it to Hamas terrorists."

In a statement, Hamas said Abu Hasna was a member of its police force and condemned his killing as a "cowardly assassination" meant to disrupt aid distribution.

Hamas identified another of the five killed as the head of an emergency committee for Rafah, Nidal al-Sheikh Eid.

The main U.N. agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) said one of its facilities had been hit in Rafah, an area in southern Gaza where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population is sheltering.

At least one UNRWA staff member was among the five killed and 22 others were injured, the agency said, adding that the facility's coordinates had been shared with the Israeli military.

"Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centres in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine," said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.

Hamas has denied Israel's accusations that it diverts food aid and says Israel is using famine to pressure the Palestinian population.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he was determined to have UNRWA replaced by other agencies without harming aid distribution, citing alleged links between the agency and Hamas militants.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a news briefing said he had not yet received details of the incident but said Israel must protect safety of humanitarian workers despite tough conditions.

"You're in a war zone. You have a terrorist group that is firing from hospitals, from schools, from apartment buildings, but the Israeli military, the Israeli government have a responsibility and an obligation to do everything possible to ensure that the humanitarians can do their jobs," said Blinken.

AID EFFORTS

With the Gaza war now in its sixth month, The U.N. has warned that at least 576,000 people in Gaza – one-quarter of the population – are on the brink of famine and global pressure has been growing on Israel to allow more access to the enclave.

On Tuesday, the United Nations used a new land route to deliver food to northern Gaza for the first time in three weeks.

"We have been taking efforts to facilitate more aid into northern Gaza," Israeli government spokesperson Tal Heinrich told journalists on Wednesday. "This was a pilot to prevent Hamas from taking over the aid as they often do."

The U.S., Jordan and others have conducted airdrops of aid in Gaza and on Tuesday a ship carrying 200 tonnes of aid left Cyprus in a pilot project to open a sea corridor to deliver supplies. While U.N. officials have welcomed new aid routes, they stress there is no substitute for land access.

The war began when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel then launched an air, sea and ground assault that has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza say.

Since the Gaza war began, violence has also risen in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with stepped up Israeli military raids and Palestinian street attacks.

On Wednesday, Israeli officials said a 15-year-old Palestinian stabbed a soldier and a guard at a checkpoint between the West Bank and Jerusalem before being shot dead.

In separate incidents, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians during a raid in Jenin, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said, while a 13-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces on the outskirts of Jerusalem, in what Israeli police described as a violent riot.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/israeli-forces-kill-two-palestinians-084203511.html

ICC has no authority to probe Philippines, Marcos tells Germany's Scholz

 Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) has no authority to probe his predecessor's deadly war against drugs.

Marcos discussed the ICC's probe during a bilateral meeting with Scholz on Tuesday in Germany where he was on a working visit, according to a readout from the Philippine presidential office published late on Wednesday.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte officially withdrew from the international tribunal in 2019 after questioning its power to probe his anti-narcotics campaign, which had killed thousands.

Marcos said Philippine courts continue to function and law enforcers are investigating the killings.

"It is very difficult for the Philippines to accept that an outside court will, shall I say, dictate to our policemen who they will investigate, who they will arrest," Marcos said.

The readout did not say how Scholz responded to Marcos' position. Germany is one of the biggest backers and contributors to the ICC.

Marcos separately told reporters the drug campaign has "completely changed" to prevention and rehabilitation, a claim the Human Rights Watch has questioned, saying the killings have continued.

"He cannot claim progress because the impunity persists," Human Rights Watch Asia Deputy Director Bryony Lau said in a statement.

The Hague-based tribunal rejected last year an appeal from Manila and allowed the resumption of an investigation into the drug war killings and other suspected rights abuses.

Police say they killed 6,200 suspected dealers who resisted arrest during anti-drug operations. Rights groups say the toll could be much higher.

In November, Marcos said he was studying a possible return to the ICC's fold. Months later, he said the Philippines will not 'lift a finger' to help in any ICC probe.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/icc-no-authority-probe-philippines-022749245.html