After five years of restoration, the famous Big Ben clocks in London once again tell the time to the people of London.
The thousands of parts that make up the clock were meticulously cleaned and restored. The cost of all the work was about 80 million pounds sterling ($67 million).
Hundreds of people gathered in August 2017 at the tower on which the mechanism is installed to listen to the twelve last beats of the largest bell – Big Ben – and five smaller ones before the long “vacation” of the famous clock. Some Londoners could not hold back their tears, as if they were saying goodbye to a part of their city.
And so on November 13, 2022 the inhabitants of the British capital again gathered under the clock to hear this ringing symbol of London at 11:00 local time. Now the carillon of small bells will again chime every quarter hour and Big Ben will chime every hour, as it did for 158 years before the restoration.
The day of Big Ben’s return was not chosen by chance. It is Remembrance Sunday (Memorial Day), following November 11, the date on which the cessation of hostilities in World War I in Europe between the Entente and the Triple Alliance was declared in 1918 “at 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month.”
In the past five years, the clock on the tower has rung using a temporary electric device on a few rare occasions, such as the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Mounted on the 96-meter-tall Elizabeth Tower of the Palace of Westminster, as it became officially known in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth II’s reign, the bells are protected from bats and pigeons on the outside.
Attendants approach Big Ben only in special gear that protects their ears, otherwise the ringing of the 13.7-ton bell can cause serious concussion.
It is said that in the days when the tower towered over the city, the ringing of the big bell was heard 15 miles away from London in the quiet of the night. Since then, the capital has been built up with many imposing buildings, and Big Ben can at best be heard within a block of Westminster.
During restoration work, various parts of the bells were cleaned and painted, but the bells themselves remained in place. Big Ben is so large that to remove it from the outside would have required tearing down the floors of the tower. The most difficult task during the restoration was to move the clock mechanism, made in 1859 and weighing 11.5 tons, out of the tower.
And now 28 lamps illuminate the four clock faces with a light that changes from green to white to resemble as much as possible the gas lighting of the Victorian era. And another lamp, a white one, sits above the bells and lights up, indicating that Parliament is sitting in the Palace of Westminster.
On November 16, the National Bank of Ukraine cancelled licenses for 17 non-bank financial institutions and excluded 13 from the State Register of Financial Institutions, the regulator’s website reported.
Thus, on the basis of their own applications, all the licenses of the following LLCs were cancelled: FC Favorit, Capital Properties, Fin2go, Professional Payment System, Agema Finance, ICC Finance, Skye FC, Favorit FC, Parus FC, FC “Finex Capital”, FC “Tessella Asset Finance”, PO “Lombard Creditom” LLC “Autodoc” and company, FC “Center of factoring services”, FC “Sokur”.
In addition, some licenses were revoked on the basis of the applications received: FC Technofinance – for the provision of financial leasing services, Profitgid – for the provision of factoring services, the provision of financial leasing services, FC Fin Pay – for the provision of factoring services, lending funds, including a financial loan.
Based on the received applications and documents the following companies were excluded from the State register of financial institutions: PA “Lombard “Creditom”, LLC “Agema Finance”, LLC FC “Favorit”, LLC “Professional Payment System”, LLC “ICC Finance”, LLC “Capital Prospect”, FC “Tessella Asset Finance”, LLC “FC “Favorit”, LLC FC “Finex Capital”, LLC “FC “Factoring Services Center”.
LLC “Financial company “Whitepay” and LLC “Financial company “Pung” were excluded from the State register of financial institutions due to the lack of licenses for activities.
Agro-industrial group of companies Ovostar Union, one of the leading producers of eggs and egg products in Ukraine, in January-September 2022 received $2.39 million in net profit, down 16.1% compared to the same period in 2021.
According to the company report published on the Warsaw Stock Exchange website, Ovostar’s revenues fell 4.3% to $90.29 million in the reporting period, while its gross profit rose 41.1% to $15.46 million and operating profit rose 63.1% to $3.63 million.
At the same time, because of negative exchange differences of $27.55 million, the cumulative loss was $25.16 million, while in the first nine months of last year the exchange differences were positive – $6.74 million, which led to a cumulative profit of $9.59 million.
The report forecasts that egg production in 2022 will decline 14.1% to 1.452 billion eggs.
“Ovostar clarified that its 9-month revenue in the egg segment was down 3.5% to $62.76 million and 6.1% in the egg products segment, to $27.53 million.
At the same time, export revenues increased 31.6% to $37.5 million, including a 40% increase in the egg segment to $21.91 million and a 21.3% increase in the egg products segment to $15.59 million.
The amount of the company’s free cash flow at the end of September was $5.93 million, compared to $2.44 million at the beginning of the year and $0.62 million a year ago, while in Ukraine it has decreased from $1.96 million to $0.90 million since the beginning of the year.
The company’s loan debt stood at $10.8 million, compared to $12.88 million at the beginning of the year and $10.09 million a year ago.
According to the report, by the end of September 2022, Ovostar Union shares were owned by: Prime One Capital Limited (67.93%), controlled by Ovostar CEO Boris Belikov and Chairman Vitaly Veresenko; Generali Otwarty Fundusz Emerytalny (11.93% vs. 10.93% at the beginning of the year), Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (9.09% vs. 10.39% at the beginning of the year), Aviva Otwarty Fundusz Emerytalny (5.02%).
Ovostar Union Group is a vertically integrated public holding company, one of the leading producers of chicken eggs and egg products in Europe. The producer has been a certified exporter to the EU since 2015.
The group’s holding company, Ovostar Union N.V., held a 25% IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in mid-June 2011 and raised $33.2 million. The majority stake in the company is owned by Prime One Capital Limited, which is controlled by its CEO Boris Belikov and Chairman of the Board Vitaliy Veresenko.
“Ovostar reported a net income of $2.6 million in 2020 compared to a net loss of $20.0 million in 2019. Its revenue last year was down 5% to $98.9 million.
Stock indices of major Asia-Pacific countries (APR) mostly fell in trading on Thursday.
The exception was the Australian index, which rose amid statistical data showing an improvement in the unemployment rate in the country.
Pressure on other markets again have concerns about the negative impact of China’s tough policy in the fight against coronavirus, notes MarketWatch.
The value of Japanese index Nikkei 225 decreased by 0.35% by close of trading.
The volume of Japanese exports in October increased by 25.3% over the same month last year to 9.002 trillion yen (about $ 64 billion), according to the Ministry of Finance. The rise continues for 20 months in a row. At that, the growth rate slowed down from 28.9% in September.
Analysts on average had expected exports to rise 28.1% last month, according to Trading Economics.
Japanese imports soared 53.5% last month to a record 11.165 trillion yen. Analysts on average had forecast a 49.7% increase after a 45.7% rise in September. The index has been rising at a double-digit percentage rate for 18 consecutive months.
Shares of nonferrous metals producer Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. (-5.4%), semiconductor maker Advantest Corp. (-3.1%) and electronics maker Tokyo Electron Ltd. (-3%).
Shares of Hitachi Ltd. rose 0.6%. The company’s unit won a major railroad contract worth about 114 billion yen ($817 million) from the Philippine Department of Transportation.
China’s Shanghai Composite index was down 0.15% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.2%.
Shares of game developer Netease Inc. (-9.1%), Internet company Meituan (-5.7%) and car dealer Zhongsheng Group Holdings Ltd. (-5.4%) were among the leaders of the decline on Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Tencent Holdings Ltd. shares declined 0.8 percent. The Chinese internet giant increased its net profit by 1 percent to 39.9 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) in the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago because of a cut in expenses.
South Korea’s Kospi index fell 1.4 percent.
One of the world’s biggest chip and electronics maker Samsung Electronics Co. dropped 2.1%, while automaker Hyundai Motor dropped 1.2%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.09%.
Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 3.4% in October from 3.5% a month earlier. Experts polled by Trading Economics, on average, forecasted an increase to 3.6%.
Share prices rose in all four major banks in the country: the Commonwealth Bank of Australia – by 0.7%, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group – 0.5%, Westpac Banking – 0.2%, National Australia Bank – 0.9%.
At the same time stock quotes of the world’s largest mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto fell by 1.6% and 1.8%, respectively.
Prime Minister Denis Shmygal says USAID will support the creation of processing plants in Ukraine starting next year.
“The government is interested in increasing added value, that’s why it already supports the creation of processing enterprises in mid-sized businesses through eRabotka grant programs. According to him, an agreement has been reached with USAID to support this direction from next year,” the government press service said referring to Shmygal.
The prime minister also noted that after the war Ukraine expects a significant inflow of capital.
“Much attention will be paid to projects of public-private partnership, concession and for Ukrainian business will have a key role in this strategy,” the statement said.
Most Western European stock indices are declining in trading on Thursday, despite the weakening of geopolitical risks.
The exception is the German indicator.
By 11:30 a.m. Ksk the Stoxx Europe 600 composite index of the largest companies in the region had declined 0.16% to 429.50 points.
The British indicator FTSE 100 lost 0.5%, the French CAC 40 – 0.3%, the Italian FTSE MIB – 0.2%, the Spanish IBEX 35 – 0.3%. Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX stock index rose 0.35%.
Traders continue to evaluate quarterly company reports and statistical data.
Automobile sales in the European Union in October rose 12.2% year on year to 745,855,000, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
The increase was marked the third month in a row, before that the figure was declining for thirteen months in a row.
Shares of ThyssenKrupp AG went down in price by 1.6%. The German industrial group, the largest steelmaker in the country, increased its net profit in the fourth fiscal quarter by 3.4 times and announced that it will pay dividends for the first time in four years.
Britain’s Burberry Group Plc, one of the world’s leading makers of luxury goods, increased pre-tax profits and revenue in the first fiscal quarter and reaffirmed its medium-term outlook. Its securities added 0.05%.
The leader of the fall among the components of the index Stoxx Europe 600 are papers of the British online retailer Ocado Group PLC, which fell in price by 6.1%.
The leaders of the growth are shares of German Siemens AG, which added 6.8%. The company increased its dividend after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ forecasts.
