Tag Archives: Expects

Royal Family ‘Fully Expects’ Harry and Meghan at King Charles’ Coronation – The Daily Beast

  1. Royal Family ‘Fully Expects’ Harry and Meghan at King Charles’ Coronation The Daily Beast
  2. Possible peace deal between King Charles and Prince Harry ahead of the Coronation | Kinsey Schofield GBNews
  3. Insiders Say the Royal Family Will Only Be Willing to Discuss One Topic If Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Attend King Charles III’s Coronation Yahoo Life
  4. Royal Family “Fully Expecting” Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Attendance at the Coronation MarieClaire.com
  5. ‘Meghan Markle has PERFECT excuse’ | Charles Rae on whether Sussexes will attend King’s Coronation GBNews
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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SoCalGas expects to announce significant drop in natural gas rates this week

DOWNEY, Calif. (KABC) — SoCalGas customers may get some relief when paying their natural gas bills as early as next month.

The hike in natural gas rates has had many customers wondering when they’ll catch a break.

Throughout January, Eyewitness News brought you the voices of people surprised to see their gas bills jump, sometimes regardless of them using less of the resource. On Monday, SoCalGas President Maryam Brown said this was all because of an unusual supply-and-demand event.

READ ALSO | Residents fear SoCalGas customers will ‘freeze to death’ trying to save money to pay sky-high bills

“We’ve been very concerned for our customers,” Brown said.

The price the company paid for natural gas was up this month to $3.45 per therm – which is four times higher than the same time last year and 11 times higher than that of 2018.

Meanwhile, national prices, like those from the Henry Hub pipeline, were dipping to levels not seen since June 2021.

“The issue is that the infrastructure in the West has been constrained, that we’ve had limitation,” Brown explained. “A limitation of being able to bring natural gas into the West because the pipelines are already full and there was less storage in the northern parts of the state and that affected prices here, but we do think that it was acute, a period of time, and we’re seeing those costs come down.”

Brown said along with grants from the gas assistance fund for eligible applicants, customers can expect to see their annual springtime Cap-and-Trade program credit earlier this year.

A SoCalGas’ unveiling of the first renewable hydrogen microgrid and home on Monday, California’s Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis said we’re at the mercy of the fossil fuel industry until we rely on other resources.

“Taking control of our energy future by investing in renewable energy is the best thing we can do for every working family in the state of California,” she said.

A SoCalGas spokesperson told Eyewitness News the company expects to make an announcement this week about a significant drop in natural gas rates.

Copyright © 2023 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.

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European Central Bank member says market is mispricing rate hikes, expects more to come

Klaas Knot, president of De Nederlandsche Bank spoke with CNBC in Davos.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

DAVOS, Switzerland — The European Central Bank will not stop with one single 50 basis point hike at its next rate-setting meetings, a board member told CNBC Thursday.

“It will not stop after a single 50 basis point hike, that’s for sure,” Klaas Knot, who serves as the governor of the Dutch central bank, said regarding the ECB’s upcoming moves.

The European Central Bank raised rates four times throughout 2022, bringing its deposit rate to 2%. The central bank in December said it would be increasing rates further in 2023 to address sky-high inflation.

Recent data has shown a slowdown in headline inflation, even if it remains well above the ECB’s 2% target.

December inflation came in at 9.2% in the euro zone, according to preliminary numbers. This was the second consecutive monthly drop in price rises across the euro zone. However, Knot doesn’t think all of the recent data is “encouraging.”

“What we have seen thus far is data that is not encouraging from our end,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“We have seen one more inflation reading where there were no signs of abating of [the] underlying inflationary pressures. So we have to do what we’ll have to do, and core inflation has not yet turned the corner in the euro area and that means the market developments I have seen in, let’s say, last two weeks or so are not entirely welcomed from my perspective. I don’t think they are compatible actually with a timely return of inflation toward 2%,” Knot said.

Market players are expecting the ECB to raise rates at its next meeting in February. The wider question is whether the central bank gets too aggressive with its policy tightening and restricts economic growth. However, Know has made it clear that there will be at least two more rate hikes.

“Most of the ground that we have to cover, we will cover at a constant pace of multiple 50 basis points hikes,” he said.

“Where that sort of pace of 50 basis points hikes is going to end I cannot say beforehand, but it is very clear that our president has used the plural in her wordings, I am using the plural here. So it will not stop after a single 50 bps hike, that’s for sure.”

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The Apple TV expects you to have an iPhone in order to accept new iCloud terms and conditions

A viral tweet today highlights a somewhat frustrating limitation with the Apple TV software. As of a recent software update, tvOS expects users have access to an iPhone or iPad in order to do things like accept new iCloud terms and conditions, or update their Apple ID settings.

Although most people who use the Apple TV 4K box are deeply ensconced in the Apple ecosystem, this doesn’t apply to everyone. Up until recently, the Apple TV could be used essentially independently. It was assumed to be a standalone device, not an accessory. Not so much, anymore. Moreover, these changes mean Apple TV users who have Macs — but no personal iOS devices — are also left in the lurch.

Most of the Apple TV can be used without needing access to other Apple hardware. You can set up the Apple TV from scratch completely independently, install apps, and make purchases. Typical Apple ID management duties can be performed from a web browser on a PC, if occasionally necessary.

However, there are some tasks — seemingly more prevalent than ever as of tvOS 16 — that the Apple TV expects you to do on an iOS device signed in with the same account.

This viral tweet from @hugelgupf showcases perhaps the most egregious example: accepting new iCloud terms and conditions requires an iOS device.

Rather than allowing users to read and accept the new terms on the Apple TV on television itself, the box says you must use an iOS device to do it. Specifically, an iOS device running iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 or later.

In addition to alienating people who possess no other Apple devices at all, the minimum OS requirement means that someone with a new Apple TV but an old-generation iPad, for example, is also left stranded.

A similar prompt can appear requesting customers ‘update Apple ID settings’ by bringing their iPhone near the Apple TV.

In both cases, these prompts can be temporarily dismissed. But they frequently recur until they have been dealt with. Some system features may not be available until they are resolved. Yet, if you don’t have an iPhone or iPad handy — one that can run the latest OS version that is — there’s simply no way to do that.

Based on these barriers, the Apple TV cannot be considered to be a standalone device anymore, even though a non-zero percentage of people have used it that way for many years up to now.

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Kyiv expects Russia to lose up to 70,000 troops in the next 4-5 months

Key developments on Jan. 3: 

Russia will likely “continue offensive operations this year” even though it may lose tens of thousands of its soldiers in the months ahead, a representative of Ukrainian intelligence said on Jan. 3.

The Russians “understand that they are going to lose” on the battlefield, but they are not planning to end the war, Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andrii Cherniak said.

In a commentary for RBK-Ukraine, a Ukrainian media outlet, Cherniak said Ukraine’s intelligence is “sure” that Russia would still try to capture Donetsk Oblast and do whatever it takes to hold onto its land corridor on the southern coast to the Russian-occupied Crimea.

Ukraine anticipates that the Russian army will lose up to 70,000 more troops in the next 4-5 months, but the Kremlin appears to be “ready for such losses,” Cherniak added.

This latest intelligence assessment comes as senior Ukrainian officials warn that Russia could launch a major offensive from multiple directions in early 2023.

Cherniak also said Russian troops “may simultaneously attack from the north and the east,” but “such actions of the enemy are expected, and our troops are ready for it.”

Russia’s battlefield achievements remain limited, even as fierce battles raged in Ukraine’s east and south. Russian troops were forced to withdraw from 40% of Ukrainian territories they had occupied since the February invasion, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said on Jan. 2.

Russia’s ‘enormous human resources’

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that Russia appears unable to keep the same intensity of its offensive that it had early in the full-scale invasion, but it still has “enormous human resources” to continue the war against Ukraine.

“They may not be able to fight as intensely as they started, but they have enough reserves to fight this war,” Maliar said on television.

While Maliar said it was an achievement that Ukraine still “strongly holds” a part of Donetsk Oblast today, she acknowledged that “these are very difficult battles” that are “very tiring” for Ukrainian soldiers.

Russia now has hundreds of thousands of conscripts it can send to the front line. Ukraine’s Commander Valeriy Zaluzhnyi admitted in December that Russia’s mobilization of hundreds of thousands of troops in the fall “has worked,” and the conscripts are “a problem for us.” He estimated then that Moscow still has “a reserve of 1.2 – 1.5 million people.”

Anticipating that Russia would conscript more soldiers amid its stalled battlefield progress, Ukraine’s top defense officials recently said that Russian authorities were planning to close its borders for conscription-age men starting Jan. 5.

With difficult battles ahead, Ukraine needs “a powerful motivation, professionalism, and weapons” to keep up the defense in the embattled Donetsk Oblast, Maliar said.

Currently, the epicenter of the battle is around Bakhmut, a salt-mining city nearly emptied of its 70,000 residents.

While Moscow has massed its troops and equipment for half a year, Russian troops are unlikely to achieve “a significant breakthrough near Bakhmut in coming weeks,” the U.K. Defense Ministry said on Jan. 3.

Both sides are suffering “heavy casualties,” the ministry said, even if “the frequency of Russian assaults have likely (been) reduced from the peak in mid-December” due to Ukraine’s “significant reinforcements” to defend the Bakhmut sector.

Expelling Russian athletes

Meanwhile, farther from the front line in the town of Druzhkivka, a Russian strike nearly destroyed the Altair ice arena late on Jan. 2, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported. Two injuries were reported in Druzhkivka.

Condemning Russia’s missile attack as “another act of vandalism,” Ukraine’s Ice Hockey association said in a statement that this is the fifth ice stadium destroyed during the war, listing the previous ones as the stadiums in Kharkiv, Mariupol, Sievierodonetsk, and Melitopol.

The association said the sports facility in Druzhkivka was “completely empty” and “not a military target.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned the attack, urging international sporting events to ban Russian athletes from competing.

“I invite all sports officials who want to allow Russian athletes to compete in international events because, as they say, ‘politics should be kept out of sports,’ to visit the Altair ice arena in Druzhkivka ruined by Russia’s ‘politically neutral’ shelling,” Kuleba said in a Twitter post.

The Russian Defense Ministry admitted that it had struck Druzhkivska, claiming it destroyed Ukrainian military equipment and weapons stored near the town’s railway station.

Never-ending attacks

The city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast’s provisional capital, suffered from another missile strike on Jan. 3, wounding at least one person, according to Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko.

Less than 24 hours ago, Russia’s strike on Kramatorsk wounded one person and damaged 34 houses and 8 apartment buildings, the Kramatorsk City Council said.

On Jan. 3, Russia also massed artillery fire on the town of Kurakhove, south of Kramatorsk.

Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported that the artillery hit an apartment building in Kurakhove, killing at least one person and wounding two.

Neighboring buildings and a water supply facility were also damaged, Kyrylenko said, as he issued another urgent evacuation call for the remaining residents in Donetsk Oblast as Russia steps up its shelling of civilian areas.

In southern Ukraine, Kherson Oblast Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said that two people driving in a car were killed by a landmine that Russian troops planted before their withdrawal in November.

Yanushevych urged residents to be cautious since a “very high” number of explosives remains in the liberated territories, adding that the work is underway to get rid of them safely.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air defense has reported shooting down all 84 drones that Russia launched at the country in the first two days of 2023.

Since September, Ukraine has shot down nearly 500 drones launched by Russia, according to the Air Forces.



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Putin expects China’s Xi to visit soon; Xi holds his line on Ukraine

  • Putin’s remarks highlight pivot from West to China
  • Both men share distrust of West
  • Xi’s reserved remarks contrast Putin’s upbeat tone
  • No mention of visit in Chinese media reports of video meeting
  • No sign from Xi of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Dec 30 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit early next year in what would be a public show of solidarity from Beijing as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine falters.

But an official Chinese readout of a video summit between the two leaders highlighted differences in approach to their developing alliance, making no mention of a visit and stressing that Beijing, which has declined to back or condemn the invasion, would maintain its “objective and fair” stance on the issue.

Since sending its troops into Ukraine in February, Russia has turned its back on the Western powers that have ostracised it economically and politically and armed Ukraine, courting the rising global power of long-time rival China instead.

“We are expecting you, dear Mr Chairman, dear friend, we are expecting you next spring on a state visit to Moscow,” Putin told Xi in an effusive eight-minute introductory statement broadcast on state television.

“This will demonstrate to the whole world the strength of Russian-Chinese ties on key issues.”

He also said he aimed to boost military cooperation with China – although there was no mention of this in the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV’s report of the call.

Although Xi called Putin his “dear friend”, his introductory statement, at around a quarter the length of Putin’s, was far more pragmatic in tone.

The two men had signed a “no limits” strategic partnership in February, informed by shared distrust of the West, a few days before Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine in what it terms a “special military operation”.

TRADE SOARS

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China February 4, 2022. Sputnik/Aleksey Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Since major Western economies responded to the invasion with an unprecedented, coordinated barrage of sanctions, Russia has been forced to seek other markets, and has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the top crude supplier to China. Bilateral trade has soared and financial ties have been expanded.

On Friday, Russia’s Finance Ministry doubled the maximum possible share of Chinese yuan in its National Wealth Fund (NWF) to 60% as Moscow tries to “de-dollarise” its economy and end dependency on “unfriendly” nations including the United States, European Union members, Britain and Japan.

Moscow has also publicly backed Xi’s position on Taiwan and accused the West of trying to provoke a conflict over the status of the self-governing island, which China claims as its own.

Putin told Xi: “You and I share the same views on the causes, course and logic of the ongoing transformation of the global geopolitical landscape, in the face of unprecedented pressure and provocations from the West.”

However, the Chinese leader has been less vocal in his criticism of Western countries that are China’s key export market, and has appeared cool on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

China has refrained from condemnation, instead stressing the need for peace, but Putin in September publicly acknowledged that his Chinese counterpart had “concerns” about Russia’s actions.

Beijing has so far been careful not to provide the sort of direct material support for the invasion that could provoke Western sanctions against China.

Xi did, however, tell Putin on Friday that China was ready to increase strategic cooperation with Russia against the backdrop of what he called a “difficult” situation in the world at large.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the meeting had been substantive and constructive, but that no date had yet been set for Xi’s visit.

Reporting by Reuters; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Shanghai; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Tomasz Janowski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin says he expects to return as Rebels coach

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said he anticipates staying with the Rebels in 2023, even if Auburn offers him the chance to fill its head-coaching vacancy.

Kiffin was asked about his status after Thursday’s 24-22 home loss to Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, Ole Miss’ third consecutive defeat to end the regular season. Kiffin, who is in his third year as Rebels coach, has been viewed as one of Auburn’s top candidates to replace Bryan Harsin, who was fired Oct. 31.

“Yes, I do,” Kiffin said Thursday when asked if he expects to return to Ole Miss next season.

Sources told ESPN’s Chris Low that Kiffin met Tuesday with Ole Miss players and told them he hasn’t accepted a job at any other school. WCBI-TV in Columbus, Mississippi, reported Monday that Kiffin planned to step down Friday and take the Auburn job. Kiffin denied the report.

Asked after Thursday’s loss about signing a new contract extension at Ole Miss, Kiffin noted that he had signed several with the school and has been more focused on the Mississippi State game. In December 2021, he received an enhanced contract with Ole Miss that increased his salary to $7.25 million this year.

If Kiffin indeed passes on Auburn, Liberty coach Hugh Freeze is likely to be pursued by the school. Freeze is 34-14 at Liberty after coaching Ole Miss from 2012 to 2017, and going 39-25.

Kiffin is 23-12 at Ole Miss and 18-7 the past two seasons.

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Jim Harbaugh expects ‘criminal charges’ for Michigan State players after brawl

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Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that he expects “criminal charges” to emerge from an investigation of violence that broke out in the stadium tunnel Saturday after his Wolverines defeated visiting Michigan State.

Noting an “ongoing police investigation,” Harbaugh said: “What happened in the tunnel was egregious. It’s sickening to watch the videos, the ones that are on social media right now.”

Video of the incident from different angles showed several Spartans players appearing to assault Michigan’s Ja’Den McBurrows and Gemon Green. On Sunday, Michigan State Coach Mel Tucker announced the indefinite suspensions of four players: redshirt sophomore linebacker Itayvion “Tank” Brown, redshirt sophomore cornerback Khary Crump, junior safety Angelo Grose and freshman defensive end Zion Young.

“We’re not here to make any excuses for the behaviors Saturday,” Tucker said at a news conference Monday. “They are unacceptable.”

Four Michigan State players suspended after brawl with Michigan

“There needs to be accountability,” Harbaugh told reporters earlier in the day. “There needs to be a full, thorough, timely investigation.

“I can’t imagine that this will not result in criminal charges,” he continued. “The videos are bad, and it’s clear what transpired. This is very open and shut. As they say, watch the tape.”

In a video that was shared shortly after the game ended, Brown, Grose and Young could be seen pushing and appearing to punch and kick at McBurrows. Footage from an ABC/ESPN camera mounted in the tunnel that emerged Monday appeared to show Green being hit with a Spartans helmet, with Crump involved in the fracas. In that footage, another Michigan State player who was not immediately suspended, linebacker/defensive end Jacoby Windmon, could be seen putting on his helmet and grabbing Green.

Harbaugh said the placement of the ABC/ESPN camera at a “higher elevation” allowed it to show “much more of what took place” during the incident.

“I’m coming from this from a perspective of being a parent,” Harbaugh said. “These young men are entrusted to me by their families to our program, and we have the responsibility to each player to treat them like our own, and I take that responsibility very seriously. An apology will not get the job done in this instance. There should be serious consequences for the many individuals that are culpable.”

In a statement issued late Sunday night by the Spartans’ athletic department, Michigan State President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. said he was “extremely saddened by this incident and the unacceptable behavior depicted by members of our football program.”

“On behalf of Michigan State University, my heartfelt apology to the University of Michigan and the student-athletes who were injured,” Stanley continued. “There is no provocation that could justify the behavior we are seeing on the videos. Rivalries can be intense but should never be violent.”

Michigan State Athletic Director Alan Haller said in a concurrent statement that the suspensions of the four players were “necessary” in light of the “alarming evidence” of their involvement.

Tucker offered another apology at Monday’s news conference.

“We are deeply sorry to both universities, the conference, our fans, alumni, supporters and of course all our student-athletes, past and present,” said the coach, who is in this third season with the Spartans.

“The incidents involving a small group of our players do not represent our culture,” Tucker added.

Citing police and university/Big Ten investigations, Tucker declined to comment on reporters’ questions about Harbaugh’s mention of possible criminal charges and about whether it “upset” him that other Spartans players did not do more to stop the assaults.

In response to reporters at his news conference, Harbaugh did not elaborate on why McBurrows, a sophomore defensive back, and Green, a graduate defensive back, were walking through the tunnel toward the locker rooms at the same time as Michigan State players. After games at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Stadium, the visiting team and its staff are first to leave the field and enter the tunnel, followed by the Wolverines’ contingent.

At halftime of Michigan’s previous home game, a win over Penn State, Wolverines and Nittany Lions players had a heated exchange. Penn State Coach James Franklin subsequently described the shared usage of one tunnel as “a problem,” after which Harbaugh accused Franklin of having been the “ringleader” of the confrontation. Franklin called for a “buffer” of a minute or two before Michigan players followed the visiting team into the tunnel and predicted at the time that the ill will that emerged during his team’s visit to Michigan Stadium “won’t be the last” of its kind.

Analysis: The College Football Playoff contenders have narrowed to, oh yeah, 13

On Monday, Harbaugh downplayed the tunnel setup as a problem and reiterated that “actions of these individuals” from Michigan State were at issue. He added that he wasn’t sure if Green, who has made 21 starts for Michigan over his career, would be available for the 8-0 Wolverines’ next game, Saturday at Rutgers.

“This has been a very traumatic experience for everybody, especially for Ja’Den and Gemon,” said Harbaugh, a former Michigan standout in his eighth season as coach.

An attorney for Green, Tom Mars, told the Associated Press that those involved in attacking his client will “feel the full wrath of the law.”

“Severe consequences in this case will deter others who might think they can get away with brutally beating an opposing player and only get a slap on the wrist,” Mars said. “… When college football players brutally attack a member of the opposing team with their helmets, resulting in the player suffering a concussion and other injuries, an apology won’t suffice. There has to be severe consequences for this kind of misconduct.”



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Credit Suisse cutting 2,700 jobs in fourth quarter, expects more by 2025

Credit Suisse Group AG is reducing its workforce by 5% in the fourth quarter and plans to trim its headcount even more by 2025, the company said Thursday.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
CS CREDIT SUISSE GROUP AG 3.92 +0.08 +2.08%

The 5% fourth-quarter reduction amounts to 2,700 full-time-equivalent employees, according to a press release from Credit Suisse. The bank said it expects to further cut its total workforce to roughly 43,000 by the end of 2025. 

Credit Suisse said it had roughly 52,000 full-time-equivalent employees at the end of the third quarter, for which the bank reported its earnings Thursday.

CREDIT SUISSE SEEKS TO CALM MARKET JITTERS

The plans to reduce its headcount came as Credit Suisse released details about its “transformation plan.”

The plans to reduce its headcount came as Credit Suisse released details about its “transformation plan.” (Spencer Platt/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Credit Suisse will spin off its capital markets and advisory activities into CS First Boston and “allocate almost 80% of capital to Wealth Management, Swiss Bank, Asset Management and Markets,” among other measures, it said.  (REUTERS/Arnd WIegmann/File Photo / Reuters Photos)

The bank will spin off its capital markets and advisory activities into CS First Boston and “allocate almost 80% of capital to Wealth Management, Swiss Bank, Asset Management and Markets,” among other measures, it said. The Saudi National Bank has “committed to invest” up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs into Credit Suisse, according to the Swiss bank.

HOW A SOCIAL MEDIA FRENZY AROUND CREDIT SUISSE RATTLED ITS STOCK

The plan aims to “create a stronger, more resilient and more efficient bank with a firm foundation, focused on our clients and their needs,” chairman Axel Lehmann said in a statement, adding that Credit Suisse will “remain absolutely focused on driving our cultural transformation, while working on further improving our risk management and control processes across the entire bank.”

The plan aims to “create a stronger, more resilient and more efficient bank with a firm foundation, focused on our clients and their needs,” according to Credit Suisse chairman Axel Lehmann. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid / Reuters Photos)

For the third quarter, the company reported 3.8 billion Swiss francs in net revenues, climbing 4% quarter-over-quarter but falling 30% year-over-year. It had a net loss of 4.03 billion Swiss francs

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Pfizer expects to hike U.S. COVID vaccine price to $110-$130 per dose

NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc expects to roughly quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to about $110 to $130 per dose after the United States government’s current purchase program expires, Pfizer executive Angela Lukin said on Thursday.

Lukin said she expects the vaccine – currently provided for free to all by the government – will be made available at no cost to people who have private insurance or government paid insurance.

Reuters earlier on Thursday reported that Wall Street was expecting such price hikes due to weak demand for COVID vaccines, which meant vaccine makers would need to hike prices to meet revenue forecasts for 2023 and beyond.

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The U.S. government currently pays around $30 per dose to Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE). In 2023, the market is expected to move to private insurance after the U.S. public health emergency expires.

“We are confident that the U.S. price point of the COVID-19 vaccine reflects its overall cost effectiveness and ensures the price will not be a barrier for access for patients,” Lukin said.

It is not yet clear what kind of access people without health insurance will have to the vaccine.

Pfizer said it expects the COVID-19 market to be about the size of the flu shot market on an annual basis for adults, but that the pediatric market would take longer to build based on shots given so far.

So far the U.S. rollout of updated COVID-19 booster shots which target both the original coronavirus strain and the Omicron strain has lagged last year’s rate despite more people being eligible for the shots.

Around 14.8 million people in the U.S. received a booster shot over the first six weeks of the rollout of the new shots. In the first six weeks of the 2021 revaccination campaign, over 22 million people received their third shot even though only older and immunocompromised people were eligible at that point.

Lukin said she does not expect purchasing of the vaccines to transfer to the private sector until the first quarter of 2023 “at the earliest.” The move is dependent on the government contracted supply being depleted.

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Reporting by Michael Erman; Writing by Caroline Humer; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Richard Pullin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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