LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Barclays (BARC.L) reported a 14% fall in full-year pretax profit on Wednesday as earnings were poleaxed by surging costs, a collapse in deal fees and multi-million dollar fines relating to an administrative blunder.

Earnings fell short of expectations and came as rising interest rates should be boosting returns, sending shares in the British bank down 9% – on track for their biggest one-day fall since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago.

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New Biden EV Charger Rules Stress Made In America, Force Tesla Changes

Feb 15 (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Wednesday issued long-awaited final rules on its national electric vehicle charger network that require the chargers to be built in the United States immediately, and with 55% of their cost coming from U.S.-made components by 2024.

The Biden administration hopes the new rules, issued after nearly eight months of debate, will jump-start the biggest transformation of the U.S. driving landscape in generations. It seeks to give consumers unfettered access to a growing coast-to-coast network of EV charging stations, including Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) SuperChargers.

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Elon Musk Says End-2023 ‘Good Timing’ To Find New Twitter Head

DUBAI, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday that towards the end of 2023 would be “good timing” to find someone else to run Twitter, when he expects the social media platform to be stable.

“I think I need to stabilise the organisation and just make sure it’s in a financially healthy place and that the product roadmap is clearly laid out,” said Musk, speaking virtually at the World Government Summit in Dubai, when asked if he had identified a new Twitter CEO and when that person would be hired.

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Glencore Hands $7.1 Bln To Shareholders After Record Profit

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Glencore (GLEN.L) announced a payout of $7.1 billion to its investors on Wednesday, as high oil and coal prices helped it to post a record annual profit, but it said the rising costs of producing minerals could dent future earnings.

In preliminary 2022 results, the miner and trader said it cut net debt to $75 million at the end of the year from $6 billion at the end of 2021.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 60% to $34.1 billion, smashing a previous record of $21.3 billion a year earlier, in line with analysts’ estimates.

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Oil Drops On U.S. Inventory Jump, Rate Hike Worries

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Oil dropped for a second day on Wednesday, as an industry report pointed to ample supplies in the United States and anticipation of further interest rate hikes sparked concerns over weaker fuel demand and the economic outlook.

U.S. crude stocks rose by a more-than-forecast 10.5 million barrels, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute (API) figures, ahead of official Energy Information Administration (EIA) data out at 1530 GMT.

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