International business briefs: German investor morale high

Musk’s X sues NY state over content moderation law

New York — Elon Musk’s X Corp sued New York on Tuesday, challenging the constitutionality of a state law requiring social media companies to disclose how they monitor hate speech, extremism, disinformation, harassment and foreign political interference.

In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, X said New York’s law subjects it to lawsuits and potentially large fines unless it discloses “highly sensitive and controversial speech” that the First Amendment protects and the state may dislike.

X said New York’s law was based on a nearly identical California law whose enforcement was partially blocked by a federal appeals court last September because of free speech concerns. Reuters

Wizz Air opts for Pratt & Whitney’s engines

Bengaluru — European low-cost carrier Wizz Air said on Tuesday it has selected RTX’s Pratt & Whitney as the engine supplier for 177 of its Airbus narrowbody jets.

The new engines will be equipped on the carrier’s 177 A321neo aircraft that are on order. Wizz had previously selected Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engine to power 276 Airbus A320neo, A321neo and A321XLR aircraft in both 2016 and 2020.

Pratt & Whitney will also provide Wizz with engine maintenance through a long-term service agreement. Reuters

UK fashion retailer ASOS appoints new finance chief

Bengaluru— British online fashion retailer ASOS on Tuesday named Aaron Izzard, director of group finance, as its new CFO as finance boss Dave Murray will be stepping down on June 30 to pursue other opportunities.

Murray, a former Amazon executive who joined ASOS as CFO in April 2024, will remain with the company for a handover period, ASOS said.

Izzard, who joined ASOS as head of retail finance in 2017, has held several finance roles at the company over more than eight years. His appointment will be effective July 1. Reuters

Morgan Sindall expects annual profit to beat forecasts

Bengaluru— British construction company Morgan Sindall on Tuesday said it expects annual pretax profit to be ahead of previous expectations, backed by strong growth in its construction and fit out divisions.

“Fit Out’s strong trading activity experienced at the start of the year has continued, providing increased visibility for the rest of the year,” the company said in a statement.

The segment, which specialises in interior fit-out and refurbishment projects for commercial clients, is expected to exceed profit expectations for the year.

Morgan Sindall also expects the operating margin of its construction business to be in the middle of its medium term target of 3.0%-3.5% with revenues also set to exceed previous expectations. Reuters

Defence AI start-up Helsing raises €600m

Stockholm — German defence AI start-up Helsing has raised €600m in its latest funding round from the likes of Lightspeed Ventures, Accel, Saab and Prima Materia, an investment firm founded by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.

While Helsing did not disclose its valuation, the Financial Times reported that the funding round valued the company at €12bn.

The company last raised €450m last year and the latest round takes the total funding to €1.4bn.

Venture capitalists are looking to invest in European defence start-ups after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s prodding of Nato countries have spurred the EU to ramp up its military spending plans. Reuters

Boeing stops selling noncore assets to cut debt

Paris — Boeing is not planning any more big asset sales at this time, Chris Raymond, the head of its global services business, said at the Paris Airshow on Tuesday.

Battling to recover from a series of crises, CEO Kelly Ortberg has been selling noncore assets to reduce Boeing’s debt.

In April, the US plane maker struck a deal in April to sell parts of its Digital Aviation Solutions business, including navigation unit Jeppesen, to private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $10.55bn. Reuters

Airbus signs 100 aircraft agreement with VietJet

Paris — Airbus has signed a memorandum of understanding with VietJet for 100 of its A321neo planes, with a potential to add 50 more to the deal, industry sources said at the Paris Airshow on Tuesday.

The companies declined to comment. Reuters

German investor morale higher than expected

Berlin — German investor morale rose more than expected in June, the ZEW economic research institute said on Tuesday, reporting an increase in its economic sentiment index to 47.5 points from 25.2 points in May.

Analysts polled by Reuters had pointed to a reading of 35.0.

The optimism in the ZEW index mirrors the latest forecasts from four German economic institutes published last week, which now see Europe's largest economy growing this year after two years of contraction.

“Confidence is picking up,” said ZEW president Achim Wambach. Reuters

Musk’s xAI looks to raise $9.3bn in funding

Bengaluru — Elon Musk’s AI start-up xAI is in talks to raise $4.3bn through an equity investment on top of its $5bn debt funding plans, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing information shared with investors. Between its founding in 2023 and when the debt sale was launched this year, xAI raised $14bn through equity fundraising, the report said. 

The Grok chatbot maker needs new funding, partly because it has already spent most of what it previously raised, according to the report. XAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters

Vietnam admitted as ‘partner country’ in Brics

Vietnam has been formally admitted as a “partner country” of the Brics group of major emerging economies, according to Brazil’s government, as the bloc presses ahead with its expansion. Vietnam is the 10th nation to receive this status, which allows invited countries to participate in Brics summits and other discussion sessions.

Vietnam had expressed earlier this year it was ready to discuss a partnership with Brics, whose original members were Brazil, Russia, India and China. Founded in 2009, it soon expanded to add SA. The group has recently included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, making it a growing diplomatic counterweight to traditional Western powers. Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan are its other partner countries. Reuters