Thursday newspaper round-up: Ukraine-US deal, Microsoft, Tesla...

(Sharecast News) - Ukraine and the US have announced they have reached a vital minerals deal following months of sometimes fraught negotiations. In Washington on Wednesday, the two countries said they signed an agreement on a joint fund to invest in Ukraine's reconstruction, with a draft saying Washington would get preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals. - The Independent Microsoft Corporation beat Wall Street's quarterly sales and profit expectations as customer demand for its cloud computing services remained strong. Overall revenue rose 13 per cent year-on-year to $70.1 billion, ahead of analyst estimates of $68.4 billion. Net income was up 18 per cent to $25.8 billion, surpassing consensus expectations of $24.1 billion. - The Times

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm denied a report that the board was seeking to replace its chief executive Elon Musk in response to plunging sales and a widespread backlash against his alliance with President Donald Trump. "Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company," Denholm said in a post on the electric vehicle maker's account on social media platform X early on Thursday morning. "This is absolutely false . . . The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead." - Financial Times

Meta reported earnings on Wednesday, beating Wall Street's expectations for yet another quarter even as it lavishes billions on artificial intelligence. Meta posted $42.32bn in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, beating both its own quarterly revenue goals of $41.8bn at the higher end and Wall Street expectations of $41.38bn. The company also reported $6.43 in earnings per share, beating Wall Street projections of $5.27. Shares jumped in after-hours trading. - The Guardian

A Microsoft data centre is at the heart of an alleged £3m bribery plot involving two British construction companies. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Monday raided five properties across London, Kent, Surrey and Somerset and made three arrests, as it launched an international investigation into suspected corruption over construction of the site. Officials have accused individuals at Kent-based construction firm Blu-3 of paying more than £3m in bribes to former associates of larger rival Mace Group in relation to the construction of a Microsoft data centre in the Netherlands. - The Telegraph

A London data analytics company led by the billionaire owner of the New Statesman and Wigan Warriors rugby team is in talks with two private equity firms about a takeover offer. GlobalData, which is majority-owned by Mike Danson, the media tycoon, confirmed that it had received a preliminary offer from KKR and Intermediate Capital Group, two private equity investment groups. - The Times

PwC has been accused of launching an "utterly pointless" rebrand after laying off hundreds of staff. The "big four" accountant unveiled a new logo on Tuesday in what it described as its "first global brand update in over a decade". The new logo uses exactly the same lettering as the old one, while switching out its formerly used multicoloured "butterfly" crest for a simplified version consisting of two orange parallelograms. - The Telegraph