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Goals galore as British Premier League scoring rates soar

LONDON — Goals late in games have resulted in the biggest season-on-season scoring rate rise in England’s top flight for nearly 100 years as Premier League defenses take a hammering.

With the season reaching its climax, the average goals per game currently stands at 3.24 compared to 2.85 last season, an increase of 13.7%. It is the biggest jump since 1925-26 when the offside rule was tweaked to favor attacking players.

Statistics website soccerstats.com reveals that more than 25% of the goals scored this campaign have come after the 76th minute, many arriving deep into the lengthy periods of stoppage time that have become a feature of the season.

The latest goal scored this season was Ollie McBurnie’s 103rd-minute penalty for Sheffield United against West Ham United in January while numerous other goals have come past the 100-minute mark.

Teams towards the middle of the table have also been more effective attacking units this season.

According to Simon Gleave, head of analysis at Nielsen’s Gracenote, the eight teams currently ranked 10th to 17th in the league table are averaging 1.45 goals per match, compared to their equivalents last term with 1.04 per game.

The current top nine teams, seven of which finished last season in the top nine, are recording a 5% increase.

Certain clubs have clearly worked on their attacking effectiveness too, none more so than Wolverhampton Wanderers whose average per game of 1.5 is an 84% rise on last season.

Chelsea are up 74%, Aston Villa 54%, Bournemouth 50% and West Ham United 44%.

Champions Manchester City, however, are averaging fewer goals than they were last season, as are Manchester United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford.

With a three-way title race reaching its climax, Arsenal’s goalscoring prowess could give them the edge.

The Gunners have racked up 70 goals in 28 games at an average of 2.5 goals per match — their highest top-flight scoring average since the 1934-35 season.

“Since 1962-63, there have been only eight teams that have averaged 2.5 goals per match or better across a whole season; Manchester United (1999-00), Chelsea (2009-10), Liverpool (2013-14) and Manchester City (2013-14, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22),” said Mr. Gleave.

“Arsenal need to score 25 more goals in their last 10 matches to join this select group.”

For pure entertainment, however, Newcastle United’s matches are the ones to watch. Their 28 games have produced 107 goals at an average of 3.82. Only one team since the 1966-67 season — Liverpool in 2013-14 — have had an average exceeding 3.8 goals per match across a whole season. — Reuters

Boston Celtics hold off Bucks for 10th straight home triumph

JAYSON TATUM had 31 points and eight rebounds to help the Boston Celtics extend their winning streak to seven games with a 122-119 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.

Derrick White added 23 points and eight assists for Boston (55-14), which made 18 of its 40 3-point attempts. Jaylen Brown had 21 points, and Payton Pritchard came off the bench to score 19. Mr. Pritchard made 5 of 8 treys.

The Bucks (44-25) trailed 116-114 after a Bobby Portis layup with 32.6 seconds to play, but Mr. Brown made two free throws to give Boston a four-point lead with 20.3 seconds remaining, and Milwaukee failed to score on its ensuing possession. The Celtics led by six until Damian Lillard made a 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

The victory stretched Boston’s home winning streak to 10 games and improved the Celtics’ home record to 32-3.

Mr. Lillard scored a game-high 32 points, and Mr. Portis added 24 points and 15 rebounds. The Bucks received 22 points from Khris Middleton.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his second consecutive game with a hamstring injury. Mr. Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.8 points, 11.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game this season.

Boston wasn’t at full strength, either. Starting guard and former Buck Jrue Holiday was scratched with a shoulder injury, and Sam Hauser remained out after spraining his left ankle during Sunday’s victory in Washington. — Reuters

‘Mind the Game’

There’s no question that LeBron James moves the needle like no one else in basketball. While he’s already 39 and clearly in the downside of a stellar career, he remains the sport’s single bigger influencer — in the real sense of the word. He has 159 million followers on Instagram and another 52.8 million on X, and his posts on either platform immediately generate teeming reactions from supporters and critics alike. He commands attention, and not simply because knows how to put the ball through the hoop. Authority bias may be at play, but, for the most part, he knows what he’s talking about.

Which, in a nutshell, is why James’ decision to enter the realm of podcasting cannot but be viewed as a positive. In fact, his reach and acumen make the endeavor a no-brainer. And, in JJ Redick, he has found a perfect partner: a fellow hoops lifer with a profound capacity for delving into subjects, even esoteric ones, with uncanny depth. To contend that they were made for “Mind The Game” would be an understatement, as evidenced by the wealth of information contained in the first episode that was released the other day.

Between sips of wine and water, James and Redick filled the joint venture between their production companies with nuggets of wisdom. They fed off a discussion that began with an attempt to answer the question “What makes a great basketball player?”, moved on to the meat behind the term “Basketball IQ”, delved into the merits of standard offensive sets, and underscored the influence of such “relatable” megastars as Stephen Curry and Allen Iverson. In between, they talked about the anatomy of monumental comebacks in matches — like the one he recently orchestrated against the Clippers — and the rise of Jayson Tatum and the Celtics following the arrival of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in exchange for “a bag of Lays potato chips.”

Clearly, James and Redick aren’t afraid to tackle sensitive subjects — and, yes, they speak their mind, as they typically do. Given how the first episode evolved, the podcast has something for everyone. That said, it’s also not for the Average Joe looking to multitask while it runs in the background via YouTube or Spotify. It takes itself seriously, and pridefully spews out particulars with no intention of babying the viewer or listener. Phrases like “pick the picker” and concepts like “horns chest” abound, making it more attuned to the tastes of diehard fans than casual observers.

All the same, “Mind the Game” is a vital foil to the cesspool of podcasts littered with subjective judgments with nary any justification. It’s a welcome respite from all the inane content occupying airwaves — full of sound and fury, yet signifying nothing. It is, to be sure, not without irony that both James and Redick aren’t free of guilt in this regard, the former with “The Shop” and the latter with “First Take.” Nonetheless, they deserve props for daring to go against the tide, and, ultimately, for making sense. In view of the myriad demands on their time, the hope is that they are able to keep it going.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Global fertility rates set to fall, shifting burden to poorer nations

A WOMAN pushing her baby in a stroller walks around in the Hongdae area of Seoul, South Korea, June 29, 2016. — REUTERS

FERTILITY rates in nearly all countries will be too low to sustain population levels by the end of the century, and most of the world’s live births will be occurring in poorer countries, according to a study published on Wednesday.

The trend will lead to a “baby boom” and “baby bust” divide across the world, with the boom concentrated in low-income countries that are more susceptible to economic and political instability, senior researcher Stein Emil Vollset from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle said in a statement.

The study reported in The Lancet projects 155 of 204 countries and territories worldwide, or 76%, will have fertility rates below population replacement levels by 2050. By 2100, that is expected to rise to 198, or 97%, researchers estimated.

The forecasts are based on surveys, censuses, and other sources of data collected from 1950 through 2021 as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study.

Over three-quarters of live births will occur in low- and lower-middle-income countries by the end of the century, with more than half taking place in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers said.

The global fertility rate — the average number of births per woman — has fallen from around 5 children in 1950 to 2.2 in 2021, data show.

By 2021, 110 countries and territories (54%) had rates below the population replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.

The study highlights a particularly worrying trend for countries like South Korea and Serbia, where the fertility rate is less than 1.1 child per female, exposing them to challenges of a dwindling workforce.

Many of the most resource-limited countries “will be grappling with how to support the youngest, fastest-growing population on the planet in some of the most politically and economically unstable, heat-stressed, and health system-strained places on earth,” Mr. Vollset said.

While tumbling fertility rates in high-income countries reflect more opportunities for education and employment for women, researchers said the trend signals an urgent need for improvement in access to modern contraception and female education in other regions.

In addition, “once nearly every country’s population is shrinking, reliance on open immigration will become necessary to sustain economic growth,” IHME’s Natalia Bhattacharjee, a coauthor of the report, said in a statement.

The authors noted that predictions were limited by quantity and quality of past data, especially for the 2020 to 2021 COVID-19 pandemic period. — Reuters

Australia tightens student visa rules as migration hits record high

Commuters and trams cross Bourke Street in Melbourne, Australia, June 13, 2017. — REUTERS

SYDNEY — Australia will begin enforcing tougher visa rules for foreign students this week as official data showed migration hit another record high, which is likely to further exacerbate an already tight rental market.

From Saturday, English language requirements for student and graduate visas will be increased, while the government will get the power to suspend education providers from recruiting international students if they repeatedly break rules.

“The actions this weekend will continue to drive migration levels down while delivering on our commitments in the migration strategy to fix the broken system we inherited,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said in a statement.

A new “genuine student test” will be introduced to further crack down on international students who look to come to Australia primarily to work, while the imposition of “no further stay” conditions will be used on more visitor visas.

The moves follow a raft of actions last year to close off COVID-era concessions introduced by the former government, including unrestricted working hours for international students. The government at the time said rules would be tightened for students that could halve its migrant intake over two years.

Australia boosted its annual migration numbers in 2022 to help businesses recruit staff to fill shortages after the COVID-19 pandemic brought strict border controls, and kept foreign students and workers out for nearly two years.

But the sudden influx of foreign workers and students has exacerbated pressure on an already tight rental market.

Date released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed net immigration rose 60% to a record 548,800 in the year to Sept. 30, 2023, higher than the 518,000 people in the year ending June 2023.

Overall, Australia’s population rose 2.5% — the fastest pace on record — to 26.8 million people in the year to last September.

The record migration — driven by students from India, China and Philippines — has expanded labor supply and restrained wage pressures, but it exacerbated an already tight housing market where rental vacancies hovered at record lows and elevated construction costs restricted new supply.

Ms. O’Neil said the government’s actions since September have led to a decline in migration levels, with recent international student visa grants down by 35% on the previous year. — Reuters

Vietnam legislature approves resignation of president

HANOI — Vietnam’s legislature on Thursday approved the resignation of President Vo Van Thuong, state media reported, the latest top official to step down amid an intensified anti-graft crackdown by the ruling Communist Party.

Vo Van Thuong, 53, became the second president to resign in just over a year in Vietnam, where leadership changes have recently been all linked to the wide-ranging “blazing furnace” anti-bribery campaign.

The state media reports made no mention of who would replace Thuong. According to Vietnam’s constitution, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan would serve in the position.

The national assembly office did not immediately respond to calls seeking confirmation of the reports.

The president holds a largely ceremonial role but is one of the top four political positions in the Southeast Asian nation.

Thursday’s vote by the rubber-stamp National Assembly is largely a procedural step, after the party’s central committee on Wednesday accepted Thuong’s resignation, removing him from the Politburo, its top decision-making body, and his position of head of the National Defense and Security Council.

The committee said Thuong, 53, violated party rules, adding that those “shortcomings had negatively impacted public opinion, affecting the reputation of the Party, State and him personally,” without specifying what he had done wrong.

Xuan, one of only a few women in senior positions in Vietnamese politics, will step up to the role of president for the second time in just over a year. — Reuters

Lazada and She Talks Asia showcase inspiring stories of Filipina businesswomen

From left: Five Beauty’s Veronica Eala Garcia and Tiny Buds’ Lorina Tan

Veronica Eala Garcia and Lorina Tan share how they embarked on transformative journeys as women entrepreneurs

Lazada, the pioneer e-commerce platform in the region, recognizes the pivotal role of sellers in its ecosystem. It not only fosters business growth but also empowers individuals to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. In collaboration with She Talks Asia, Lazada highlights inspiring narratives of women entrepreneurs like Five Beauty’s Veronica Eala Garcia and Tiny Buds’ Lorina Tan, who share their journeys as women in business in hopes of motivating others to pursue their purpose.

Veronica Eala Garcia, Five Beauty

Veronica Eala Garcia’s journey in the beauty industry began when she introduced Luxx Lash to the Filipino market in 2018. Luxx Lash, a premium, reusable, and chemical-free magnetic lashes brand, is a game-changing innovation in the lash industry providing ease for the woman on the go. Veronica’s passion in beauty and constant search for purpose led her to co-found Five Beauty with marketing expert Isabel Regino, and actress Gabbi Garcia. Five Beauty is a brand that offers five beauty essentials: cheeks, lips, brows, concealer, and sunscreen. They knew they had to offer something different, so they decided to cater to women who want to simplify their makeup routines with affordable, high-quality products.

In November 2023, the brand launched exclusively on the Lazada app, releasing their first collection: The Hybrid Colour Stick. Five Beauty’s partnership with Lazada, underscored the platform’s role in amplifying startup brands. Veronica shares, “What I appreciated about the Lazada team most is how they’re very collaborative. It’s not transactional. They really cared about, ‘How do we make this work?’ It was good because they were very open and they helped us find a way. The program in itself helps women entrepreneurs to reach the consumers, and that support is really huge.”

Lorina Tan, Tiny Buds

Lorina started her journey as Tiny Buds’ co-founder in 2013 when her mom invited her back to the Philippines to run the business with her. Lorina’s experience with Tiny Buds, a baby essentials brand, reflects her determination to overcome challenges in business. “The challenge, really, was that I had no idea what I was doing. I’m not a mom so I didn’t think the way my customers thought,” she shares. Despite initial hurdles and being unfamiliar with the market, Lorina embraced humility and learning.

It was over a call with Tiny Buds’ account manager in 2012 where Lorina had a realization about the shop’s underperformance, and this sparked her understanding of the necessary steps for the brand’s growth.

Lorina appreciates Lazada for believing in their brand and shares,  “You need someone you look up to that believes in you. That’s what happened to me. Lazada took a chance on us, a very unknown baby brand back in the day. They showed us that if we just worked hard, strategized, and stood out, we could actually become what we are today.” Today, Tiny Buds is a leading brand in baby care, with a strong and loyal customer base.

Breaking Stereotypes in the Business Industry

As women like Veronica and Lorina navigate business, there is a growing recognition of their resilience and determination. Both women have found their passion and success within their markets and proved that drive and determination define success. By sharing their narratives, they hope more women can find inspiration and courage to pursue their own entrepreneurial aspirations.

Read more about the transformative journeys of the featured Lazada sellers via She Talks Asia’s online platforms: shetalksasia.com and Instagram.

Support female-owned businesses and shop Tiny Buds, and Five Beauty and enjoy P1,000 Lazada voucher, 100% free shipping, and up to 70% discount during Lazada’s Bonggang Birthday Sale starting March 24 (8 p.m.) to March 27. Check out now!

 

Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by publishing their stories on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

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Musk’s Neuralink shows first brain-chip patient playing online chess

JAMES DUNCAN DAVIDSON

Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink livestreamed on Wednesday its first patient implanted with a chip using his mind to play online chess.

Noland Arbaugh, the 29-year-old patient who was paralyzed below the shoulder after a diving accident, played chess on his laptop and moved the cursor using the Neuralink device. The implant seeks to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using only their thoughts.

Mr. Arbaugh had received an implant from the company in January and could control a computer mouse using his thoughts, Mr. Musk said last month.

“The surgery was super easy,” Mr. Arbaugh said in the video streamed on Musk’s social media platform X, referring to the implant procedure. “I literally was released from the hospital a day later. I have no cognitive impairments.

“I had basically given up playing that game,” Mr. Arbaugh said, referring to the game Civilization VI, “you all (Neuralink) gave me the ability to do that again and played for 8 hours straight.”

Elaborating on his experience with the new technology, Mr. Arbaugh said that it is “not perfect” and they “have run into some issues.”

“I don’t want people to think that this is the end of the journey, there’s still a lot of work to be done, but it has already changed my life,” he added.

Kip Ludwig, former program director for neural engineering at the US National Institutes of Health, said what Neuralink showed was not a “breakthrough.”

“It is still in the very early days post-implantation, and there is a lot of learning on both the Neuralink side and the subject’s side to maximize the amount of information for control that can be achieved,” he added.

Even so, Mr. Ludwig said it was a positive development for the patient that they have been able to interface with a computer in a way they were not able to before the implant. “It’s certainly a good starting point,” he said.

Last month, Reuters reported that the US Food and Drug Administration inspectors found problems with record keeping and quality controls for animal experiments at Elon Musk’s Neuralink, less than a month after the startup said it was cleared to test its brain implants in humans. Neuralink did not respond then to questions about the FDA’s inspection. – Reuters

Citing safety risk, Taiwan recommends president does not visit S.China Sea

COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG

TAIPEI – Taiwan’s top security official said on Thursday he does not currently recommend President Tsai Ing-wen visit the South China Sea given the possible risk to her flight from “interference by relevant countries” given China’s military presence there.

Both Taiwan and China claim most of the South China Sea as their own territory, but Taiwan only controls one main islet in the contested Spratly Islands deep in the southern part of the sea called Itu Aba, which Taiwan refers to as Taiping island.

Some lawmakers from both the ruling and main opposition parties have called on Tsai to visit Itu Aba before she steps down in May to assert Taiwan’s sovereignty and view a newly renovated harbor that can take larger ships.

Both her predecessors visited the island but she has yet to do so while in office.

Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said the South China Sea had been highly militarized, and the government must also consider how the international community would view such a trip.

“Many countries’ aircraft and ships are interfered with by relevant countries when passing through,” he told reporters at parliament.

“Therefore, it is necessary to assess whether the president’s aircraft’s flight safety can be maintained during the 1,600 km (994 miles) flight. If the two problems cannot be resolved, it is not recommended that the president go to Taiping island at this stage.”

China has reclaimed land and build air bases and other military facilities on some of its islands including those close to Itu Aba, and regularly objects to US navy ships and military aircraft operating nearby in what Washington calls freedom of navigation operations.

Itu Aba has a runway long enough to take military re-supply flights from Taiwan, which take around four hours, but is lightly defended compared to the nearby Chinese-controlled islands. Chinese forces generally leave Itu Aba alone.

Asked by a lawmaker whether China had ever interfered with or followed Taiwanese coast guard or military aircraft around Itu Aba, Tsai, who shares a common family name with the president, said it had happened.

“The activities of the Chinese communists’ ships and aircraft in the South China Sea are very frequent,” he added, without elaborating.

Taiwan also controls the Pratas Islands in the northern part of the South China Sea, and both China’s air force and navy regularly operate nearby to assert Beijing’s territorial claims over Taiwan, which the government in Taipei rejects.

Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim other parts of the South China Sea in dispute with both China and Taiwan. – Reuters

Britain’s finance sector faces long haul to gender parity, report says

REUTERS

LONDON – Britain’s banks and other financial firms are boosting the number of women in senior management roles, but unless the pace quickens, it will take until 2038 to reach gender parity, the finance ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry’s Women in Finance Charter was launched in 2016, with signatory firms committing voluntarily to raising the number of women in senior roles by setting their own targets.

The proportion of women in senior finance roles climbed to 35% in 2023, from 34% a year earlier, for a seventh straight year of increases, the ministry said.

Over 400 firms employing 1.3 million people have signed up to the charter.

“I encourage signatories to continue to actively pursue measurable and ambitious targets, and remain accountable for progress against them,” junior treasury minister Charlotte Vere said in a statement.

“Whilst this progress is commendable, we need to move quicker: at the current pace, we won’t achieve gender parity until 2038,” said Amanda Blanc, group CEO of insurer Aviva and a Women in Finance Champion, who was appointed to spearhead the charter’s efforts.

Think tank New Financial, which co-authored the update, said the UK, global and investment banking sectors had the biggest roles to play in shifting the numbers for the whole industry, as did the largest employers.

“If these firms can set a sustainable course towards parity, the face of the entire industry will change,” New Financial partner Yasmine Chinwala said.

Parliament’s Treasury Committee said in its report on Sexism in the City earlier this month that the charter’s scope was too narrowly focused on senior management, and needed to include talent to support long-term improvements in diversity.

The lawmakers recommended that the charter’s aim of linking executive pay to delivering diversity targets be made on a “comply or explain” basis, meaning boards would have to explain publicly if this commitment was not being adhered to. – Reuters

EU leaders to discuss using profits from Russian assets to arm Ukraine

Army soldier figurines are displayed in front of the Ukrainian and Russian flag colors background in this illustration taken, Feb. 13, 2022. — REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION

BRUSSELS – European Union leaders will discuss a plan on Thursday to use billions of euros in profits from frozen Russian financial assets to buy arms for Ukraine as they try to bolster Kyiv in its fight against Moscow’s invasion.

The bloc’s 27 national leaders will also debate how Europe can do more to defend itself and boost its arms industry, reflecting fears that Russia may not stop at Ukraine and the U.S. may not be such a staunch protector of Europe in future.

In a two-day summit in Brussels due to start at 1200 GMT on Thursday, they will also tackle topics as diverse as the war in Gaza, the prospect of opening EU membership talks with Bosnia and farmers’ protests.

But Ukraine will top the agenda, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy joining the leaders via video link.

EU leaders have voiced increasing alarm about the state of the war in recent weeks, with ammunition-starved Ukrainian forces struggling to hold back Russian troops and a $60 billion military aid package for Kyiv stuck in the US Congress.

“Into the third year of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we face a pivotal moment,” Charles Michel, president of the European Council of EU leaders, wrote in his invitation letter for the summit.

“Urgency, intensity and unwavering determination are imperative.”

The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, this week proposed taking profits from Russian assets frozen in Europe after Moscow’s invasion and transferring some 90% to an EU-run fund used to finance arms for Kyiv.

The Commission estimated the profits on the assets – various Russian central bank securities and cash – could be between 2.5 billion euros ($2.73 billion) and 3 billion euros per year.

The assets are frozen by EU central securities depositories, mainly Belgium’s Euroclear. Ukraine would also receive the 25% tax that the Belgian government puts on the profits.

Russia on Wednesday described the EU plan as banditism and theft.

The idea of using the proceeds to benefit Ukraine enjoys broad support among EU governments, diplomats say. But using the money to buy weapons is more problematic for some countries.

 

EYES ON ORBAN

Much attention will focus on the reaction of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who maintains closer ties to Moscow than other EU leaders and opposes sending arms to Ukraine.

The proposal also raises questions for neutral or militarily non-aligned countries such as Malta, Austria and Ireland.

No final decision is expected at the summit. But leaders will indicate how the EU should proceed with the proposal.

A draft summit declaration said leaders “reviewed progress” on using the revenues “for the benefit of Ukraine, including possibly for funding military support” and asks EU bodies to “take work forward”.

It also says the EU “is committed to increasing its overall defence readiness and capabilities to match its needs and ambition” amid “rising threats and security challenges”.

It invites officials to scrutinize a European Commission plan to boost Europe’s arms industry by incentivizing EU countries to buy European, and club together on joint projects.

The leaders are expected to discuss the vexed question of how greater defense spending should be financed.

French President Emmanuel Macron and others have embraced a proposal by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for European defense bonds. But other countries, including fiscally cautious Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden, are skeptical.

On the war in Gaza, diplomats have been struggling to find a balance in the text that satisfies close allies of Israel such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria as well as strong advocates of Palestinians such as Spain, Ireland and Belgium.

“The text we have now is a fragile vase. I hope this fragile construct will stay,” said a senior EU diplomat. – Reuters

Reddit prices IPO at top of indicated range to raise $748 million

STOCK IMAGE | Image by Vectonauta on Freepik

Social media platform Reddit priced its initial public offering at the top of its targeted range of $31 to $34 per share on Wednesday, raising $748 million and giving the ailing technology IPO market a much-needed boost.

Reddit and its existing shareholders sold 22 million shares at $34 a share, giving Reddit a valuation of about $6.4 billion.

To tap retail investors, Reddit reserved 8% of the total shares on offer for eligible users and moderators on its platform, certain board members and friends and family members of its employees and directors.

Excluding the shares sold by existing shareholders, Reddit raised gross proceeds of $519.4 million from its IPO. Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that Reddit and its bankers were guiding they could price the IPO at the top of the indicated range or above.

The top-end pricing is a vindication of the company’s decision to lower its valuation expectations, after it was valued at $10 billion in a private fundraising round in 2021.

The successful offerings of Reddit and Astera Labs could boost the lackluster tech IPO market after two years of largely subdued activity. Earlier this year, the stock market launches of other big names including KKR-backed BrightSpring and sportswear brand Amer Sports received a lukewarm reception from investors.

 

LOYAL USER BASE

Despite the loyalty of many of its users, Reddit has lost money every year since its launch in 2005 and has lagged the commercial success of contemporaries such as Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Twitter, now known as X.

The focus of many Reddit users on niche subjects and the platform’s somewhat loose approach to content moderation has been a sticking point with some advertisers.

As it looks for new revenue sources, Reddit in February unveiled a $66 million contract to provide artificial intelligence training data to Alphabet’s Google.

Reddit, however, said last week the US Federal Trade Commission was conducting an inquiry focused on the company’s sale, licensing, and sharing of user-generated content with third parties to train AI models.

Reddit relies on volunteers from its user base to moderate the content posted on its forums.

Moderators can decide to withdraw from their duty at any time, as in 2023, when several quit in protest over Reddit’s decision to charge third-party app developers for access to its data.

Reddit’s 100,000 online forums, dubbed “subreddits,” allow conversations on topics ranging from “the sublime to the ridiculous, the trivial to the existential, the comic to the serious,” according to co-founder and chief executive Steve Huffman.

The company’s influential communities are best known for the “meme-stock” saga of 2021 when several retail investors collaborated on Reddit’s “wallstreetbets” forum to buy shares of highly shorted companies such as video game retailer GameStop GME.N.

Reddit had an average of 73.1 million daily active “uniques” – users who use its platform at least once a day – in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2023, according to a regulatory filing.

Reddit’s shares are expected to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the ticker ‘RDDT’.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America are the lead underwriters for Reddit’s offering. Morgan Stanley also won the lead role on Astera’s IPO. – Reuters

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