Company news in brief

Samsung to double Africa's share of its revenues

South Korea's Samsung Electronics plans to double the annual revenue contribution from its African markets to 20 percent of the firm's global total in the next five years, the head of its business on the continent said.

Sung Yoon said the electronics giant, which accounts for over half of the mobile handsets and televisions sold in African nations like Kenya, would set up shops and other retail channels in more African countries and cut product delivery times.

Telecom executives say more African consumers are turning to smartphones for more basic models, helped by faster Internet speeds, to use social media and banking applications.

Samsung faces competition in Africa from cheaper devices, undercutting even Samsung's more basic smartphones. Its rivals include China's Huawei Technologies and Tecno, owned by Hong Kong's Transsion Holdings. – Nampa/Reuters

Lego teams up with China’s Tencent

Danish toymaker Lego is teaming up with Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd to jointly develop online games and potentially a social network aimed at Chinese children.

Privately-owned Lego has seen a slowdown in sales growth in recent years, but the Chinese market has been a bright spot with sales growing 25%-30% in 2016.

It is competing with Barbie maker Mattel Inc and Hasbro, the firm behind My Little Pony, for a slice of the US$31 billion toys and games market in China.

Tencent is Asia's most valuable company with a market capitalisation of US$537 billion. – Nampa/Reuters

Shell OKs first UK North Sea project in six years

Royal Dutch Shell gave the green light on Monday for an expansion of the Penguins oil and gas field in the UK North Sea, its first major new project in the ageing basin in six years.

Shell said the development, which includes the construction of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, reaffirmed the Anglo-Dutch company's commitment to the region after it sold around half of its assets there last year.

The project will generate profits even with oil prices below US$40 a barrel, Shell said, making it competitive against other offshore basins and most of North America's shale production.

Shell gave no details on the cost of the project, which analysts at Bernstein last September estimated would be up to US$2.5 billion. – Nampa/Reuters

Renault reports rise in 2017 sales

French carmaker Renault reported a rise in its global sales for 2017 and expected more growth this year, thanks to expectations of higher sales in overseas markets and due to its renewed range of models.

Renault said the overall group sold 3.76 million vehicles in 2017, up 8.5% from the previous year, with record sales levels for its Renault and Dacia brands.

The company added it expected the global car market to grow by 2.5% in 2018 compared to 2017.

While the European car market was also expected to expand by 1%, the Russia market was seen growing by 10%, while Brazil, China and India were expected to have growth of between 5%-6%. – Nampa/Reuters