Company news in brief

Kenya's Nation Media’s profit tumblesNation Media Group posted a 20.7% fall in 2019 pretax profit, hurt by a softer economy and problems among key advertisers, Kenya's biggest news publisher said on Monday.The publisher of the Daily Nation newspaper among other leading titles and operator of broadcast stations said pretax profit fell to 1.3 billion shillings (US$12.2 million).The government cancelled the licences of online sports betting companies in the middle of last year, citing concerns about the social impact of widespread gambling, cutting off a key source of advertising revenue for media companies.Nation Media, which also operates in neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda, said there would be no final dividend but instead offered investors a bonus share issue of one for every 10 held.The company will invest some of its cash reserves to develop new revenue streams from digital media, it said, as scope for growth in its print business narrows, and as it seeks to navigate through the Covid-19 pandemic. – Nampa/ReutersNissan to close global HQNissan Motor Co said yesterday it will shut its global headquarters in Japan for 16 days through early May to contain the spread of the coronavirus, even though the government has permitted keeping workplaces open to get the economy running.Prime minister Shinzo Abe has allowed manufacturing plants to keep operating under a state of emergency that was declared this month and broadened last week, but Nissan and its rivals had already suspended output at many of their factories due to plummeting global demand.Nissan is the latest Japanese company to shutter its global headquarters to reduce the number of staff commuting, as the Covid-19 infections in the country increased to around 1 ,000 this week.Canon Inc and Toshiba also announced similar measures earlier this month.Nissan said that 15 000 employees at its headquarters in Yokohama and main R&D centre in nearby Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, would be required to take leave for 16 days from next Monday through Japan's "Golden Week" holiday that starts on May 4. – Nampa/ReutersGE enters into US$15 bln loanGeneral Electric Co entered into a revolving credit agreement for US$15 billion, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.The current agreement is set to mature on April 17, 2023 and refinances the company's prior US$20 billion revolving credit facility that was scheduled to mature in May 2021.The reduced loan size is a testimony to a changing bank landscape where companies seek to get better compensated for the risk they take to lend as volatility rattles the markets amid the Covid-19 pandemic. – Nampa/ReutersCarrefour halves dividendCarrefour, Europe's largest retailer, said on Monday it was halving its 2019 dividend and would hold its May 29 annual shareholders meeting behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak."Given the exceptional context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carrefour’s board of directors ... decided to reduce by 50% the dividend proposed for 2019... Thus, the dividend will be 0.23 euro per share, versus 0.46 euro per share initially planned and 0.46 euro per share paid in 2019 for 2018," Carrefour said in a statement. – Nampa/ReutersBHP holds iron ore output outlookBHP Group yesterday reported a 6.3% rise in third-quarter iron ore production that slightly missed analyst estimates, and maintained its iron ore forecast despite global economic disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak.The world's largest listed miner warned, however, that global steel production excluding China could drop sharply this year in light of the pandemic, and that capital spending in 2021 would be lower than its current outlook of $8 billion.The company kept its annual outlook for iron ore production unchanged at 273-286 million tonnes but said petroleum output would likely hit the bottom end of previous guidance of 110-116 million barrels of oil equivalent.The coronavirus crisis has upended economic activity globally, but BHP has so far maintained that most of its operations remain unaffected by the pandemic despite a "small number" of its 72 000 employees testing positive for Covid-19.Peer Rio Tinto Ltd, last week reported higher-than-expected first-quarter iron ore production, but cut its forecast for annual copper output, while Brazilian miner Vale SA cut its iron ore forecast on Friday due to coronavirus restrictions. – Nampa/ReutersHSBC cuts top investment bank jobsHSBC has cut a number of top management roles in its investment bank, memos seen by Reuters showed, a sign that chief executive Noel Quinn is pressing on with plans to shake up the group despite having put a wider job cut programme on hold.The CEO last month announced a temporary halt to plans for 35 000 redundancies across the bank because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.Quinn, who took on the permanent CEO role in March after a lengthy audition process during which chairman Mark Tucker courted several external candidates, faces a nightmarish task to steer Europe's biggest bank through the crisis.HSBC's twin homes of Britain and China have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, while cuts to central bank interest rates worldwide will curb the bank's already pressured profits and it faces a shareholder revolt in Hong Kong over dividend halts. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-02

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Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-02

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