Company news in brief
Lufthansa wants to cut 22 000 jobs
Lufthansa said on Monday it was seeking to strike agreements with worker representatives by June 22 on how to make cuts equivalent to 22 000 full-time positions.
The airline's flight operations will be affected with a calculated 5 000 jobs, 600 of which will be pilots, 2 600 flight attendants and 1 500 ground staff, Lufthansa said in a statement.
A further 1 400 jobs at headquarters and in administration at other Group companies will also be affected. Lufthansa Technik has a worldwide surplus of about 4 500 jobs, 2 500 of them in Germany and in the LSG Group's catering business 8 300 jobs are affected worldwide.
"We want to keep as many colleagues on board as possible throughout the crisis and avoid layoffs," Lufthansa said.
Staff overcapacity can be partially compensated for by short-time working, collective agreements to reduce weekly working hours or other cost-cutting measures. – Nampa/Reuters
Hertz to sell up to US$500 mln in new shares
Hertz Global Holdings Inc will sell up to US$500 million in new shares, the car rental firm said on Monday, as it takes advantage of a strong rally in its stock since it filed for bankruptcy last month.
Hertz said its shares would be eventually "worthless", but the stock sale, part of the US$1 billion that the company announced last week, could benefit creditors seeking to recover more of their claims during the bankruptcy process.
The company's stock closed at 55 US cents on May 26, since then it has risen more than five-fold in value. The shares, which were down 23.3% at US$2.17 in premarket trading on Monday, are set for their best month on record.
Investors, many of them amateur traders who use apps including Robinhood, are betting on how high they can push the stock before it collapses.
Record savings, stimulus checks, low interest rates and even lockdown boredom amid the coronavirus outbreak have all been cited by market pundits as possible explanations for the extraordinary rise in the company's share price. – Nampa/Reuters
Ericsson sees 190 mln 5G subscriptions
Sweden's Ericsson has almost doubled its global forecast for 5G mobile subscriptions to 190 million by the end of this year, due to faster than expected uptake in China.
The telecoms equipment maker, which had previously forecast 100 million subscriptions by the end of 2020, said it had made small downward adjustments for other parts of the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"For example, several spectrum auctions in Europe have been delayed, with a slower uptake of 5G subscriptions in the near term expected as a result," it said in its biannual Mobility Report.
Ericsson nudged down its 5G subscriptions forecast for 2020 and 2021 in North America, but maintained 2025 forecasts for both Europe and North America.
It also confirmed it had raised its forecast for global 5G subscriptions to 2.8 billion by 2025, or around 30% of all mobile subscriptions, from 2.6 billion previously. – Nampa/Reuters
Walmart partners with Shopify
Walmart said Monday it was teaming up with e-commerce platform Shopify to expand its online marketplace in a ramped-up challenge to Amazon for third-party sellers.
The deal allows the estimated one million US businesses using Shopify's platform to sell on Walmart.com without any listing fees.
The move could boost Walmart's efforts to compete with Amazon, whose own marketplace of third-party sellers makes up more than half of the sales of the e-commerce leader.
It also comes with Amazon facing antitrust scrutiny in the US and other markets over allegations that it improperly used data from third-party sellers to boost sales of its own products.
Shopify said the deal was the first time Walmart has partnered with a commerce platform allowing small to medium-sized businesses to sell through its online marketplace. – Nampa/AFP
BP to take up to US$17.5 bn hit
British energy giant BP said Monday that it will take a hit of up to US$17.5 billion in the second quarter as "sustained" coronavirus fallout ravages global oil demand.
The company, fresh from outlining plans to axe almost 10 000 jobs on Covid-19 fallout, said in a statement that it will suffer a negative impact of between US$13 billion and US$17.5 billion in non-cash impairments and write-offs.
BP also cut its long-term oil price forecast after the deadly virus outbreak slammed the brakes on the global economy and hurt oil prices this year.
"With the Covid-19 pandemic having continued during the second quarter of 2020, BP now sees the prospect of the pandemic having an enduring impact on the global economy, with the potential for weaker demand for energy for a sustained period," BP said, adding the virus was set to accelerate a transition to lower carbon energy.
The group continued: "BP has revised its long-term price assumptions, lowering them and extending the period covered to 2050.” – Nampa/AFP
Lufthansa said on Monday it was seeking to strike agreements with worker representatives by June 22 on how to make cuts equivalent to 22 000 full-time positions.
The airline's flight operations will be affected with a calculated 5 000 jobs, 600 of which will be pilots, 2 600 flight attendants and 1 500 ground staff, Lufthansa said in a statement.
A further 1 400 jobs at headquarters and in administration at other Group companies will also be affected. Lufthansa Technik has a worldwide surplus of about 4 500 jobs, 2 500 of them in Germany and in the LSG Group's catering business 8 300 jobs are affected worldwide.
"We want to keep as many colleagues on board as possible throughout the crisis and avoid layoffs," Lufthansa said.
Staff overcapacity can be partially compensated for by short-time working, collective agreements to reduce weekly working hours or other cost-cutting measures. – Nampa/Reuters
Hertz to sell up to US$500 mln in new shares
Hertz Global Holdings Inc will sell up to US$500 million in new shares, the car rental firm said on Monday, as it takes advantage of a strong rally in its stock since it filed for bankruptcy last month.
Hertz said its shares would be eventually "worthless", but the stock sale, part of the US$1 billion that the company announced last week, could benefit creditors seeking to recover more of their claims during the bankruptcy process.
The company's stock closed at 55 US cents on May 26, since then it has risen more than five-fold in value. The shares, which were down 23.3% at US$2.17 in premarket trading on Monday, are set for their best month on record.
Investors, many of them amateur traders who use apps including Robinhood, are betting on how high they can push the stock before it collapses.
Record savings, stimulus checks, low interest rates and even lockdown boredom amid the coronavirus outbreak have all been cited by market pundits as possible explanations for the extraordinary rise in the company's share price. – Nampa/Reuters
Ericsson sees 190 mln 5G subscriptions
Sweden's Ericsson has almost doubled its global forecast for 5G mobile subscriptions to 190 million by the end of this year, due to faster than expected uptake in China.
The telecoms equipment maker, which had previously forecast 100 million subscriptions by the end of 2020, said it had made small downward adjustments for other parts of the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"For example, several spectrum auctions in Europe have been delayed, with a slower uptake of 5G subscriptions in the near term expected as a result," it said in its biannual Mobility Report.
Ericsson nudged down its 5G subscriptions forecast for 2020 and 2021 in North America, but maintained 2025 forecasts for both Europe and North America.
It also confirmed it had raised its forecast for global 5G subscriptions to 2.8 billion by 2025, or around 30% of all mobile subscriptions, from 2.6 billion previously. – Nampa/Reuters
Walmart partners with Shopify
Walmart said Monday it was teaming up with e-commerce platform Shopify to expand its online marketplace in a ramped-up challenge to Amazon for third-party sellers.
The deal allows the estimated one million US businesses using Shopify's platform to sell on Walmart.com without any listing fees.
The move could boost Walmart's efforts to compete with Amazon, whose own marketplace of third-party sellers makes up more than half of the sales of the e-commerce leader.
It also comes with Amazon facing antitrust scrutiny in the US and other markets over allegations that it improperly used data from third-party sellers to boost sales of its own products.
Shopify said the deal was the first time Walmart has partnered with a commerce platform allowing small to medium-sized businesses to sell through its online marketplace. – Nampa/AFP
BP to take up to US$17.5 bn hit
British energy giant BP said Monday that it will take a hit of up to US$17.5 billion in the second quarter as "sustained" coronavirus fallout ravages global oil demand.
The company, fresh from outlining plans to axe almost 10 000 jobs on Covid-19 fallout, said in a statement that it will suffer a negative impact of between US$13 billion and US$17.5 billion in non-cash impairments and write-offs.
BP also cut its long-term oil price forecast after the deadly virus outbreak slammed the brakes on the global economy and hurt oil prices this year.
"With the Covid-19 pandemic having continued during the second quarter of 2020, BP now sees the prospect of the pandemic having an enduring impact on the global economy, with the potential for weaker demand for energy for a sustained period," BP said, adding the virus was set to accelerate a transition to lower carbon energy.
The group continued: "BP has revised its long-term price assumptions, lowering them and extending the period covered to 2050.” – Nampa/AFP
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article