COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Volkswagen profit drops by half in 2020

Volkswagen said its 2020 adjusted operating profit nearly halved but said its car deliveries had recovered strongly in the fourth quarter.

The world's largest carmaker said full-year operating profit adjusted for diesel issues came in at 10 billion euros (US$12.17 billion), compared with 19.3 billion in 2019.

"The deliveries to customers of the Volkswagen Group continued to recover strongly in the fourth quarter and even exceeded the deliveries of the third quarter 2020," Volkswagen said.

Shares turned positive and were up 0.7% at 163.22 euros by 1040 GMT. Sales at the German carmaker rose 1.7% in December, while new car registrations by the sector as a whole in Europe dropped nearly 4%, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association showed.

Like its rivals, Volkswagen is facing several challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic as well as a global shortage of chips needed for production.

The automaker said on Thursday that it missed EU targets on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its passenger car fleet last year and faces a fine of more than 100 million euros. - Nampa/Reuters

Walmart expands vaccinations

Walmart Inc said it is preparing to offer Covid-19 vaccinations in seven more states, as well as in Chicago and Puerto Rico, expanding beyond the two states where its pharmacists are offering inoculations.

The move from the world’s largest retailer comes as US President Joe Biden races to accelerate a frustratingly slow vaccination campaign that has stranded about half of the nearly 40 million shots distributed in freezers rather than in arms.

Walmart will start providing inoculations in Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina and Texas as well as in Chicago and Puerto Rico, a company spokeswoman told Reuters on Thursday.

The shots will only be available to specific populations decided by each state and only at a handful of stores in each state. Walmart is already vaccinating healthcare workers in New Mexico and its home state of Arkansas.

Alabama’s health officer, Scott Harris, on Thursday said the state would partner with Walmart to provide Covid-19 vaccinations. Walmart confirmed that deal, which falls under a federal partnership that Biden on Thursday said would launch in early February. - Nampa/Reuters

United Airlines launches new employee exit deals

United Airlines has offered employees fresh deals with pay and health benefits to leave the company, according to a memo seen by Reuters, part of a drive to reduce headcount and cut costs as it awaits a rebound in pandemic-hit travel demand.

Chicago-based United said that it planned to offer voluntary leave options for employees as part of an effort to cut about US$2 billion of annual costs through 2023, but did not provide details.

Asked about the offering, a United spokeswoman said: “Given the continued, near-term variations in travel demand, we’ll look for new ways to give our employees flexibility by introducing voluntary options that help reduce costs and may reduce the number of furloughs of recalled employees.”

United offered a series of voluntary exit packages for frontline employees last year but they did not include pay.

It ended up furloughing around 13 000 employees last October when an initial round of payroll aid for airlines that banned job cuts expired. - Nampa/Reuters

IBM revenue disappoints as sales mark rare decline

IBM Corp missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, hurt by a rare sales decline in its software unit as clients shied away from longer-term deals due to pandemic-induced economic uncertainty.

The 109-year-old firm is preparing to split itself into two public companies and the namesake firm will focus on the so-called hybrid cloud, where companies use a combination of their own data centres and leased resources to manage and process data.

Revenue from its cloud-computing business rose 10% to a record US$7.5 billion in the fourth quarter, with IBM saying it is confident of returning to sales growth in 2021 and expected revenue to grow in mid-single digits after the separation.

That was not enough to convince investors, however, as the company’s shares dropped 6.7% to US$122.98 in extended trading after IBM’s fourth consecutive quarter of sales decline.

“Our performance reflects the fact that our clients continue to deal with the effects of the pandemic and broader uncertainty of the macro environment,” said Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna, who took helm last April. - Nampa/Reuters

Amazon seeks to halt union election

Amazon.com Inc has filed a motion asking the US National Labour Relations Board to halt the union election at its Bessemer, Alabama warehouse, scheduled to start Feb. 8.

The company also requested a review of an earlier labour board decision to hold the election by mail due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a filing dated Jan. 21.

Amazon's first US union election since 2014 was scheduled here to begin with the mailing of ballots in early February and a vote count starting March 30.

The online retail giant, which is the second largest private employer in the United States after Walmart Inc, has long avoided unionization and has trained managers to spot organizing activity.

The company alleged multiple gaps in labour board precedent, errors made by the acting regional director, and missed opportunities for mail-ballot improvements to back its motion. The union declined to comment on the matter. - Nampa/Reuters