COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

US airlines to support sustainable aviation Major US airlines plan to back a voluntary industry target of 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel in 2030 as the White House looks to reduce aviation sector emissions, sources told Reuters.Airlines for America, an industry trade group, in March had set a 2030 goal of producing and deploying 2 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). SAF, made from feedstocks such as used cooking oil and animal fat, at present accounts for only a miniscule amount of overall jet fuel use.The group declined to comment Wednesday. A White House virtual event on sustainable aviation is set for Thursday, industry and government officials said.The target for sustainable aviation fuel will be detailed at that event, sources briefed on the matter said.The airline group, which represents United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and others, will pledge to work with the US government and others to help rapidly expand production and deployment of "commercially viable" SAF, sources said. -Nampa/ReutersLloyd's of London reports H1 profit Lloyd of London swung to a first-half pre-tax profit of 1.4 billion pounds (US$1.93 billion), helped by rising premium rates, the commercial insurance market said.Lloyd's, which reports the combined results of its 100-odd syndicate members, recorded a loss of 400 million pounds for the same period a year ago.Insurers suffered in 2020 due to hefty Covid-19 claims such as event cancellation and trade credit cover. But after writing exclusions into contracts for the pandemic and raising premiums, they have performed strongly this year. Premium rates rose 9.9%, Lloyd's said in a statement.It launched its first sustainability strategy last year and is trying to put more of its business online and improve its record on diversity. "Lloyd has successfully repositioned the market for sustainable, profitable growth," CEO John Neal said."We are making great strides on all our strategic priorities which focus on improving the culture in the market, the Future at Lloyd’s digital transformation, and sustainability, climate and inclusion."-Nampa/ReutersSea looking to raise US$6.3 blnE-commerce and gaming company Sea Ltd is looking to raise US$6.3 billion in a share and convertible bond sale in Southeast Asia's largest ever capital raising, tapping growing investor interest in the region.This is the second major fund raising in less than a year for the US$185 billion company, which is seeking to scale up its global expansion by testing out possible new markets, and the latest among a slew of deals in Southeast Asia.Sea, known for its Shopee e-commerce platform, is looking to sell 11 million American Depository Receipts with the option to offer 1.65 million more as part of a so called greenshoe option, the Singapore-headquartered company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.It is also raising US$2.5 billion in a convertible bond that has a US$375 million green shoe attached. At Sea's closing stock price of US$343.8 in New York on Wednesday, the share sale could raise up to US$3.8 billion.The combined deal would be the largest ever capital raising for a Southeast Asian company, according to Refinitiv data.Sea is "not really burning through cash", Aequitas Research director Sumeet Singh said, adding the latest raising "looks opportunistic rather than something that the company needs."-Nampa/ReutersTesla plans energy trading teamElectric vehicle maker Tesla Inc is looking to staff an energy trading team to support its battery and renewable power projects, according to Tesla's website and an employee post on the career site LinkedIn.com.The company has expanded operations to include home solar and large battery storage facilities, which currently account for a small portion of its total revenue. It also recently applied to begin marketing electricity in Texas."I'm building a new team at Tesla focused on Energy Trading and Market Operations," according to a LinkedIn post this week by Julian Lamy, who described himself as a senior optimization software engineer for Tesla."Tesla Energy is on their way to becoming a distributed energy provider at the residential level as well as utility scale," said John McClellan, a managing director at recruitment firm Aurex Group.The company plans to use an in-house automated trading platform, called Autobidder, for "bidding batteries into multiple wholesale energy markets," according to the job description on Tesla's website. - Nampa/ReutersJapan Airlines plans to raise US$2.7 blnJapan Airlines Co Ltd said it planned to raise around 300 billion yen (US$2.7 billion) of subordinated loans and hybrid financing to help it weather the prolonged impact of the coronavirus pandemic.Details of the funding plan will be announced today, the company said in a statement after news organisations including Reuters earlier reported on the plan, citing sources."We are considering various ways to secure financing, in order to prepare for the long-term effects of the spread of coronavirus infections, and in order to achieve the growth targets laid out in JAL's medium term business plan," the airline said.JAL last month posted a first-quarter operating loss of 82.65 billion yen, an improvement from a year earlier, as pandemic-related cost cuts took effect and travel demand rose from a very low base. -Nampa/Reuters

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

Please login to leave a comment

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

Please login to leave a comment

Login