Company news in brief

PwC investigation finds accounting fraud at Steinhoff South African retailer Steinhoff said an independent report had found it had overstated profits over several years in a US$7.4 billion accounting fraud involving a small group of top executives and outsiders. In the country's biggest corporate scandal, an investigation carried out by PwC found the firm recorded fictitious or irregular transactions totalling 6.5 billion euros (US$7.4 billion) over a period covering the 2009 and 2017 financial years, according to a summary of the findings posted on the Steinhoff company website. Investigators found that a small group of former Steinhoff executives and individuals from outside the company, led by an identified "senior management executive," implemented the deals, which substantially inflated the group's profit and asset values, the summary said. Steinhoff did not name the individuals but said those implicated were no longer employed by the company. A company spokeswoman declined to give further details. The scandal has wiped out R216 billion from Steinhoff's market value since December 2017, a dramatic turnaround of fortunes for a company that was once a must-have in fund mangers' portfolios. – Nampa/ReutersSA court blocks AMCU plan for industry-wide strikeSouth Africa's labour court has rejected a request by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) to hold an industry-wide strike covering the platinum and gold sectors, Anglogold Ashanti, Anglo American Platinum and Lonmin said on Friday. AMCU has been on strike at Sibanye-Stillwater's gold operations since mid-November in a pay dispute. It wanted to extend the strike to at least 11 other mining firms including Anglo American's gold and platinum operations, Harmony Gold and Lonmin. The union said it was shocked and would appeal the decision, adding that "secondary strikes are an integral part of the constitutional right to strike". In a written judgement, labour court judge Connie Prinsloo said an extended strike would put the entire economy at risk. "This factor certainly outweighs the negligible effect the secondary strike may have on Sibanye and therefore renders it unreasonable," the judge said. – Nampa/ReutersFord to cut jobs in Germany, others in UKUS automaker Ford plans to cut more than 5 000 jobs in Germany and will reduce its workforce in Britain as well as it seeks to return to profit in Europe, the company said on Friday. Ford has offered voluntary redundancy programmes for employees in Germany and Britain, it said in a statement. This is part of a turnaround plan announced by the carmaker in January that would involve thousands of job cuts, looking at plant closures and discontinuing loss-making vehicle lines.Ford also announced it would streamline its lineup by "improving or exiting less profitable vehicle lines". Ford Europe has been losing money for years and pressure to restructure its operations has increased since arch-rival General Motors raised profits by selling its European Opel and Vauxhall brands to France's Peugeot. – Nampa/ReutersFacebook shares drop as execs quit Shares of Facebook Inc fell as much as 5% on Friday to their lowest in nearly three months after the surprise departure of chief product officer Chris Cox, at a time when the company is again being scrutinized over its handling of privacy, extremism and political content. Cox, a Wall Street favorite who has worked with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for 13 years, led the social network's business development team and helped define the business model of its messaging service WhatsApp. Also departing is WhatsApp vice president Chris Daniels, adding to a string of recent high-profile exits from Facebook's product and communications teams. Facebook, Twitter and Google were also facing another round of public discussions over extremist content on their platforms on Friday, after video footage of mass shootings in New Zealand was live streamed and widely shared online. Facebook has been investing heavily to weed out fake content from its platform and has hired thousands of employees for moderating content and suspended hundreds of suspicious accounts in different countries. BMW warns of difficult 2019 BMW will step up cost cutting in anticipation of a difficult year, the German carmaker said on Friday, as it reported a 7.9% fall in 2018 operating profit due to higher investments in electric cars and currency headwinds.As a result, BMW will not make a successor to the 3 series Gran Turismo model, it said. BMW's 2018 earnings before interest and taxes fell to 9.12 billion euros (US$10.33 billion), just ahead of the 8.94 billion euros forecast by analysts in a poll. The carmaker said its return on sales for its automotive division fell to 7.2% from 9.2% a year earlier, as investments in electric cars and a price war triggered by new emissions tests weighed on profit. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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