Company news in brief

Cook customers may face refund delay

Britain's aviation regulator said yesterday that refunds of bookings by Thomas Cook customers could take longer than expected as the regulator does not have all information needed from the collapsed travel firm.

The Civil Aviation Authority said it was launching a new, online payment system next week for bookings made by payments methods other than direct debit and would enable customers to get refunds within 60 days of receiving refund forms.

A total of 100 000 bookings made by direct debit would be refunded within the next 14 days.

53 flights were scheduled to operate yesterday, returning 8 000 people following the collapse of collapsed British travel firm Thomas Cook, the regulator said.

CAA said more than two-thirds of the total number of customers have been repatriated. – Nampa/Reuters

Banro suspends DR Congo activities

Canadian gold miner Banro has suspended activities of four DR Congo subsidiaries involving a force majeure due to security concerns, according to a letter from the company seen by AFP on Saturday.

The decision comes after four Banro employees were kidnapped by militia in the DRC's conflict-torn east in July.

Banro Corporation "has decided to suspend operations [in four of its] entities as well as the employment contract of all their employees due to a case of force majeure," CEO Brett Richards wrote in a letter to the ministry of labour.

The subsidiaries were named as: Namoya Mining SA, Lugushwa Mining SA, Kamituga Mining SA and Banro Mining Congo SA.

The four kidnapped Banro employees (one South African, one Zimbabwean and two Congolese) were released after Richards was "forced to sign a protocol" with rebel leader Sheikh Assani Hazaifa Mitende, and the Mayi-Mayimilita group, according to the letter. – Nampa/AFP

Nestle, P&G to miss deforestation goals

The world's two largest consumer goods companies, Nestle SA and Procter & Gamble Co, have acknowledged they will fall short of goals to use only those ingredients that do not contribute to deforestation in their products by 2020.

Nestle, known for products such as KitKat bars and Haagen-Dazs ice cream, says on its website that in 2010 it "made a commitment to no-deforestation" by 2020. But on Saturday, a Nestle spokeswoman said the company now believes it will stop short of that target.

Nestle now predicts "over 90% of our key agricultural commodities to be verified deforestation-free by the end of 2020, up from 77% at the beginning of 2019," the spokeswoman said.

Procter & Gamble, meanwhile, states on its website that it aims "to establish zero deforestation in our supply chain by 2020."

But on Sunday, a spokesman for the company, which uses palm oil in its Tide detergent and Olay skincare products, said it too would fail to meet the goal by next year. – Nampa/Reuters

Fiat to pay over inflated sales figures

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and its US unit will pay US$40 million for misleading investors about its monthly sales figures and will resolve a lengthy probe by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Over a five-year period from 2012 through 2016, Fiat Chrysler's US unit used a series of fraudulent moves to falsely report new vehicle sales and falsely tout a "streak" of uninterrupted monthly year-over-year sales growth, when it had actually ended in September 2013.

In July 2016, the company revised more than five years of monthly US vehicle sales figures to reflect a new reporting method, amid an investigation by federal authorities including the US Justice Department.

Dealers were paid to report fake sales in a company database using "cooperative marketing funds" to disguise the payments, the SEC said, adding the database "contained false vehicle sales entries, including false customer names and dates of sales."

Fiat Chrysler said Friday it "cooperated fully" and added it has "reviewed and refined its policies and procedures and is committed to maintaining strong controls regarding its sales reporting." The SEC settlement is not material to its financial results, it added. – Nampa/Reuters

Nasdaq cracks down on Chinese companies

Nasdaq Inc is cracking down on initial public offerings (IPOs) of small Chinese companies by tightening restrictions and slowing down their approval, according to regulatory filings, corporate executives and investment bankers.

Nasdaq's attempt to limit these stock market flotations comes as a growing number of them end up raising most of the capital in their IPO from Chinese sources, rather than from US investors.

The shares of most small Chinese companies trade thinly following their US listing, because most of them stay in the hands of a few insiders. Their low liquidity makes them unattractive to many large institutional investors, to whom Nasdaq is seeking to cater.

"One critical quality of our capital markets is that we provide non-discriminatory and fair access to all eligible companies. The statutory obligation of all US equity exchanges to do so creates a vibrant market that provides diverse investment opportunities for US investors," a Nasdaq spokeswoman said.

The Nasdaq spokeswoman declined to comment specifically on the impact of the changes in the listing rules on the US IPOs of small Chinese companies. – Nampa/Reuters