Company news in brief

Ex-Old Mutual boss extends court fightFormer Old Mutual boss Peter Moyo has appealed against a court decision which overturned his temporary reinstatement as chief executive, in a move that will drag out a damaging court battle with the South African insurance group.Moyo was suspended in May and dismissed shortly afterwards by Old Mutual in a dispute over an alleged conflict of interest. Although he was subsequently temporarily reinstated by a judge, that decision was itself overturned this month following an appeal by Old Mutual.Moyo and his legal team have now appealed that ruling. "We have filed it," Eric Mabuza, Moyo's lawyer, said by telephone, adding that this was done on Wednesday.Old Mutual said in a statement it would oppose the petition.The court's decision to overturn Moyo's temporary reinstatement was a much-needed win for Old Mutual after a series of embarrassing blows. It also removed a block on the insurer from looking for a new CEO. – Nampa/ReutersEskom appointing boards for breakupThe new chief of South Africa's Eskom is in the process of appointing boards for the separate generation, transmission and distribution units to be formed in the planned break-up of the state power utility, he said on Friday.South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said last year Eskom would be split up in order to open up the power sector to more competition.Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said the three units will be run as divisions with their own boards as a means to prepare for when they eventually become separate entities.The boards will initially be staffed by current Eskom managers, with De Ruyter hoping appointments can be finalised by the end of this week."We should be able to finalise these appointments, hopefully during the course of next [this] week," he said. "Once that is done we can start with running those three divisions like businesses with full accountability." – Nampa/ReutersChina's Huawei says resumes productionChinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has resumed production of goods including consumer devices and carrier equipment and operations are running normally, a company spokesman said yesterday.The company restarted manufacturing in line with a special exemption that allows certain critical industries to remain in operation, despite the government's call to halt all work in some cities and provinces due to the coronavirus outbreak.The spokesman said most of the production was in Dongguan, a city in the southern Guangdong province. – Nampa/ReutersExxon quarterly profit falls Exxon Mobil Corp on Friday reported a 5.2% drop in fourth-quarter profit on weaknesses in chemicals and refining and flat oil and gas output, with asset sales helping to stem the decline.Oil companies last quarter suffered from weaker prices for their products, and in Exxon's case it has been spending heavily to boost its oil output to reverse production declines.Exxon’s full-year profits of US$14.3 billion fell short of the potential US$25 billion that Woods forecast last March at the company’s investor day.Exxon is betting that a growing global middle class will drive demand for its products despite what Woods called the "short-term impact" of excess supply. "We believe strongly that investing in the trough of this cycle has some real advantages," he said.Analysts said the weakness across its businesses means Exxon will still have to borrow to cover its shareholder dividend. Investors have been pushing oil companies to improve their returns by increasing dividends or share buybacks. Exxon has frozen its share repurchases except for offsetting dilution for employee awards. – Nampa/ReutersChevron swings to quarterly lossChevron Corp on Friday posted a fourth-quarter loss as the oil major booked an impairment charge of US$10.4 billion related largely to a deepwater Gulf of Mexico project, shale gas assets in Appalachia and the Kitmat LNG project in Canada.The company had in December warned of up to US$11 billion in asset writedowns and said it was considering the sale of its stake in the Appalachian shale and in the proposed Kitmat project.Net loss attributable to Chevron was UAS$6.61 billion, or US$3.51 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of US$3.73 billion, or US$1.95 per share, a year earlier.The company also booked a gain of $1.2 billion in the quarter on the sale of its U.K. Central North Sea assets.Chevron's net oil equivalent production was flat at 3.08 million barrels per day in the quarter, while average sales prices fell in the United States and internationally. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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