Company news in brief

Alibaba offers subsidies as shopping suffersChina's Alibaba Group will provide 1 billion yuan (US$144 million) in spending subsidies for a March online shopping festival to counter the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.Alibaba's announcement, made in a social media post yesterday, comes as the e commerce giant wrestles with depressed consumer spending in China, which is in a state of semi-quarantine as a result of the coronavirus epidemic. – Nampa/ReutersHP rejects Xerox's raised takeover offerHP Inc yesterday rejected Xerox Holdings Corp's raised bid of about US$35 billion, saying that the offer still undervalued the personal computer maker.The US printer maker had increased its offer last month by US$2 to US$24 per share, following rejections of its previous buyout offers by the PC maker."Our message to HP shareholders is clear: the Xerox offer undervalues HP and disproportionately benefits Xerox shareholders at the expense of HP shareholders,” Chip Bergh, chair of HP's board, said yesterday."The Xerox offer would leave our shareholders with an investment in a combined company that is burdened with an irresponsible level of debt and which would subsequently require unrealistic, unachievable synergies that would jeopardize the entire company," he said.Xerox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Following the raised offer, HP had said it would implement a poison pill plan to stop investors from amassing more than 20% stake in the company. – Nampa/ReutersToyota recalls 3.2 mln vehicles worldwideToyota Motor Corp said Wednesday it is now recalling 3.2 million vehicles worldwide to address a fuel pump issue that could result in engines stalling.The Japanese automaker first said in January it would recall 696 000 US vehicles with a fuel pump that may stop operating and lead to stalling of the engine. Dealers will replace the fuel pumps with new ones.Toyota said the recall now covers 1.8 million US Toyota and Lexus vehicles in total in the United States, including older vehicles from as far back as the 2013 model year – and more than 1 million vehicles than it announced in January.Toyota began a probe into the fuel pump issue in June. – Nampa/ReutersIntu fails to secure vital fundingOne of Britain's biggest shopping mall operators, Intu Properties, has failed to secure vital new funding and said on Wednesday it was in danger of breaching debt commitments due in July because of the tough climate for UK retailers.Intu said it would seek other sources of financing, including looking at selling assets, and take mitigating actions which may include negotiating debt waivers where appropriate.The company was stuck with a 4.5 billion pound debt pile at the end of 2019 and had planned to raise between 1 billion and 1.5 billion pounds to shore up its balance sheet after being hit by high-profile failures in the retail industry and rent renegotiations.At its peak in 2006, Intu had a market value of nearly 13 billion pounds which had plummeted to around 81 million pounds on Wednesday.The company said that, apart from the challenges caused by tenants going bust, its income has been "resilient in what has been a challenging year for retail and retail property". – Nampa/ReutersFlybe dealt final blow by virusBritish regional airline Flybe crashed into bankruptcy yesterday after the deadly coronavirus proved to be the final nail in its coffin.The biggest operator of UK domestic flights said it has sunk into administration - a last-ditch process aimed at salvaging at least some of the company.And with the carrier long blighted by fierce competition, volatile fuels costs and a weak pound linked to the uncertainty over Brexit, Flybe's announcement to ground all flights now places some 2 000 jobs at risk.An airline source told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency that sliding demand owing to COVID-19 had "made a difficult situation worse".A slew of airlines - including British Airways and Ryanair - announced Monday the cancellation of several hundred flights, in particular to Italy, as the novel coronavirus spreads throughout the globe. – Nampa/AFPPetroChina suspends gas contractsPetroChina has suspended some natural gas imports, including on liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments and on gas imported via pipelines, as a seasonal plunge in demand adds to the impact on consumption from the coronavirus outbreak.The company issued the force majeure notice to suppliers of piped gas and also to at least one LNG supplier, though details of the force majeure notice could not immediately be confirmed.PetroChina, China's top gas producer and piped gas supplier, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.China is one of the world's top gas and LNG importers, so any cancellation of purchase is expected to have a big impact on prices, traders said.Force majeure is a clause in contracts, typically referring to unexpected external circumstances that prevent a party to a contract from meeting their obligations.PetroChina meets 40% of its total gas needs through imports and about 70% of imports are through piped gas from central Asia, Myanmar and Russia while the rest are through LNG, one of the sources said. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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