Company news in brief
SA looks for new viable airline
The South African government will work with unions to ensure that a new financially viable and competitive airline emerges from South
African Airways (SAA) business rescue process, the public enterprises ministry said on Tuesday.
The airline entered a form of bankruptcy protection in December, since then it has had to suspend all commercial passenger flights due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
In a virtual meeting with labour unions, the inter-ministerial committee on SAA reiterated that the government was not in a position to provide more capital to the state-owned airline, the ministry said in a statement.
"The unions agreed that in arriving at a solution for SAA, some jobs will be lost, and that employees that remain behind will need to sacrifice some of the unaffordable arrangements that had worsened the airline's financial position," the ministry said.
"It was agreed that social plans will be developed to cushion the effect of losing jobs on the affected employees." – Nampa/Reuters
Apple expands services business in Africa
Apple Inc on Tuesday said it would expand its App Store, Apple Music and other services to dozens of new markets in Africa, the Middle East and beyond in the biggest geographical expansion of its services in almost a decade.
Apple said it would expand the App Store to 20 countries, eight of them in Africa, and will offer its streaming Apple Music service in 52 additional countries and regions. The expansion is the largest since Apple grew what was then called the iTunes Store to India, Russia and more than 50 other countries in 2012.
In Africa, the store will expand to Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Rwanda and Zambia.
Apple has focused on growing sales from its services segment, which totaled 17.8% of its US$260.1 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, as consumers have slowed in upgrading their smart phones.
Apple executives said in January that the company had an installed base of 1.5 billion active devices and aimed to reach 600 million subscribers to either its own or third-party services by the end of this year. – Nampa/Reuters
United Airlines sells US$1 bln of stock
United Airlines Holdings Inc on Tuesday announced a public offering to raise more than US$1 billion, the first major airline to sell equity to help it survive a sharp travel downturn in the coronavirus pandemic.
The offer of 39.25 million shares is underwritten by Morgan Stanley and Barclays, who IFR said were re-offering the shares at US$25.95 to US$26.50 each, a discount of up to 6.9% on Tuesday's close of US$27.88.
Shares in United, like other airlines, have been punished by decimated travel demand, losing 67% over the past three months as the pandemic forced lockdowns in many countries.
United is set to receive US$5 billion from the US Treasury to cover payroll through Sept. 30 and has said it expects to borrow up to about US$4.5 billion from a separate government package for airlines.
In exchange for part of the funds, the airline must issue warrants for the Treasury to purchase shares at its April 9 closing price of US$31.50. – Nampa/Reuters
Netflix adds more subscribers in Q1
Netflix Inc on Tuesday reported more paid subscribers than expected in the first quarter, as global lockdowns to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus forced people to stay at home and watch shows online including its wildly popular "Tiger King."
Shares of the streaming giant, which have surged about 35% this year, were up 4% in trading after the bell.
Demand for streaming services surged in recent months as the fast spreading virus, which has infected more than 2.5 million people globally, restricted movement.
Some analysts, however, believed that subscriptions of streaming services would be among the first household discretionary items to be cut by people amid a wave of layoffs and fears of an economic recession because of the pandemic.
But Netflix said it expects to add 7.50 million paid subscribers globally in the second quarter. The company added 15.77 million paid subscribers globally during the first quarter. – Nampa/Reuters
Qatar Airways defers employees' wages
Qatar Airways on Tuesday said mid-level employees and above will have their salaries halved for at least three months but that staff would be back paid when the airline could afford it.
Partially deferring salaries was a temporary measure that is expected to last for three months starting April, the airline said, though cautioned it could be extended "depending on the economic situation".
Unpaid portions of salaries would be paid "as soon as possible when circumstances allow", it said.
The airline did not say how many staff would be affected, or how much it would temporarily save over the three months.
Qatar Airways is one of few airlines still operating regular scheduled passenger services with international travel virtually grounded due to the new coronavirus outbreak. – Nampa/Reuters
The South African government will work with unions to ensure that a new financially viable and competitive airline emerges from South
African Airways (SAA) business rescue process, the public enterprises ministry said on Tuesday.
The airline entered a form of bankruptcy protection in December, since then it has had to suspend all commercial passenger flights due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
In a virtual meeting with labour unions, the inter-ministerial committee on SAA reiterated that the government was not in a position to provide more capital to the state-owned airline, the ministry said in a statement.
"The unions agreed that in arriving at a solution for SAA, some jobs will be lost, and that employees that remain behind will need to sacrifice some of the unaffordable arrangements that had worsened the airline's financial position," the ministry said.
"It was agreed that social plans will be developed to cushion the effect of losing jobs on the affected employees." – Nampa/Reuters
Apple expands services business in Africa
Apple Inc on Tuesday said it would expand its App Store, Apple Music and other services to dozens of new markets in Africa, the Middle East and beyond in the biggest geographical expansion of its services in almost a decade.
Apple said it would expand the App Store to 20 countries, eight of them in Africa, and will offer its streaming Apple Music service in 52 additional countries and regions. The expansion is the largest since Apple grew what was then called the iTunes Store to India, Russia and more than 50 other countries in 2012.
In Africa, the store will expand to Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Rwanda and Zambia.
Apple has focused on growing sales from its services segment, which totaled 17.8% of its US$260.1 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, as consumers have slowed in upgrading their smart phones.
Apple executives said in January that the company had an installed base of 1.5 billion active devices and aimed to reach 600 million subscribers to either its own or third-party services by the end of this year. – Nampa/Reuters
United Airlines sells US$1 bln of stock
United Airlines Holdings Inc on Tuesday announced a public offering to raise more than US$1 billion, the first major airline to sell equity to help it survive a sharp travel downturn in the coronavirus pandemic.
The offer of 39.25 million shares is underwritten by Morgan Stanley and Barclays, who IFR said were re-offering the shares at US$25.95 to US$26.50 each, a discount of up to 6.9% on Tuesday's close of US$27.88.
Shares in United, like other airlines, have been punished by decimated travel demand, losing 67% over the past three months as the pandemic forced lockdowns in many countries.
United is set to receive US$5 billion from the US Treasury to cover payroll through Sept. 30 and has said it expects to borrow up to about US$4.5 billion from a separate government package for airlines.
In exchange for part of the funds, the airline must issue warrants for the Treasury to purchase shares at its April 9 closing price of US$31.50. – Nampa/Reuters
Netflix adds more subscribers in Q1
Netflix Inc on Tuesday reported more paid subscribers than expected in the first quarter, as global lockdowns to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus forced people to stay at home and watch shows online including its wildly popular "Tiger King."
Shares of the streaming giant, which have surged about 35% this year, were up 4% in trading after the bell.
Demand for streaming services surged in recent months as the fast spreading virus, which has infected more than 2.5 million people globally, restricted movement.
Some analysts, however, believed that subscriptions of streaming services would be among the first household discretionary items to be cut by people amid a wave of layoffs and fears of an economic recession because of the pandemic.
But Netflix said it expects to add 7.50 million paid subscribers globally in the second quarter. The company added 15.77 million paid subscribers globally during the first quarter. – Nampa/Reuters
Qatar Airways defers employees' wages
Qatar Airways on Tuesday said mid-level employees and above will have their salaries halved for at least three months but that staff would be back paid when the airline could afford it.
Partially deferring salaries was a temporary measure that is expected to last for three months starting April, the airline said, though cautioned it could be extended "depending on the economic situation".
Unpaid portions of salaries would be paid "as soon as possible when circumstances allow", it said.
The airline did not say how many staff would be affected, or how much it would temporarily save over the three months.
Qatar Airways is one of few airlines still operating regular scheduled passenger services with international travel virtually grounded due to the new coronavirus outbreak. – Nampa/Reuters
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