Company news in brief

American Airlines needs more workers

American Airlines Group Inc expects to have between 10% and 20% more workers than needed in July 2021, chief executive Doug Parker told employees at a town hall this week, and said that avoiding furloughs will be difficult.

Weathering a sharp hit to business due to the coronavirus pandemic, American and other US airlines have warned of furloughs in October, which is when government payroll aid for airlines expires, but said they were hoping to avoid them.

"It's going to be even harder than I thought," Parker said at an employee town hall on Wednesday, adding that "revenue is not coming back as fast as we'd like."

A video recording of the town hall, which showed Parker wearing a protective face mask, was reviewed by Reuters. As of the end of last year, American had 133 700 employees, more than any other US airline.

In October, American expects to have between 20% and 30% more workers than needed, Parker said, while adding that furlough decisions could revolve more around the July 2021 forecast of 10% to 20% excess workers, with potentially less pain for pilots than other employees such as flight attendants. – Nampa/Reuters

Facebook to label newsworthy posts

Facebook Inc said it will start labelling newsworthy content that violates the social media company's policies, and label all posts and ads about voting with links to authoritative information, including those from politicians.

A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed its new policy would have meant attaching a link on voting information to US President Donald Trump's post last month about mail-in ballots.

Facebook has drawn heat from employees and lawmakers in recent weeks over its decisions not to act on inflammatory posts by the president.

"There are no exceptions for politicians in any of the policies I'm announcing here today," chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.

Shares of Facebook closed down more than 8% and Twitter ended 7% lower on Friday after Unilever PLC said it would stop its US ads on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the rest of the year, citing "divisiveness and hate speech during this polarized election period in the US".- Nampa/Reuters

Ford and VW to stay neutral

Four major automakers will not take a position on legal challenges to the Trump administration's decision to dramatically weaken Obama-era fuel economy standards but want to weigh in on any court fix, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The Trump administration in March finalised rollback of US vehicle emissions standards to require 1.5% annual increases in efficiency through 2026. That is far weaker than the 5% annual increases in the discarded rules adopted under President Barack Obama.

Ford Motor Co, Volkswagen AG, Honda Motor Co and BMW AG struck a voluntary agreement with California in July 2019 on vehicle emissions rules.

The four automakers plan to ask a US Appeals Court in Washington for permission to be heard in the court challenge "to ensure that any remedy imposed by this court is both appropriate and achievable," according to a draft of the filing.

Other major automakers like General Motors Co, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Toyota Motor Corp have sided with the Trump administration on the rollback. - Nampa/Reuters

Guyana shortlisted 19 companies

A group of 19 companies including oil majors, trading houses and state-run firms were approved by Guyana's government for the next phase of a competitive process aimed at selecting an agent for marketing its share of crude produced in the country.

PetroChina Co, Sinochem International, China Offshore Oil, ExxonMobil Corp, BP Plc, Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell, Lukoil, Equinor, Petrobras and trading firms Mercuria Energy, Vitol, Glencore and Free point Commodities are among the firms included in the government's short list, Guyana's ministry of the Presidency said.

A consortium by Exxon, China's CNOOC and Hess Corp began producing crude offshore Guyana last year after discovering more than 8 billion barrels of recoverable resources, inaugurating the South American nation's output.

Each party is entitled to a portion of production for exports, including the government, which is seeking a third party to help it sell the crude through a 12-month contract as the country has no refineries or national oil company.

The 19-company list also included Hartree Partners, Mercantile and Maritime, Cathay Petroleum and Petraco Oil. – Nampa/Reuters

Corelogic Inc receives an offer

Corelogic Inc received an unsolicited offer from shareholders Cannae Holdings Inc and Senator Investment Group LP to buy the real estate data analytics firm in a US$7 billion deal, sending its shares up more than 25%.

They offered US$65 per share in cash, which represents a premium of nearly 23% to Corelogic's Thursday closing. Corelogic said the board will review the offer from the shareholders, who together own about 15% stake in Corelogic.

The companies have already secured about US$3.6 billion in financing to fund the deal and said Corelogic would not achieve its full potential under its current strategic plan and that the proposed deal is in the best interest of its stakeholders.

Trasimene Capital Management LLC served as Cannae's financial adviser, while Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP was its legal adviser. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP was Senator's legal adviser. Shares were trading at US$66.26 in afternoon trade. – Nampa/Reuters