COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF
UK asks Japan for Huawei alternatives
The British government has asked Japan to help build its 5G wireless networks without Huawei Technologies, the Nikkei said on Sunday, a further step in a global technology and security war between the United States and China.
British officials met with their counterparts in Tokyo on Thursday, two days after Britain ordered Huawei equipment purged from its 5G networks by the end of 2027.
As Britain prepares to leave the European Union, fears over the security of Huawei have forced Prime Minister Johnson to choose between the United States and China, weighing a critical alliance against billions in investment.
The Nikkei said the latest move reflects Britain's effort to bring in new equipment suppliers to foster competition and help reduce costs for the country's wireless carriers.
China opposes the exclusion of companies from certain countries without evidence, and doing so can damage the progress of humanity, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin when asked about the report at a daily news conference in Beijing on Monday. – Nampa/Reuters
BP puts crude oil traders on leave
BP has put four traders responsible for Chinese crude oil sales on temporary leave as it conducts internal investigations into trades with Singapore's Hontop Energy, four sources familiar with the matter said.
They were involved in crude trading and operations in Singapore and China and were put on leave last week, the sources said, while BP's counterparties have been told to deal with another team for Chinese crude transactions. BP declined to comment.
BP traders were named in a court document filed by Malaysian lender CIMB where the bank applied to place Hontop Energy under judicial management. BP has not been implicated in any wrongdoing in the court proceeding. Hontop is the Singapore-based trading arm of independent refiner China Wanda Holding Group Co Ltd.
Emirates NBD quarterly profit slumps Dubai's biggest bank Emirates NBD on Monday posted a 58% fall in second-quarter profit, as it set aside over US$1.1 billion so far this year to cover bad loans in anticipation of a worsening impact from the coronavirus crisis.
Net profit slumped to 2 billion dirhams (US$544.54 million) in the three months ended June 30, from 4.74 billion dirhams a year earlier, when it booked a gain of 2.1 billion dirhams from an asset sale. – Nampa/Reuters
BJ Services files for bankruptcy
Oilfield services firm BJ Services filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early on Monday, following a severe cut in demand and cash crunch due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The company, which offers hydraulic fracturing of shale wells, said it was in discussions with bidders for sale of its cementing business and portions of its fracking operations.
"Severe downturn in activity and subsequent lack of liquidity resulted in an unmanageable capital structure", chief executive officer Warren Zemlak said, and added BJ Services was working with its lenders to get liquidity to fund the sale.
The fracking company, which filed for Chapter 11 in the bankruptcy court in Southern District of Texas, listed assets and liabilities in the range of US$500 million to US$1 billion.
BJ services, which operates in shale basins in Canada, said it would file seeking protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act for an orderly wind-down of operations in the country. Oilfield service giant Baker Hughes Co closed a US$6.8 billion deal to buy the company in 2010. – Nampa/Reuters
Ebay to sell classified-ads unit
EBay Inc is in advanced talks to sell its classified-ads unit to Norwegian group Adevinta as the online auction pioneer seeks to refocus on its core marketplace business, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The price of the cash-and-stock deal was not disclosed, but the eBay unit is expected to sell for roughly US$8 billion or more and the agreement could be announced as soon as Monday.
Demand for online market places has surged during the coronavirus pandemic as consumers have turned to online shopping due to the prolonged lockdown and social distancing measures in place in most countries.
Ebay's classified business includes brands such as Gumtree and Kijiji and offers online ads to more than 1 000 cities around the world.
Last week Reuters reported that the US e-commerce giant had offers submitted by online retailer Prosus, a private equity consortium and Adventia. EBay and Adevinta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. – Nampa/Reuters
Hong Kong banks shutter branches
HSBC, Standard Chartered and other banks in Hong Kong closed branches or curtailed their working hours on Monday after a spike in the number of new coronavirus cases in the Asian financial hub.
Hong Kong recorded more than 100 cases in a 24-hour period over the weekend, the most since the pandemic took hold in late January.
The rise in cases took the tally close to 2 000 patients, 12 of whom have died. Hong Kong banks shut scores of branches in late January when the first wave of the coronavirus cases hit the city. These later reopened as case numbers dropped.
Bank of China said in a statement on Monday it would suspend services at nine branches due to the spread of the virus. It had already suspended services at three branches, one of which reopened on Monday.
HSBC said in a separate statement it would temporarily close two business centres for commercial banking and three mobile branches operating from trucks, and shorten operating hours at all branches. – Nampa/Reuters
The British government has asked Japan to help build its 5G wireless networks without Huawei Technologies, the Nikkei said on Sunday, a further step in a global technology and security war between the United States and China.
British officials met with their counterparts in Tokyo on Thursday, two days after Britain ordered Huawei equipment purged from its 5G networks by the end of 2027.
As Britain prepares to leave the European Union, fears over the security of Huawei have forced Prime Minister Johnson to choose between the United States and China, weighing a critical alliance against billions in investment.
The Nikkei said the latest move reflects Britain's effort to bring in new equipment suppliers to foster competition and help reduce costs for the country's wireless carriers.
China opposes the exclusion of companies from certain countries without evidence, and doing so can damage the progress of humanity, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin when asked about the report at a daily news conference in Beijing on Monday. – Nampa/Reuters
BP puts crude oil traders on leave
BP has put four traders responsible for Chinese crude oil sales on temporary leave as it conducts internal investigations into trades with Singapore's Hontop Energy, four sources familiar with the matter said.
They were involved in crude trading and operations in Singapore and China and were put on leave last week, the sources said, while BP's counterparties have been told to deal with another team for Chinese crude transactions. BP declined to comment.
BP traders were named in a court document filed by Malaysian lender CIMB where the bank applied to place Hontop Energy under judicial management. BP has not been implicated in any wrongdoing in the court proceeding. Hontop is the Singapore-based trading arm of independent refiner China Wanda Holding Group Co Ltd.
Emirates NBD quarterly profit slumps Dubai's biggest bank Emirates NBD on Monday posted a 58% fall in second-quarter profit, as it set aside over US$1.1 billion so far this year to cover bad loans in anticipation of a worsening impact from the coronavirus crisis.
Net profit slumped to 2 billion dirhams (US$544.54 million) in the three months ended June 30, from 4.74 billion dirhams a year earlier, when it booked a gain of 2.1 billion dirhams from an asset sale. – Nampa/Reuters
BJ Services files for bankruptcy
Oilfield services firm BJ Services filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early on Monday, following a severe cut in demand and cash crunch due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The company, which offers hydraulic fracturing of shale wells, said it was in discussions with bidders for sale of its cementing business and portions of its fracking operations.
"Severe downturn in activity and subsequent lack of liquidity resulted in an unmanageable capital structure", chief executive officer Warren Zemlak said, and added BJ Services was working with its lenders to get liquidity to fund the sale.
The fracking company, which filed for Chapter 11 in the bankruptcy court in Southern District of Texas, listed assets and liabilities in the range of US$500 million to US$1 billion.
BJ services, which operates in shale basins in Canada, said it would file seeking protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act for an orderly wind-down of operations in the country. Oilfield service giant Baker Hughes Co closed a US$6.8 billion deal to buy the company in 2010. – Nampa/Reuters
Ebay to sell classified-ads unit
EBay Inc is in advanced talks to sell its classified-ads unit to Norwegian group Adevinta as the online auction pioneer seeks to refocus on its core marketplace business, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The price of the cash-and-stock deal was not disclosed, but the eBay unit is expected to sell for roughly US$8 billion or more and the agreement could be announced as soon as Monday.
Demand for online market places has surged during the coronavirus pandemic as consumers have turned to online shopping due to the prolonged lockdown and social distancing measures in place in most countries.
Ebay's classified business includes brands such as Gumtree and Kijiji and offers online ads to more than 1 000 cities around the world.
Last week Reuters reported that the US e-commerce giant had offers submitted by online retailer Prosus, a private equity consortium and Adventia. EBay and Adevinta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. – Nampa/Reuters
Hong Kong banks shutter branches
HSBC, Standard Chartered and other banks in Hong Kong closed branches or curtailed their working hours on Monday after a spike in the number of new coronavirus cases in the Asian financial hub.
Hong Kong recorded more than 100 cases in a 24-hour period over the weekend, the most since the pandemic took hold in late January.
The rise in cases took the tally close to 2 000 patients, 12 of whom have died. Hong Kong banks shut scores of branches in late January when the first wave of the coronavirus cases hit the city. These later reopened as case numbers dropped.
Bank of China said in a statement on Monday it would suspend services at nine branches due to the spread of the virus. It had already suspended services at three branches, one of which reopened on Monday.
HSBC said in a separate statement it would temporarily close two business centres for commercial banking and three mobile branches operating from trucks, and shorten operating hours at all branches. – Nampa/Reuters
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