Company news in brief

Ryanair slashes winter flights

Ryanair said yesterday that it will slash more flights this winter, temporarily shutting bases in Cork and Shannon in Ireland, and Toulouse in France, due to coronavirus travel restrictions.

The Irish no-frills airline said it will slash its November-March capacity from 60% to 40% of the prior year.

The carrier's remaining routes will face fewer flights than normal, it added.

"Ryanair expects to maintain up to 65% of its winter route network, but with reduced frequencies. In addition to the winter closure of bases in Cork, Shannon, and Toulouse, Ryanair has announced significant base aircraft cuts in Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Vienna."

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said the group was focused on minimising job losses. – Nampa/AFP

Marston's axes 2150 jobs

British pub chain Marston's yesterday said it will axe about 2 150 jobs after the government imposed stricter rules on the opening of venues owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Marston's employs some 14 000 people across 1 400 pubs, restaurants and hotels in the UK.

The government has ordered a majority of pubs currently allowed to remain open to shut each night by 10:00 pm.

While only around 90 minutes earlier than usual on average, pub bosses claim the move means people just stay at home rather than visiting their local establishment.

Yesterday's announcement comes one week after rival pub firm Greene King said it would cut 800 jobs. – Nampa/AFP

United Airlines Q3 revenue drops 78%

United Airlines said on Wednesday its total revenue dropped 78% in the third quarter, slowing from an about 87% plunge in the previous quarter as demand for air travel gradually recovered from the coronavirus crisis.

The airline's daily cash burn fell to US$25 million on an average in the quarter ended September, from US$40 million in the second quarter, and included US$4 million per day in severance and debt payments.

United said its quarterly adjusted loss was US$2.37 billion, or US$8.16 per share, compared with adjusted net income of US$1billion, or US$4.07 per share, a year earlier.

The company reported revenue of US$2.49 billion and said it had liquidity of US$19.4 billion as of the end of the third quarter. – Nampa/Reuters

Goldman Sachs profit blows past estimates

Goldman Sachs Group Inc on Wednesday posted its best quarterly performance in a decade by some measures, as its trading business moved back into the limelight and its lack of a big consumer business switched from a curse to a blessing.

The Wall Street trading powerhouse easily outperformed rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc with a 29% jump in overall trading revenue, as clients bought and sold more stocks and bonds to adjust their portfolios in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Unlike rivals such as JPMorgan and Bank of America Corp, Goldman has a relatively small consumer business, even though it has been one of the top strategic priorities for chief executive David Solomon who wants Goldman to look more like a Main Street bank.

In the third quarter, Goldman set aside US$278 million to cover loans that go bad, compared with US$1.59 billion in the second quarter.

Goldman's return on equity (ROE) climbed to 17.5%, its best since 2010. Metrics like RoE help measure how well a bank uses shareholder money to produce profit. – Nampa/Reuters

Bank of America profit falls

Bank of America Corp reported a 15.8% drop in quarterly profit on Wednesday, hit by higher provisions for credit losses and a slump in performance in three of its four chief segments.

The second largest US bank by assets set aside US$1.4 billion as reserves to cover loan losses, compared with nearly US$800 million a year earlier, as the Covid-19 pandemic hammers the economy.

Net interest income, a key measure of how much banks can make from their lending activities, fell 17% to US$10.1 billion in the third quarter.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender is especially vulnerable to rate movements because of the composition of its balance sheet.

Net income applicable to common shareholders fell to US$4.44 billion, or 51 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, from US$5.27 billion, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier. – Nampa/Reuters