COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Telkom appoints Taukobong as CEO South Africa's third-biggest telecom company Telkom said on Wednesday it has appointed the head of its consumer business, Serame Taukobong to be group Chief Executive Officer designate with effect from October 1.Taukobong, who is also a group Executive Committee Member, replaces Sipho Maseko who will step down at the end of June next year.Taukobong joined Telkom in June 2018 and has extensive experience in telecommunications having spent about 10 years at rival MTN Group, where he held several senior roles which included Chief Operating Officer and later CEO of MTN Ghana, Telkom said.As CEO of the Telkom Consumer Business, the mobile business customer base grew three-folds to 15 million and its revenue almost doubled to R20 billion within a three-year period, Telkom said."The Board, Group CEO and the Group CEO Designate remain committed to structurally separate Telkom and unlock value for shareholders," the partly state-owned operator added.-Nampa/ReutersHugo Boss seeks to double sales New Hugo Boss chief executive Daniel Grieder set the ambitious target of doubling sales and ratcheting up profit margins on Wednesday, as the former head of Tommy Hilfiger stamped his mark on the German fashion house.The German label, which had been struggling to revive its business for years before being hammered by the pandemic, reported a rebound in sales in the second quarter as lockdowns eased, particularly in Britain and China.Under Grieder, the company aims to double sales to 4 billion euros (US$4.75 billion) from the 2 billion it slumped to in 2020 and restore its operating profit margin to 12% of sales by 2025, the same level it was at in 2019 before the pandemic.The Swiss CEO, who took over the top job in June, said it was his ambition to make Hugo Boss one of the world's top 100 global brands including by spending more than 100 million euros on marketing between now and 2025.When Grieder was in charge at Tommy Hilfiger, the US brand grew faster than Hugo Boss, posting sales of US$6.9 billion in 2020, far ahead of its German rival. Grieder had put a big focus on expanding online sales at Tommy Hilfiger. -Nampa/ReutersGM raises full-year outlookGeneral Motors Co on Wednesday swung to a second-quarter profit from a loss last year when the Covid-19 pandemic shut operations, and raised its full-year forecast despite an $800 million hit from the recall of the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle.Net income was US$2.8 billion, or US$1.90 a share, compared with a loss in the year-earlier quarter of US$806 million, or 56 cents a share.GM said adjusted earnings before interest and taxes were a record US$4.1 billion, and US$8.5 billion in the first half. It boosted full-year EBIT-adjusted guidance to US$11.5 billion-US$13.5 billion, from the previous US$10 billion-US$11 billion.The company expects to lose production of about 100 000 vehicles in North America in the second half, and anticipates commodity costs rising by US$1.5 billion-US$2.0 billion.The largest of the Detroit automakers benefited from strong demand and the high prices it was able to charge for its popular trucks and sport utilities, which offset costs related to the Bolt recalls and production disruptions caused by shortages of semiconductors. -Nampa/ReutersMarathon to process less crudeUS oil refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp said it expects to process slightly less crude in the third quarter compared with the second, as the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus has been threatening fuel demand recovery.While refiners had ramped up crude processing in the second quarter as US gasoline and diesel fuel demand has nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels, refined products are facing headwinds from rising fears the Delta variant could impact travel-related demand.Marathon Petroleum forecast current-quarter throughput, the amount of crude processed, of 2.8 million barrels per day, compared with 2.9 million bpd in the second quarter ended June 30. Marathon's rival Phillips 66, which also posted its first adjusted quarterly profit in more than a year, said on Tuesday market conditions in the third quarter would determine refinery utilization levels.Refining and marketing margins rose 23% to US$12.45 per barrel in the second quarter, while crude capacity utilization rose to 94% from 83% in the first quarter. -Nampa/ReutersDE Peet's posts profit JDE Peet's reported on Wednesday better-than-expected operating profit for the first half of 2021, as growth in sales of coffee for home consumption offset an uneven restart for coffee shops due to the coronavirus pandemic.Adjusted operating profit (EBIT) fell 1% to 636 million euros from the same period a year earlier which the company said was due in part to marketing costs and unfavourable exchange rates.But revenue inched up 0.5% to 3.25 billion euros with sales for at-home consumption, usually coffee purchased at grocery stores, climbing 4.9% on a like-for-like basis.Analysts had seen EBIT at 610 million euros and revenue at 3.28 billion euros, according to a company compiled poll.The company, which owns a range of coffee and tea brands including Pickwick, Senseo, Tassimo, TiOra and L'OR, repeated a March forecast for organic sales growth of 3% to 5% for the full year and a "single-digit" increase in adjusted EBIT. -Nampa/Reuters

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