Company news in brief

Mercedes sees good dividend prospectsLuxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz aims to maintain double-digit operating margins, its finance chief told Boersen-Zeitung, adding this resulted in very good dividend prospects."Despite raw materials and semiconductor shortages our results at Mercedes have developed very well, with double-digit operating margins," Harald Wilhelm was quoted as saying, adding it was the aim to keep those margins stable."With regard to the dividend, this translates into very good prospects for our shareholders."Wilhelm currently also serves as CFO of Daimler, which will soon be renamed Mercedes-Benz AG following the recent spin-off of Daimler Truck, in which the carmaker retains a 35% stake.Mercedes Benz Cars & Vans posted an adjusted return on sales of 11.9% for the first nine months of 2021. For the full year, the division targets an adjusted margin of between 10% and 12%. - ReutersMicrosoft's Nuance bid set for approvalMicrosoft is set to secure unconditional EU antitrust approval for its US$16 billion bid for artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.The latest tech deal, Microsoft's second biggest after its US$26.2 billion LinkedIn purchase in 2016, follows heightened regulatory scrutiny of "killer acquisitions" whereby tech giants buy and shut down nascent start-ups and potential rivals.Microsoft announced the Nuance deal, which would boost its presence in cloud services for healthcare, in April and it has already received regulatory approval in the United States and Australia, without remedies given.Known for its pioneering speech technology and helping launch Apple's Siri virtual assistant, Nuance serves 77% of US hospitals.The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on Microsoft's proposed Nuance purchase by Dec. 21, declined to comment. Microsoft declined to comment. - ReutersFord expects to triple electric Mustang outputFord Motor Co expects to triple the output of its all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV to over 200 000 units per year by 2023 for North America and Europe, its chief executive officer Jim Farley said in a tweet on Friday."It's hard to produce Mustang Mach-Es fast enough to meet the incredible demand, but we are sure going to try," Farley added.In a hot electrical vehicle market, Ford is pitting itself against the likes of century-old rival General Motors Co and European carmaker Stellantis, while chasing Volkswagen and global EV leader Tesla Inc.Automotive News reported earlier on Friday that Ford was postponing the production of electric versions of the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator crossovers by about one and a half years to increase manufacturing of its Mustang Mach-E SUVs.Ford told its suppliers that production of these new EVs is now scheduled to start in December 2024, according to the report.Ford did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Automotive News report. - ReutersJPMorgan set to pay fineJPMorgan Chase & Co is preparing to pay nearly US$200 million to settle US regulatory investigations into lapses over monitoring employee communications, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.The bank could reach a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission before the end of the year, the report said. However, the figure is preliminary and could change, the report added.The CFTC and the SEC did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. JPMorgan declined to comment.Many financial firms ban the use of personal email, texts and other social media channels for work purposes, but have struggled to keep up with a proliferation of different modes of communication, especially during the pandemic.Regulators are ramping up enforcement under the Biden administration. In October, Reuters reported the SEC had opened an inquiry into how Wall Street banks are keeping track of employees' digital communications related to work-matters. - ReutersToyota halts more production in JapanToyota Motor Co on Friday expanded production stoppages at some factories in Japan because of a shortage of components shipped from parts plants in Southeast Asia.The latest halts will cut car output by 9 000 vehicles when added to curbs announced on Thursday, affecting production of Lexus models and its four-wheel-drive Land Cruiser, Toyota said in a press release.Although limited, the cuts come as Toyota tries to make up for production lost to earlier supply-chain disruptions in Malaysia and Vietnam that forced it to trim vehicle output even as demand for cars in markets such as China rebounded as coronavirus lockdowns ended.The world's biggest car producer by volume said it is sticking to an annual production target set in September to build 9 million vehicles by the end of March."We would like to maintain 9 million units, but we will keep a close eye on the situation," a Toyota spokesperson said. - Reuters

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