COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Nestle moves away from Russia

Nestle, Philip Morris and video game maker Sony joined the list of multinationals stepping back from Russia on Wednesday as pressure mounts from consumers in the West to take a stand against the invasion of Ukraine.

Nestle, the world's biggest packaged foods group, and Mondeleze International, followed actions by rivals Procter & Gamble and Unilever in halting investment in Russia.

But the four companies will continue providing essentials, with Mondelez aiming to help to maintain "continuity" of the Russian food supply.

Similarly, while cigarette maker Imperial Brands suspended operations in Russia, rival Philip Morris only said it would scale down manufacturing, and Camel maker British American Tobacco Plc said its business in Russia continued to operate, even though it had suspended capital investment.

Sony, whose movie studio has already stopped releases in Russia, took additional action on Wednesday, saying its PlayStation gaming unit would stop shipments and operations in Russia. "Sony Interactive Entertainment joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine," it said. -Reuters

Tesla hikes China, US prices

Electric-car maker Tesla Inc on Wednesday raised prices of its US Model Y SUVs and Model 3 Long Range sedans by US$1 000 each and some China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles by 10 000 yuan (US$1 582.40), according to its website.

The company increased prices for the most affordable versions of Model 3 and Model Y about a dozen times last year in the United States, according to data tracked by Reuters.

The US price of the EV maker's Model Y Long Range car has jumped 20% from January 2021, along with a 10.6% hike for its Model 3 Long Range sedan during the same period.

The move comes amid surging raw material costs, made worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and could set back the dream of Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and other auto executives to roll out more affordable electric vehicles.

Rising prices of nickel, lithium and other materials threaten to slow and even temporarily reverse the long-term trend of falling costs of batteries, the most expensive part of EVs, hampering the broader adoption of the technology, said Gregory Miller, an analyst at industry forecaster Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. -Reuters

Rio slashes ties with Russian businesses

Rio Tinto on Thursday became the first major mining company to announce it was cutting all ties with Russian businesses, joining a raft of leading Western companies in a pull-out following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Rio has previously said it has no operational assets or employees to pull out of Russia, or Ukraine, but the move comes as Western firms come under increasing pressure to exit Russia since the invasion began on February 24.

Leading US companies like McDonald's, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Starbucks stopped trading with Russia this week, offering a united rebuke of the war on Ukraine. Moscow describes its actions there as a "special operation".

"Rio Tinto is in the process of terminating all commercial relationships it has with any Russian business," a Rio spokesman said in a message sent to Reuters. It wasn't immediately clear with which companies Rio has done business in Russia.

The announcement from the Anglo-Australian firm comes after a top executive said on Wednesday the company was looking for alternative fuel sources for its Mongolian copper operations at Oyu Tolgoi, but did not believe it can stop buying from Russia altogether. -Reuters

Sony, Nintendo halt gaming shipments

ony Group Corp's game division and Nintendo Co Ltd said they have suspended shipments of software and hardware to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Sony Interactive Entertainment, which makes the PlayStation 5 console, said it has suspended the launch of racing game "Gran Turismo 7" and operations of the PlayStation Store in Russia.

Sony Group also announced it made a US$2 million donation to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Save the Children "to support the victims of this tragedy.

Nintendo said it is suspending shipping all products to Russia "for the foreseeable future... due to considerable volatility surrounding the logistics of shipping and distributing physical goods."

The Kyoto-based firm also said it has delayed the release of "Advance Wars 1 2: Re-Boot Camp", which was due to launch on its Switch console on April 8, because of "recent world events."-Reuters

United Airlines unvaccinated workers return

United Airlines Holdings Inc will allow workers who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 for religious or medical reasons to return at the end of this month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The move permits staffers with exemptions from the carrier's vaccination requirement for its US employees to return from unpaid leave or from the non-customer-facing roles they were allowed to apply for as an alternative to their regular jobs, the report said.

United Airlines declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters.

Last month, a US appeals court ordered a new review of a decision not to block United Airlines from enforcing a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for workers.

Chicago-based United was the first major air carrier to issue a vaccine requirement, and its Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby had defended the employee mandate, saying "we did this for safety. We believe it saved lives."-Reuters