Company news in brief

SA’s Rain plans 5G expansionRain, the mobile data-only network operator, expects to accelerate the installation of 5G towers to 1 500 in larger metropolitan areas in South Africa by December 2021, African Rainbow Capital Investments (ARC) said on Friday.Rain, in which ARC owns a 27% stake, established Africa's first commercial 5G next generation network in partnership with China's Huawei Technologies in 2019.South Africa's fifth mobile operator, which launched its 5G network in the Gauteng province in September, had 447 5G towers up-and-running by the end of April.ARC said the mobile operator is making good progress with its strategy and has shown continued growth in clients and data usage during the coronavirus pandemic.Rain had 5 500 active live 4G sites at the end of April, thanks to an infrastructure and services agreement with Vodacom, providing "a significant proportion of rain's revenue," ARC said in its investment update. – Nampa/ReuteJD raises US$3.9 bn in Hong Kong listingChinese e-commerce giant JD.com said Friday it raised HK$30.1 billion (US$3.9 billion) in its Hong Kong initial public offering, making it the world's second-biggest so far this year.The bumper sale comes as Chinese companies eschew Wall Street because of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.Fellow Chinese tech giant NetEase raised US$2.7 billion in the city earlier this month, capping a frenetic few weeks on the stock exchange despite swirling fears over Beijing's plan to impose a national security law on the finance hub.JD.com, which listed on the Nasdaq in New York in 2014, priced its 133 million new shares at HK$226 each, the company said in a statement on Friday.The JD.com IPO is the second-largest global offering this year after Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway raised US$4.3 billion in January, according to Bloomberg news. – Nampa/AFPHertz wins approval to offer US$1 bn in sharesA bankruptcy judge on Friday approved Hertz Global Holdings Inc's proposal to sell up to US$1 billion in shares, as the car rental firm looks to cash in on a huge speculative rise in its share price since filing for bankruptcy late last month.Hertz's stock closed at 55 cents on May 26, since then it has risen more than fivefold in value. The shares were down 8.5% in extended trading on Friday.The company was seeking permission to potentially sell 246.78 million unissued shares to Jefferies LLC.Judge Mary Walrath ordered that Hertz was "authorised, but not required, to sell shares of the common stock" and that "Jefferies shall be entitled to retain, from the proceeds generated from the sale of the unissued stock, amounts equal to all fees owing under the sale agreement".Hertz said the net proceeds would be used for general working capital purposes. – Nampa/ReutersAmerican Airlines sees 90% slump in Q2 revenueAmerican Airlines Group Inc on Friday joined Delta Air Lines in forecasting a 90% slump in second-quarter revenue, but said it expects to cut its cash burn rate to about zero by the end of 2020 as travel demand returns.The US airlines have said that a modest recovery in demand was helping slow their daily cash burn rates in June, after the Covis-19 pandemic led to hundreds of flight cancellations.American Airlines expects its daily cash burn rate to slow to about US$40 million in June, and said it plans to fly 55% of its domestic schedule and nearly 20% of its international schedule in July."The company has recently experienced improving demand conditions and has passed the peak in cash refund activity," American Airlines said in a statement.However, as the duration and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic remain uncertain, the company said it expects its fiscal 2020 results to be materially impacted. – Nampa/ReutersAmerican Express JV gets approval for ChinaChina's central bank has given the final nod to a network clearing license for an American Express joint venture, allowing it to be the first foreign credit card company to launch onshore operations in China.The approval comes against a backdrop of high Sino-US tensions, with disagreements over trade and Beijing's imposition of a national security law for Hong Kong.The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement Saturday that it had approved the license for Express (Hangzhou) Technology Services Co., a joint venture between American Express and LianLian DigiTech Co Ltd. It said the move reflected China's continued opening up of its financial industry.The PBOC said in January that it had received American Express's application to start operations in China.In a statement, American Express said it expects to begin processing transactions later this year. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-15

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Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-15

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