Company news in brief

Glencore’s Glasenberg to step downGlencore boss Ivan Glasenberg is to step down next year and Gary Nagle, head of coal assets at the mining and trading group, will become the new CEO.Glasenberg's departure will mark a shift to a new, younger leadership for the business, which, along with other mining companies, has faced increasing pressure from investors to cut carbon emissions.Glasenberg, speaking to reporters on a call, said Nagle would be facing questions about when to "pull the trigger" on brownfield assets and decide on the company's direction on coal.Nagle, a 45-year old South African, has held senior roles in coal and ferroalloys in Colombia, South Africa and Australia.Glencore also announced plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 by reducing its direct and indirect carbon footprint by 40% by 2035 compared with last year's levels, which would make them aligned with the Paris agreement on climate change. – Nampa/ReutersLufthansa’s staff 29 000 smallerLufthansa will have shed 29 000 staff by the end of the year and the German airline will cut another 10 000 jobs in its home country next year as it struggles to cope with the coronavirus, the Bild am Sonntag reported yesterday.The airline and its subsidiaries, Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines, have slashed their schedules, fleet and staff, with air travel not expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels before 2025.Citing unnamed company sources, the paper said that Lufthansa would cut 20 000 jobs outside of Germany, while it is also selling its catering unit LSG, which employs 7 500 people, bringing the total staff down to 109 000.The company has already burned through 3 billion euro of the 9-billion-euro government bailout it secured earlier in the year, it said.Lufthansa has 27 000 too many full-time equivalent staff, CEO Carsten Spohr said last month, even as the airline promised unions not to make forced redundancies in return for cuts to bonuses and other payments. – Nampa/ReutersAston Martin demand ‘phenomenal’Carmaker Aston Martin is seeing "phenomenal" demand, boosted by a rebound in China, the company's executive chairman and billionaire investor Lawrence Stroll said.Stroll led a consortium which invested in Aston earlier this year as the carmaker struggled following its 2018 stock market flotation, after which its share price slumped.Since then a new chief executive has taken over and the 107-year company, famed for being fictional agent James Bond's car of choice, did a deal in October which sees German carmaker Daimler up its stake in the firm.Shareholders approved the latest capital injection plan on Friday.Stroll said Aston's current growth trajectory meant "the public markets are the right place" for the firm whilst eying an increase in the value of its shares, which stand at 79 pence. – Nampa/ReutersAmerican Airlines sees Q4 cash burnAmerican Airlines said on Friday it expects its fourth-quarter average daily cash burn to be at the high end of its previously forecasted range of between US$25 million and US$30 million.The US airline industry is still losing billions of dollars every month as travel demand remains weak and recent coronavirus travel advisories have discouraged holiday travel.The US airline now expects to end the fourth quarter with about US$14 billion in total available liquidity.Delta Air Lines warned on Thursday it would lose about US$2 million more than forecast each day in the fourth quarter, but kept a target to halt its cash burn next spring.Airlines are hoping that vaccine prospects will start lifting demand throughout 2021 but do not expect a full recovery for some time. – Nampa/ReutersSony to shut a Malaysia factorySony Corp will close a factory in Malaysia next year to consolidate its operations in its other plant in the state for efficiency, the Japanese electronics giant said on Saturday.The company said it always takes into account market conditions, business growth potential and other factors, as part of a continuous review of its investments and business operations."As part of this review, Sony will consolidate its manufacturing operations by transferring its operations in Penang to Selangor, to further enhance operational efficiency." Operations at the plant will end by 30 Sept. and it will shut by the end of March 2022, affecting about 3 600 employees in Penang.Sony began operations in Malaysia in October 1973, marketing, selling and servicing consumer electronics products, as well as broadcast and professional products and solutions, its website said. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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