COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF
MTN joins forces with global operators
Some of the world's large telecoms companies, including South Africa's MTN, have formed an alliance aimed at developing tech startups to aid innovation in the sector, they announced on Thursday.
The members of the newly formed Alaian alliance are French telecoms company Bouygues, Spain's Cellnex Telecom, Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications, KPN, MTN, Madrid-headquartered Telefónica and Italy's Wind Tre. Together, the companies have a presence in 50 markets.
MTN is the only African telco among the group of companies.
The alliance is focused on "reinventing the industry by discovering the most disruptive startups and the potential to provide access to a network of 700 million customers".
In a statement on Thursday, the companies sounded a call for start-up companies who would benefit from support to reach a global scale and be connected with the telecom companies' business units to generate joint business opportunities.
Innovators would be given an opportunity to test their solutions and access 5G labs. -Fin24
Qantas to launch longest non-stop flight
Qantas announced on Monday it will launch the world's longest non-stop commercial flight, with passengers set to spend 19 hours in the air traveling from Sydney to London by the end of 2025.
After five years of planning, the airline said it was ordering 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft to operate the "Project Sunrise" flights to cities including London and New York.
Non-stop flights will start from Sydney by the end of 2025, it said, with long-haul trips later planned to include Melbourne.
"New types of aircraft make new things possible," said Qantas chairman Alan Joyce, according to a statement.
"The A350 and Project Sunrise will make any city just one flight away from Australia," he said. "It's the final frontier and the final fix for the tyranny of distance."
Qantas operated research flights for the long-haul route in 2019, including a trial London-Sydney trek of 17 800 kilometres, which took 19 hours and 19 minutes. -Fin24
Exxon, Chevron throw cash at investors
ExxonMobil and Chevron reported soaring profits Friday despite lower oil and natural gas volumes as the petroleum giants return billions of dollars to shareholders in the wake of lofty crude prices and refining margins.
Both US oil giants scored huge profit increases propelled by crude prices that rose after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But both companies have thus far avoided additional capital spending increases to fund drilling and development in spite of a tightening global energy outlook.
"We continue to invest prudently," said Kathy Mikells, chief financial officer of ExxonMobil, which increased spending on share buybacks by US$20 billion.
"We're going to stay disciplined on capital. We've given you a range, we've stuck within that range ever since we started putting it out there," said Mike Wirth, chief executive of Chevron, which raised its plans for share buybacks to US$10 billion per year after previously targeting US$5 to US$10 billion per year.
Both oil giants are implementing planned 2022 capital spending increases, but ruled out additional investment. -Fin24
Musk sells R133bn in Tesla shares
Tesla chief Elon Musk sold about US$8.4 billion (R133 billion) worth of shares in the electric carmaker in the days after Twitter's board agreed to his US$44 billion (R696 billion) takeover offer, according to US securities filings.
Musk unloaded about 9.6 million Tesla shares in a series of transactions Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, according to filings Thursday and Friday morning with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US market regulator.
The transactions, generally priced between US$800 and US$995 per share, following Monday's announcement he would acquire Twitter and take it private in a deal that relies heavily on Musk's personal fortune.
Following these sales, Musk, the world's richest person, holds around 163 million shares in Tesla, via a trust. "No further TSLA sales after today," Elon Musk tweeted late Thursday, using Tesla's stock symbol.
To finance his takeover of Twitter, which was confirmed Monday, Musk has pledged up to US$21 billion from his personal fortune, with the rest financed by debt.-Fin24
Delivery of Hilux, Fortuner in SA delayed
It is going to take "a little longer" to deliver locally produced Hilux, Fortuner, Corolla Cross and Quest orders to its South African customers, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) said on Friday.
The company's plant in Prospecton south of Durban suffered extensive damage during recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal.
A "systematic and meticulous phased plan" to return the plant to working condition is underway and orders will be filled as soon as possible.
"This approach is designed to ensure a safe start-up, without any potential secondary issues," states CEO of TSAM Andrew Kirby. "As far as imported models go, it's business as usual - in fact, we have requested extra units to compensate for the temporary lack of availability on locally-built models."
According to Kirby, it would be irresponsible to call a start-up date until they have the full picture. He expects to have a better idea within the next week.-Fin24
Some of the world's large telecoms companies, including South Africa's MTN, have formed an alliance aimed at developing tech startups to aid innovation in the sector, they announced on Thursday.
The members of the newly formed Alaian alliance are French telecoms company Bouygues, Spain's Cellnex Telecom, Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications, KPN, MTN, Madrid-headquartered Telefónica and Italy's Wind Tre. Together, the companies have a presence in 50 markets.
MTN is the only African telco among the group of companies.
The alliance is focused on "reinventing the industry by discovering the most disruptive startups and the potential to provide access to a network of 700 million customers".
In a statement on Thursday, the companies sounded a call for start-up companies who would benefit from support to reach a global scale and be connected with the telecom companies' business units to generate joint business opportunities.
Innovators would be given an opportunity to test their solutions and access 5G labs. -Fin24
Qantas to launch longest non-stop flight
Qantas announced on Monday it will launch the world's longest non-stop commercial flight, with passengers set to spend 19 hours in the air traveling from Sydney to London by the end of 2025.
After five years of planning, the airline said it was ordering 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft to operate the "Project Sunrise" flights to cities including London and New York.
Non-stop flights will start from Sydney by the end of 2025, it said, with long-haul trips later planned to include Melbourne.
"New types of aircraft make new things possible," said Qantas chairman Alan Joyce, according to a statement.
"The A350 and Project Sunrise will make any city just one flight away from Australia," he said. "It's the final frontier and the final fix for the tyranny of distance."
Qantas operated research flights for the long-haul route in 2019, including a trial London-Sydney trek of 17 800 kilometres, which took 19 hours and 19 minutes. -Fin24
Exxon, Chevron throw cash at investors
ExxonMobil and Chevron reported soaring profits Friday despite lower oil and natural gas volumes as the petroleum giants return billions of dollars to shareholders in the wake of lofty crude prices and refining margins.
Both US oil giants scored huge profit increases propelled by crude prices that rose after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But both companies have thus far avoided additional capital spending increases to fund drilling and development in spite of a tightening global energy outlook.
"We continue to invest prudently," said Kathy Mikells, chief financial officer of ExxonMobil, which increased spending on share buybacks by US$20 billion.
"We're going to stay disciplined on capital. We've given you a range, we've stuck within that range ever since we started putting it out there," said Mike Wirth, chief executive of Chevron, which raised its plans for share buybacks to US$10 billion per year after previously targeting US$5 to US$10 billion per year.
Both oil giants are implementing planned 2022 capital spending increases, but ruled out additional investment. -Fin24
Musk sells R133bn in Tesla shares
Tesla chief Elon Musk sold about US$8.4 billion (R133 billion) worth of shares in the electric carmaker in the days after Twitter's board agreed to his US$44 billion (R696 billion) takeover offer, according to US securities filings.
Musk unloaded about 9.6 million Tesla shares in a series of transactions Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, according to filings Thursday and Friday morning with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US market regulator.
The transactions, generally priced between US$800 and US$995 per share, following Monday's announcement he would acquire Twitter and take it private in a deal that relies heavily on Musk's personal fortune.
Following these sales, Musk, the world's richest person, holds around 163 million shares in Tesla, via a trust. "No further TSLA sales after today," Elon Musk tweeted late Thursday, using Tesla's stock symbol.
To finance his takeover of Twitter, which was confirmed Monday, Musk has pledged up to US$21 billion from his personal fortune, with the rest financed by debt.-Fin24
Delivery of Hilux, Fortuner in SA delayed
It is going to take "a little longer" to deliver locally produced Hilux, Fortuner, Corolla Cross and Quest orders to its South African customers, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) said on Friday.
The company's plant in Prospecton south of Durban suffered extensive damage during recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal.
A "systematic and meticulous phased plan" to return the plant to working condition is underway and orders will be filled as soon as possible.
"This approach is designed to ensure a safe start-up, without any potential secondary issues," states CEO of TSAM Andrew Kirby. "As far as imported models go, it's business as usual - in fact, we have requested extra units to compensate for the temporary lack of availability on locally-built models."
According to Kirby, it would be irresponsible to call a start-up date until they have the full picture. He expects to have a better idea within the next week.-Fin24
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