COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Samsung eyes new opportunities

From sanitising closets to customisable fridges, the coronavirus pandemic has fanned demand for home appliances, so much so that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is adding warehouses and bringing popular products to more markets.

In Brazil and other emerging economies, households which once relied on maids are now investing in dishwashers and robot vacuum cleaners, while Samsung says its overseas sales of air purifiers jumped more than five times in January-July compared to the same period last year.

Samsung's AirDresser, a closet that steam cleans clothes and kills bacteria, has seen a spike in sales with British furniture firm Lux Group ordering 1 000 earlier this year.

"Sales are doing well in all but a few countries," Lee Jae-seung, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics' digital appliance business, told Reuters in an interview.

He said factories for Samsung's appliances business in the United States, Mexico, Poland, India and other countries were running at full capacity and the company was seeking more warehouse space in the United States, South Korea and Europe. – Nampa/Reuters

AT&T looks to sell Xandr ad unit

AT&T Inc is exploring a sale of its advertising unit Xandr, according to a person familiar with the matter, as it appears to reverse expensive plans to transform from a wireless carrier to a media and advertising powerhouse.

AT&T has spent more than US$135 billion to stitch together a media company, satellite TV provider and advertising platform to grow its business. But it has faced skepticism from investors.

The discussions come as AT&T's new chief executive, John Stankey, reviews the conglomerate's assets in an attempt to reduce nearly US$152 billion in net debt.

The talks on selling Xandr are in the early stages and may not necessarily result in a sale. The company intends to keep Crunchyroll, the popular anime streaming site, as it fits its content strategy, the source added.

AT&T declined to comment. Shares of the company were down 1.5% at midday on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal first reported the potential sale earlier on Tuesday. – Nampa/Reuters

Florida cuts ties with Quest

Florida cut ties with Quest Diagnostics Inc as the medical device maker failed to share the results of nearly 75 000 Covid-19 tests dating back to April with the state health department in a timely manner due to a technical issue.

The health department called it "unacceptable", while stating that it was more of a "data issue" as all people who tested positive were notified on time about the results.

Quest said the technical issue that led to the delay in reporting of a subset of public health Covid-19 test data to the health department has since been resolved.

"We remain open to working with the state Department of Health to provide testing that meets the needs required for patient care and public health response," the company said.

Its shares were down nearly 3% at US$107.93 in afternoon trade after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the health department as well as the Florida Division of Emergency Management to severe ties with the company. – Nampa/Reuters

Toyota US August sales fall

Toyota Motor Corp reported a 23% drop in US new vehicle sales in August versus the same month in 2019, as a two-month industrywide shutdown of auto production in the spring to halt the spread of Covid-19, as well as an uncertain economic recovery, weighed on sales.

This was Toyota's fifth straight month of US sales declines. South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co said its US sales fell 8.4% in August, largely due to a decline in fleet sales to rental car companies, government agencies and corporations. Hyundai had posted a slight sales gain in July.

Automakers have struggled to get inventory to dealers to replenish stocks following the pandemic-fueled shutdowns. This has enabled them to scale back consumer discounts on popular models and raise vehicle prices.

According to consultancies LMC and J.D. Power, which had predicted industrywide US new vehicle sales to be down 20% in August, nearly 45% of vehicles sold during the month spent fewer than 20 days on dealer lots, 35 percentage points more than the previous year.

TrueCar Inc subsidiary ALG said on Tuesday that the average transaction price for vehicles was up 3.9% in August versus the same month in 2019. – Nampa/Reuters

StoneCo raises bid

Payments processor StoneCo Ltd on Tuesday raised its bid for Brazilian software company Linx SA by nearly 4% to 6.284 billion reais (US$1.17 billion), topping a proposal from software firm Totvs SA last month.

StoneCo's also revised some provisions of its initial proposal that have drawn regulatory scrutiny, cutting its break-up fee to 453.75 million reais from 605 million reais. If Linx shareholders reject the deal, the breakup fee would fall to 112.5 million reais under the revised proposal.

Linx said compensation and non-compete terms offered by StoneCo to its executives have also been revised. All the revised terms have been discussed only with Linx's independent board members, not with its founders, who are also executives in the company, the software company added.

Linx's shares were up almost 4% in the morning trading, at 36.91 reais, trading at a premium to the raised Stone offer, worth 35.10 reais a share.

Despite the new higher offer, analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note to clients that the new proposal was "still a good deal" for StoneCo. Its shares were up 3.7%. – Nampa/Reuters