COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

PVH posts surprise profit PVH Corp reported a surprise quarterly profit on Wednesday, as the apparel retailer benefited from strong demand for comfortable and casual clothing during the coronavirus-led shift to work from home, sending its shares up over 4%.The Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger owner also projected encouraging sales trends in China and Europe for the coming months and forecast revenue in the second half of its fiscal year to decline 25%, smaller than the 33% drop it posted in the second quarter.The company's North American business, however, remains under pressure due to a resurgence in virus infections, a lack of tourist traffic and a fall in shipments to department stores.PVH, which also owns Van Heusen, reported total revenue of US$1.58 billion for the second quarter ended Aug. 2, beating analysts' estimates of US$1.25 billion. Online sales through its own channels surged 87%.The company reported an attributable net loss of US$51.4 million, or 72 cents per share, compared to a profit of US$193.5 million, or US$2.58 per share, a year earlier. – Nampa/ReutersUnited Airlines to retrenchUnited Airlines said it is preparing to furlough 16 370 workers when federal aid expires on Oct. 1 as the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate the airline industry, though one union said many more people will be without pay.United's cuts include 6 920 flight attendants, but the union representing them said 14 000 will not have a paycheck in October unless Congress acts to extend US$25 billion in aid.This is because many have opted for leaves that will provide healthcare but no money, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International President Sara Nelson said. "United's furlough announcement does not tell the full story," she said.The first US$25 billion, which covered airline payrolls, expires this month, but talks have stalled as Congress has struggled to reach agreement on a broader coronavirus assistance package.Chicago-based United had over 90 000 employees before the pandemic brought the industry to a near standstill in March. It warned in July that 36 000 jobs were at risk of involuntary furloughs as demand remained weak. – Nampa/ReutersEskom ramped up power cutsSouth African state power utility Eskom ramped up power cuts on Wednesday, as cold weather caused a spike in demand after many of its generating units had broken down. Eskom's struggles to power Africa's most industrialised nation are one of the main obstacles to economic growth.It said 11 300 MW of its roughly 44 000 MW nominal capacity was offline because of unplanned breakdowns, adding to 5 040 MW on planned maintenance. The power cuts will persist throughout the week, Eskom added.Separately, the utility said in a presentation to a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that the risk of power cuts would remain until after it had completed an 18-month maintenance programme.Eskom's gross debt increased to 488 billion rand (US$29.3 billion) in March 2020, from 440 billion rand a year earlier, it added in the presentation, citing its pre-audited results for the 2019/20 financial year. – Nampa/ReutersAirbnb approcahed by AckmanBillionaire investor William Ackman has approached short-term home rental company Airbnb Inc about going public through a reverse merger with his blank-check company, according to people familiar with the matter.The discussions are currently not moving ahead and Airbnb is prioritizing going public through a traditional initial public offering this year in what would be one of 2020's most high-profile stock market debuts, the sources said. Representatives for Airbnb and Ackman declined to comment.Airbnb said last month it had filed confidentially for an IPO with U.S. regulators. The approach by Ackman's Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd underscores the scale and ambition of the types of deals Ackman is pursuing with the new vehicle, which raised US$4 billion through an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year to buy a private company.A blank-check company, or special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), is a shell company that raises money through an IPO to buy an operating company, typically within two years.A deal for Airbnb at the company's roughly US$18 billion valuation in a debt deal earlier this year would be the largest SPAC transaction ever. Bloomberg News earlier reported on the talks. – Nampa/ReutersTesla discusses vaccine projectTesla Inc's CEO Elon Musk met with three German ministers and other senior politicians on Wednesday to discuss the progress of a collaboration between the car maker and a German biotech company and a planned electric vehicle factory.Ralph Brinkhaus, leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU conservative parliamentary bloc, said Musk was satisfied with the progress of Tesla's alliance with vaccine developer CureVac.On the sidelines of a conference of the parliamentary bloc in Berlin, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur also met economy minister Peter Altmaier, health minister Jens Spahn and research minister Anja Karliczek, but not Merkel.Tesla is helping to build mobile molecule printers to make the potential Covid-19 vaccine under development by CureVac. Last November, the US electric carmaker announced plans to build a Gigafactory in Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg that surrounds Berlin.Musk checked on the progress of that project, meeting earlier with Brandenburg state premier Dietmar Woidke. "It was a very pleasant and focused conversation. – Nampa/Reuters

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