Company news in brief

Rolls-Royce boosts finances with £5bn planBritish aerospace giant Rolls-Royce, facing plunging demand as the coronavirus pandemic sparks an air transport crisis, launched plans yesterday to shore up its finances by up to £5.0 billion.The company, whose products power Airbus and Boeing aircraft, is strengthening its balance sheet to help navigate the damaging fallout from the ongoing global health emergency that has grounded jets worldwide.Rolls-Royce said in a statement that the package would comprise a £2.0-billion rights issue of shares, a bond offering of at least £1.0 billion, a new £1.0-billion loan facility, plus state support from UK Export Finance for an extension of an existing loan guarantee of up to £1.0 billion.The "longer-term prospects remain strong," it said.The company also revealed updated plans to shed 9 800 jobs by the end of this year, up from the 9 000 announced in May. – Nampa/AFPAmerican Airlines to furlough 19 000 workersAmerican Airlines began furloughing 19 000 workers from yesterday, the company announced, as US officials have failed to reach a deal on fresh aid to the pandemic-hit air travel sector.US carriers that received billions in aid from Congress had promised to refrain from laying off workers until the end of September, setting the stage for potentially thousands of job cuts in October."Our elected officials have not been able to reach agreement on a Covid-19 relief package ... As a result, tomorrow, we will begin the difficult process of furloughing 19 000 of our hardworking and dedicated colleagues," CEO Doug Parker said in a letter Wednesday.However, he sounded a note of hope saying that if lawmakers are able to hammer out a deal for new assistance, the furloughs would be cancelled and the affected teams recalled.Unions have said 100 000 people or more could be laid off without additional federal aid, but analysts expect a smaller number than that as airlines and unions seek ways to avoid layoffs. – Nampa/AFP‘TikTok must become US firm’TikTok must become a "US-based company controlled by US investors" or will be banned in the United States, Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday.Mnuchin's comments come amid uncertainty over a US-brokered deal to reorganise ownership of the popular Chinese-owned video-sharing app which US officials have called a national security risk.Mnuchin said the deal brokered by the Trump administration to allow Silicon Valley giant Oracle and retail powerhouse Walmart a stake in a new operating entity called TikTok Global is "a great outcome.""If the deal can be closed on our terms, we'll do it," he told CNBC television."If not, it would be shut down. Any deal will fully satisfy all of our national security issues." – Nampa/AFPGoldman Sachs cuts 'modest' number of jobsGoldman Sachs is undertaking "modest" staff cuts, a company spokesperson said Wednesday, joining other financial giants in trimming its number of employees."At the outbreak of the pandemic, the firm announced that it would suspend any job reductions," the spokesperson said. "The firm has made a decision to move forward with a modest number of layoffs."Just under 400 jobs will be affected, according to a source familiar with the matter, a number equal to around one percent of the company's employees.Wells Fargo and Citigroup have also cut some staff in recent weeks, according to US media reports. – Nampa/AFPShell axes thousands of jobsRoyal Dutch Shell will axe up to 9 000 jobs or more than 10% of its global workforce, the energy giant said Wednesday as the coronavirus pandemic slams oil demand and prices.The Anglo-Dutch group will cut between 7 000 and 9 000 positions by the end of 2022, including 1 500 staff who have agreed to take voluntary redundancy this year, it said in a statement."This is an extremely tough process. It is very painful to know that you will end up saying goodbye to quite a few good people," said Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden, who oversees 80 000 staff across more than 70 countries."But we are doing this because we have to, because it is the right thing to do for the future of the company."We have to be a simpler, more streamlined, more competitive organisation that is more nimble and able to respond to customers," he added.Shell on Wednesday added that it aims to generate annual savings of between US$2 billion and US$2.5 billion by also cutting back on refining capacity. It will help the company to achieve a US$3-US$4 billion efficiency drive announced in March and that runs to 2021. – Nampa/AFP

Company news in brief

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