COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

AT&T, Discovery in talks

Wireless carrier AT&T Inc is in talks to combine content assets with Discovery Inc, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The proposed deal could create an entertainment giant to better compete with Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co, the report added. Both AT&T and Discovery declined to comment.

AT&T is already home to some popular brands in the entertainment business like HBO, HBO Max, CNN and many more through its Warner Media division.

HBO and HBO Max now have 63.9 million global subscribers, compared with over 100 million for Walt Disney Co's Disney+ and 207.6 million for Netflix.

Discovery, whose portfolio includes Animal Planet, HGTV and the Discovery Channel, reaches 88.3 million homes in the United States. -Nampa/Reuters

Grupo SURA posts US$56.6 million profit

Colombian investment holding giant Grupo SURA said it made a net profit of 211 billion pesos (US$56.6 million) in the first quarter, compared with a loss during the same period the year before, as income recovered amid costs controls.

Total income in the first quarter of 2021 was up 13.7% to 5.6 trillion pesos, compared with the same quarter a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the financial regulator.

"The evolution of profit is explained principally by a better operative result, a recovery in income because of investments in SURA AM, larger profits for associated companies and control of operative spending," it said.

Larger profits at Bancolombia and food producer Grupo Nutresa, in which SURA has important stakes, contributed, as did a recovery at Grupo Argos.

Costs were up 6.3% in the first three months of the year, less than the increase in income despite higher costs associated with Covid-19.- Nampa/Reuters

Swiss Life to pay US$77.4 mln

Swiss Life Holding AG agreed to pay US$77.4 million and enter a deferred prosecution agreement in the United States to resolve accusations it conspired to help wealthy Americans evade taxes.

The three-year agreement announced on Friday relates to Swiss Life's insurance wrapper business, a type of life insurance policy in which taxpayers can place stocks, private equity holdings and other assets.

Some regulators have expressed concern that taxpayers can use the wrappers for tax avoidance.

Swiss Life will pay a US$25.3 million fine plus US$52.1 million in restitution and forfeiture to resolve a charge it conspired to defraud the US Internal Revenue Service through its private placement life insurance business.

The company's general counsel accepted the agreement at a hearing before US District Judge Gregory Woods in Manhattan. Swiss Life has said it set aside sufficient funds in 2020 to cover the settlement. - Nampa/Reuters

Amazon to create 10 000 jobs in Britain

Amazon will create 10 000 new permanent jobs in the United Kingdom in 2021, taking its total workforce in the country to more than 55 000, it said on Friday.

The announcement provides a welcome boost to Britain's precarious labour market, with unemployment running at almost 5%.

Amazon said the new jobs will include roles across its operations network, at its corporate offices and Amazon Web Services (AWS). The group plans to open a new fulfilment centre in Hinckley, central England, creating 700 jobs.

It will also open a parcel centre in Doncaster, northern England, and further fulfilment centres in Dartford, near London, Gateshead in north-eastern England and Swindon in western England, each creating more than 1 300 permanent jobs.

In addition to roles that pick, pack and ship customer orders, jobs will be created in engineering, human resources, IT and finance. - Nampa/Reuters