COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Nestle to suspend of sales in Russia
Nestle is to halt the sale of a wide range of brands in Russia, including KitKat chocolate bars and Nesquik,amid Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's criticism of the world's biggest food company for its continued presence in the country.
The products affected, also including pet food and coffee, make up the "vast majority of volume and sales" in Russia, which totalled 1.7 billion Swiss francs (US$1.82 billion) in 2021, a Nestle spokesperson said.
The Swiss company had already halted non-essential imports and exports to Russia and had also stopped all advertising and capital investment in the country and said it would donate profits from Russia to Ukrainian relief efforts.
Western companies with a presence in Russia have been trying to provide essential food and medicine while also facing pressure to cut all ties with Moscow.
More than 400 companies have withdrawn from Russia since it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, leaving behind assets worth hundreds of billions of dollars in aggregate. -Reuters
Samsung shares worth US$1.1 bln sold
Samsung Electronics shares worth about US$1.1 billion were sold in a block deal on Thursday, according to a document, which some analysts attributed to the Samsung conglomerate's controlling family raising cash to meet a big tax bill.
About 19.9 million Samsung shares were sold by Kookmin Bank at 68 800 won per share, a discount of 2.4% to Wednesday's closing price of 70 500 won, a term sheet of the deal seen by Reuters showed.Samsung Electronics did not have a comment on the sale.
But the shares on sale matched the amount that Hong Ra-hee, mother of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee and wife of deceased Samsung patriarch Lee Kun-hee, agreed to keep in trust with Kookmin Bank in October, according to a Samsung Electronics filing that month.
The trust agreement period was due to end by April 25, the filing showed. Since patriarch Lee died in 2020, Samsung's controlling family decided to use shares in affiliated companies to pay part of more than US$10 billion in inheritance tax, people with direct knowledge of the matter previously told Reuters.
The tax code allows payment in instalments, with one-sixth of the total to be paid first, and the remainder over five years with an annual interest rate. Even in instalments, analysts expect over 2 trillion won (US$1.64 billion) to be due annually. -Reuters
Renault suspends Moscow plant
Renault SA, the Western carmaker most exposed to the Russian market, said on Wednesday it would suspend operations at its plant in Moscow while it assesses options on its majority stake in Avtovaz, the country's No. 1 carmaker.

The move came amid mounting pressure over the French company's continued presence in Russia since the country invaded Ukraine. Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has called for a global boycott of Renault.
"Renault Group reminds that it already implements the necessary measures to comply with international sanctions," the company said in Wednesday's statement, its first on the issue since the start of the war. The statement made no mention of the crisis in Ukraine.
The French carmaker on Wednesday revised its operating group margin to around 3% from at or above 4% in 2022 and adjusted its automotive cash flow outlook to "positive" from a previous estimate of 1 billion euros (US$1.10 billion) or above.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier accused Renault of financing the war and said Renault, among other French companies, must stop "financing the murder of children and women, of rape."-Reuters
Tesla, Lucid to build battery factory
LG Energy Solution, a supplier for electric car makers Tesla and Lucid, said on Thursday in Korea it plans to invest 1.7 trillion Korean won (US$1.4 billion) to build a battery factory in Arizona by 2024 to meet demand from "prominent startups" and other North American customers.
This will be its first US factory to make cylindrical cells, a type of battery that has been used in Tesla and Lucid vehicles, LGES said. Construction will begin in the second quarter of 2022, with mass production to start in 2024 with production capacity of 11 gigawatt hours, LGES said in a statement.
Earlier, Reuters reported that potential customers would include EV makers Tesla, Lucid and Proterra and Philip Morris, maker of IQOS heated-tobacco sticks, among others. The report cited people familiar with the matter.
LGES said in a statement that it plans to consider securing additional production capacity at its Arizona factory in the future.
"The Arizona factory could add further production capacity in the future as we are seeing growing demand for cylindrical batteries from various customers, including automakers and power tool makers," said an official at LGES. -Reuters
Airbus expecting India Airlines orders
Airbus SE said on Thursday it expects Indian airlines to order 2 210 jetliners over the next 20 years, making up about 6% of the European manufacturer's projected global deliveries over that period.
The world's largest civil plane maker expects 1 770 deliveries of narrow-body planes such as its best-selling A320, which make up the bulk of the Indian market, with the remainder being wide-body planes, Brent McBratney, head of airline marketing for India and South Asia, said at an air show.
Proliferation of low-cost carriers has spurred growth in narrow-body planes in India, while long-haul travel is a largely untapped market, he told reporters.
Airbus in November said it expects a market total of 39 020 jetliner deliveries over the next 20 years, fractionally lower than the 39 213 it forecast two years ago. -Reuters