COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Nissan to cut around 160 office-based UK jobs

Nissan will cut around 160 office-based jobs in Britain as the Japanese company faces reduced sales amid plans to turn around its performance.

Last week, it committed to its northeast England factory and will source more batteries locally to avoid tariffs on electric cars after the UK's trade deal with the EU, calling the Brexit agreement an "opportunity" for the Sunderland site.

Nissan opened what is now Britain's biggest car plant in 1986 and made nearly 350 000 vehicles there in 2019.

Globally it has faced a torrid time in recent years and is cutting production capacity, model numbers and operating expenses.

"We continually adapt our business to maximise efficiency in line with market conditions and we are currently in consultation with some of our office-based staff," it said in a statement. - Nampa/Reuters

Pfizer working on booster shot

Pfizer Inc said on Tuesday that along with partner BioNTech Se it was developing a booster shot to protect against Covid-19 variants.

"We are already laying the groundwork to respond quickly if a variant of SARS-CoV-2 shows evidence of escaping immunity by our vaccine," Pfizer said in an email to Reuters.

However, the company added that studies needed to evaluate the booster shot are yet to be determined in agreement with regulators. The story was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Moderna Inc, whose vaccine has also been authorized for emergency use in the United States, had said on Monday it would test a new booster shot aimed at the South African variant of the coronavirus after concluding the antibody response could be diminished. - Nampa/Reuters

Tesla's report could trigger US$7 billion pay-out

Tesla's quarterly report could trigger a US$7 billion options pay-out to Chief Executive Elon Musk, while owners of the electric car maker's soaring stock are keen to hear the company's target for 2021 deliveries.

Tesla posts its December quarter results following a nearly 700% surge in its stock over the past 12 months that has made it the fifth-most-valuable publicly traded US company, eclipsing Facebook.

Despite production that is a fraction of that of Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen or General Motors, Tesla has become by far the world's most valuable car maker, with a market capitalization of US$843 billion, compared with Toyota's US$236 billion.

Its shares are trading at over 200 times the average analyst earnings forecast for the next year, according to Refinitiv, underpinning skeptics' arguments that Tesla's stock has become highly overvalued.

After Tesla delivered just shy of a Musk-promised 500 000 electric vehicles last year, investors are focused on the Silicon Valley manufacturer's 2021 delivery target, expected to be provided on Wednesday.

"We're expecting close to 900 000 deliveries. I think that as the economy opens up again, there is going to be pent up demand from people who want to spend some money," said King Lip, chief investment strategist at Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco, which owns Tesla shares. - Nampa/Reuters

NextEra Energy posts loss on US$1.2 bln

NextEra Energy Inc, the world's largest producer of wind and solar energy, swung to a loss in the fourth quarter, dented by an impairment charge of US$1.2 billion on its investments in the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline.

NextEra has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global transition from dirty fossil fuels to cleaner sources of energy. Its shares have tripled in the last five years, boosting the company's value to around US$170 billion, which is nearly as much as that of Chevron Corp.

For this quarter, however, the company was forced to take a charge on its investment in the Mountain Valley line, a long-gestating project that has faced numerous delays.

NextEra posted a net loss of US$5 million in the three months ended Dec. 31, from an income of US$975 million a year earlier. Shares were down 0.4% on Tuesday, off from an all-time closing high of US$86.87 hit Monday.

The Mountain Valley pipeline, from West Virginia to Virginia, is one of the several oil and gas pipelines under construction that have been delayed by regulatory and legal fights with states and environmental groups. – Nampa/Reuters

Southwest Airlines makes new voluntary leave offer

Southwest Airlines Co said late on Tuesday it was offering employees another round of voluntary leave as its staffing levels remain high and the coronavirus outbreak crimps travel.

“Southwest remains overstaffed in many areas. As a result, some departments will be offering additional opportunities for Employees to take Extended Time Off (ExTO) beginning in March 2021, based upon projected staffing levels”, the company said in an email to Reuters.

“The additional opportunities for leave align with the period when some Employees will return from previously-awarded, six-month leaves on March 1, 2021”, the company added.

Bloomberg reported earlier that 791 Southwest pilots have agreed to take off one to three months.

The “Big Four” US airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest have also asked for additional bailouts.

The US Treasury Department this month began distributing US$15 billion in new payroll assistance to airlines, money allocated by Congress to help more than 32 000 aviation workers return to jobs through at least March 31.- Nampa/Reuters