October, 2020

• 4 October

  Saudi’s new tax relief unleashed for home buyers to keep boom rolling

  

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia added new incentives to keep its mortgage boom going by scrapping a 15% value-added tax on property sales and offering other relief for home buyers amid a push by the Arab world’s largest economy to expand residential ownership. Property transactions will instead be subject to a new 5% real estate sales tax, according to state-run news agency …

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• 4 October

  Chile mulls financial aid for green hydrogen projects

  

  Bloomberg Chile’s government is considering ways to boost the attractiveness of green-hydrogen projects as the biggest copper-producing nation strives to become carbon neutral. “We will announce the details early November,” Energy Minister Juan Carlos Jobet said in an interview in Santiago. “It will come in the form of some financial assistance to allow investors to have returns during the early …

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• 4 October

  Noble’s shareholders approve Chevron deal

  

  Bloomberg Noble Energy Inc shareholders approved the company’s acquisition by Chevron Corp, cementing one of the US oil industry’s biggest transactions this year. The vote during a virtual shareholder meeting came despite opposition from Elliott Management Corp. The activist hedge fund was said to seek a break-up of the deal because it thought Chevron wasn’t paying enough. The biggest proxy-advisory …

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• 4 October

  Nuclear power seeks to tap into hydrogen-fuel

  

  Bloomberg The nuclear industry should tap into rising investor interest in hydrogen-fuel to revive the flagging prospects of reactor operators in an increasingly crowded marketplace for clean power. That was the message delivered by executives and scientists who convened at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Higher demand for hydrogen from industry and heavy transport could make production of the …

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• 4 October

  Suncor staff-cut plan adds to Canada’s oil-sands woes

  Bloomberg Suncor Energy, Canada’s biggest oil-sands producer, will trim 10% to 15% of its workforce in the next 18 months, joining a long list of energy companies in Alberta that have announced layoffs following a collapse in fuel demand due to the virus. Suncor had already been preparing for a smaller workforce but the planned cuts, which could affect as …

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• 4 October

  Walmart’s UK retreat leaves Asda with its ‘old problems’

  

  Bloomberg Walmart Inc’s 1999 acquisition of Asda looked set to disrupt the UK supermarket business, with the US retailer using its deep pockets to shake up entrenched players like Tesco Plc and J Sainsbury Plc. The purchase never quite lived up to the hype. Asda struggled to defend its market share against bigger rivals and the German discounters Aldi and …

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• 4 October

  Airbus COO expects at least 15,000 job cuts

  

  Bloomberg Airbus SE is under pressure to carry out its job-cutting plan as the prospects for the aviation industry deteriorate, Chief Operating Officer Michael Schoellhorn said in an interview with Handelsblatt. The planemaker’s plan to eliminate 15,000 positions is “the minimum of what we have to do,” Schoellhorn said, adding that the company currently has no plans to expand the …

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• 4 October

  Ethiopian Air limits South African offer to pilots, jets

  

  Bloomberg Ethiopian Airlines Group is willing to provide planes, pilots and maintenance services to beleaguered rival South African Airways as part of a joint venture with that country’s government. Africa’s biggest airline is offering operational assistance, Ethiopian CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said in an interview in Addis Ababa. The carrier isn’t interested in helping with debt repayments or the cost of …

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• 4 October

  Full refund for air tickets booked amid lockdown in India

  

  Bloomberg India’s Supreme Court ordered local airlines to refund tickets booked for travel during a nationwide lockdown earlier this year, dealing a blow to an industry already strapped for cash. The court’s verdict also mandated airlines to issue credit vouchers even for tickets booked for travel outside the lockdown period, if the flights were later canceled due to virus-related restrictions. …

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• 4 October

  TUI plans to raise $1.8 billion once travel demand returns

  Bloomberg Holiday giant TUI AG could seek to raise about 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) through a rights issue and asset sales once bookings recover and the company starts generating meaningful revenue again. TUI will look at selling some of its 400 hotels and UK cruise arm Marella, Chief Executive Officer Fritz Joussen said in a briefing at the Frankfurt …

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