Company news in brief

Occidental Petroleum reviews options Oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum is reviewing options for its Middle Eastern assets in a bid to ease its debt load, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.Occidental is considering reducing its stakes in oil and natural gas fields in Oman, where its assets could be valued at more than US$1 billion.The Houston-based company is also open to divesting other assets in the Middle East, though it is not formally soliciting interest, Bloomberg said. Outside of Oman, Occidental operates in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.Occidental has been trying to sell assets to reduce the US$40 billion in debt it took on since its US$38 billion purchase of Permian rival Anadarko Petroleum last year, an ill-timed bet on rising oil prices.Occidental's shares have plunged this year amid the worst oil-and-gas industry downturn in 40 years, and the company has cut staff and reduced expenses to deal with its massive debt levels. - Nampa/ReutersSoybeans fall in correction Chicago soybean futures closed lower on Monday on technical selling, after reaching a two-month high, following a week of strong export sales.Corn gained as higher oil prices boosted hopes for ethanol demand and concerns loomed over mounting dryness in parts of the Midwest.Wheat slipped as harvests in Texas and Oklahoma continued, while rains in the Northern Great Plains bolstered flagging crops across the Dakotas.CBOT soybeans remained near two-month highs after US exporters reported soybean sales for four straight days last week in deals widely thought to be bound for China."I'm going to say this is a correction, following a pretty sizeable run-up," said Joe Vaclavik, president of Standard Grain. "I don't know that there's anything fundamentally that's led to this sell-off today." - Nampa/ReutersMacy's raises US$4.5 billion Macy's Inc said on Monday it raised a total of US$4.5 billion, including US$3.15 billion in new borrowings against its real estate assets, as the department store chain tries to navigate through the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.Shares of the company, which also owns Bloomingdale's, surged about 11% after the bell. "The high quality of our real estate portfolio positioned us well to execute this offering," chief executive officer Jeff Gennette said in a statement.Gennette said the funding gives the retailer sufficient flexibility and liquidity to steer the business for the foreseeable future. The company said it would be able to purchase new inventory as stores reopen and repay upcoming debts in fiscal 2020 and 2021.Like other retailers, Macy's has been severely impacted from store closures due to the coronavirus health crisis that forced governments to announce lockdowns to curb the spread of the infection.The raised funding includes a previously announced US$1.3 billion in bond offering. The funds from the offering and existing cash will be used to repay outstanding borrowings under an existing US$1.5 billion unsecured credit agreement. - Nampa/ReutersGlobal Blood Therapeutics seeks to expand Global Blood Therapeutics Inc said on Monday it plans to ask US regulators to greenlight the use of its sickle cell treatment, Oxbryta, in children aged 4 to 11, expanding on an earlier approval for patients 12 and over.The South San Francisco, California-based company recently met with the US food and drug administration and plans to submit a formal application for expanded approval next year, it said in a statement.The company is continuing to collect data supporting Oxbryta's safety and effectiveness in 4 to 11 year-olds but existing data is strong, chief executive Ted Love said in an interview."We've got a significant amount of data that really reinforces that the drug has a very similar profile for both safety and efficacy in this age group," Love said. GBT will apply through the FDA's accelerated approval pathway, the company said in a statement.The FDA approved Oxbryta in November to treat sickle cell disease in adults and children 12 years or older. - Nampa/ReutersVolkswagen replaces Herbert Diess Volkswagen replaced Herbert Diess as chief executive of the VW brand on Monday and installed chief operating officer Ralf Brandstaetter to lead cost cutting efforts at the company's largest plants in Germany.The management reshuffle comes after weeks of squabbling between Volkswagen's powerful labour leaders and managers over the pace and scale of cost cutting plans to free up resources for a radical shift toward electric cars.Volkswagen said Brandstaetter would take over on July 1 to give Diess, who remains group chief executive, more leeway to run the rest of the company, which includes brands such as Audi, Bentley, Skoda, Lamborghini and Porsche. Volkswagen said Diess retained overall responsibility for Volkswagen passenger cars and that the management reshuffle would also result in the departure of procurement and components chief Stefan Sommer.Sommer joined VW in 2018 and oversaw ambitious procurement plans, including the construction of large factories to power Volkswagen's ambitious electrification shift as the carmaker encountered supply bottlenecks.Diess also came under pressure after Volkswagen was forced to halt sales of its newest VW Golf model because of software glitches at a time when the company is preparing to mass produce VW's ID.3 electric car. - Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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Company news in brief

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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