Company briefs: Hyundai
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Hyundai
Hyundai Motor Group said yesterday that it plans to invest a total of 21 trillion won (S$23 billion) through 2030 for the expansion of its electric vehicle (EV) business in South Korea.
The South Korean auto group, which houses Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp, plans to annually build 1.44 million units of EVs in South Korea by 2030.
The 1.44 million units in EV production volume in South Korea would account for about 45 per cent of a combined global EV production capacity of 3.23 million EV units in 2030, the auto group said in a statement.
REUTERS
Mastercard
Mastercard has begun to trial a biometric payment system for bricks-and-mortar stores, using facial recognition rather than contactless cards, smartphones or memorable PINs.
The company said its Biometric Checkout Programme would let a shopper scan his face using a retailer's smartphone app and assign his likeness to a bank card stored on file.
A pilot programme began this week at five St Marche supermarkets in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
BLOOMBERG
Aviva
British insurer Aviva recorded a 5 per cent increase in general insurance sales in the first quarter, helped by strong performances in commercial insurance in Britain and Canada.
General insurance gross written premiums rose to a record £2.1 billion (S$3.6 billion), while sales in its life business rose 1 per cent to £8.7 billion.
Aviva, under pressure from activist investor Cevian Capital, in March increased its cost savings target to £750 million gross of inflation across 2018 to 2024 and upped targets for cash remittances and own-funds generation.
REUTERS