Thomson Reuters Corp
Thomson Reuters Corp said yesterday that it will cut its workforce by 12 per cent by 2020, axing 3,200 jobs, as part of a plan to streamline the business and improve operating efficiencies.
The news and information provider, which completed the sale of a 55 per cent stake in its Financial & Risk unit to private equity firm Blackstone Group, announced the cuts during an investor day in Toronto, in which it outlined its future strategy and growth plans.
Thomson Reuters said it had set a target to reduce its capital expenditure to between 7 per cent and 8 per cent of revenue in 2020 from 10 per cent currently. The company also set a target to grow annual sales by 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent by 2020, excluding the impact of any acquisitions.
Thomson Reuters is looking to support organic growth through acquisitions and has set aside US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) of the US$17 billion proceeds from the Blackstone deal to make purchases. Shares in Thomson Reuters have risen by nearly 40 per cent since May, benefiting from the company buying back US$10 billion worth of shares.
Audi
Volkswagen's premium auto brand Audi said it would invest €14 billion (S$21.8 billion) through 2023 in electric mobility, digitalisation and autonomous driving.
Overall, the company's total projected expenditure for the next five years amounts to €40 billion, it said in a statement yesterday. It also plans restructuring measures that will generate €1 billion in earnings uplift already this year, reported Reuters.
"This planning round bears a clear signature: We are taking a very systematic approach to electric mobility and will be much more focused in future," said Audi's interim management board chairman Bram Schot.
United Food Holdings
United Food Holdings said on Monday that it has posted three consecutive years of pre-tax losses, based on audited full-year consolidated accounts. Singapore Exchange listing rules state that a company is put on a watchlist if it posts three straight years of pre-tax losses, and has an average daily market value of less than $40 million over the last six months.
United Food Holdings' latest six-month average daily market value stood at $41.5 million as of Nov 30.
