Page 29 - Companies

Big oil stages a grand comeback as Exxon's valuation passes Tesla

For its part, Exxon's equity value has been steadily climbing since hitting a two-decade low in early 2020, when the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic sent crude prices into a tailspin

Dimon more crucial than ever to JPMorgan, the bank he's run for 17 years

Once Dimon is done being CEO, the board has said, the company may keep him on as chairman

Wells Fargo to pay $3.7 bn to settle charges of consumer law violations

Consumer banking giant Wells Fargo agreed to pay $3.7 billion to settle a laundry list of charges that it harmed consumers by charging illegal fees and interest on auto loans and mortgages, as well as incorrectly applied overdraft fees against savings and checking accounts. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday ordered Wells to repay $2 billion to consumers and enacted a $1.7 billion penalty against the bank. It's the largest fine to date against any bank by the CFPB and the largest fine against Wells, which has spent years trying to rehabilitate itself after a series of scandals tied to its sales practices. Regulators made it clear, however, that they believe Wells Fargo had not done enough to clean up its act. Put simply: Wells Fargo is a corporate recidivist that puts one out of three Americans at risk for potential harm, said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, in a call with reporters. Chopra said this pattern of behavior made make it necessary for regulators to take ...

Airtel acquires stake in Lemnisk to build largest customer data platform

With an aim to build the world's largest CDP, Bharti Airtel said it has acquired a strategic stake in Lemnisk (Immensitas Private Limited) under its 'Start Up Accelerator Programme

Aquaculture startup Aquaconnect raises $15 million to expand business

Aquaconnect, an aquaculture platform, has raised USD 15 million (about Rs 120 crore) from investors to expand its business. The company raised this amount in a Series A funding round led by Lok Capital, with participation from Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures and Suneight Investment. Existing investors also participated in the round. Aquaconnect will use the fund to strengthen its portfolio of scalable solutions that use AI and satellite remote sensing and widen its service offerings in both the pre-harvest and post-harvest aquaculture value chain to input retailers, seafood buyers and other stakeholders, a company statement said. Currently, the company has a network of over 500 rural entrepreneurs, who provide last-mile assistance, serving over 90,000 fish and shrimp farmers. In July last year, Aquaconnect raised USD 4 million in a pre-Series A round. Aquaconnect uses satellite remote sensing and artificial intelligence to enable aquaculture farmers, retailers, and seafood buyers t

Building material maker Visaka's Rs 130 cr new plant in Bengal by Aug 2023

Building material manufacturer Visaka Industries Ltd on Tuesday said its Rs 130-crore plant that is being built in West Bengal will be operational by August 2023. The project will raise the total capacity of environment-friendly boards and panels to 3.5 lakh tonne, a company official said. This will be Visaka's fifth cement fibre board plant in the country, and the first such unit in the eastern state. "The plant will be our second manufacturing unit coming up in August next year in Paschim Medinipur district with an investment of Rs 130 crore. The first facility was established there in 2003 for manufacturing of cement roofing sheets, Visaka Industries joint managing director Vamsi Gaddam said. The project will create direct job opportunities for 500 people in Salboni area. We have decided to increase our manufacturing capacity for our eco-friendly cement fibre boards and sandwich panels. With rising demand for eco-friendly construction materials, the market will be expanded not

Zippo targets 50% sales growth in 2023, expects strong double-digit growth

Iconic windproof lighter maker Zippo Manufacturing Company is targeting nearly 50 per cent growth in sales in India for 2023 and expects to continue strong double-digit growth over the next five years, said a company official. The company gets around 60-70 per cent of sales from e-commerce channels in India and is also expanding its presence in offline channels, where it expects faster growth in 2023, said Zippo Global Marketing Associate Vice President Lucas Johnson. The company has done successful tests with very big retail partners such as Reliance and has plans to roll out lighters at more retail stores as it senses a "huge opportunity" there, he added. The company, as per its retail strategy prioritises online sales with its own channel besides several key e-commerce channel partners such as TATA Cliq Luxury, Amazon and Flipkart. It is also present in high-end gift shops or places like Cafe Coffee Day, Beer Cafe etc. Based on our success in the Indian market this year, consume

Hinduja Global Solutions approves buyback of 6 mn shares at Rs 1,700 each

The buyback size represents 24.15 per cent and 13.19 per cent of the aggregate of the company's fully paid-up equity share capital and free reserves

Hello Logistics sues Instacart founder Mehta for creating 'copycat' startup

Hello Logistics Inc., which operates under the name NextMed, sued Mehta, his business partner Tejasvi Singh, and their company Cloud Health Systems over allegations of misappropriation of trade secret

Maruti Suzuki blames high taxes for low car ownership in the country

Car-industry growth in India has slowed to 3% from 12% in the past twelve years, partly due to poor government policies, Bhargava said

Citigroup's $900 mn Revlon blunder ends with dismissal after bank's victory

In the epic blunder, Citigroup's banking unit accidentally sent the creditors of Revlon almost a billion dollars

Elon Musk says Twitter will restrict voting on policy to blue members

A day earlier, Musk pledged to submit all future policy decisions to a vote and offered Twitter users a choice on leadership, asking them if he should step down; 57.5% of the vote were in favor

Flexi staffing industry grows by 6%, adds 78,000 jobs in July-Sept

The Indian flexi staffing industry added 78,000 jobs in July-September 2022, up 6 per cent as compared to the previous quarter, on account of rise in demand across all sectors, a report said. "Buoyed by a strong festive season and rising demand across sectors, the Indian Staffing Federation (ISF) members added 78,000 new jobs in July-September quarter, a 6 per cent rise in new jobs over previous April-June quarter," said ISF's Flexi Staffing Employment Growth report. The new jobs in July-September are combination of new jobs in general staffing and IT staffing, it stated. ISF is the apex industry body representing formal staffing, facility management and security services companies. New jobs in general staffing which excludes IT staffing grew 7.3 per cent in July-September, driven by rise in demand in FMCG, e-commerce, manufacturing, retail, logistics, banking, hospitality, tourism, insurance, infrastructure, it stated. On the other hand, new jobs in IT staffing remained under

Google has trained 40,000 people in cybersecurity so far: Vice President

The firm has committed to upskill 100,000 people, says Royal Hansen, adding that India was very similar to the US and Europe in terms of challenges and work in the domain of cybersecurity

Share buyback and revamp of disclosure norms on Sebi board's agenda

New framework proposes enhancing amount companies can repurchase vis-a-vis free reserves

Ongoing divestment, healthy order inflows positive for Larsen & Toubro

Analysts expect a 12-15 per cent upside from current levels

Rs 1 trn m-cap club hits half-century in 2022 despite muted gains in Sensex

It's a sign of gains in equity markets being lopsided, say analysts

Elon Musk asks Twitter users to vote to decide if he should step down

Since his takeover of Twitter, Musk has weathered criticism for his sweeping changes at the social network

Migrate your tweets and come to Koo, CEO Radhakrishna offers in new move

Koo -- the Made-in-India rival of Twitter -- has offered to migrate all historic tweets of any Twitter user willing to shift to its platform that will continue to not charge users for verification badge, its co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna said. Since taking over Twitter in a USD 44 billion deal in October, Elon Musk has sacked its employees, overhauled its moderation policies, put a price for account verification, and restored previously banned accounts including that of former US President Donald Trump. In recent days, he suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists without warning who had been covering him, but had to reinstate the accounts following strong criticism from government officials, journalist organisations, and advocacy groups. Koo, which allows users to express views in Indian languages, has already crossed 50 million downloads and is now flying into the rival's nest, starting a campaign to woo Twitter users, offering self-verification and a ...

Adani group to invest Rs 10,700 crore to expand Lucknow airport

About 25,000 people will be employed once the project is completed