City Council moves to extend food delivery caps on Grubhub, UberEats
Alliant Energy Corp Profit Climbs In Q2
Alliant Energy Corp (LNT) announced earnings for its second quarter that climbed from last year.
The company’s profit came in at $134.4 million, or $0.54 per share. This compares with $94.6 million, or $0.40 per share, in last year’s second quarter.
Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.46 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.
The company’s revenue for the quarter fell 3.4% to $763.1 million from $790.2 million last year.
Alliant Energy Corp earnings at a glance:
-Earnings (Q2): $134.4 Mln. vs. $94.6 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q2): $0.54 vs. $0.40 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $0.46
-Revenue (Q2): $763.1 Mln vs. $790.2 Mln last year.
First Solar Swings To Profit In Q2
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $36.9 million or $0.35 per share, compared to last year’s loss of $18.5 million or $0.18 per share last year.
Net sales rose to $642.4 million from $585.0 million last year.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.23 per share on revenues of $493.34 million for the quarter.
Separately, First Solar said it has agreed to sell its North American Operations and Maintenance business to NovaSource Power Services, a portfolio company of Toronto-based private equity firm Clairvest Group Inc.
Upon closing of the transaction, around 220 First Solar O&M associates are expected to be transferred with the acquired business. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Singapore bank OCBC Q2 profit falls 40%, hit by loan loss provisions
SINGAPORE, Aug 8 (Reuters) – Singapore’s second-largest lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp reported a larger-than-expected 40% fall in quarterly net profit on Friday, hurt by loan-loss provisions and a slowdown in customer activity.
Net profit declined to S$730 million in the June quarter from S$1.2 billion a year earlier and versus the average estimate of S$980 million of five analysts, according to data from Refinitiv. (Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Adidas expects profit rebound as COVID-19 shakes up fashion world
Coronavirus-fueled office closures have provided a surprising boost to Adidas, which on Thursday announced it expects to return to profitability in the third quarter as more customers dress down as they work from home.
The German sportswear giant’s CEO told reporters that customers in the 18-34 age group say they plan to spend more time working out as a result of the pandemic, and that daily fashion is changing as companies allow employees to work remotely.
“The work environment will have changed forever,” Kasper Rorsted said.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic? Adidas’ affordable Adilette bath sandals — which start at around $20 — and saw sales jump threefold since the beginning of the pandemic in March, the company said.
The Nike rival took a significant hit in the first half of the year as most of its retail stores were closed, and high-profile sporting events like the Olympics and European soccer championships were postponed.
But Rorsted said the company already returned to growth in its home market Germany last month and it expects a recovery in third-quarter sales assuming more than 90 percent of stores stay open, with the fall compared to 2019 set to be less than 10 percent.
A second-quarter operating loss of $396 million was bigger than average analyst expectations, while a sales decline of 35 percent to $4.2 billion, beat forecasts.
Shares in the company, which are down 17 percent this year, were up 4 percent, the biggest German blue-chip gainer.
With Post wires
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Regulator extends debt recast plan for MSMEs
Scheme extended till March 2021
In view of the continued need to support viable MSME entities on account of the fallout of COVID-19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday extended the one-time debt restructuring for small businesses by another three months to March 2021.
Besides, the central bank has also relaxed some existing provisions for availing of this scheme by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
With COVID-19 continuing to disrupt normal functioning and cash flows, the stress in the MSME sector has got accentuated, warranting further support, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said while announcing the central bank’s bi-monthly monetary policy outcome.
As per the existing scheme, the borrower account had to be standard as on January 1, 2020.
Commenting on the scheme, PwC Partner Kuntal Sur said it was a good move by the RBI and would help MSMEs impacted by COVID-19 to get time and space to service debt when cash flows are under pressure due to uncertainty.
City Council moves to extend food delivery caps on Grubhub, UberEats
Food-delivery companies like Grubhub and UberEats can expect their margins to get squeezed in the Big Apple for a while longer, The Post has learned.
City Council members are slated to meet Aug. 13 to extend emergency legislation that caps the commissions and delivery fees those companies charge restaurants. Passed in May, the strict rules are set to expire in mid-September.
The temporary legislation was aimed at giving struggling restaurants a reprieve during the pandemic from hefty fees that can be as much as 40 percent of a takeout order.
The council’s small business committee will meet next week to discuss extending the 20-percent cap — including 5 percent for marketing fees and 15 percent for delivery fees — to 90 days after restaurants are allowed to serve diners indoors at 100 percent capacity, a source familiar with the proposals told The Post.
In all likelihood that won’t happen until 2021, the source told The Post.
The committee also wants to extend a temporary moratorium on charging restaurants for telephone calls that never resulted in a food order — a practice first reported by The Post that Grubhub came under fire for last year.
Grubhub has in the past threatened legal action over this issue, alleging that the City Council is overstepping its authority.
