Police investigating sudden death of Auckland baby in Red Hill

Police are investigating the sudden death of a baby in Auckland.

Police were called to the scene in Red Hill, southeast of Auckland, at 10.45am.

“Police are currently making initial inquiries into the circumstances of the death,” police told the Herald.

A post mortem examination will be carried out tomorrow.

“Police are not in a position to comment further until that process has been completed.”

Lufthansa reports narrower first quarter loss, expects recovery in second half

Deutsche Lufthansa on Thursday reported a smaller first-quarter net loss than a year earlier, thanks to drastic cost cuts, and said it expects a significant market recovery in the second half of the year.

The German carrier said its net loss came at 1.05 billion euros ($1.27 billion), almost half of the loss it posted for last year's first quarter.

First-quarter adjusted loss before interest and taxes (EBIT) also narrowed, coming in at 1.14 billion euros.

It said demand is expected to pick up only gradually in the second quarter and saw a significant market recovery in the second half of the year, thanks to vaccinations rollouts and growing testing acceptance.

Nicolle Wallace Rips Tim Scott’s Rebuttal: ‘From A Planet Where Facts Don’t Matter’

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace made quick work of Sen. Tim Scott’s Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s first speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.

“This is a speech delivered from a planet where facts don’t matter, which is where the current Republican Party resides,” said Wallace, who was communications director for President George W. Bush. “It’s really not his fault, but it is his responsibility to get his facts straight.” 

Scott (R-S.C.) claimed in his speech that the “tide had already turned” against coronavirus before Biden took office and credited former President Donald Trump for that.

Wallace wasn’t buying it. 

“He said that Biden inherited a country that had already rounded the bend on COVID,” she said. “Four thousand people a day were dying in January, so I don’t know, again, on what planet we rounded the bend.” 

She said Scott’s speech contained “a lot of disinformation” that felt “almost scripted” by someone close to Trump.

Wallace also delivered a fact-check to Scott’s comments on the Georgia voting law:

RELATED…

BT confirms in talks about sports business

• Britain's BT Group said on Thursday it was in talks to sell a stake in its sports business.
• A Telegraph report said companies such as Amazon, Disney and DAZN had shown interest.

In this article

• BT.A-GB

Britain's BT Group said on Thursday it was in talks to sell a stake in its sports business, confirming a Telegraph report saying companies such as Amazon.com Inc, Walt Disney Co and sport streaming company DAZN had shown interest.

"Further to media reports, BT can confirm that early discussions are being held with a number of select strategic partners, to explore ways to generate investment, strengthen our sports business, and help take it to the next stage in its growth," BT said.

"The discussions are confidential and may or may not lead to an outcome."

Inchcape Plc Q1 Results Ahead Of Its Expectations – Quick Facts

Inchcape plc (INCH.L) reported first quarter Group revenue of 1.9 billion pounds, up 2% on an organic basis, and down 3% reported. On an organic basis, Distribution was up 4% and Retail was down 2%. The Group noted that while performance in Distribution improved sequentially, Retail was impacted by stricter pandemic related restrictions.

The Group continues to expect material growth in profits and an improved operating margin for fiscal 2021.

Duncan Tait, Group CEO, said: “The performance demonstrates the underlying resilience of the Group – with revenue growth underpinned by a widespread recovery in our Distribution business.”

Fielmann Q1 Results Rise, Declares Dividend; Warns On Outlook; Stock Down

German optics firm Fielmann AG (FLMNF.PK) reported Thursday that its first-quarter net income increased to 28.5 million euros from previous year’s 12.1 million euros.

Pre-tax profits rose to 41.8 million euros from last year’s 17.6 million euros.

Consolidated sales grew 8% to 382 million euros from previous year’s 355 million euros. External sales incl. VAT and changes in inventories increased 9% to 445 million euros.

Fielmann said it generated first-quarter sales revenues above the pre-crisis period in 2019, despite the pandemic-related restrictions.

Further, considering the company’s positive development, the management board and the supervisory board will recommend a dividend payout of 1.20 euros per share to the Annual General Meeting on July 8.

Looking ahead, the company noted that its Vision 2025 is the basis of forecast for the financial year 2021.

The company said, “The coronavirus pandemic continues to significantly impact private life and business in Europe, with governments in many countries still taking far-reaching protective measures. These restrictions as well as potentially even more severe restrictions will have a negative effect on the number of units sold, sales revenue, and profits, the extent of which is hard to anticipate.”

For this reason, any forecast for the coming months and the year as a whole is subject to great uncertainty, it said.

In Germany, Fielmann shares were trading at 65.20 euros, down 3.12 percent.

Planemaker Airbus maintains forecasts as core profit rises

• Airbus posted higher first-quarter core earnings on Thursday but kept forecasts unchanged as its chief executivewarned of uncertainty while the Covid-19 pandemic lingers.
• The world's largest commercial jetmaker said adjusted operating profit rose 147% to 694 million euros ($841.6 million).
• Revenue slipped 2% to 10.46 billion euros.

In this article

• AIR-FR

Airbus posted higher first-quarter core earnings on Thursday but kept forecasts unchanged as its chief executivewarned of uncertainty while the Covid-19 pandemic lingers.

The world's largest commercial jetmaker said adjusted operating profit rose 147% to 694 million euros ($841.6 million), led by its commercial jet and helicopter activities, as revenue slipped 2% to 10.46 billion euros.

The figures were slightly ahead of a company-compiled consensus of analyst predictions and reflect higher aircraft deliveries, as well as an ongoing restructuring project triggered by the heavy impact of the pandemic on air travel.

"The first quarter shows that the crisis is not yet over for our industry and that the market remains uncertain," Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said in a statement.

For the full-year, Airbus is expecting commercial deliveries equal to last year's 566 jetliners, adjusted operating profit of 2 billion euros and breakeven free cashflow.