After rising prices for refined goods drove its 2022 profit to a record level and allowed it to declare a sizable dividend, Australia’s Ampol Ltd said on Monday that it had a strong start to 2023 and was well-positioned to manage ongoing volatility in the oil markets. According to Ampol, the top fuel supplier in…
Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms Inc. is introducing Meta Verified, a subscription service with a number of extra benefits and features, including account verification badges for those who pay. The new subscription, which is primarily geared toward content producers, will cost $11.99 per month ($14.99 if purchased through the iOS app). The subscription includes “proactive…
KPMG has settled a £1.3 billion lawsuit brought by the liquidators of Carillion, who alleged the auditor was negligent and failed to notice significant warning signs in the outsourcing company’s financial statements prior to its disastrous collapse in 2018. The lawsuit was filed by Britain’s official receiver, who is attempting to recover losses on behalf…
Investigators discovered that a large food sanitation company in the US had hired dozens of kids to work overnight shifts cleaning meatpacking plants, and the company has now agreed to pay $1.5 million. According to the Department of Labor, Packers Sanitation Services employed more than 100 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17. The…
Microsoft announced on Friday that the Bing AI chatbot will be limited to 50 questions per day and five questions and answers per individual session. The company wrote in a blog post that the action will curtail some situations in which protracted chat sessions threaten to “confuse” the chat model. Early beta testers of the…
Only paid subscribers will be able to use text messages as a two-factor authentication (2FA) process to safeguard their accounts, Twitter announced on Friday. Only Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to use text messages as their two-factor authentication method after March 20, the company announced in a tweet. Two-factor authentication, designed to increase account…
Following rumors of a takeover bid, the CEO of Standard Chartered declared that the bank was “absolutely not” for sale. Bill Winters stated on Thursday that the company is not concentrating on a potential sale. “On the right terms, somebody wants to come and thinks that they can so something, I would encourage engagement rather…
Nestle’s CEO, Mark Schneider, announced on Thursday that the company will push through additional price increases this year. The company’s reported sales for 2022 rose by 8.4% to 94.4 billion Swiss francs ($102.31 billion), but shareholders’ net profit decreased to 9.27 billion francs, falling short of forecasts of 11.58 billion francs. “We are watching with…
On Thursday, Standard Chartered reported a 28% increase in annual pretax profit as global interest rate hikes boosted its lending revenue. The company also announced a new $1 billion share buyback program. StanChart’s performance, like that of its international competitors, benefited from ruthless central bank interest rate increases intended to fight inflation. These increases allowed…
As consumers become more sensitive to persistently high inflation, Kraft Heinz announced on Wednesday that it would halt further price increases for its quick-fix meals and condiments. Due to increased promotions and higher prices for commodities like dairy, soybeans, oils, and packaging materials, as well as lower sales, the multinational packaged food company also predicted…
