British Airways parent IAG says CEO Willie Walsh to stay until September
British Airways-owner IAG said that chief executive Willie Walsh would stay on until September to steer it through the coronavirus crisis, and that it was planning for flights to return to service in July.
BT pulls dividend until 2021/22 to cope with COVID
Britain’s biggest telecoms group BT has suspended its dividend until 2021/22, one of the biggest on the London stock exchange, and pulled its financial outlook in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Britain’s Next expands beauty business with former Debenhams stores
British clothing retailer Next said on Thursday it will expand its beauty business by taking on five former Debenhams beauty departments and rebranding them as “The Beauty Hall from NEXT”.
AB InBev sees worse ahead, with some light in China
Anheuser-Busch InBev , the world’s largest beer maker, forecast a “materially worse” second quarter as coronavirus restrictions curb drinking across the globe, while noting some improvement in China.
Bottler Coca Cola HBC’s April sales lose fizz as lockdowns weigh
Soft drinks bottler Coca Cola HBC AG on Thursday said sales in April fell by more than a third as fast-food chains, theatres and other public arenas stayed shut to limit the spread of the new coronavirus during stay-at-home orders.
Liberty Global, Telefonica agree $38 billion merger of UK businesses
The British businesses of Liberty Global Plc and Telefonica SA will merge to create a major new player in UK mobile and broadband communications in a deal valued at around 31 billion pounds ($38 billion) including debt.
Liberty Global expects no major regulatory challenge to O2-Virgin deal: CEO
Liberty Global expects no major regulatory challenge to a deal to merge its Virgin Media unit with British mobile operator O2, owned by Spain’s Telefonica , its chief executive said on Thursday.
Spain’s Telefonica to merge British unit O2 with Virgin Media
Liberty Global has agreed to merge its Virgin Media cable company with the O2 mobile business owned by Spain’s Telefonica to create a major new force in the British telecoms market.
Air France job cuts set to test CEO Smith’s consensual style
Air France-KLM is opening talks with its French unions on workforce cuts, Chief Executive Ben Smith told Reuters, as the airline group warned of mounting losses with no clear end in sight to the coronavirus crisis.
Air France-KLM loss gives first taste of coronavirus impact
Two weeks of coronavirus shutdown were enough to hit Air France-KLM with an 815 million-euro ($880 million) first-quarter operating loss, the airline group said on Thursday – predicting demand could take “several years” to recover.
