The mayor of London reached a financial agreement with the British government that will keep the city’s transport system running for at least another six months. The revenue stream from London’s Tube and buses has dwindled during the pandemic. The government had threatened to take direct control of the network. The mayor has agreed to some cost savings, but he will not have to extend the size of the capital’s congestion-charging zone outside the centre.
倫敦市長與英國政府達成了一項財政協議，該協議將使倫敦的交通系統至少再運行6個月。倫敦地鐵和公共汽車的收入在疫情期間減少了。政府曾威脅要直接控制該交通系統。該市市長同意削減一些成本，而不必將首都擁堵收費區擴大至市中心以外。
More oil companies reported their earnings, spotlighting the impact that falling oil prices and reduced demand are having on the industry’s bottom line. ExxonMobil posted its third consecutive quarterly net loss, this time of $680m. It plans to cut 15% of its global workforce next year. Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, made a net profit of $11.8bn, but that was 45% less than in the same three months last year. It still intends to pay out dividends totalling $18.8bn. Most of that will go to the Saudi government, which owns the vast bulk of Aramco’s shares.
更多的石油公司公布了財報，凸顯出油價下跌和需求減少對行業利潤的影響。埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)公布了其連續第三個季度的凈虧損，這次虧損金額為6.8億美元。該公司計劃明年在全球裁員15%。全球最大的石油公司沙特阿美石油公司(Saudi Aramco)凈利潤為118億美元，但比去年同期下降了45%。該公司仍打算支付總計188億美元的股息。其中大部分股息將歸沙特政府所有，該政府持有沙特阿美大部分股份。
A committee of the board at Twitter that reviewed the company’s management structure “expressed its confidence” in the current arrangements, confirming that Jack Dorsey will remain chief executive. The committee was created after Elliott, an activist hedge fund, questioned Mr Dorsey’s commitment to his job. Twitter’s share price has risen sharply this year, rewarding Elliott and other investors, though it was dented recently by weak daily-user numbers.
Twitter董事會的一個委員會審查了該公司的管理結構，并對目前的人事安排“表示了信心”，確認杰克·多爾西將繼續擔任首席執行官。該委員會是在對沖基金埃利奧特質疑多爾西對工作的承諾后成立的。Twitter的股價今年大幅上漲，給埃利奧特和其他投資者帶來了回報，盡管最近由于每日用戶數量疲軟而受到了影響。
Both Lufthansa and Air France-KLM reported another heavy quarterly loss. The German and French-Dutch airlines have received huge state bail-outs during the pandemic. Lufthansa said it would restructure its business further; Air France-klm is to curtail its flight schedule for the rest of the year. Ryanair also made a loss as passenger numbers plummeted. Michael O’Leary, its combative boss, blamed the first lockdowns in Europe earlier this year, which he said had “achieved nothing”, and lambasted the second lockdowns, many in force this week, which he thinks will achieve “even less”.
漢莎航空(Lufthansa)和法航荷航(Air France-KLM)都報告了另一個嚴重的季度虧損。德國和法荷航空公司在疫情期間接受了政府的巨額救助。漢莎航空表示將進一步重組其業務；法航荷航集團將縮減今年剩余時間的航班計劃。瑞安航空也因乘客數量銳減而出現虧損。該公司好強的老板邁克爾·奧利里(Michael O’leary)指責今年早些時候歐洲的第一次封鎖“毫無成效”，并痛斥了第二次封鎖，其中很多封鎖措施在本周實施，他認為這次封鎖的“效果更差”。
Berlin Brandenburg Airport at last opened to passengers after a decade of delays, six missed openings and huge cost overruns. The airport’s inaugural arrival flights were operated by easyJet and Lufthansa. Even the opening had a hitch. Bad weather stopped a planned parallel landing by the aircraft.
柏林勃蘭登堡機場在經歷了10年的延誤、6次錯過的開放以及巨額超支后，終于向乘客開放了。該機場的首批抵達航班由易捷航空(easyJet)和漢莎航空(Lufthansa)運營。甚至開幕儀式也出現了問題。惡劣天氣導致原定的飛機平行降落的計劃被打亂。
There was a sliver of hope for the human race this week, with the reported news that Walmart has scrapped plans to use robots to check stock levels, prices and misplaced items. The retailer will instead retain flesh-and-blood workers, who have been found to be just as adept at those tasks during the pandemic.
本周，人類還有一線希望。有報道稱，沃爾瑪(Walmart)取消了使用機器人檢查庫存水平、價格和錯位商品的計劃。相反，這家零售商將保留有血有肉的員工，公司發現，員工在疫情期間同樣擅長這些工作。
評論
打印
