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The world this week-- Business
本周國際要聞——商業
Shell announced a big change to its corporate structure, with plans to move its tax residency from the Netherlands to Britain, dump its dual-share structure and remove the legacy “Royal Dutch” from its legal name.
殼牌宣布對其公司結構進行重大調整，計劃將其稅務居住地從荷蘭移至英國，取消雙重股權結構，并將“皇家荷蘭”從其法定名稱中刪除。
The oil giant is under pressure to increase returns to investors.
這家石油巨頭正面臨著增加投資者回報的壓力。
Relocating its tax base to Britain gives it more freedom on share buy-backs.
將稅基遷至英國能使其在股票回購方面享有更多自由。
Shell is keeping several big divisions, such as global upstream, in the Netherlands.
殼牌在荷蘭保留了幾個大的部門，比如全球上游部分。
Nevertheless the Dutch government said it was “unpleasantly surprised” by the news.
盡管如此，荷蘭政府表示對這一消息感到“不愉快地意外”。
Toshiba laid out formal proposals to split into three publicly listed companies, a move that came soon after General Electric’s similar decision to split.
東芝提出了拆分為三家上市公司的正式提議，此舉發生在通用電氣做出類似分拆決定之后不久。
The Japanese conglomerate wants to house its nuclear, infrastructure and engineering businesses in one company, create an asset-management firm that will oversee its tech holdings in another, and start a new company for its chips and small devices.
這家日本企業集團希望將其核、基礎設施和工程業務放在一家公司；創建一家資產管理公司，負責監管其在另一家公司持有的科技資產；并為其芯片和小型設備創建一家新公司。
Some shareholders want Toshiba to sell itself to a private-equity buyer instead.
而一些股東希望東芝將自己賣給私募股權買家。
Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson, another huge conglomerate, said it would spin off its consumer-health division into a separate business, leaving it to focus on pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
與此同時，另一家大型企業集團強生公司表示，將把消費者健康部門剝離為一項獨立的業務，使其專注于制藥和醫療設備。
Natural-gas prices surged in Europe again, after Germany’s energy regulator temporarily suspended its certification of the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is to transport Russian gas to western Europe.
歐洲天然氣價格再次飆升，此前德國能源監管機構暫時暫停了將俄羅斯天然氣運往西歐的新北溪2號管道的認證。
More Russian supplies would ease the continent’s energy crunch, but the regulator said that the pipeline’s operator was not in a “legal shape compliant with German law”.
更多來自俄羅斯的供應將緩解歐洲大陸的能源緊缺，但監管機構表示，管道運營商未達到“符合德國法律的合法形式”。
Japan’s economy shrank by 0.8% in the third quarter compared with the previous three months, a blow for Kishida Fumio, the new prime minister, ahead of his announcement of a big stimulus package.
日本第三季經濟較前三個月萎縮0.8%，這對新首相岸田文雄來說是一個打擊，他還沒有宣布一項大規模的經濟刺激計劃。
Business investment plunged in the quarter, as global supply-chain problems hit the country’s exporters.
由于全球供應鏈問題打擊了該國的出口商，商業投資在本季度大幅下降。
Consumer spending also fell amid a resurgence of COVID-19.
隨著新冠疫情再次出現，消費者支出也有所下降。
Britain’s annual inflation rate jumped to 4.2% in October, the highest level in a decade and up from 3.1% in September.
英國10月份的年通貨膨脹率從9月份的3.1%躍升至4.2%，為10年來的最高水平。
This was mostly because of higher energy costs and supply-chain shortages, but a tightening labour market has added to inflationary pressures.
這主要是由于能源成本上升和供應鏈短缺，但日益緊縮的勞動力市場增加了通脹壓力。
The number of people in employment rose sharply in October, allaying fears that many of the 1m still on the government’s furlough scheme, which ended in September, would lose their jobs.
10月份就業人數大幅上升，緩解了人們的擔憂，即仍在接受政府休假計劃的100萬人中，許多人將失去工作。該休假于9月份結束。
Record job-vacancy rates persist, which often leads to higher wages to attract staff.
創紀錄的職位空缺率持續存在，這通常會導致需要用更高的工資來吸引員工。
Joe Biden accused oil and gas companies of “anti-consumer behaviour”, alleging they were ramping up petrol prices for profit, and asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.
喬·拜登指責石油和天然氣公司的“反消費者行為”，聲稱他們為了盈利而提高汽油價格，并要求聯邦貿易委員會進行調查。
The president is under political pressure as a result of surging prices at petrol pumps.
由于汽油價格飆升，總統正面臨政治壓力。
Walmart reported a bumper quarter for sales, and said its shelves would be fully stocked for the Christmas shopping season.
沃爾瑪公布了一個喜人的季度銷售額，并表示將填滿貨架為圣誕購物季做好準備。
The retailer has found that shoppers are gradually returning to pre-pandemic habits, with more of them visiting physical stores than a year ago.
這家零售商發現，購物者正在逐漸恢復疫情前的習慣，與一年前相比，去實體店購物的人更多了。
Target issued a similar earnings report.
塔吉特也發布了類似的收益報告。
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