Tag Archives: mln

Business

T-Mobile says investigating data breach involving 37 mln accounts

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Jan 20 (Reuters) – T-Mobile (TMUS.O), the No.3 U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers, said on Thursday it was investigating a data breach involving 37 million postpaid and prepaid accounts and that it could incur significant costs related to the incident.

The company, which has more than 110 million subscribers, said it identified malicious activity on Jan. 5 and contained it within a day, adding that no sensitive data such as financial information was compromised.

However, some basic customer data — such as name, billing address, email and phone number — was obtained, and it had begun notifying impacted customers, said T-Mobile.

“Our investigation is still ongoing, but the malicious activity appears to be fully contained at this time, and there is currently no evidence that the bad actor was able to breach or compromise our systems or our network,” the company said.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has opened an investigation into the data breach, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing an FCC spokesperson.

FCC and T-Mobile did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the reported investigation.

“While these cybersecurity breaches may not be systemic in nature, their frequency of occurrence at T-Mobile is an alarming outlier relative to telecom peers,” said Neil Mack, senior analyst for Moody’s Investors Service.

“It could negatively impact customer behavior, cause churn to spike and potentially attract the scrutiny of the FCC and other regulators.”

Last year, T-Mobile agreed to pay $350 million and spend an additional $150 million to upgrade data security to settle litigation over a cyberattack in 2021 that compromised information belonging to an estimated 76.6 million people.

The Bellevue, Washington-based company’s shares fell 2% in after-hours trade.

Reporting by Eva Mathews and Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Maju Samuel, Rashmi Aich and Savio D’Souza

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

South Korea fines Tesla $2.2 mln for exaggerating driving range of EVs

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SEOUL, Jan 3 (Reuters) – South Korea’s antitrust regulator said it would impose a 2.85 billion won ($2.2 million) fine on Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) for failing to tell its customers about the shorter driving range of its electric vehicles (EVs) in low temperatures.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said that Tesla had exaggerated the “driving ranges of its cars on a single charge, their fuel cost-effectiveness compared to gasoline vehicles as well as the performance of its Superchargers” on its official local website since August 2019 until recently.

The driving range of the U.S. EV manufacturer’s cars plunge in cold weather by up to 50.5% versus how they are advertised online, the KFTC said in a statement on Tuesday.

Tesla could not be immediately reached for comment.

On its website, Tesla provides winter driving tips, such as pre-conditioning vehicles with external power sources, and using its updated Energy app to monitor energy consumption, but does not mention the loss of driving range in sub-zero temperatures.

[1/2] A view shows the Tesla logo on the hood of a car in Oslo, Norway November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Victoria Klesty

In 2021, Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, a South Korean consumer group, said the driving range of most EVs drop by up to 40% in cold temperatures when batteries need to be heated, with Tesla suffering the most, citing data from the country’s environment ministry.

Last year, the KFTC fined German carmaker Mercedes-Benz and its Korean unit 20.2 billion won for false advertising tied to gas emissions of its diesel passenger vehicles.

The challenge for electric vehicle performance in extreme temperatures is widely known, though EVs are popular in markets like Norway, where four out of five vehicles sold last year were battery-powered, led by Tesla.

A 2020 study of 4,200 connected EVs of all makes by Canada-based telematics provider Geotab found that most models had a similar drop in range in cold weather, primarily because the battery is also used to heat the car for the driver and passengers.

At just above 20 degrees Celsius, the average EV outperformed its stated range, but at minus 15 degrees the average EV had only 54% of its rated range, the study found.

Reporting by Ju-min Park and Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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Business

Apple Japan hit with $98 mln in back taxes- Nikkei

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TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) Japan unit is being charged 13 billion yen ($98 million) in additional taxes for bulk sales of iPhones and other Apple devices to foreign tourists that were incorrectly exempted from the consumption tax, the Nikkei newspaper said.

Citing unidentified sources, the Nikkei reported on Tuesday that bulk purchases of iPhones by foreign shoppers were discovered at some Apple stores with at least one transaction involving an individual buying hundreds of handsets at once.

Japan allows tourists staying less than six months to buy items without paying the 10% consumption tax, but the exemption does not apply to purchases for the purpose of resale.

Apple Japan is believed to have filed an amended tax return, according to Nikkei.

In response to a Reuters’ request for comment, the company only said in an emailed message that tax-exempt purchases were currently unavailable at its stores. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau declined to comment.

The iPhone maker’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook visited Japan earlier this month and announced that the company had invested more than $100 billion in its Japanese supply network over the last five years. read more

($1 = 132.9000 yen)

Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru, Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Kenneth Maxwell

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Business

Facebook parent Meta to settle Cambridge Analytica scandal case for $725 mln

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Dec 23 (Reuters) – Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) has agreed to pay $725 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit accusing the social media giant of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access users’ personal information.

The proposed settlement, which was disclosed in a court filing late on Thursday, would resolve a long-running lawsuit prompted by revelations in 2018 that Facebook had allowed the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to access data of as many as 87 million users.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs called the proposed settlement the largest to ever be achieved in a U.S. data privacy class action and the most that Meta has ever paid to resolve a class action lawsuit.

“This historic settlement will provide meaningful relief to the class in this complex and novel privacy case,” the lead lawyers for the plaintiffs, Derek Loeser and Lesley Weaver, said in a joint statement.

Meta did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which is subject to the approval of a federal judge in San Francisco. The company said in a statement settling was “in the best interest of our community and shareholders.”

“Over the last three years we revamped our approach to privacy and implemented a comprehensive privacy program,” Meta said.

Cambridge Analytica, now defunct, worked for Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign in 2016, and gained access to the personal information from millions of Facebook accounts for the purposes of voter profiling and targeting.

Cambridge Analytica obtained that information without users’ consent from a researcher who had been allowed by Facebook to deploy an app on its social media network that harvested data from millions of its users.

The ensuing Cambridge Analytica scandal fueled government investigations into its privacy practices, lawsuits and a high-profile U.S. congressional hearing where Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was grilled by lawmakers.

In 2019, Facebook agreed to pay $5 billion to resolve a Federal Trade Commission probe into its privacy practices and $100 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims that it misled investors about the misuse of users’ data.

Investigations by state attorneys general are ongoing, and the company is fighting a lawsuit by the attorney general for Washington, D.C.

Thursday’s settlement resolved claims by Facebook users that the company violated various federal and state laws by letting app developers and business partners harvest their personal data without their consent on a widespread basis.

The users’ lawyers alleged that Facebook misled them into thinking they could keep control over personal data, when in fact it let thousands of preferred outsiders gain access.

Facebook argued its users have no legitimate privacy interest in information they shared with friends on social media. But U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria called that view “so wrong” and in 2019 largely allowed the case to move forward.

Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman

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Nate Raymond

Thomson Reuters

Nate Raymond reports on the federal judiciary and litigation. He can be reached at nate.raymond@thomsonreuters.com.

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Business

California offshore wind auction bids top $460 mln on day two

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Dec 7 (Reuters) – The first ever auction of offshore wind development rights off the coast of California entered its second day on Wednesday, with high bids topping $460 million.

The Biden administration’s sale is a major milestone in the its goal to put turbines along every U.S. coastline and a critical test of developer appetite for investment in floating wind turbines, an emerging technology necessary in locations where the ocean floor is too deep for fixed equipment.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is auctioning five lease areas equal to a combined 373,267 acres (151,056 hectares) off the state’s north and central coasts. Previous federal offshore wind auctions have all been for leases in shallower waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

After 22 rounds of bidding, high bids totaled a combined $462.1 million. Two leases off the central coast had commanded high bids of more than $100 million, with the remaining leases attracting high bids in a range of $62.7 million to $98.8 million, according to live auction results on the BOEM web site.

The identities of the bidders are not disclosed during the auction, but 43 companies had been approved to participate.

They include established offshore wind players like Avangrid Inc (AGR.N), Orsted (ORSTED.CO) and Equinor (EQNR.OL), which are all developing projects on the U.S. East Coast, as well as potential new entrants including Swedish floating wind developer Hexicon (HEXI.ST) and Macquarie (MQG.AX) unit Corio.

Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Alexander Smith

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Business

Nissan takes $687 mln loss as sells Russian business for 1 euro

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  • Sale to Russian state-owned entity NAMI
  • Nissan has right to buy back business within six years
  • Renault sees 331 mln euro hit to H2 net income from move

TOKYO, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) will hand over its business in Russia to a state-owned entity for 1 euro ($0.97), it said on Tuesday, taking a loss of around $687 million in the latest costly exit from the country by a global company.

The Japanese automaker transfer its shares in Nissan Manufacturing Russia LLC to state-owned NAMI, it said. The deal will give Nissan the right to buy back the business within six years, Russia’s industry and trade ministry said.

The deal makes Nissan the latest major company to leave Russia since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February. It also mirrors a move by Nissan’s top shareholder, French automaker Renault (RENA.PA), which sold its majority stake in Russian carmaker Avtovaz (AVAZI_p.MM) to a Russian investor in May.

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The sale to NAMI will include Nissan’s production and research facilities in St Petersburg as well as its sales and marketing centre in Moscow, the ministry said.

Nissan said it expected an extraordinary loss of around 100 billion yen ($687 million), but maintained its earnings forecast for the financial year ending in March.

Renault, which owns 43% of Nissan, estimated the decision by its Japanese partner would lead to a 331 million euro hit to its net income for the second half of 2022.

Nissan had suspended production at its St. Petersburg plant in March due to supply chain disruptions. Since then, the company and its local unit had been monitoring the situation, it said. But there was “no visibility” of a change to the external environment, Nissan said, prompting it to decide to exit.

Junior alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) is also considering exiting Russia, the Nikkei newspaper said. A spokesperson for Mitsubishi said nothing had been decided.

The exit comes as Nissan has embarked on a major shift in its relationship with Renault. The two said on Monday they were in talks about the future of their alliance, including Nissan considering investing in a new electric vehicle venture by Renault.

Those talks, which could prompt the biggest reset in the alliance since the 2018 arrest of long-time executive Carlos Ghosn, have also included the possibility of Renault selling some of its controlling stake in Nissan, two people with knowledge of the talks have told Reuters.

Renault reportedly sold its stake in Avtovaz for one rouble ($0.02).

The Nissan deal was “of great significance for the industry,” Russia’s Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in a statement.

($1 = 145.6200 yen)

($1 = 63.8500 roubles)

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Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, Caleb Davis and Satoshi Sugiyama; Writing by Alexander Marrow and David Dolan; Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter

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Business

Ford sells shares in EV maker Rivian for $214 mln

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May 10 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) sold eight million shares of electric-car maker Rivian Automotive Inc (RIVN.O) for $214 million, or $26.80 apiece, the U.S. automaker said in a filing on Tuesday.

Ford now holds nearly 94 million shares, or a 10.5% stake, and is still the fourth-largest shareholder in the Irvine, California-based company, according to Refinitiv data.

Rivian is struggling in a competitive market, including competition from Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, while a supply chain crisis is limiting production at its plants.

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The electric-car maker earlier slashed its planned 2022 production in half to 25,000 vehicles.

Ford’s selling price of $26.8 per share on May 9 came in lower than Rivian’s close of $28.79 on Friday.

Rivian shares have dropped nearly 21% since CNBC reported the sale over the weekend. read more

T.Rowe Price Associates is the largest shareholder in the electric car maker with an 18.2% stake, followed by Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) 17.7% stake.

Amazon.com posted a 59% slump in its first-quarter operating income, largely hurt by its investments in the carmaker.

The U.S. retail giant, which is also one of Rivian’s key customers, expects to receive 100,000 delivery vans by 2024. read more

A markdown in the value of Ford’s stake in Rivian led to its first-quarter net loss of $3.1 billion. read more

Rivian and Ford did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu and Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

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Business

Ackman gives up on Netflix, taking $400 mln loss as shares tumble

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April 20 (Reuters) – Billionaire investor William Ackman liquidated a $1.1 billion bet on Netflix (NFLX.O) on Wednesday, locking in a loss of more than $400 million as the streaming service’s stock plunged following news that it lost subscribers for the first time in a decade.

Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management made an abrupt U-turn, selling the 3.1 million shares it had bought just three months ago as Netflix’ shares tumbled 35% to $226.19.

In January, the investor funneled over $1 billion into the streaming service just days after a disappointing forecast for subscriptions pushed the share price lower. Now a second bout of negative news about subscribers – the company said it had lost 200,000 – prompted the fund manager to turn his back on a company he had showered with praise only weeks before.

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In a brief statement announcing the move, Ackman said proposed business model changes, including incorporating advertising and going after non-paying customers, made sense but would make the company too unpredictable in the short term.

“While Netflix’s business is fundamentally simple to understand, in light of recent events, we have lost confidence in our ability to predict the company’s future prospects with a sufficient degree of certainty,” he wrote.

Pershing Square, which now invests $21.5 billion, buys shares in only about a dozen companies at a time and needs a “high degree of predictability” in its portfolio companies, Ackman said.

Rather than wait around for things to improve at Netflix, Ackman locked in losses that are calculated to be more than $400 million, people familiar with the portfolio said. After the sale, Pershing Square’s portfolios are off roughly two percent for the year, Ackman said.

Netflix said it had lost 200,000 subscribers in its first quarter, falling well short of its modest predictions that it would add 2.5 million subscribers. Its decision in early March to suspend service in Russia after it invaded Ukraine resulted in the loss of 700,000 members. read more

Profitable hedges helped Pershing Square survive the early days of the pandemic in 2020 and then again in recent months as interest rates began to rise. The last three years have been among the best in the hedge fund’s lifetime, including a 70.2% gain in 2020.

But Ackman also acknowledged in his statement on Wednesday that he had learned from leaner times when his fund backed Valeant Pharmaceuticals, a disastrous bet that cost the hedge fund billions in losses.

“One of our learnings from past mistakes is to act promptly when we discover new information about an investment that is inconsistent with our original thesis. That is why we did so here,” he wrote.

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Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss with additional reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Bernard Orr

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Health

Wisconsin flock of 2.75 mln chickens to be culled as bird flu spreads in U.S.

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CHICAGO, March 14 (Reuters) – A commercial flock of 2.75 million egg-laying chickens in Wisconsin will be culled to prevent the spread of a highly lethal form of avian flu after birds on the farm tested positive for the disease, state officials said on Monday.

The Wisconsin culls would bring to about 6.7 million the number of commercially raised chickens and turkeys killed nationwide due to bird flu since February. It is the biggest U.S. outbreak of the disease in poultry since 2015, when nearly 50 million birds died. read more

Outbreaks are limiting exports of American poultry products as importing countries like China and Mexico block shipments from states with infected flocks.

U.S. officials said bird flu is not an immediate public health concern and that birds from infected flocks will not enter the food system. No human cases have been detected in the United States.

The disease is already widespread in poultry in Europe and affecting Africa, Asia and Canada. read more

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Reporting by Tom Polansek, Editing by William Maclean

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World

Philippines to acquire missile system from India for $375 mln

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Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana answer questions during a Reuters interview at the military headquarters of Camp Aquinaldo in Quezon city, metro Manila, Philippines February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

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MANILA, Jan 15 (Reuters) – The Philippines has finalised a deal to acquire a shore-based anti-ship missile system from India for nearly $375 million to beef up its navy, the Southeast Asian nation’s defence minister said.

The Philippines is in the late stages of a five-year, 300 billion pesos ($5.85 billion) project to modernise its military’s outdated hardware that includes warships from World War Two and helicopters used by the United States in the Vietnam War.

Under the deal negotiated with the government of India, Brahmos Aerospace Private Ltd will deliver three batteries, train operators and maintainers, and provide logistics support, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a Facebook post late on Friday.

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It was conceptualised in 2017, but faced delays in budget allocation and due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The new anti-ship system aims to deter foreign vessels from encroaching on the country’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

In 2018, the Philippines bought Israeli-made Spike ER missiles, its first-ever ship-borne missile systems for maritime deterrence.

Despite friendlier ties between China and the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte, Beijing has remained adamant in claiming large portions of the South China Sea, a conduit for goods in excess of $3.4 trillion every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have lodged competing claims.

A 2016 international arbitration ruling, however, said the Chinese claims had no legal basis.

($1 = 51.31 Philippine pesos)

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Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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