1.TENCENT : China’s largest gaming and social media company has lost more than HK$2.7 trillion ($347.13 billion) in market value since its shares reached an all-time high in mid-February.
The company has been fined for failing to report past deals to anti-trust regulators, its $5.3 billion plan to merge China’s top two videogame streaming sites was blocked and it has been barred from entering music copyright agreements.
Tencent has also been affected by China’s latest efforts to combat gaming addiction among minors. In August under-18-year- olds were banned from playing video games for more than three hours a week.
2.General Motors:-General Motors Co is taking a more direct role with South Korea’s LG Corp, its longtime electric vehicle partner, in tracking down and fixing problems linked to battery fires in Chevrolet Bolts that threaten the strategic plans of both companies.
At an investor conference on Friday, GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said LG is working with GM engineers to “clean up the manufacturing process” at LG battery plants and implement some “GM quality metrics.”
Battery plants in South Korea and Michigan operated by LG Energy Solution (LGES) have been identified by GM as the source of defects behind a rash of battery-related fires in the Bolt that have triggered three recalls and $1.8 billion in warranty set-asides by GM since last November – recalls for which GM still has not implemented a hardware fix.
LGES and sister company LG Electronics on Friday reiterated their “close relationship” with GM and said the three companies are “actively cooperating to come up with a final recall plan” to “wisely resolve” battery issues in more than 140,000 Bolts – the entire production run since late 2016.
“Experts from GM and LG continue to work around the clock on the issues,” GM spokesman Dan Flores said on Thursday. “We are determined to do the right thing for our customers and resolve the problem once and for all. Once we are confident LG can provide us with good battery modules, we will begin repairs as quickly as we can.”
GM has said early Bolt models will have their entire battery pack replaced, while newer models will have only defective modules within the pack replaced. Those new parts may not be available until after November.
3.ALIBABA--The woes of China’s biggest e-commerce company began in late 2020 when China abruptly suspended the record $37 billion stock market debut of its financial affiliate Ant Group and later fined Alibaba $2.75 billion for abusing its market dominance.
The company’s U.S.-listed shares have shed more than $400 billion in value since late October, when its founder Jack Ma made a speech that blasted China’s regulatory system, which is widely regarded as the trigger for the government backlash that followed.
Alibaba’s sprawling empire of businesses has continued to face heat from regulators, over issues ranging from their use of algorithms, to consumer privacy and worker protections.
4.VIACOM CBS: ViacomCBS Inc is revamping the operations of its Paramount Pictures movie and television production unit under a broader management shake-up, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The realignment will see Paramount Television expected to focus primarily on making content for its sister cable and streaming networks, the report added.Paramount Television creates content for media platforms such as Apple Inc ‘s TV+ platform and Netflix Inc .
The new structure, expected to be unveiled on Monday, will have the movie and television arms run as separate entities, the newspaper reported citing sources.
The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for a comment.
Nickelodeon chief Brian Robbins will oversee films while David Nevins, a long-time ViacomCBS television executive, will head the Paramount television unit, the report said.
.5.WALT DISNEY – Walt Disney Co said it will release “Eternals,” “West Side Story” and the rest of its 2021 films exclusively in theaters before sending them to streaming, a show of confidence that moviegoing will rebound.
The company had experimented during the pandemic with debuting some movies on the Disney+ streaming service at the same time they ran in theaters. Cinema operators have been closely watching how Disney, which has dominated movie box offices in recent years, would handle its upcoming slate as the Delta variant slowed audiences’ return to multiplexes.
Disney said in a statement that animated musical “Encanto” will play in theaters for 30 days starting Nov. 24 and head to Disney+ just before Christmas. The film tells the story of a family who live in a magical house in the mountains of Colombia. It includes music written by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
All other Disney releases, including Marvel movie “Eternals” in November and Steven Spielberg’s revival of “West Side Story” in December, will play exclusively in cinemas for at least 45 days, the company said.
Disney’s most recent film, Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” just set a Labor Day weekend record with $94.7 million in ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters. The film, featuring a predominantly Asian cast including Simu Liu and Awkwafina, played only at cinemas.
1 films are historical drama “The Last Duel” and animated comedy “Ron’s Gone Wrong” in October, and action spy film “The King’s Man” in December.
