COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Amazon restores service after global outage

Amazon.com Inc said its online stores had returned to normal services after a global outage disrupted shopping on its country sites.

According to outage monitoring website Downdetector, services were disrupted for nearly two hours and at the peak of the disruption, more than 38 000 user reports indicated issues with Amazon's online stores.

They occurred on Sunday evening in the United States and Monday morning for much of the rest of the world.

"Some customers may have temporarily experienced issues while shopping. We have resolved the issue, and everything is now running smoothly, an Amazon spokesperson said.

The spokesperson declined to comment on the reason for the outage. It was the second broad disruption since late June when users experienced a brief outage on Amazon platforms including Alexa and Prime Video before services were restored. -Nampa/Reuters

Allianz launch net-zero climate alliance

Eight of the world's leading insurance and reinsurance companies on Sunday launched an alliance to help speed up a transition to a net zero emissions economy.

The companies, which include Europe's top three insurers by premiums Allianz, AXA and Generali said the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) would work to shift underwriting portfolios towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The move comes as insurers come under increasing pressure to spell out how they plan to decarbonise their businesses amid growing calls for them to stop underwriting and investing in fossil fuel projects.

Each of the companies will individually set intermediate targets every five years and report on progress annually in cooperation with competition authorities, the NZIA members said in a statement.

"With this new Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, we are raising our climate ambition further," said Thomas Buberl, Chief Executive of the AXA Group, which chairs the NZIA.

NZIA members, which also include Aviva, Munich Re , SCOR, Swiss Re and Zurich Insurance Group, will set underwriting criteria for the most carbon-intensive activities in their underwriting portfolios and offer solutions for low-emission and zero-emission technologies.- Nampa/Reuters

Smithfield Foods CEO steps down

Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork processor, said on Friday Chief Executive Officer Dennis Organ is stepping down for personal reasons less than a year after taking the helm.

It has appointed 18-year company veteran Shane Smith to the top role, in the second high-profile CEO change in recent weeks at a major US meat company after Tyson Foods Inc named a new chief last month.

The Smithfield, Virginia-based company, owned by Hong Kong's WH Group Ltd, in January unveiled a management shakeup that saw several executives retire.

The US meat industry came under the microscope during the Covid-19 pandemic as workers got sick and slaughterhouse shutdowns highlighted supply-chain vulnerabilities.

A North Carolina native, Smith joined Smithfield as a financial analyst in 2003. He was most recently its chief strategy officer, overseeing the company's efforts to boost sales through its own resources as well as mergers and acquisitions. - Nampa/Reuters

Tesco veteran Tony Hoggett quits group

Tesco's chief strategy and innovation director Tony Hoggett is to leave Britain's biggest retailer after an over 31-year career with the group.

An internal note from Tesco CEO Ken Murphy to colleagues, seen by Reuters, confirmed Hoggett's departure.

His exit was first reported by industry publication Retail Week, which said he was taking a new role in the sector.

Hoggett was group chief operating officer from late 2018 to April this year when he took up the strategy role. He is the first high profile departure since Murphy became CEO in October last year.

Alan Stewart retired as finance chief in April this year but his exit was announced in June 2020. Similarly, Charles Wilson stepped down as boss of Tesco's Booker business in February, having announced his departure in September. - Nampa/Reuters

Netskope's valuation more than doubles

Netskope said on Friday its valuation more than doubled to US$7.5 billion after a US$300 million funding round led by ICONIQ Growth, highlighting massive demand for cloud security services as cyber-attacks increase in number and severity.

Other major existing investors of Netskope, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Accel, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, Base Partners, Sapphire Ventures and Geodesic Capital, also participated in the funding round, Netskope said.

ICONIQ Growth had previously invested in tech giants including Alibaba, Airbnb Inc and Uber Technologies Inc.

Netskope's platform provides protection for sensitive data stored in Amazon.com Inc's Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Corp's Azure and Alphabet Inc owned Google's Cloud Platform.

According to a Netskope threat report, around 53% of web traffic is related to cloud activity as more businesses move online. Also, about 61% of malware is delivered from the cloud.

Businesses globally are battling to protect their data-rich computers from cyber-crime and there are no signs such costly attacks will stop anytime soon. The Covid-19 pandemic also forced companies to shift to a remote working model, driving demand for cloud security measures. - Nampa/Reuters