#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Micro Leasing expects SET listing to offer expansion opportunities

CorporateOct 02. 2020

By The Nation

Micro Leasing (MICRO), a financing service provider for second-hand trucks, expects to meet its lending growth target of 30 per cent this year to between Bt2.4 billion and Bt2.5 billion, manging director Winit Piyamaythang said on Thursday.

The company began trading in the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Thursday.

The listing will help enhance the company’s competitiveness, broaden expansion opportunities as well as strengthen its capital base.

Fundraising will be allocated to its hire-purchase business expansion, loan repayment and investment in the IT system for the development of a mobile lending application.

MICRO provides hire purchase financing services of second-hand trucks for commercial operation as well as other loan services with second-hand trucks as collaterals.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Walmart’s next health foray is Medicare plan with startup Clover

CorporateOct 02. 2020Shoppers wearing protective masks leave a Walmart store in Lakewood, Calif., on July 16, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Patrick T. Fallon. 

By Bloomberg · John Tozzi · BUSINESS, HEALTH, RETAIL, HEALTH-NEWS 

Walmart will make its first foray into the fast-growing market for privately managed Medicare Advantage plans next year with two products for Georgia seniors jointly branded with insurance startup Clover Health.

The plans will give seniors access to new Walmart Health centers that the retail giant is testing in stores outside Atlanta. Those clinics and other providers in the plan will use Clover’s technology to track patients’ health and improve care, the companies said Thursday.

Walmart’s health-care strategy has been closely watched, and the retail giant is seen as a potential threat to established providers and insurers. The Georgia offering will make Walmart a player in the Medicare Advantage program, a lucrative market dominated by UnitedHealth Group Inc., Humana Inc., CVS Health Corp.’s Aetna unit, and BlueCross BlueShield branded plans, some of which are also expanding their offerings.

More than a third of Medicare beneficiaries opt to get their benefits through private Advantage plans that collect fees from the government in exchange for managing members’ care. The plans often combine traditional Medicare benefits with other services such as vision and dental care, gym memberships, and prescription drug coverage.

Seniors often choose Advantage plans over traditional Medicare to get those benefits, though they may have to agree to use a limited network of doctors and hospitals. Clover’s new plans with Walmart will use a preferred-provider organization network, though Clover said members won’t face additional fees for going out-of-network.

One of the two plans won’t charge monthly premiums, and both will offer free primary care, the companies said. Members will get $400-a-year benefit for over-the-counter health expenses that can be spent in Walmart stores or on its website, similar to a perk the retailer offered Anthem Medicare subscribers through a deal two years ago. Clover will underwrite the insurance plans, branded “LiveHealthy: Clover Powered, Walmart Enhanced.”

Other companies are expanding as well. Cigna Corp. plans to sell Medicare Advantage plans in five new states, and UnitedHealth said its expansion in 2021 in almost 300 counties would be its largest in five years. Humana plans to launch dozens of new plans across hundreds of counties, the company said. Aetna is adding 115 new counties, and Anthem is expanding into more than 80.

Clover said its product with Walmart will be distinguished by low costs and convenience. “Our vision is, we deliver care wherever our members want to get care,” said Andrew Toy, Clover’s president and chief technology officer. A Walmart spokeswoman said company officials weren’t available for interviews. In addition to Walmart’s health clinics, the network will include 31 hospitals and 8,000 providers in the region, which covers eight Georgia counties mostly outside Atlanta.

Walmart began opening health clinics in Georgia stores in 2019 and now has six locations there and one in Arkansas, according to the company’s website. Cash prices are posted in price sheets online and in waiting rooms: $40 for basic office visit and $20 to test for strep throat, for example. The clinics offer primary care, vision, dental care, lab tests and mental health visits.

Walmart will continue expanding its health centers, with seven more Georgia locations planned in the months ahead and additional centers coming in the Chicago area and some cities in Florida, according to a company blog post Sept. 17.

“The demand definitely tells us that Americans are looking for access to quality care, and we think Walmart – its footprint – should be a part of that,” Walmart U.S. Chief Executive Officer John Furner said in an investor conference this month.

Other moves by Walmart into the sector include a collaboration with Oak Street Health, a Medicare-focused primary care company, to open clinics at three supercenters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to a press release this month. The retailer recently formed an insurance agency to enroll customers in Medicare health plans, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in July, citing job ads and corporate filings. The company also sells monthly supplies of low-cost generic prescription drugs for $4.

Founded in 2014, Clover is among a handful of new entrants like Devoted Health and Oscar that are trying to use technology to improve health care. Backed by almost $1 billion from investors including GV, the venture capital arm of Alphabet Inc., the company has about 57,000 members in seven states and plans to triple the number of counties where it offers plans next year.

Clover’s software for medical professionals, known as Clover Assistant, will be deployed in the Walmart clinics and to other providers in the network. The program analyzes data from patient records, labs, socioeconomic data, and other sources to prompt clinicians to recommend actions like screening tests and adhere to evidence-based treatment guidelines, Toy said.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Exxon flags further losses that add to pressure on dividend

CorporateOct 02. 2020An Exxon Mobil gas station in Falls Church, Va., on April 28, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Andrew Harrer. 

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Kevin Crowley · BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS 
Exxon Mobil Corp. likely made a third consecutive loss in the last quarter, heaping further pressure on the energy giant’s ability to pay its $15 billion-a-year dividend, currently the third-highest in the S&P 500 Index.

Exxon suffered further losses in its refining division in the third quarter while higher oil prices were likely not enough to push its production operations back into profit, the Irving, Texas-based company said Thursday in a filing. Refining margins took a negative hit of as much as $600 million in the period while chemicals made a small profit.

A third-quarter loss would suggest Exxon still isn’t able to fund either its dividend or capital expenditure from operational cash flow, meaning it’s reliant on debt to get by. The last time the company generated enough free cash to cover its dividend was the third quarter of 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In aggregate, Exxon probably made a loss of about 30 cents a share, compared with analyst expectations of a 1-cent loss, analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. said in a note to clients. The update from Exxon will likely weigh on the shares, they said.

“We suspect investors will continue to focus on the path forward for the business with operating cost and capital cuts in focus to shore up the balance sheet in a bid to defend the company’s dividend,” the analysts said.

Exxon’s dividend yield has risen to more than 10% over the past few days, indicating shareholders believe the dividend is unsustainable at current levels and may be cut. Rival oil supermajors Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc slashed their payouts earlier this year as Covid-19 savaged oil demand globally. Reducing its dividend would be a seismic shift for Exxon, which has made a rising payout the keystone of its investment strategy for the last 37 years.

Shares of Exxon were down 1.1% at $33.97 at 9:42 a.m. in New York trading.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

CP Group joins global race for zero carbon emissions

CorporateOct 01. 2020

By The Nation

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) released its report on “Commitments to Net Zero Double in Less Than a Year” during this year’s Climate Week held in New York from September 21 to 27.

In the release, UNFCCC said more governments and businesses across the world committing themselves to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Currently 22 regions, 452 cities, 1,101 businesses, 549 universities and 45 of the biggest investors have committed to the cause.

New institutions that have joined the “race to zero” include the Australian state of New South Wales, logistics giant Brambles, automaker Ford, buildings materials company LafargeHolcim and Thailand’s agri-food giant Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group.

These companies will lend a hand in limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Suphachai Chearavanont, chief executive officer of CP Group, was quoted on the UNFCCC website as saying: “CP Group has a role to play in reducing the agriculture sector’s carbon footprint and encouraging consumers to adopt more sustainable food choices. With our commitment for net zero emissions within our operations by 2030, we aim to meet this opportunity by leveraging innovation and working closely with all our partners and stakeholders.”

The CEO also spoke with Nigel Topping, a high-level climate champion for Climate Action COP 26, on the challenges of alleviating global warming problems and achieving net zero carbon emissions.

Suphachai said to help the agricultural sector transition to net zero carbon, efficient, energy-saving farming practices will have to be adopted. He also said that reducing food waste will require support from consumers and partners across the supply chain, while new technology will help empower farmers leading to a neutral carbon footprint.

“I have been motivated by the fact that the global threat of climate change is real, recognising that the bio-sphere we live in is extremely fragile. Here in Thailand, we have seen first-hand its impact on agriculture, tourism as well as human health. We have digitised our operations to unlock both sustainable practices and business value. Our supply chain management is more transparent and integrated. I truly believe that CP Group has the scale, skills and most importantly, ‘the mindset to lead and succeed’.”

Also joining the commitment to reduce their carbon footprint were Microsoft president Brad Smith, LafargHolcim’s chief executive Jan Jenisch and L’Oreal CEO Jean-Paul Agon.