Wall Street Journal 08_04_2020

B2| Wednesday, April 8, 2020 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

INDEX TO BUSINESSES

These indexes cite notable references to most parent companies and businesspeople
in today’s edition. Articles on regional page inserts aren’t cited in these indexes.

A
Airbnb..........................B3
Alphabet......................B4
Amazon.com...............B1
American Airlines.....B11
AT&T.......................B2,B4
B
Bank of America.........A4
Blackstone Group.......B6
BorgWarner...............B12
Boston Scientific......B12
Brookfield Asset
Management.............B6
C
Carnival.....................B11
Chevron.....................B11
Cineworld Group.........B2
Citigroup..............A4,A10
Continental Resources
...................................B11
D
Darden Restaurants...B3
Delphi Technologies..B12
Denny's........................B3
Deutsche Lufthansa...B2
Diamondback EnergyB11
E
easyJet......................B11
Exxon Mobil................B1
F
Facebook......................B4
Fannie Mae...............B10
FedEx...........................B1

Fiat Chrysler........B1,B12 Ford Motor..................B1 Fortress Investment Group.........................B6 Freddie Mac..............B10 G General Motors...........B1 Greensill Capital.........A2 Greystone....................B6 H HCA Healthcare........B12 Honda Motor...............B1 I Intel...........................B11 Intuitive Surgical......B12 J-K JetBlue Airways.......B11 JPMorgan Chase.........A4 KKR..............................B3 M Macy's....................A1,B5 Mastercard................B10 Morgan Stanley........B11 N Navistar International ...................................B12 Newell Brands............A2 New Residential Investment.............B10 Nike...........................B10 Nissan Motor..............B1 Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings..................B11

P Paper Peony Press......B5 Peugeot.....................B12 Pfizer.........................B10 R Royal Caribbean Cruises ...................................B11 S Samsung ElectronicsB12 SoftBank Group..........B3 Starwood Capital Group .....................................B6 Steelcase.....................A1 Stryker......................B12 T 3M...............................A8 Toyota Motor..............B1 Twitter........................B4 23andMe.....................A8 Two Harbors Investment.............B10 U UFC Holdings..............B3 United Airlines..........B11 UnitedHealth.......B1,B11 United Parcel Service.B1 V Volkswagen...............B12 W-X Walt Disney................B3 Whiting Petroleum...B11 Williams......................B1 Xerox Holdings............B6

INDEX TO PEOPLE

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Stock in Williams Cos., a pipeline operator, fell over 25% in March.

ROBERT NICKELSBERG/GETTY IMAGES

AIRLINES

Unified Policies and Bailouts Are Sought

Airlines are starting to prepare for a hoped-for, eventual recovery in demand even as passenger numbers continue to decline, wary of the patchwork of industry reg- ulations covering security that emerged after 9/11. Trade group IATA plans a se- ries of regional meetings with governments next month in an effort to standardize policies such as health screenings at airports for passengers and staff. The aim is to avoid what CEO Alexandre de Juniac called the policy mess after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. First, Mr. de Juniac says, airlines need to navigate their cash crunch by securing government aid. The squeeze has been exac- erbated by passengers seeking demand for refunds, which IATA now estimates will top $35 billion world-wide by the end of the sec- ond quarter. —Doug Cameron

CINEWORLD

Chain Closes Its Movie Theaters

CineworldGroup has sus- pended its dividend and closed its 787 movie theaters located across 10 countries as it becomes the latest cinema operator to adopt such moves amid the fall- out from the new-coronavirus pandemic. The chain is betting the dividend suspension, along with cutting capital expenditure and holding talks with its land- lords, banks, film studios and sup- pliers, will be enough to ensure it has sufficient cash to emerge from the current crisis intact. —Ben Dummett

QUAKER MAID MEATS

Meat Brand Emerges As Unlikely Watchdog

Steak-umm, the maker of thin- sliced frozen beef used in cheesesteak sandwiches, has garnered considerable attention on social media with a Twitter thread

warning people to question their news sources amid a torrent of misinformation about the virus. The company, which is owned byQuaker Maid MeatsInc., im- plored people to “be careful in our media consumption” and re- minded the public that it is crucial to “follow a range of credentialed sources for both breaking news and data collection.” Its Twitter thread has gener- ated about 13,000 retweets, over 48,000 likes, and hundreds of comments. “Worthwhile thread from, um, from Steak-umm,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper tweeted. Columbia University’s depart- ment of surgery tweeted: “Never thought we’d say this but here’s an important thread from @steak_umm. Anecdotes are not data.” Even Steak-umm poked fun at the notion that a brand is telling people not to trust everything they read. “We’re a frozen meat brand posting ads inevitably made to misdirect people and generate sales, so this is peak irony,” the company said in a tweet. —Suzanne Vranica

prices. The company’s market capitalization was about $16 billion as of Monday. Mr. Bergstrom is running unopposed on the director slate, so there is little to no chance of his removal. Last year, nearly 99% of investors voted for him, according to the ISS report. However, ISS carries a lot of clout with big institutional shareholders and a significant vote against the chairman would send a message to the company as well as any oth- ers considering a similar move. Sabastian Niles, a partner at law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz who advises corporate clients on activism and takeover defense, said he tells companies that their pills should be designed with circumstances that are spe- cific to them in mind. “ISS and institutional investors are not writing a blank check and companies should not reflexively rush to adopt a pill prematurely and without good reason,” he said. ISS criticizes Williams for what it says is a failure to consider alternatives, such as a shorter-term pill or one with a higher trigger level, and for not using its annual meeting to seek shareholder ratification of the plan.

best interest of shareholders and that the 5% trigger level isn’t “highly restrictive.” She added that Williams reached out to major shareholders after adopting the pill and none of them indicated that they would vote against any board members in the coming election. The Tulsa, Okla., company has said it adopted the pill in response to its share-price decline, not because of a spe- cific threat. Williams’s stock fell more than 25% in March and was down more than 40% since the start of the year as of Monday’s close, battered by the pandemic as well as a sharp decline in energy

decline in U.S. sales last
month as shelter-in-place or-
ders took effect in many
states, causing business to
drop off.
In February Nissan an-
nounced its first quarterly loss
since 2009.
It is working on a recovery
plan, but those efforts have
been clouded by the virus pan-
demic. As a result, Nissan is
hoarding cash.
Workers in Spain also have
been laid off. Outside of China
and some plants in Japan, all
of Nissan’s manufacturing fa-
cilities are closed.
As news of the U.S. fur-
loughs broke, Nissan execu-
tives were briefing board
members on the details of
their response to the pan-
demic.
One person familiar with
the discussions said Nissan
was looking at ways to obtain
loans from governments in

Continued from page B1

Japan, the U.S. and Europe as well as tapping banks. Nissan management is also looking at pay cuts, said people familiar with those discussions. Chief Executive Makoto Uchida and his deputy, Ash- wani Gupta, are expected to forgo performance-based pay, the people said. Executives say Nissan isn’t in immediate danger of running out of cash, and analysts have described the company’s balance sheet as relatively healthy, assuming the shut- down doesn’t stretch into summer or fall. Nissan has assembly plants

in Smyrna, Tenn., and Canton, Miss. Most of the furloughed workers are expected to return to work on April 27, according to the company. Workers at Nissan’s engine plant in Decherd, Tenn., are expected to resume work on April 24.

A

Armstrong, Alan.........B2

B

Bergstrom, Stephen...B1

D

Dandapani, Vijay.........B6
de Juniac, Alexandre..B2

E

Englander, Steven.....B10

G

Goodwin, Lauren.........B1
Gupta, Ashwani..........B2

H-I

Harding-Jones, Alison
...................................A10
Hewson, Michael......B11
Iacono, Joseph............B6

Ismael, Daniel.............B6 L Lebensohn, Daniel......B6 Lewis, Lewis...............B5 Lewis, Reagan.............B5 Linowsky, Karsten....B10 M Mikkelsen, Hans.......B10 Moench, Chris.............B6 Moraif, Ken...............B11 N Neistat, Casey............B4 Neumann, Adam.........B3 P Pang, Bruce...............B11 Pathak, Tarun..............B4 Peek, Daniel................B6

Perli, Roberto............B10 Price, Paula.................B5 R Rizk, Zeina................B10 Rosenberg, Stephen...B6 S Sarva, Amol................B6 Schechtman, David.....B6 Stanley, Stephen........B1 U Uchida, Makoto...........B2 W Wagner, Jonathan....B11 White, Dana................B3 Woods, Darren............B1 Z Zuckerberg, Mark.......B4

Furloughs

At Nissan,

Honda

menting poison pills in this
environment. ISS recommends
a “cautionary” vote for all
other Williams directors, in-
cluding Chief Executive Alan
Armstrong.
A Williams spokeswoman
called the ISS recommenda-
tion “perplexing,” saying in a
written statement that the
company’s board acted in the

Continued from page B1

Firm Takes

Fire Over

Poison Pill

AT&T

Telecom Giant Says It Has Ample Cash Pile

AT&TInc. reassured investors its cash cushion is ample enough to ride out the current virus-in- duced economic downturn. The telecom and media giant is one of the largest dividend pay- ers and one of the most indebted corporate giants. It had a net debt total of $151 billion at the end of last year. It pays out about $15 billion in annual dividends. The Dallas company told stockholders its December-end $12 billion cash pile showed its financial strength and said it has “no need or plans” in 2020 to use the $15 billion revolving credit fa- cility it has on hand. AT&T also said it “looks for- ward to continuing to pay a quarterly dividend” but skipped any mention of dividend increases, which the company has provided for the past 36 years. AT&T shares rose 2%. —Drew FitzGerald

DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA

Budget Germanwings Unit to Be Grounded

Deutsche LufthansaAG said it would permanently ground one of its low-cost airlines and retire dozens of aircraft, saying it is pre- paring for a yearslong recovery in air travel. The German airline group said its Germanwings operation will halt flights. It also outlined plans to retire some 42 aircraft across its main Lufthansa airline, its regional Cityline brand and at its budget Eurowings arm. Plans are also being discussed to downsize operations at its Austrian, Brussels and Swiss airlines through a combination of deferrals and early retirements. Restructuring efforts across a number of its carriers are also being accelerated, it said. —Benjamin Katz

Car makers have been among the worst hit by the pandemic.

The maker of thin-sliced beef used in cheesesteak sandwiches garnered considerable social-media attention.

STEAK-UMM

help. The group said insurers were likely to face huge costs tied to covering treatment for Covid-19, the illness tied to the new coronavirus. They also may see membership shrink, as people lose their job-based insurance. Still, analysts say, insurers should see at least a short- term windfall from the wide- spread cancellation of surger- ies, since they won’t have to pay for such procedures that they would normally cover. Hospitals, for their part, are likely to see significant help from the most recent federal stimulus package, which in- cludes a $100 billion fund for hospitals and other health-care providers. UnitedHealth said it is also offering as much as $125 mil- lion in loans to health-care providers in which it owns a stake.

an influx of patients infected by the new coronavirus. But in many parts of the country, a surge hasn’t yet hit, leaving operating rooms empty and staff idled. Doctors are doing some appointments remotely through telemedicine but have still seen a falloff in visits. Other insurers have also said they would bolster financial support for hospitals and doctors. Blue Shield of Califor- nia said it is working to offer financing guarantees, advance payments and restructuring of some contracts. Humana Inc. said it is expediting its claims processing, among other steps. But in its own letter sent Monday to AHA, America’s Health Insurance Plans, a group representing insurers, said its members were working to support hospitals and con- sumers but stopped short of broadly promising financial

want these providers to be there for the necessary care that should be occurring right now,” he said, adding that UnitedHealthcare covers about $150 billion a year in health-care costs. The payment acceleration applies to a broad range of health-care providers, including doctors and hospitals. The move comes after the American Hospital Association asked insurers in a letter last week to provide financial support through advanced or accelerated payments. Doctors and hospitals are under financial pressure because many are seeing a sharp drop-off in regular visits, emergency-room trips and sur- geries essential to their bottom lines. Hospitals have canceled many procedures to clear out space and preserve scarce pro- tective gear, as they brace for

CORPORATE WATCH

UnitedHealth GroupInc. is accelerating payments to doctors and hospitals, starting with about $2 billion over the next week, to ease a cash crunch that has led some health-care providers to fur- lough workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. The move by the biggest U.S. insurer to hasten claims payments, which it said would last for the duration of the crisis, could shave weeks off the time it takes for some providers to get paid for a service. Typically, contracts allow for payment within 30 days, the company said. Some health-care providers “are under a lot of financial stress,” said John Rex, the chief financial officer of Unit- edHealth Group, the parent of insurer UnitedHealthcare. “We

BYANNAWILDEMATHEWS

UnitedHealth Moves to Speed

Pay for Doctors and Hospitals

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Wall Street Journal 08_04_2020

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