Unum plans repurchase of $250 million of stock
Unum Group announced Monday that its board has authorized the repurchase of up to $250 million of the company's outstanding common stock through the end of next year.
Shares of Unum rose in aftermarket trading after the company announced the stock repurchase plan.
Shares of the Chattanooga-based insurance giant, the world's biggest disability insurer, have risen 24.6% so far this year and are up 51.2% from 12 months ago. But Unum shares remain less than half the peak levels reached in 1989.
Unum said the timing and amount of share repurchases under the stock repurchase authorization "will be determined by management based on market conditions and other considerations.
Unum said it will provide an update on its capital management strategy as part of its third quarter earnings call scheduled for Nov. 3.
Prices rising for toilet paper, tissue
Prices of toilet paper, diapers, facial tissues and paper towels will likely rise in coming weeks as consumer giant Kimberly-Clark warned Monday that inflation and supply chain concerns aren't "likely to be resolved quickly."
The maker of household items such as Huggies diapers, Kleenex facial tissues and Scott paper towels also cut its annual forecast for the third consecutive quarter. Adjusted earnings will be $6.05 to $6.25 a share this year, the company said, down from a prior projection of as much as $6.90.
CEO Michael Hsu said the company is facing a "volatile and difficult macro environment."
"Our earnings were negatively impacted by significant inflation and supply chain disruptions that increased our costs beyond what we anticipated," he said in a statement as the company reported earnings for the July through September period. "We are taking further action, including additional pricing and enhanced cost management, to mitigate these headwinds as it is becoming clear they are not likely to be resolved quickly."
Hsu's price hike warning comes despite double-digit growth in quarterly sales for several of Kimberly-Clark's personal care products and improving performance in its tissue and professional supplies business.
Quarterly sales totaled $5 billion, up 7% from the same period a year ago.
Amazon faces second union bid in past year
The National Labor Relations Board said there was enough interest to form a union at an Amazon distribution center in New York, after union organizers on Monday delivered hundreds of signatures to the agency - a key step in authorizing a vote that could establish the first union at the nation's largest online retailer.
It would be the second unionizing attempt in the past year at Amazon. Workers in Alabama resoundingly defeated an effort earlier this year, but organizers there are asking federal officials for a do-over.
Organizers delivered more than 2,000 signed union-support cards to the NLRB's Brooklyn office after launching the effort in April. The specific number of signatures was not immediately available.
"This is a small victory," said Christian Smalls, a former employee of the retail giant who now leads the fledgling Amazon Labor Union, adding, "We know the fight has just started."
An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Monday's development puts the company on notice that the NLRB has determined that union organizers have met the minimum threshold for Amazon to formally acknowledge and to respond to the union-organizing petition. That means the company must post notice on its premises that the union is seeking to become the bargaining representative for thousands of Amazon workers on Staten Island.
Kellogg seeks pact with striking workers
The Kellogg Co. is trying to persuade its 1,400 striking cereal-making workers to return to the bargaining table.
The Battle Creek, Michigan-based company said Monday that it sent a message to the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union that represents those workers offering to resume contract talks. The workers have been on strike in Memphis and three other Kellogg sites since Oct. 5.
In a statement, the company hinted that it might be willing to discuss proposals that would address its current two-tiered system that gives fewer benefits and less pay to newer workers, which has been a sticking point for the union. But Kellogg's didn't elaborate except to say it would consider "proposals that would preserve a pathway for transitionals to legacy wages and benefits."
Dan Osborn, president of the union's local chapter in Omaha, Nebraska, said he believes the union is ready to return to the bargaining table if Kellogg's is serious about being willing to negotiate on that two-tiered wage system, but the company didn't immediately respond to questions the union sent Monday in response to the company's offer.
"I'm hoping we can get back to the table and get a contract," Osborn said. "People just want to go back to work."