2023年经济学人 Meta元宇宙部门再次亏损43亿美元

Meta元宇宙部门再次亏损43亿美元

    The world this week--Business

    本周国际要闻--商业

    Meta’s quarterly earnings¹ delighted investors³, for a change, as it set out a plan to reduce costs in a “year of efficiency” and announced a $40bn share buy-back.

    Meta的季度营收令投资者喜悦，作为一种改变，该公司制定了一项“效率年”降低成本的计划，并宣布了一项400亿美元的股票回购计划。

    Revenue fell in the last three months of 2022, year on year, but is expected to rise in this quarter.

    2022年最后三个月的营收同比下降，但预计本季度营收将上涨。

    Still, Reality Labs, the division tasked with creating the metaverse, ran up another loss, of $4.3bn, taking its total loss for the year to $13.7bn.

    尽管如此，负责创建虚拟世界的“现实实验室”部门再次亏损43亿美元，使其全年亏损总额达到137亿美元。

    After months of sometimes troublesome negotiations⁴, Nissan and Renault announced a restructuring of their two-decade-old alliance, which has been under strain since the fall from grace in 2018 of Carlos Ghosn, who had run both carmakers.

    经过数月偶遇困难的谈判，日产和雷诺宣布重组联盟(两家有20年的联盟史）。自2018年这两家汽车制造商的掌门人卡洛斯·戈恩失势以来，这一联盟一直处于紧张状态。

    The main feature of the agreement is a reduction in Renault’s stake in Nissan to 15% from 43%, with the remainder of Renault’s shares in Nissan to be put into a French trust and the voting rights “neutralised”.

    该协议的主要特点是将雷诺在日产的持股比例从43%降至15%，剩余的日产股份将交由一家法国信托基金管理，投票权将被“中和”。

    Each company will now own a working 15% stake in the other, which tackles a key concern of Nissan that the partnership⁵ had been unequal.

    两家公司现在将拥有对方15%的股份，这解决了日产的一个关键问题，即双方合作关系不平等。

    ExxonMobil, Chevron⁶ and Shell reported record annual profits of $56bn, $37bn and $40bn respectively.

    埃克森美孚、雪佛龙和壳牌分别公布了560亿美元、370亿美元和400亿美元的创纪录年度利润。

    All three benefited from the higher price of energy amid the war in Ukraine, though prices have been falling in recent months.

    这三家公司均从乌克兰战争期间能源价格上涨中得利，尽管近几个月来能源价格一直在下降。

    Unilever appointed a new chief executive to replace Alan Jope, who is standing⁷ down in July.

    联合利华任命了一位新的首席执行官来接替将于7月卸任的艾伦·乔普。

    Hein Schumacher is currently the boss of the world’s largest dairy co-operative, which is based in the Netherlands.

    海因·舒马赫目前是世界上最大的乳制品联营企业老板，该企业总部位于荷兰。

    He’ll take the reins⁸ of the consumer-goods conglomerate⁹ amid investor² unease about its lagging share price, and criticism from some quarters about its purpose-driven approach to selling mayonnaise.

    他将执掌这家消费品集团，目前投资者对该集团低迷的股价感到不安，也有一些人批评该集团销售蛋黄酱的目的导向方式。

    Salesforce, which is also under pressure from investors to improve its stock performance, appointed three independent directors.

    Salesforce也面临着投资者要求其改善股票表现的压力，该公司任命了三名独立董事。

    This came shortly after Elliott Management, an activist¹⁰ hedge fund, took a small stake in the software company.

    此前不久，进取型对冲基金“埃利奥特管理公司”收购了这家软件公司的一小部分股份。

    The amount of money wiped off the value of Gautam Adani’s companies since Hindenburg Research, an American short-seller, said that their stock was artificially inflated¹¹ passed $108bn.

    自美国做空公司兴登堡研究表示，高塔姆·阿达尼(印度企业家)旗下公司的股票被人为夸大以来，这些公司市值蒸发的资金超过了1080亿美元。

    Adani Group forcefully denies the charges.

    阿达尼集团坚决否认这些指控。

    More than $50bn has been wiped from the Indian billionaire’s fortune.

    这位印度亿万富翁的财富蒸发了500多亿美元。

1 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

2 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

9 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

10 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

11 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》