Walmart CFO Biggs
plans to leave post
Walmart Inc.'s Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs will step down from his role next year, but stay on with the company through January 2023.
The Bentonville-based retailer said in a news release Monday that Biggs, who has worked at Walmart for 22 years, will continue as executive vice president and CFO until a successor is found next year.
After that, Biggs will remain to help with the transition until his final day on Jan. 31, 2023. He will also continue during this time to represent Walmart on the board of its fintech startup venture with Ribbit Capital.
Walmart said it will consider candidates from both inside and outside the company to fill the CFO position.
"Brett's high character and strong leadership have played a central role during one of the most significant periods in the company's history," said Doug McMillon, Walmart's chief executive officer.
"Brett has elevated the finance organization and strengthened the team through his commitment to excellence and talent development," McMillon said. Biggs also played a key role in growing Walmart's omnichannel capacity, McMillon said.
-- Serenah McKay
Incentives offered
to ease port jams
One of the world's biggest ocean carriers is offering incentives of as much as $200 a container for help in clearing the backlog at Southern California's ports.
CMA CGM said it will offer importers $100 for each container removed from terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach during daytime hours and within the first eight days of arrival. Pickups at night and on weekends get a $200 incentive per container, the Marseille, France-based freight carrier said in a release Monday.
The program starts Wednesday and will last for 90 days, potentially costing CMA CGM Group more than $22 million, it said. The company also said it will help Fenix Marine Services, which operates a terminal at the Port of Los Angeles, in expanding its hours of operation to support round-the-clock container pickups.
CMA CGM is the first ocean freightliner to offer such an incentive, Port of Los Angeles spokesman Phillip Sanfield said.
-- Bloomberg News (WPNS)
State index finishes
day with 3.57 drop
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Monday at 808.78, down 3.57.
"A nice recovery for stocks on Monday, after last Friday's sell-off as investors appeared hopeful that the omicron coronavirus variant would not lead to lockdowns after reassuring comments from President Biden," said Chris Harkins, managing director at Raymond James & Associates.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.