Amazon secures £6.6 billion loan
E-commerce giant Amazon has reached an agreement with DBS Bank, Mizuho Bank, and other lenders to provide a £6.6 billion ($8 billion) unsecured loan for ‘general corporate purposes’.
The term loan will mature in 364 days, with an option to extend for another 364 days.
A spokesperson for Amazon told Reuters: "Given the uncertain macroeconomic environment, over the last few months we have used different financing options to support capital expenditures, debt repayments, acquisitions, and working capital needs."
Amazon’s finances dipped toward the end of 2022 as soaring inflation forced businesses and consumers to cut back spending. In addition, energy costs caused Amazon's shares to drop around 50% as well as shipping costs climbed 10% to $19.9 billion in Q3 2022.
To cut costs, the company plans to significantly reduce its workforce in early 2023, reportedly dropping 10,000 employees. The job cuts are suspected to be concentrated in Amazon's human resources, Alexa, and retail divisions.
Amazon has frozen hiring for corporate roles in its retail business, shut down its Amazon Care telehealth service, and closed all but one of its US call centres in order to cut back on spending. Despite putting these measures in place, the company's market cap has fallen below £830 million ($1 trillion) for the first time since April 2020.
This follows the news that Amazon workers at a depot in Coventry are planning a go on strike this month after securing a historic yes vote in a ballot for industrial action.
