Business

CNN laid off hundreds of staffers as part of a broader Warner Bros. Discovery effort to cut costs.
CNN CEO Chris Licht sent a memo to remaining staffers after the cuts.
Fewer than 400 jobs were cut, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Chris Licht, Chairman and CEO, CNN Worldwide speaks onstage during the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront 2022 show at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 18, 2022 in New York City.
Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Hundreds of CNN employees were notified of layoffs Thursday as part of CEO Chris Licht’s efforts to transform the cable news network.
CNN had about 4,400 employees. The layoffs affected hundreds of staffers, but amounted to a “single-digit percentage” of staff, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. That would mean no more than about 400 staffers were let go.

CNBC has previously reported CNN was planning layoffs.
Licht sent a memo to all staffers Thursday afternoon after the news was delivered to employees, which included long-time HLN anchor Robin Meade and reporter Chris Cillizza. Licht wrote in the memo he will hold a town hall next week to answer any questions.
Licht’s cuts are part of a broader effort at Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, to cut costs heading into 2023.
Read the full memo here:

December 1, 2022
To my CNN colleagues,
As promised in my note yesterday, I am following up with an overview of the changes we have made across the company. Our goal throughout the strategic review process has been to better align our people, processes and resources with our future priorities, strengthen our ability to deliver on CNN’s core journalistic mission and enable us to innovate in the years ahead. At the highest level, the goal is to direct our resources to best serve and grow audiences for our core news programming and products.
To achieve these goals, we will be reducing open job positions, reimagining our workflows and aligning our staffing, investments and focus around three key strategic priorities: programming, newsgathering and digital. All decisions are designed to strengthen the core of our business.
While it is not possible to capture every impacted role in an email like this, I want to walk through the broader changes we are making:
HLN
Beginning December 6, CNN will no longer produce live programming for HLN and instead will simulcast CNN This Morning. HLN Crime programming will move under the WBD Networks led by Kathleen Finch and will be merged with ID. I want to take a moment to thank Robin Meade— she is not only an exceptionally popular anchor, but also one of the longest-running morning hosts in history. I know the HLN audience will miss her and the other HLN talent.
CNN International
CNN International is reorganizing some of its teams and bureaus, and effective immediately, the 5:00-5:30pm ET show will be replaced by a simulcast of CNN US for that half hour.
CNN en Español
CNNE’s linear network will seek to expand its audience by diversifying the network’s programming beyond news. We will continue to produce news for CNNE, and throughout next year, we will look to develop a far more robust digital platform for CNNE with the aim of launching it in 2024. We believe that investment will better serve and significantly grow our Spanish-language news audience, and we will have more to share on that in 2023.
U.S. Newsgathering
We are restructuring across some of our beats, realigning resources to staff up in some units and in more areas around the country. This will help us deliver on our goal of covering the United States more broadly. Many of the staff reductions in Newsgathering will be offset by the addition of new roles to best serve our audience across platforms.
Contributors
We are also shifting our approach to paid contributors. In some areas, we will rely more on our CNN journalists. Overall, we will engage contributors who are subject-matter experts that expand and diversify the viewpoints we bring our audience.
Programming
Our programming teams will see some reductions in show staffs and, in some cases, the combination of teams for our dayside and weekend lineups.
Creative Marketing
The Creative Marketing team will see an overall reduction in size, realigning around in-house production and consolidating creative and strategy roles in New York. Roles will be added to both support that work and expand our digital and growth marketing efforts.
Research
Research is reorganizing to focus resources on CNN’s core businesses and to optimize our recently integrated Digital Analytics and Data Science teams.
Operations
The Operations teams are restructuring to align with the changes to other units across the organization.  
CNN Digital
CNN Digital conducted an exercise earlier this fall to ensure they were best structured for the future. They made changes then and, as a result, there are no further impacts in this process.
The changes we are making today are necessary and will make us stronger and better positioned to place big bets going forward without fear of failure.
To our departing colleagues, I want to express my gratitude for your dedicated and tireless service and for your many contributions to CNN. To all employees, I want to underscore the importance of taking the time you need to best be able to move forward. You can find resources to support you now here. I will be holding a town hall on Tuesday to answer your questions, which can be submitted anonymously here.
I am proud of this CNN team, and together we will ensure CNN continues to be the world’s most vital source of news and information.
Chris

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Former teammates Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning are working together again to refurbish a basketball court in Miami.
In an interview with CNBC, the 2006 NBA champions reflected on the state of the NBA and their advice to younger players.

The Shaquille O’Neal Foundation & Icy Hot unveil the latest “Comebaq Court,” refurbished athletic spaces helping underserved communities get back in the game, in collaboration with Alonzo Mourning at Overtown Youth Center in Miami, Flori on November 30, 2022. 
Rob Kim | Getty Images

NBA champions Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning are reuniting to give fans reason to cheer again in Miami.
The former Heat centers, who brought Miami an NBA championship in 2006, are teaming up to refurbish a basketball court as part of a $20 million renovation at a youth center in South Beach. The project is funded by the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation and its longtime partner Icy Hot, as part of their Comebaq Courts program that fixes up rundown courts.

Comebaq Courts has also refurbished basketball courts in Las Vegas, Nevada and Newark, New Jersey.
The latest “Comebaq Court” is located in Miami, inside Mourning’s Overtown Youth Center.
“When I got drafted in 1992, the first thing my mom said to me was ‘Baby, now that you’re rich and famous, you have a responsibility’,” O’Neal said. “She said all these kids look up to you, you have to say the right thing and do the right thing.”
The commitment to giving back was among the topics O’Neal and Mourning discussed in an interview with CNBC that included a weighing in on the state of the NBA and pickleball. They noted they want to pay it forward and ensure the next generation has the resources to win on and off the court.
“Shaq and I didn’t get here by ourselves. We got here because of the contributions of other people. I’m very fortunate and I know he is very fortunate for those people to help us get to this point,” Mourning said.

O’Neal said he grew up in the projects of Newark, New Jersey. His father insisted that he go across the street to the Boys & Girls Club to stay out of trouble. That’s where he developed his basketball game and a passion for being a disc jockey.
“Basketball was a life-changing event for me. It’s helped me stay out of trouble,” O’Neal said.
The newly renovated court is slated to reopen in 2023.

Pickleball

With pro basketball in the rearview mirror for the former NBA stars, CNBC asked about America’s hottest new sport: pickleball.
“I think we’ll stick with the basketball court,” Mourning said with a laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, but it is more designed for an older generation.”
O’Neal expressed more interest: “I’m actually looking at investing in a team. I’m still thinking about it,” he said.
O’Neal said his son came to him recently with the investment idea. Pickleball has seen explosive growth in both participants and investment money, including from basketball stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant and team owners Mark Cuban and Wes Edens.
“I had a chance to play it a couple of times, you know, so it’s pretty entertaining. You can get an incredible workout and you know, so I like it. I really do,” said Mourning.

State of the NBA

O’Neal and Mourning also shared their thoughts on the state of the NBA.
Mourning praised NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for doing “an incredible job,” and joked that he wished he were playing today, a nod to bigger contacts and endorsement money.
“The pie is extremely big from these TV contracts and the players are reaping the benefits. So yeah, the game is in a good place,” Mourning said.
O’Neal also offered advice to today’s NBA players: Don’t forget your youngest fans.
“They [the fans] pay a lot of money for what you collect. So, I urge you guys to keep playing hard, keep playing well, don’t just take the money and disappear. … But think about the little kid that’s wearing your jersey.”

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If you’re expecting a tax refund in 2023, it may be smaller than this year’s payment, according to the IRS. 
Typically, you get a federal refund when you’ve overpaid yearly taxes or withheld more than the amount you owe.
You may receive a lower refund because there was no stimulus payment in 2022, and there’s a less generous tax deduction for charitable gifts, the IRS said.

10’000 Hours

If you’re expecting a tax refund in 2023, it may be smaller than this year’s payment, according to the IRS. 
Typically, you get a federal refund when you’ve overpaid yearly taxes or withheld more than the amount you owe.

Your annual balance is based on taxable income, calculated by subtracting the greater of the standard or itemized deductions from adjusted gross income.
“Refunds may be smaller in 2023,” the IRS said in a November news release about preparing for the upcoming tax season. “Taxpayers will not receive an additional stimulus payment with a 2023 tax refund because there were no economic impact payments for 2022.”
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The agency issued the third round of stimulus payments worth $1,400 per person in 2021, and eligible Americans could claim unpaid funds on their tax return this year. 
The average refund for the 2022 filing season was $3,176 as of Oct. 28, according to the IRS, up nearly 14% from $2,791 in 2021.

Charitable deduction for 2022 is ‘not as robust’ as 2021

Additionally, it will be more difficult to claim a deduction for charitable gifts on your 2022 return, the IRS said. 
The reason: “Deductions for charitable donations in 2022 are not as robust as 2021,” said certified financial planner Marguerita Cheng, CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress gave charities a boost in 2020 by offering a tax incentive for cash gifts, and lawmakers extended the tax break for 2021.
With a higher standard deduction since 2018, it’s become more difficult to itemize deductions, including the tax break for charitable gifts. Filers choose either the standard deduction or itemized deductions, whichever is greater.
But for 2021, you could claim up to $300 for cash donations or $600 for married couples filing together, regardless of whether you itemize.
The tax break was not extended for 2022, however, meaning there’s no longer a benefit for charitable gifts if you take the standard deduction, the IRS said.

When to expect your tax refund

The IRS has warned taxpayers not to count on receiving a 2022 tax refund “by a certain date,” as some filings may require “additional review,” which may delay the process.
Generally, you can expect a faster refund by electronically filing an error-free return and receiving payment via direct deposit. However, mistakes and other issues, such as identity theft, may hold up your refund, the agency said. 
Filers claiming the earned income tax credit or the child tax credit won’t receive refunds before mid-February, the IRS said.     

As of Nov. 18, there were 3.4 million unprocessed individual returns received in 2022, including filings for previous tax years, the IRS reported. These pending returns are 1.7 million requiring error correction or other special handling, and 1.7 million paper filings.
The agency has hired more workers to prepare for the upcoming tax season, with plans to add more, aiming to clear the backlog and improve customer service. With nearly $80 billion in IRS funding over the next decade, these efforts are part of a broader plan for agency improvements.

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In America, it has been a disillusioning few weeks for music fans. Though her “Swifties” are far too loyal to blame her, Taylor Swift helped botch the sale of a 52-night stadium tour by trying to sell more concert tickets in one go than had ever been done before. Bruce Springsteen, acknowledging that he had upset fans by selling tickets at prices as high as $5,000, offered no remorse. “If there’s any complaints on the way out, you can have your money back,” he gruffly told Rolling Stone. Bob Dylan, who sold 900 “hand-signed” copies of his new book for $599 apiece, was forced to admit that he used a writing machine for the signature instead. Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

At first the question was how quickly people would get back to the office. Then it was whether they would ever return. Almost three years after reports surfaced of an unusual respiratory illness in Wuhan, the legacy of the covid-19 pandemic on employees in America and Europe is becoming clear. The disease has ushered in a profound change in white-collar working patterns. The office is not dead but many professionals have settled into a hybrid arrangement of some office days and some remote days. Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

When Klaus Müller accepted the job as boss of the Federal Network Agency, Germany’s regulator for electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets, he hoped he would spend his time on expanding renewables and laying fibre-optic cables. A former state minister for the environment and agriculture in Schleswig-Holstein, he is close to Robert Habeck, the federal economy minister and a fellow Green. He cares deeply about the Greens’ favourite causes, such as a rapid shift to carbon-neutrality, which make captains of German industry uneasy. Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

Kroger reported sales profit for the third quarter that topped estimates.
Identical sales grew by 6.9%, excluding fuel.
The company announced in October that it plans buy its competitor, Albertsons.

The Kroger supermarket chain’s headquarters is shown in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Lisa Baertlein | Reuters

Kroger on Thursday raised its forecast for the year after stronger third-quarter sales topped Wall Street expectations and inflation continued to push up the prices shoppers pay for milk, eggs and other groceries.
Shares rose about 3% in premarket trading.

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Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said the company is attracting shoppers by offering value. In a news release, he said that is “resonating with shoppers and driving increased customer loyalty” with its private label grocery brands, affordable fresh foods, data-driven promotions and fuel rewards program.
Here’s what Kroger reported for the three-month period ended Nov. 5, compared with Refinitiv consensus estimates:

Earnings per share: 88 cents adjusted vs. 82 cents expected
Revenue: $34.2 billion vs. $33.96 billion expected

Grocery has been a strong driver of retail sales as inflation hovers near four-decade highs. As some shoppers skip over big-ticket items or pull back on discretionary purchases, retailers that sell food and necessities have attracted a steadier stream of customers.
Walmart, the country’s largest grocer by revenue, also raised its full-year outlook after reporting a strong third quarter. The big-box retailer said its lower-priced groceries drew more shoppers — including a growing number of families with an annual household income of more than $100,000 a year.
At Kroger, identical sales rose 6.9%, excluding fuel, in the third quarter. The industry-specific metric includes sales at supermarkets that have been operating continuously for at least 15 months. That exceeded expectations of 4% growth, according to FactSet.

The operator of Ralphs, Fred Meyer and other supermarket chains now expects the metric to climb by 5.1% to 5.3% for the year. It previously forecast growth of 4% to 4.5%.
Net income in the third quarter fell to $398 million, or 55 cents a share, from $483 million, or 64 cents a share a year earlier.
For the full year, Kroger now anticipates adjusted net earnings to range from $4.05 to $4.15. It had previously expected between $3.95 and $4.05. 
Kroger announced in October that it plans buy its competitor, Albertsons, in a deal valued at $24.6 billion. The acquisition, if approved, would combine the second and fourth largest grocers in the country by revenue, according to data from Numerator, a market researcher.
Kroger has faced pushback on the deal from elected officials and even its own employees, who have said it will hurt competition. Earlier this week, McMullen testified before senators who oppose the merger at a congressional hearing. He argued the combined company would lower food prices and improve the experience for customers, as Kroger competes with grocery giant Walmart and newer industry players like Amazon.
As of Wednesday’s close, shares of Kroger are up about 9% so far this year. Shares closed Wednesday at $49.19, down less than 1%. Its market value is $35.21 billion.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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Brexit has boosted Britons’ average food bills by £210 ($254), according to a new study.
Household food bills rose 6% in the two years to the end of 2021, two years on from the U.K.’s formal departure from the European Union, the London School of Economics found.
Low-income households have been hardest hit by higher costs, with Brexit–induced price rises adding 1.1% to their total cost of living — 52% more than wealthier households.

Brexit has added more than £200 to the average U.K. household food bill, according to a new study from the London School of Economics.
Nathan Stirk | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Brexit boosted Britons’ average food bills by £210 ($254) over two years, according to a new study outlining the economic impact of non-tariff barriers on consumer prices.
Household food bills rose 6% in the two years to the end of 2021, two years on from the U.K.’s formal departure from the European Union, research from the London School of Economics’ Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) found.

Low-income households have been hardest hit by the uptick in costs, with Brexit–induced price rises adding 1.1% to their total cost of living — more than the 0.7% increase felt by the wealthiest decile of households.
In all, U.K. consumers paid £5.8 billion ($7 billion) in additional grocery costs over the two years, the study found.
The British government did not respond to a CNBC request for comment on the findings.

More friction, higher costs

Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016, but several years of fraught negotiations ensued before it officially left the union in January 2020, and exited the single market and customs union in January 2021.
While trade between the U.K. and the EU remains tariff-free under the rules of the agreement, extensive customs checks, rules of origin requirements and sanitary measures for trade in animals and plants were added, increasing friction for importers and exporters.

“In leaving the EU, the U.K. swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border,” Richard Davies, a professor at Bristol University and co-author of the study, said.

Firms faced higher costs and passed most of these on to consumers.

Richard Davies
professor, Bristol University

The rise in consumer prices was driven by products with high non-tariff barriers, while there was no significant rise in those with low non-tariff barriers. That suggested that EU exporters and U.K. importers faced higher costs due to the new barriers, 50% to 88% of which they passed on to consumers, the report found.
“Firms faced higher costs and passed most of these on to consumers. Over the two years to the end of 2021, Brexit increased food prices by around six per cent overall,” Davies added.
The report also found that while domestic U.K. food producers have benefited from less competition, their gains were outstripped by consumer losses to the tune of over £1 billion. Meanwhile, the gains did not generate any revenue for the government.

EU food exporters and U.K. food importers have transferred 50% to 88% of post-Brexit costs onto consumers, according to research.
Daniel Harvey Gonzalez | In Pictures | Getty Images

The research predates a surge in inflation this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and wider supply chain disruptions. However, the research found that the rise in non-tariff barriers was “one factor” in the surge in prices seen this year.
U.K. annual price rises hit a 41-year-high of 11.1% in October, while food inflation reached 12.4% in November.
British consumers can now expect to pay £682 more for their food bill this year, according to recent research from market research firm Kantar.
Euro zone inflation, meanwhile, eased slightly in November to 10%.
The research comes as Britain’s decision to leave the EU has come under renewed focus as the country braces for its longest recession on record and a worsening cost-of-living crisis.
The OECD said last week that the U.K. is lagging substantially behind other developed economies, performing second only to Russia among the world’s major economies.
Britain is the only G-7 economy — which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.S. and U.K. — yet to return to a pre-pandemic growth rate.

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