UK tech flops expose perils of IPO forecasts 2 Nov 2022 E-commerce group Made.com has all but collapsed little more than a year after issuing sunny targets in an 800 mln pound float. Stock market duds Deliveroo and Funding Circle had optimistic guidance. When initial public offerings restart, investors should ignore the projections.
Hong Kong-Wall Street group hug only does so much 2 Nov 2022 James Gorman, David Solomon and other banking bigwigs flew in for a confab aimed at restoring the financial hub’s stature. Amid Covid curbs and geopolitical tensions, their presence alone is a boost. Curbing capital flight from the city and the mainland, though, will be tougher.
Capital Calls: DuPont, Dollar stores, Twitter 2 Nov 2022 Concise views on global finance: The chemicals company takes an unexpected but welcome M&A break; Dollar General is being sued for practices that raise questions about pricing power; and Elon Musk plans to charge micro-bloggers for blue checks to help cover his huge deal costs.
China investors desperately seek market bottom 2 Nov 2022 The Hang Seng index closed up 5% on Tuesday, part of a broader surge in Chinese shares after a rumour that Beijing might relax Covid controls. Buying on internet scuttlebutt seems reckless. Yet Hong Kong-listed shares are so beaten up this year that it narrows the gambling odds.
Texas’s worthless gas plays to Russian power 1 Nov 2022 The Permian is pumping nearly half of America’s oil – and with that a gas byproduct. As a result, prices are cheap or even negative. Building new infrastructure takes time and investment. American drillers will accommodate when profit exist. By then, the crisis will be over.
Stephen King makes for unlikely antitrust hero 1 Nov 2022 A U.S. judge blocked Penguin’s $2.2 bln deal with rival publisher Simon & Schuster, after watchdogs argued it would unfairly limit pay for top authors. If the decision sticks, future mergers may be vetted based on their effect on workers as well as customers. It could get messy.
J&J’s heart deal pumps up post-breakup prospects 1 Nov 2022 The healthcare firm will get a measly return in the near term from paying $16.6 bln for heart-pump maker Abiomed. But J&J is buying growth: Abiomed’s 20% revenue growth can probably continue for several years. That provides ballast as J&J prepares to spin off its consumer arm.
BP is case study in global windfall-tax quandary 1 Nov 2022 The $100 bln oil major wants to produce more green energy and less crude. Yet a British windfall tax risks pushing it in the opposite direction. A better levy design would hit outsized profit in both fossil fuels and renewables, while still incentivising investment in the latter.
Europe’s diverging prices complicate ECB’s task 1 Nov 2022 Inflation is running at 7% a year in France and 22% in Estonia. These differences make the European Central Bank’s stance too aggressive for some states and too timid for others. The controversy about monetary policy will only intensify as the ECB pushes rates higher.
Climate fight’s main event battles sophomore slump 1 Nov 2022 COP26 put climate change centre stage in 2021, but this year war and energy crises have distracted attention. In this episode of The Exchange, the United Nations’ key COP27 players Mahmoud Mohieldin and Nigel Topping tell George Hay why the event could still make a splash.
Capital Calls: Ocado in South Korea 1 Nov 2022 Concise views on global finance: The $6 bln online grocer’s shares surged almost 40% after it announced a partnership with Lotte Shopping, showing that its strategy of building warehouses for global supermarkets may have legs.