Beijing sovereign wealth giant merits a rethink 2 Apr 2019 China Investment Corp may have a chairman again, after a two-year gap. The $940 bln fund was set up to juice returns on foreign assets, but results have been ho-hum and its detours sometimes inscrutable. The new boss has his work cut out, even to justify CIC’s mandate.
America can define down China’s harsh cyber rules 2 Apr 2019 Beijing may be willing to bargain over rules for how and where companies doing business in the country store data. It would be a surprise softening of its position. With more allies on the issue than usual, including in China, Washington has a better shot at winning concessions.
Obsolescent Hong Kong lenders get a virtual kick 2 Apr 2019 City regulators have awarded three online-only banking licenses, hoping to shake up a lucrative $23 bln local market after years of underinvestment. Tough requirements mean two have gone to ventures backed by big names, not startups. That won't stop them tackling HSBC and others.
Airbnb’s Indian rooms alliance checks out 1 Apr 2019 The $31 bln home-sharing app is investing in no-frills lodging chain Oyo. Both are flourishing in the world’s two largest emerging markets, clipping at the heels of established operators. Joining forces will add zest to Airbnb’s mooted IPO, and gives its smaller peer a U.S. lift.
Nio’s financial road rage accomplishes very little 1 Apr 2019 As part of its IPO, China’s $5 bln Tesla wannabe blocked advisers including Citi and Goldman from working with rivals for a year, Reuters reports. Such cutthroat tactics betray a new sense of urgency in the electric-car race. Neither Nio nor bankers have much to gain, however.
Foxconn stumbles in first steps away from Apple 1 Apr 2019 Weak iPhone sales dented quarterly earnings at Taiwan's $32 bln contract electronics-maker. To move up the manufacturing chain, boss Terry Gou is reviving storied brands, including Nokia. But a disastrous year at the Finnish handset unit suggests Foxconn has its work cut out.
India Insight: The new rich face a wealth trap 1 Apr 2019 Mumbaikars are hitting the tippy end of the income stratosphere, investing in fine wine and foreign residency visas. Trophy assets like a top British football club can’t be far off. With this Chinese-style trajectory, Indians will have to avoid becoming the new dumb money.
Not all Chinese bank borrowers are made equal 1 Apr 2019 Giants like the $290 bln ICBC are ramping up loans to small business at the behest of Beijing. That will check favouritism toward big state enterprises. But it ignores the perverse incentives at work within the banks and it’s a misguided way to stimulate private investment.
AstraZeneca takes precision approach to cancer M&A 29 Mar 2019 The UK drugmaker will pay up to $6.9 bln to work with Daiichi Sankyo on a breast cancer drug. It’s a low-risk way of growing in a hot area, without the pain of an acquisition. The more than $4 bln jump in the Japanese group’s market value suggests the two are better off together.
Swine fever tests China’s transparency credentials 29 Mar 2019 Grains trader Cargill is the latest company to cite outbreaks of the highly contagious hog disease as a drag on business. It’s likely to fuel fears that the world's biggest pork producer may be under-reporting the issue. The taint adds to Beijing's fast-spreading problem.
Volvo’s green car forecast flashes an amber light 29 Mar 2019 Boss Hakan Samuelsson says electric vehicles will be as lucrative as gas guzzlers by 2025. Taken at face value, that's optimistic, given Tesla, BYD and Nio struggle to break even. It's also a warning: making traditional engines ever cleaner and more efficient is driving up costs.
Viewsroom: Who will drive off with Fiat Chrysler? 28 Mar 2019 Peugeot and Renault both seem keen to merge with the Italo-American carmaker. Either deal could improve earnings from smaller cars, but couldn’t plug all Fiat Chrysler’s gaps in Asia and new tech. Plus: Apple’s underwhelming new services. And can Huawei’s charm offensive succeed?
Huawei will survive in Europe, but not thrive 28 Mar 2019 The Chinese telecom-kit maker avoided an EU-wide ban, despite U.S. pressure for one. Yet a UK security report has found serious flaws in its gear. The slapdown means higher costs for Huawei, and could put off clients who will worry about future government censure.
Chinese Daimler raid is looking far from smart 28 Mar 2019 More than a year after acquiring almost 10 percent of the German carmaker, Zhejiang Geely Chairman Li Shufu has two small joint ventures to show for it including the latest to produce compact cars locally. He is known for taking a long view but meaningful cooperation looks hard.
Lyft takes Japanese backer Rakuten on new ride 28 Mar 2019 An IPO valuing the U.S. taxi app at up to $24 bln warrants a fresh look at its biggest shareholder. Lyft will now account for about a fifth of the sprawling Rakuten’s market value. Even with a SoftBank-lite investment success, however, the scattershot approach looks shaky.
China’s 5G noise scrambles ZTE’s positive signals 28 Mar 2019 A ban on U.S. suppliers selling parts to the $16 bln telecom company dragged it into the red in 2018. Its Hong Kong shares are up 50 pct this year anyway, on the promise of 5G networks. Signs that Chinese carriers may delay a rollout, however, suggest such hopes are premature.
Cathay’s budget-airline deal may add HNA surcharge 28 Mar 2019 Buying Hong Kong Express from the ailing Chinese conglomerate for $630 mln is a sensible defensive move. One investor – maybe the target’s own chairman – has threatened to fight the sale, however. That could raise the price for Cathay, and is a warning to suitors for HNA assets.
Grindr stokes bad blood in U.S.-China relationship 27 Mar 2019 The dating app’s Chinese ownership has been flagged as a U.S. security risk, Reuters reports. That ought not be a surprise given the potential to use hook-up data for Kompromat. But amid a trade war, this jilting move is likely to make U.S.-China relations even rockier.
Hadas: Boeing undermined by too-positive thinking 27 Mar 2019 The aircraft maker’s hasty introduction of new software may have led to two fatal crashes. If so, the problem was probably not greed or lack of concern for safety, but something just as dangerous: overconfidence. As global banks learned in 2008, the worst sometimes does happen.
Fiat Chrysler might gain from M&A waiting game 27 Mar 2019 The carmaker is in demand. Already the subject of interest from Peugeot, it could also face a bid from a merged Renault-Nissan, the FT says. Such a deal would be tricky and take time. But patience could give the Agnelli clan better options to solve FCA’s tech and Asian headaches.