Nestlé makes grown-up changes to infant business 15 Nov 2017 The $260 bln KitKat maker is splitting up its global baby-food unit. Regional differences make that sensible. Competition is a factor, too. Nestlé is also the third big food-and-beverage group to shake things up in a month – a sign of traditional consumer-goods firms’ struggles.
TalkTalk investors reconnect with bleak reality 15 Nov 2017 The UK broadband provider’s shares fell 13 pct after it cut its dividend and said EBITDA would be at the low end of expectations. Yet the news is no surprise given founder Charles Dunstone’s plan to invest. TalkTalk’s valuation was hard to square with its challenged business.
Central bankers go self-referential on rhetoric 14 Nov 2017 Fed Chair Janet Yellen and other top rate-setters took the stage in Frankfurt to discuss how they communicate. It’s a slightly meta admission of the role speechifying has come to play in monetary policy in an era of ultra-low interest rates. But wordiness brings its own perils.
Euro zone boom stimulates reform complacency 14 Nov 2017 From Germany to Italy, growth is picking up in the once-troubled region. Rosy conditions should endure: investment and employment are still catching up after years of crisis. The risk is that politicians avoid tough decisions to prepare the incomplete bloc for the next downturn.
Vodafone is doing just fine without Liberty 14 Nov 2017 The mobile operator upped its forecast for organic EBITDA growth to 10 pct this financial year. Vodafone is cutting costs, raising prices and adding customers. Fibre-broadband growth plans in Germany and Britain, meanwhile, make a deal with John Malone or anyone else less urgent.
Rio Tinto could have high-grade chairman in Davis 14 Nov 2017 Big miners usually prefer statesman-like chairmen to dealmakers. So former Xstrata boss Mick Davis would be an odd choice at Rio, especially at this point in the commodity cycle. But he’s smart, thinks big and would keep headstrong CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques on his toes.
UK economy will share Theresa May’s pain 13 Nov 2017 The Prime Minister is facing growing challenges to her leadership from the ruling party’s pro- and anti-EU factions. Political disarray increases the risks that leaving the European Union will do serious economic harm. A softer Brexit is growing harder to deliver.
Britain brings the gloom to global defence party 13 Nov 2017 Shares in Ultra Electronics fell by almost a fifth after a profit warning due to UK project cancellations and delays. It is a rare sour spot in a sector that has rallied this year. With UK spending tight, mid-market defence groups might face foreign invasions of their own.
McKinsey needs to run a matrix on itself 10 Nov 2017 The consulting firm has been facing tough questions over hiring in Saudi, and work in South Africa. Neither helps its image. But more worrying is how data is making consulting a commodity. Doling out advice looks less valuable when one’s own business is struggling.
Review: The economic common good is hard to find 10 Nov 2017 Jean Tirole won the Nobel Prize for his work on regulating tricky industries. In “Economics for the Common Good” he takes on broader themes. Newcomers to current debates can learn from his general discussions, but the highlights are subtle descriptions of his area of expertise.
Altice turnaround hinges on credit given to Drahi 10 Nov 2017 The European cable group’s founder is retaking the reins after shares fell by a third in a week. Only the Patrick Drahi faithful will see more potential in the same strategy, while memories of a 2015 block sale to pay back loans at his holding company could keep others sceptical.
ECB haste risks slowing its bad-loan cleanup 10 Nov 2017 The central bank overstepped its authority with proposals to impose stricter rules on banks for non-performing loans, the EU’s parliament says. The ECB is right to target European lenders’ 840 billion euro mountain of bad debt, but its clumsy move may set back the effort.
China gives foreigners second swing at cash piñata 10 Nov 2017 Beijing is relaxing, and later eliminating, caps on foreign ownership of banks and brokerages. It's less a concession than an enticement. China could use help deleveraging its economy. And the $10 trillion in personal savings languishing in Chinese banks are worth competing for.
Mickey Mouse offers Sky investors an escape hatch 9 Nov 2017 Walt Disney has expressed interest in buying parts of Twenty-First Century Fox, including its 39 pct stake in the British TV group. That gives Sky shareholders another option if regulators block Fox’s 11.7 bln pound bid for full control. Disney may even be a more logical owner.
ProSieben is the worst show on a lousy channel 9 Nov 2017 The German broadcaster cut its full-year sales target and abandoned a TV-advertising forecast, sending shares down 11 percent. Management churn and an inability to predict the rate of its own decline makes the group more vulnerable than similarly-challenged European peers.
Cox: Lisbon turns Tatooine for tech Rebel Alliance 9 Nov 2017 If the internet world can be likened to Star Wars, its dominant companies are the Death Star – and EU competition enforcer Margrethe Vestager is Princess Leia. But the insurgents descending on Portugal's capital are mostly finding ways to live with, not overthrow, the empire.
Frumpy Commerzbank retains M&A allure 9 Nov 2017 Germany’s second-largest lender earned a pitiable 0.3 pct return on tangible equity in the first nine months of 2017. That explains why it trades at a fraction of book value. But rising customer numbers and hope of higher interest rates will continue to tempt potential buyers.
Burberry’s risky new look rules out missteps 9 Nov 2017 CEO Marco Gobbetti’s plans to take the UK brand upmarket mean no sales or operating margin growth until 2020. Investors who lopped 1 bln pounds off Burberry’s market value will now be unforgiving. Only perfect execution and the right new designer can prevent a further slide.
Peugeot swerves carmakers’ biggest dilemma 9 Nov 2017 PSA Group is targeting 1.7 billion euros of savings from its purchase of Opel without sackings or plant closures. Renault and Nissan show that’s plausible. Job cuts would make the deal more lucrative and will be hard to avoid across the industry with the rise of electric cars.
Cars are the last big headache for Tata 9 Nov 2017 Newish group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran has moved swiftly, tying up loose ends in steel and telecoms and reducing cross-shareholdings. The money-losing Indian unit of the $21 bln Tata Motors may be the toughest challenge. Even here, there are signs of a turnaround.