Corona Capital: Expense accounts, Zoom’s new box 15 Jul 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Goldman Sachs’ earnings give an insight into pandemic-era client schmoozing, and virtual meeting facilitator Zoom tiptoes into the high-priced hardware market.
Corona Capital: Lockdown diets, Beating the Fed 14 Jul 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Covid-19 is prompting diets for both animal and human; and the Fed takes a hit on a garbage deal.
Corona Capital: Ice hockey 13 Jul 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The National Hockey League and its players make the kind of deal Major League Baseball sluggers and owners should have been pitching for.
Sweden chips away at fintech star’s foundations 13 Jul 2020 A new law by the Nordic state requires Klarna to reduce the prominence of so-called “buy now, pay later” options on e-commerce platforms. It could check a key growth area for the domestic financial group. That might be a problem if other governments decide to clip its wings too.
Sugar war divides food group fitties from fatties 10 Jul 2020 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to ban junk food promotions, the Times reported. The pandemic is spurring a new crackdown on unhealthy snacks. Giants like Nestlé were already curbing their sweet cravings. Others like Cadbury-owner Mondelez have less room to shape up.
Viewsroom: Chinese access to U.S. money, Boohoo 9 Jul 2020 Chinese companies’ access to American capital is imperiled for all sorts of reasons, says Hong Kong columnist Robyn Mak. The stingy LBO of New York-listed Sina by its CEO won’t help. Also, British fast-fashion retailer Boohoo’s not-quite dark satanic mills are in the spotlight.
Corona Capital: Nursing homes, Airlines, Walgreens 9 Jul 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Nursing home investments will get a rethink; airline travelers get the upper hand; and Walgreens’ LBO heyday is in the past.
Uniqlo is well-tailored for an Asia-led recovery 9 Jul 2020 Fast Retailing cut its annual operating profit forecast but the recovery is robust in its top two markets, China and Japan. It underpins a stock rally that has outpaced rivals Inditex and H&M, and justifies a premium valuation. It also dresses up a bumpy overseas expansion.
Citi snatches Wells Fargo’s banking bronze medal 1 Jul 2020 At $106 bln Mike Corbat’s lender is worth more than Charlie Scharf’s for the first time since the financial crisis, making it the third biggest U.S. bank. Citi may not reclaim its pre-2007 top spot, but Corbat’s overhaul is bearing fruit. Scharf, meanwhile, has his work cut out.
Corona Capital: U.S. recovery, Small-business aid 30 Jun 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: White House virus adviser Anthony Fauci’s estimate that U.S. cases could breach 100,000 a day is bad news for the economy. Plus: Uncle Sam’s loan program for small businesses comes to an end with money in the bank.
Albertsons owners take shopping cart to the ankles 26 Jun 2020 The supermarket chain’s IPO raised 40% less than it hoped, pricing below the range set just a week earlier. The final valuation looks fair, suggesting the market is working as it should. It's a good outcome for investors, though not so much for Albertsons backers and advisers.
Unilever’s fairness agenda gets harder to manage 26 Jun 2020 The Anglo-Dutch giant is renaming skin-lightening products popular in India which generate $500 mln in sales. Dropping them, like J&J, would better fit with CEO Alan Jope’s values-driven ethos. Multinationals trying to be global and progressive will face more of these dilemmas.
Remittance woes will transfer from poor to rich 26 Jun 2020 Money sent home by migrant engineers, domestic helpers and more will fall sharply with the global slump and job losses. It could cost $140 bln. The pain, borne mostly by developing countries, may be shared by wealthier peers in the form of slower recoveries and possible bailouts.
Paroled Chinese tycoon greases GOME rally 26 Jun 2020 Shares of the $4.5 bln electronics retailer rallied as much as 25% after founder Huang Guangyu was released after a decade in jail. GOME has lost money for years, but investors are betting his return, plus recent deals with JD.com, herald a comeback. That could be a long shot.
Bayer pays dearly for blind faith in science 24 Jun 2020 The German group will spend up to $10.9 bln to settle U.S. claims its weedkiller causes cancer. Though Roundup remains legal, Bayer misread the danger of taking its chances with American juries. Shareholders will bear the toxic legacy of its ill-judged $66 bln Monsanto takeover.
Corona Capital: Payments systems, Shale 22 Jun 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Payments systems get some good news, shale oil drilling’s double whammy.
Breakup pledge will keep Unilever boss on his toes 22 Jun 2020 Alan Jope promised to list the consumer giant’s food and drink unit in Amsterdam if it’s spun off. That’s not happening now: Unilever shares largely reflect the division’s 50 bln euro value. But the hypothetical vow gives investors ammunition if the Dove maker underperforms.
Corona Capital: Frequent fliers, Folies Bergeres 15 Jun 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: United Airlines hocks its MileagePlus loyalty program for $5 bln from Goldman; Lagardere tries selling Parisian nightlife venues, including Les Folies Bergeres and Bataclan theatre at perhaps the worst time ever.
Just Eat investors may refuse to swallow Grubhub 11 Jun 2020 Shares in the Anglo-Dutch meal-delivery company dropped 13% after it unveiled a $7.3 bln acquisition of a struggling U.S. peer. The return on investment looks low. Just Eat Takeaway shareholders have both the means and motive to veto CEO Jitse Groen’s transatlantic expansion.
Unilever’s reverse reunification is win for FTSE 11 Jun 2020 Two years after UK shareholders rejected plans to create a single parent company in Rotterdam, the $143 bln Anglo-Dutch giant is unifying around a London listing. Investors in the Netherlands will struggle to throw up the same obstacles. The payoff is more M&A flexibility.