Coronavirus

Corona Capital: Snus, Construction M&A, Capgemini

27 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Chewing tobacco’s renaissance carries a long-term health cost; a plasterboard sale exposes Oz group Boral’s past mistakes; and the $21 bln French IT group’s third-quarter results reveal some virus immunity.

Santander’s global blessing may be a virus curse

27 October 2020

Quarterly earnings at the $34 bln Spanish bank rallied, helped by booming loans in Brazil. That justifies boss Ana Botin’s Latin America growth focus. But with over half of profit from states with high Covid-19 infection rates, her global reach may not remain an advantage.

The Exchange: IMF and sub-Saharan Africa

27 October 2020

The regional head of the International Monetary Fund, Abebe Aemro Selassie, joins Swaha Pattanaik to discuss how the Washington-based lender is helping hard-hit countries, debt difficulties, the need for reforms, and why policy choices are more limited than in advanced economies.

Corona Capital: Mixed market messages, Chile votes

26 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Global stocks slumped on Monday as Covid-19 cases rose – yet some prognosticators are readying for major stimulus; and Chile has shown that pandemics don’t have to squash voter turnout.

Corona Capital: Gilead Sciences, Virtual Santa

23 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Remdesivir gets formal approval; Santa goes missing from Macy’s.

U.S. airline staff now need aid more than carriers

22 October 2020

Southwest and American’s losses continued last quarter. But they both fortified cash resources enough to fund the status quo for at least a year. Meantime, employees are the losers from the financial and political squeeze. Fresh government help needs to more clearly benefit them.

Kering can turn resale weakness into a strength

22 October 2020

François-Henri Pinault’s luxury empire faces a threat from the increasingly thriving market for second-hand Gucci bling. A temporary deal with $1.2 bln RealReal is a way to gain insight into the $31 bln segment, plus ESG kudos. Kering could even consider buying it outright.

Cox: China addiction looms as big corporate risk

22 October 2020

The People’s Republic has subdued Covid-19 while the West struggles. Its GDP grew 4.9% last quarter as consumers resumed consuming. From Ford to Durex, Hermès to Unilever, multinationals are developing a Chinese demand dependency that could backfire politically and financially.

Corona Capital: Quibi

22 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Video streaming company Quibi’s failure is in spite of – not because of – the Covid-19 pandemic.

Off-colour IAG points to prolonged air-sickness

22 October 2020

The owner of British Airways lost 1.3 bln euros in the third quarter. Rising infections and new lockdowns mean the next three months will be little better, dashing new CEO Luis Gallego’s hopes of breaking even by Christmas. He won’t be the only airline boss feeling queasy.

Virus tests faith in food delivery economics

21 October 2020

The $285 bln industry is split between companies that connect restaurants with customers online, and those that also deliver the food. The former has better margins, but the latter has expanded the market. With demand for takeouts surging, it’s time to see who’s more profitable.

Corona Capital: U.S. tests, UK loans, Man U groans

21 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Abbott Laboratories has a bumper third quarter; UK banks look at a workaround for their Covid-19 loan problem; and Manchester United reveals a predictably ropey set of annual results.

The Exchange: Private equity and the pandemic

21 October 2020

BC Partners is an alternative asset manager whose portfolio companies include PetSmart and Springer Nature. Partner Nikos Stathopoulos chats to Peter Thal Larsen about managing during Covid-19, new investment challenges, and why we need to get back to face-to-face meetings.

Elite Euro-soccer league is an ill-timed challenge

21 October 2020

JPMorgan may lend $6 bln to launch a new top-tier competition, Sky News said. Frequent mega-matches like Liverpool vs. Barcelona could boost revenue, yet it’s unclear who’d buy the pricier broadcast rights. And discarding virus-hit smaller clubs would have a political cost.

Cathay is still overweight after layoffs

21 October 2020

Hong Kong's flagship airline will cut 8,500 jobs and ditch its Cathay Dragon brand. That's less aggressive than some other carriers, although shareholders took it well. The cuts will only slow the cash burn rate to around HK$1.5 bln per month. More savings will have to be found.

Vinci slump makes case for $6.1 bln energy deal

20 October 2020

The industrial group has warned of a steep fall in earnings partly due to lost airport sales. That fortifies the logic for a recent cash-and-shares offer for ACS’s energy division. Trading a 5% stake to the Madrid-based company for a steadier business looks increasingly sensible.

Corona Capital: U.S. state budget woes

20 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Some conservative U.S. states are hurting as much as liberal New York.

Corona Capital: Vaccine yields, Halliburton, Glovo

19 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Corporate bond investors are nearly as worried about a vaccine crimping the market as they are about inflation; oil services firms get three times unlucky; Delivery Hero acts like one despite investor skepticism.

Danone shakeup needs bigger ESG splash

19 October 2020

The French dairy group is reviewing assets to restore its flagging growth. Yet disposals covering just 2% of sales look lacklustre. Selling the shrinking water unit would give CEO Emmanuel Faber cash for deals and boost the 37 bln euro company’s appeal with sustainable investors.

Review: Picking the turning point in inflation

16 October 2020

In “The Great Demographic Reversal”, Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan make a good case for why prices will take off. Ageing societies need more carers and labour scarcity may finally lift wages. But they’re perhaps too sanguine on how soon pandemic-stricken economies can heal.