Unibail’s self-bailout highlights property dilemma 17 Sep 2020 The shopping mall owner plans to raise $4 bln from investors and flog buildings worth nearly $5 bln. Bolstering its balance sheet protects its credit rating even if real estate values fall further. But the rescue depends on buyers and shareholders taking a less gloomy view.
Corona Capital: Fed’s optimism, Package holidays 16 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Jay Powell and crew at the U.S. central bank reckon the nation’s economy is doing better, just, than they expected; Anglo-German travel company TUI may raise 1 bln euros as the virus whacks new bookings.
Corona Capital: Kraft Heinz, U.S. poverty 15 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The food giant is boosting advertising outlays, even as it continues cutting costs; and the poverty rate in the United States hit a low at the end of 2019, according to new data, only to run into a Covid reversal.
Fiat-Peugeot deal rejig removes car merger angst 15 Sep 2020 The Jeep maker’s investors will get about half a jumbo dividend expected via a tie-up with the French group, but more savings and part of Faurecia. The new entity’s balance sheet will now be stronger. And lingering uncertainty about the deal happening should evaporate.
Corona Capital: Amazon, NYC and Trump 14 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Amazon’s hiring boom highlights its weakness, and U.S. President Donald Trump could throw New York City a bone.
Corona Capital: Peloton, New York City 11 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Peloton is on a tear with earnings exceeding expectations but it may burn out soon; more than 150 business leaders write to Mayor Bill de Blasio over the Big Apple’s deteriorating conditions.
Hadas: Policymakers fly blind on economic health 10 Sep 2020 Governments and central banks try to respond to reality, as measured by growth, employment, inflation and financial markets. The indicators are hopelessly messed up by fear and the pandemic, so errors are hard to avoid. Still, policies that further favour the rich can be avoided.
Corona Capital: Testing, Flights, Football 10 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. lab-testing group Quest announces speedy growth; IAG’s gloomy horizons have a silver lining; and NFL football comes charging back.
Corona Capital: Palantir presents 9 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Potential shareholders have had their first look at the data company ahead of its planned direct listing later this month. One of the more memorable moments was boss Alex Karp making his pitch from a nature trail.
AstraZeneca delay dents hope of fast Covid cure 9 Sep 2020 The $144 bln pharma group halted trials for its coronavirus vaccine after a human guinea pig fell ill. Such events are routine in drug development, but it shows that a remedy will take time and face setbacks. That means more travel and social curbs, and a slower recovery.
The Exchange: Netflix’s Reed Hastings 8 Sep 2020 The co-chief executive of the video-streaming firm is out with a new book, “No Rules Rules.” Hastings zoomed in with Jennifer Saba to discuss Netflix’s unorthodox approach to management – like unlimited vacation – and how it sets up the company nicely in a post-Covid world.
Corona Capital: Vaccine politics, Peloton 8 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Pharma firms like Merck and Pfizer are putting long-term profit first by promising to wait for full approvals for Covid-19 treatments; Peloton cycles towards more profit by cutting the price of its high-cost bikes.
Diet drive could spell leaner years for Big Pharma 7 Sep 2020 People with diabetes are more vulnerable to Covid-19. Now the UK is giving patients free shakes to help them lose weight. Evidence that slimmer waistlines and healthy living can beat the disease is good news; less so for drugmakers that sell $48 bln of insulin and other drugs.
Corona Capital: Movies, Magazines 7 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: the U.S. opening weekend of Christopher Nolan’s time travel epic “Tenet” suggests punters aren’t hurrying back to cinemas; Future, publisher of “Metal Hammer” and “Horse & Hound” rocks its way through the crisis.
Big Oil’s green turn is justified by the numbers 7 Sep 2020 BP’s call to hike spending on renewables risks a repeat of past goofs. But hard data implies oil majors have been the ones eroding shareholder value in recent years. By comparison, the falling expense of wind and solar power and their lower cost of capital make them a safer bet.
Corona Capital: Banks and government, Ryanair cash 4 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Britain’s finance minister Rishi Sunak could hurt taxpayers by forcing lenders to chase pandemic borrowers; and the Irish airline’s war chest will come in handy if rivals go under.
Corona Capital: U.S. debt, Junk bonds, Vaccines 3 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. debt rises to levels not seen since World War Two; this year’s returns on high-yield debt turn positive despite the coronavirus; and Donald Trump’s hope of a vaccine by Nov. 1 is dangerously political.
Corona Capital: Bumble IPO, SPACs 2 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The Blackstone-backed dating site may be eyeing an $8 bln valuation if it goes public next year, more than twice its pre-virus price tag. Ex-MGM exec Harry Sloan adds online gaming to his blank-check company empire.
Corona Capital: Zooming through Covid 1 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Zoom Video Communications, the ubiquitous video-calling outfit, reports another blowout quarter.
Corona Capital: TikTok, India’s GDP 31 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Video app Triller says it has offered $20 bln for parts of its much larger rival, but the bid makes no sense; India’s virus-hit economy is probably hurting more than the latest figures suggest.