Home Depot face-lift outshines Walmart 18 Aug 2020 America's biggest DIY chain, at $310 bln, is catching up with the retailing giant's worth, and edging higher in valuation metrics. They both benefit from Covid effects, but Home Depot has polished up its business nicely and may get more pop from low interest rates, too.
Corona Capital: Champagne, Canada, College chaos 18 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Champagne growers cut production; Canada’s finance minister quits over stimulus costs; and some American universities are collecting tuition fees before telling students that in-person classes can’t happen.
Work-from-home shunts UK rail towards state siding 18 Aug 2020 Employers like accountants PwC think offices will be permanently slimmed down after Covid-19. Less commuting means more government help for rail, and even less room for the profit motive. Nationalisation, rather than Britain’s messy halfway house, might even improve services.
The Exchange: Leadership and Covid-19 trauma 18 Aug 2020 After a period of high productivity in response to the pandemic, businesses face “war room fatigue”. Executive coach Merete Wedell-Wedellsborg explains how leaders can get their teams out of this regression phase as quickly as possible, keeping staff motivated and effective.
Corona Capital: NBA’s Covid test 17 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The NBA pays it forward and back with its cheap Covid-19 test.
Helping private equity is necessary Covid-19 evil 17 Aug 2020 The UK government may offer loans to some highly leveraged companies that are owned by buyout barons. Aiding the latter feels perverse. But protecting jobs is the right priority. Authorities have had decades to fix PE flaws. The best they can do for now is to limit profiteering.
UK quarantine surprise spoils more than holidays 14 Aug 2020 The British decision to mandate quarantines for people entering from France will sadden vacationers and slow the recovery of French tourism, which makes up 9% of the country’s GDP. It could also depress broader sentiment and increase the UK’s political isolation from Europe.
Corona Capital: Citigroup, WeWork 14 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Citigroup’s embarrassing $900 million bank error; and a small silver lining for WeWork’s botched IPO.
Covid market fervour derails $13 bln lab test deal 13 Aug 2020 Thermo Fisher Scientific scrapped a bid for German diagnostics group Qiagen after investors balked. The takeover was tabled in March, but the offer looked low once Covid-19 hopes boosted testing groups’ valuations. The U.S. company’s retreat suggests insiders are less gung-ho.
New York City real estate bites 13 Aug 2020 Sure, Facebook just signed a lease in Manhattan but other businesses are scrambling to renegotiate contracts and residential vacancies have hit records. The Big Apple has proved incredibly resilient. But investors think New York is in for it. This time they could be right.
Corona Capital: Vroom, Estonia WFH, Johnny Rockets 13 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: How Vroom can power through the pandemic; Estonia tries to lure those with wanderlust; Casual dining puts on the Covid-19.
TUI equity call is probably a matter of when 13 Aug 2020 Anti-Covid-19 restrictions led Europe’s largest holiday operator to a 1.5 bln euro quarterly loss. Expensive German state loans have given boss Friedrich Joussen enough cash to last until next year’s hoped-for rebound. Even if it arrives, high debts make a rights issue likely.
Vaccine IPO a blend of hope, hype and arbitrage 12 Aug 2020 CureVac’s potential coronavirus remedy is coveted by the U.S. president. The German firm’s also a key player in biotech’s hottest unproven technology. And it hopes to float at just $2.7 bln, around 10% of the market value of rival Moderna. That’s plenty to ensure a warm welcome.
Corona Capital: “Halo”, Salesforce, Brooks Bros 12 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Microsoft delays the next chapter of the “Halo” game franchise; Salesforce gets a lockdown bonus with sale of Zoom shares; and Simon Property suits up with a purchase of Brooks Brothers out of bankruptcy.
Breakdown: The scramble for a Covid-19 vaccine 11 Aug 2020 Drugmakers like AstraZeneca and Pfizer may soon get regulators’ blessing for coronavirus inoculations. Yet doubts will linger over the treatments’ efficacy and profitability, and manufacturing delays mean poor countries will have to wait. Breakingviews explains why.
Corona Capital: Junked cans 11 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: An aluminum company with a junk rating issues debt with a ridiculously low interest rate.
Corona Capital: Telemedicine, Outdated movie rules 10 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Men’s wellness outfit Hims matches the online medical consultation trend with a financial one, namely blank-check companies; and Washington finally scraps a “Gone with the Wind”-era regulation.
Corona Capital: U.S. Jobs, Drugs 7 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: More Americans went back to work in July, though it’s a slowdown from June and Washington is still dithering over job relief aid; and President Trump wants to bring pharmaceutical production back home.
U.S. white-collar jobs hit demands bailout rethink 6 Aug 2020 Low-wage workers have been hurt the most in the pandemic. But the infection has spread to higher earners in tech and other sectors where hiring has also fallen sharply. If lawmakers debating aid for the most vulnerable don’t widen its reach, they risk a slower economic recovery.
Corona Capital: Aviva’s restructuring 6 Aug 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: New CEO Amanda Blanc is reinstating the UK insurer’s dividend and is even open to selling its Asian and European businesses. That’s music to investors’ ears.