Labour

Corona Capital: Indian banks, LBOs, Stellantis

18 January 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Indian banking guru Aditya Puri gives reasons to be bullish about New Delhi’s lenders at a Breakingviews predictions event; the ECB cracks down on risky loans; carmaker Stellantis gets a boost from passive funds.

Guest view: Dislocation will be 2021’s buzzword

13 January 2021

Vaccine rollouts offer hope for a return to a pre-Covid normal. But disruptions to supply chains, credit markets and labour will be deep and unpredictable. Withdrawing support now creates costlier longer-term risks, the OECD’s Andrea Garnero and Muzinich’s Fabrizio Pagani write.

Corona Capital: Poverty, Beer cans, Budget hotels

24 December 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Hong Kong’s poverty problem was getting worse even before the virus struck; AB InBev sells the family aluminium to cut debt; Whitbread, owner of hotel chain Premier Inn, tries to get its landlords to share the pain.

The Franken-economy that will thrive post-pandemic

24 December 2020

The ideal nation to emerge from Covid-19 has South Korea’s superb internet connections and technology know-how. Like Singapore, robots are widely used in industry. And it boasts skilled workers to rival Switzerland, sells high-value exports to China, and leads on green energy.

Corona Capital: Peloton, BioNTech

22 December 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Peloton shareholders are getting a little too pumped up; BioNTech’s boss gives two reasons not to panic about the latest Covid-19 strain.

Volkswagen pact helps CEO more than returns

15 December 2020

The German carmaker has made a statement in support of boss Herbert Diess, allowing him to appoint key allies and cut some costs as it moves to electric cars. The agreement should end a long-running dispute with unions. Investors hoping for higher returns face a lengthier wait.

VW boss dilemma is about more than Herbert Diess

1 December 2020

The $90 bln carmaker’s CEO wants a contract extension beyond 2023. Diess is gaffe-prone but has the right strategy for moving to electric vehicles and extracting efficiencies. His contract debate is a proxy for whether VW’s board can face down unions trying to muddle that shift.

Corona Capital: Scotland, EU impasse, Amazon

27 November 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Scottish independence gets a viral shot in the arm; Poland and Hungary take a united stand on the European Union’s recovery fund; and the online retail giant delivers a modicum of Christmas cheer to workers.

UK economy beds down for slow, sluggish recovery

25 November 2020

Finance minister Rishi Sunak is set to hike borrowing to 394 bln pounds to pay for the pandemic. New savings from foreign aid and freezing public sector pay will do little to help the economy that is only set to grow 5.5% next year. A no-deal Brexit would make matters worse.

Corona Capital: Record Dow, Basketball, GoCompare

25 November 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Vaccine optimism shunts the blue-chip Dow Jones index through 30,000; U.S. college basketball gets back on the court; and UK publisher Future snaps up the bargain-hunting website.

Review: “Industry” shows banking is due a facelift

13 November 2020

The new BBC and HBO series follows graduate recruits navigating the pressures of a fictional investment bank. It overstates the responsibility juniors can have. But its portrayal of an old-fashioned work style rings true. To lure talented youngsters, the industry needs a shakeup.

Corona Capital: Warren Buffett, Burger boost

9 November 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Rising share prices take the sting out of Berkshire Hathaway’s Covid-19 profit hit; and McDonald’s reports a good quarter for American nugget-lovers.

Uber victory saves its model not its valuation

4 November 2020

California voters approved measures that keep the ride-sharing firm from treating drivers as employees but require it to pay healthcare and other perks. Uber avoided punishing costs. But its expensive fight underscores how much the environment for the shared economy has changed.

Only a twin-track approach will rescue UK economy

2 November 2020

Finance minister Rishi Sunak will spend more to soften the impact of a new lockdown and the Bank of England is likely to loosen policy again. It won’t stop insolvencies or economic scarring. Retraining workers of all ages and encouraging productivity-boosting investment is vital.

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.

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.

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: Bankers, Virus vices, Student digs

8 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Japan’s Mizuho tries to get its employees to take it easy; smokers and gamblers struggle to kick the habit during lockdown; UK landlord Unite Group finds even student property is not immune to Covid-19.

European Union will be bond market’s new behemoth

7 October 2020

The need to fund pandemic aid schemes worth nearly 1 trillion euros will make the EU one of the region’s largest issuers. ECB bond buying and investors’ hunger for safe assets mean that is no problem. And the scale of issuance will make its debt more liquid, a prized quality.