China Tower sends message investors want to hear 5 Mar 2019 After a weak debut, shares of the $42 bln mobile infrastructure firm have rocketed more than 50 pct in three months. A faster domestic rollout of 5G and a higher dividend help. Unexpected reassurances on corporate governance also set the company apart from other state monopolists.
China’s parliament will address half the problem 4 Mar 2019 The annual legislative session starts Tuesday, setting key economic targets for officials attempting to balance growth against debt. But investors hoping it will resolve bigger questions about trade, industrial policy, and foreign suspicion of Chinese tech will be disappointed.
Europe is better off policing than banning Huawei 1 Mar 2019 The Chinese supplier dominated this year’s telecom gathering in Barcelona. U.S. officials want the EU to follow their lead by banning Huawei, while the company denied its kit has security “back doors”. An industry proposal for Europe-wide testing seems a sensible compromise.
Hong Kong exchange primed for some M&A trades 28 Feb 2019 The $43 bln bourse operator enjoyed a blowout 2018, but its three-year strategic plan offers few bold ideas for reducing dependence on local equities. Looming Chinese reforms pose a further threat. A trio of new blue-chip advisers may be able to help HKEX diversify its portfolio.
Spotify turns India’s music scene into mosh pit 28 Feb 2019 The $26 bln streaming service will find its newest market loud and unruly. Indians spend more time listening to songs than most, but they pirate more too, making subscriptions a challenge. Spotify will also collide with everyone from Apple to Tencent to Mukesh Ambani’s app.
Tech giants get glimpse of watchdog’s M&A bazooka 27 Feb 2019 The U.S. FTC is creating a body to police anticompetitive behavior in Silicon Valley, and isn’t ruling out the possibility of breakups. While unwinding mergers would be extraordinary, the mere threat would be a useful weapon as the agency investigates Facebook’s privacy breaches.
Breakdown: End of Moore’s law reshapes chip market 26 Feb 2019 For decades, raw computing power increased and became cheaper at a heady pace. The death of the trend means chip producers seeking an edge must specialize or find more difficult advances. One result will be a more fragmented industry. Intel and others have their work cut out.
Nintendo plays winning Japanese buyback game 26 Feb 2019 The Super Mario maker is repurchasing $300 mln of stock and cancelling hoarded shares as owners like Bank of Kyoto adapt to new cross-holding rules. Buybacks can be a poor use of cash, but with Japan Inc holding $4 trln in reserve Nintendo is joining a worthwhile movement.
Uber’s Indian takeout will feed future rivals 25 Feb 2019 The ride-hailing giant may swap its local food delivery business for a stake in $3.3 bln rival Swiggy. Checking out of Uber Eats's fastest-growing market will cut losses ahead of a global IPO. It would also prioritise short-term gain over efforts to keep new competitors at bay.
Review: Old news guard beats back the grim reaper 22 Feb 2019 Google and Facebook have nearly destroyed the media business – venerable institutions and digital upstarts alike. In “Merchants of Truth,” Jill Abramson effectively draws upon BuzzFeed, Vice, the Washington Post and the New York Times to show that subscribers are key to survival.
Telecom Italia is sending the right signals 21 Feb 2019 New CEO Luigi Gubitosi wants to share infrastructure with rivals Vodafone and Open Fiber to cut costs. The approach is sensible given Italy’s slowing economy and growing competition. Begrudged top investor Vivendi will find it harder to regain board control next month.
Goldman credit card blends logic and hubris 21 Feb 2019 Teaming up with Apple to put plastic in wallets gets the Wall Street firm into a business with attractive returns. The mix of elite brands and technology should help the experiment along. But the bank has limited experience, and rivals won’t give up millennials without a fight.
Lenovo’s reboot could run low on battery 21 Feb 2019 Quarterly pre-tax earnings more than doubled from a year earlier, confirming a turnaround at the world's top PC-maker. That's mostly powered by cost cuts in the $9 bln group's handset and server units. With demand cooling for both, this comeback may prove difficult to sustain.
Three digital ad giants are no better than two 20 Feb 2019 Google and Facebook’s combined share of U.S. online advertising is poised to fall for the first time this year. The reason: Amazon is taking a bite out of their slice. Even a muscular challenger does little to reduce the case for tighter regulation.
Verisign may be the real dot-com monopoly 19 Feb 2019 Facebook, Google and others are under fire for social-media dominance. But $21 bln Verisign exclusively manages .com domains. The U.S. government just extended its contract and allowed price increases. With a 63 pct operating margin in 2018, it’s already sitting on a gold mine.
China’s big urban-zone idea lacks finer points 19 Feb 2019 Beijing unveiled a blueprint to link Hong Kong, Macau and mainland cities into a $1.5 trln economic powerhouse. The Greater Bay Area plan is packed with industrial-planning jargon. What’s missing is nitty-gritty on taxes, consumer banking and commuting, which will matter most.
SoftBank adds to contradictions with Mubadala punt 18 Feb 2019 Masayoshi Son’s group is bankrolling half the Abu Dhabi state investor’s $400 mln start-up vehicle. That’s peanuts next to the $100 bln Vision Fund, and gives SoftBank access to early-stage bets. But outsourcing those decisions is an odd look for a supposed tech visionary.
German $6 bln non-LBO is sign of lean buyout times 15 Feb 2019 Hellman & Friedman and Blackstone are buying classifieds group Scout24. They can’t pile much debt on it, and the return looks way off the level investors usually expect. With buckets of cash, private equity needs to do deals. Buying fast-growing targets offer a little security.
Foreign IPO tide flows back into Hong Kong 14 Feb 2019 Global Switch and Home Credit are eyeing $1 bln floats in a city which has struggled to attract interest offshore. AB InBev might list its Asia operations too. Rule changes letting the benchmark index include overseas-based firms are one incentive. A thin China pipeline is another.
Amazon primes delivery of its vehicular future 13 Feb 2019 The $820 bln retailer may take a stake in electric-truck maker Rivian. That’d be its third mobility play this year. It’s unlikely Amazon aims to build cars. Instead, along with its robotics and cloud efforts, such investments should allow it to tackle mounting logistics concerns.