Transportation

Hapag-Lloyd sails into valuation Bermuda Triangle

14 May 2020

The German shipping giant’s shares have doubled in a month, to the bemusement of all including its CEO. A tiny 3.6% free-float may be part of the puzzle. But positive reasons for the valuation hike – brightening horizons, M&A fever or short-sellers caught short – are absent.

Corona Capital: Beyond Meat, Facebook, Natixis

6 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Beyond Meat’s stock burn, Facebook installs an oversight board, Natixis’s bad news-good news situation.

Messy Air France-KLM rescue has lessons for others

27 April 2020

The French and Dutch governments are lending their respective parts of the ailing carrier up to 11 bln euros. The tricky bailout exposes the frailty of the 2004 merger. Germany’s Lufthansa, which owns Swiss and Austrian, and Anglo-Spanish operator IAG may face similar challenges.

EasyJet files turbulent post-virus flight plan

16 April 2020

The budget carrier hopes face masks and empty middle seats will speed up a return to the skies. Such measures will reduce profit as well as infection risks but lower taxes and fuel prices could help. The bigger question is how soon punters will feel safe enough to travel again.

Virus-hit airlines can fly without state thrust

12 March 2020

A U.S. ban on European travellers hammered airline stocks on both sides of the Atlantic. Washington doled out $15 bln of aid after the post-9/11 shutdown. But airlines are bigger now and fitter, letting them ride out turbulence. Regulatory leeway may suffice.

GM’s electric plan gives Musk a fresh challenge

4 March 2020

Boss Mary Barra unveiled an industry-leading 400-mile-range battery and $20 bln to invest in new tech by 2025. Sure, her estimated electric car sales will only have GM crawling towards its “zero emissions” goal. But it poses a more serious threat to Elon Musk’s Tesla.

Robo-taxis’ earnings horsepower

3 March 2020

General Motors reckons autonomous cabs can be a $1 trln market in the United States alone. That requires some heady assumptions about how cheap running such a service can be, and how many people can be persuaded to ditch car ownership for robo-rides.

Robo-taxi payday is a marathon self-drive away

3 March 2020

The prospect of mass adoption of autonomous cars has won Alphabet unit Waymo outside investors, helped boost Tesla’s stock and has GM positing a $5 trln global market. Robo-taxis could be big money-spinners. But aligning tech, costs, regulation and user readiness will take years.

Supply chain “tiger traps” demand better signposts

27 February 2020

The centuries-old business of lending to companies’ suppliers has become a 2.8 trln euro playground for financial and technological innovation. Tools that help firms to better use capital can flatter debt levels and exacerbate a liquidity crunch. Investors need more transparency.

Alstom’s M&A detour has lower chance of derailment

17 February 2020

The French train maker is paying $6.7 bln for Bombardier’s locomotive unit, after its preferred deal with Siemens was blocked. Bulking up can counter the threat of China’s CRRC. Success hinges on punchy synergies and a green light from the sticky antitrust signal box in Brussels.

HS2 green light makes UK less of a runaway train

11 February 2020

Boris Johnson has approved the controversial 107 bln pound rail link. As with a recent call on Huawei, the prime minister has chosen the least-bad strategic path. That should reassure foreign investors jittery at Brexit and recent state support plans for budget airline Flybe.

Ryanair’s budget can stretch to truer green boasts

5 February 2020

The low-cost carrier has been ticked off for promoting itself as a low-carbon emitter. True, its planes are getting more efficient, but it’s still a huge polluter. Ryanair’s profitability means boss Michael O’Leary can afford to match rival easyJet in paying to offset its CO2.

Atlantia charts tentative path to road truce

24 January 2020

The $19 bln infrastructure group’s new boss wants outsiders to invest into its units. These include embattled motorway operator ASPI, which risks losing a rich road concession after a bridge collapse. Opening ASPI’s capital to state investors offers a way out of the crisis.

GM’s investors school Tesla’s on self-driving hype

22 January 2020

Shares in Mary Barra’s $50 bln carmaker barely budged after it unveiled its autonomous vehicle, yet the potential of similar technology helped Elon Musk’s outfit to top $100 bln in market value. Considering true self-driving remains a long way off, GM’s owners are more realistic.

Alstom-Bombardier rail M&A would face faulty track

22 January 2020

The $11 bln French train maker and its Canadian rival are discussing a deal, Bloomberg reported. The former’s failed deal with Siemens posed more obvious EU antitrust issues, but Brussels may still balk. And synergies that rely on big job cuts in France will be politically toxic.

Rising fares squeeze Ryanair’s budget mantra

10 January 2020

The low-cost carrier lifted its full-year earnings forecast by 17% after a bumper holiday season. Boss Michael O’Leary can thank Thomas Cook’s demise and grounded 737 MAX planes for dearer tickets. But price hikes dent the halo of the self-appointed patron saint of cheap flights.

IAG dealmaking will outlast Willie Walsh

9 January 2020

The Irishman is disembarking after nine years at the helm of the BA and Iberia owner. The holding structure he led from its birth has been more successful than Air France-KLM and makes it easier for his successor to go shopping, say for a carrier that flies to South America.

Greta Thunberg will clog EU budget-airline engines

2 January 2020

Climate change will make regulators rethink free carbon credits and impose fuel taxes, hitting easyJet and Norwegian Air hard. More pain would come if the teen activist-inspired drop in Swedish air travel spreads across Europe. All in, 48 bln euros of industry value is at risk.

Travis Kalanick leaves Uber with no path to profit

24 December 2019

The ride-hailing app’s co-founder and ex-CEO is leaving the board after being sidelined and selling most of his shares. The $53 bln firm has moved on from his tumultuous leadership. But successor Dara Khosrowshahi has yet to work out how to remove the roadblocks to making money.

Boeing woes help Airbus customers more than Airbus

17 December 2019

The U.S. plane maker is suspending production of its grounded 737 MAX jet. Its European rival is already working at full capacity, but Airbus-reliant airlines, including easyJet, are in a sweep spot. They can keep expanding, while a capacity squeeze pushes up fares and margins.