Asia-Pacific

Capital Calls: CVC, Grocer wars, Atos

2 Nov 2023

Concise views on global finance: The European buyout group has postponed its plans to list in Amsterdam; British supermarket Sainsbury’s is thriving, which is bad news for rivals like CD&R-owned Morrisons; French IT firm Onepoint has grabbed a 10% stake in ailing peer Atos.

Japan’s rates tweak is careful and crafty

2 Nov 2023

The central bank changed its policy to allow higher 10-year bond yields. Unlike the US, it can afford to raise borrowing costs slowly as inflation is low. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists explain why monetary tightening as others loosen may give Tokyo an edge.

Brookfield’s energy transition Plan C may yet work

2 Nov 2023

The investor’s improved and final $13 bln co-bid for Australia’s Origin looks set to fail after pension fund AusSuper rejected it. A new tweak means the bidders can then launch a tender offer. It would be a desperate messy affair, but Brookfield could emerge with the upper hand.

Piyush Gupta: Asia’s most disrupted digital banker

2 Nov 2023

The CEO of Singapore’s DBS is often feted as the region’s top financier and a candidate to lead rivals. Yet following repeated tech fails, the regulator has banned the bank from activities including M&A. It puts dividends at risk and will attract the eye of watchdogs overseas.

Capital Calls: Aston Martin

1 Nov 2023

Concise views on global finance: The marque favoured by James Bond has lost 50% of its value since a capital increase three months ago.

China rate scare reminds watchdogs of hidden risks

1 Nov 2023

A liquidity squeeze spooked the country’s money market just as top regulators completed a twice-a-decade summit to outline Beijing’s financial plan. Overnight rates as high as 50% may prompt more monetary loosening. Yet local government debt problems require more drastic surgery.

Aussie winemaker ferments risky US deal vintage

1 Nov 2023

Treasury Wine is spending $900 mln on California’s fast-growing Daou. It’s the latest step in the Penfolds maker’s recovery from Chinese tariffs that corked a third of earnings. But listed US rivals have struggled. And the $5.5 bln buyer has suffered American hangovers before.

Big government will drive the next market cycle

31 Oct 2023

Politicians are at their most interventionist in decades. Though a return to the stagnant, centralised economies of the 1970s is unlikely, subsidies and inflation will influence asset values. Fund managers need to pick investments that may benefit from the state’s visible hand.

BOJ chooses slow path out of zero-rate limbo

31 Oct 2023

Japan’s central bank again tweaked its policy to permit slightly higher yields on 10-year government bonds as it inches back to positive interest rates. The snail’s pace is understandable. Yet with bond yields rising across the developed world, it remains a loose-money outlier.

Capital Calls: Pfizer pessimism

31 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: A glut of vaccines has gutted Pfizer’s valuation, leaving it lower than it was before the pandemic. That’s an over-reaction, even if its Covid-19 therapies prove worthless.

Disney walks open-eyed towards Reliance mousetrap

31 Oct 2023

Bob Iger’s $147 bln media giant may sell a majority stake in its India business to Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate, per Bloomberg. The division is losing money and subscribers, mostly to a Reliance-owned rival. A deal at half the value when Disney took control would be a victory.

Biden AI plan is one step in avoiding crypto trap

30 Oct 2023

The president’s new executive order aims to set regulatory guardrails for artificial intelligence. It still leaves a big hole for Congress to fill. Failing to set coherent rules risks the kind of piecemeal enforcement that hobbled crypto, but for a technology with higher stakes.

HSBC’s profit resilience may face sterner tests

30 Oct 2023

Europe’s largest bank doubled third-quarter earnings and is buying back $3 bln of stock, despite a hit from Chinese real estate. Yet the benefit of higher rates is wearing off while costs are stubbornly rising. CEO Noel Quinn’s targets leave room for bigger setbacks.

Capital Calls: McDonald’s resilience

30 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Golden Arches’ global same-store sales rose 9% thanks to both selective menu-price increases and smaller meals in different markets. It demonstrates the company’s ability to keep pace with disparate economies’ stretched consumers.

Smithfield US homecoming looks like pig in a poke

30 Oct 2023

China’s biggest pork firm may relist its US unit in New York. With $7.6 bln in market cap, investors don’t seem to attach much value to its 2013 buy. Moving West is a hedge against geopolitics, but a revaluation is unlikely if the Washington-Beijing relationship remains fraught.

Capital Calls: Big Oil, Intel

27 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: Exxon returned $8 bln of cash to investors in the quarter, while Chevron returned some $6 bln. With investment rising and M&A on the table, investors are competing with new priorities; Intel shares jumped 10% after slowing declines in revenue.

Li Keqiang death dilutes China reform promise

27 Oct 2023

The premier’s 10-year tenure began with hopes for a market-friendly revamp. Efforts to make state firms more efficient through private capital had all but reversed course as he left office. His sudden passing will further weaken the case against Beijing’s sprawling interference.

Stellantis’ China deal maths may amplify US woes

27 Oct 2023

CEO Carlos Tavares is paying up to speed up his green push. At 4.4 times sales, the $1.6 bln deal values Chinese upstart Leapmotor more richly than larger EV peers. Splurging on a rival in the People’s Republic is also a bad look as he negotiates tense pay talks with US workers.

Japan Inc is only winner in nixed chip deal

27 Oct 2023

The collapse of Kioxia-Western Digital merger talks is bad for the two struggling companies, complicates Bain’s exit strategy and highlights investor-rival SK Hynix’s conflicts. But Tokyo now seems more open to cross-border deals, even for national champions. That’s a positive.

Capital Calls: Ford, Amazon

26 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: The loss per car at the $45 bln automaker’s electric-vehicle unit has jumped 51% in a year. So-so earnings at the $1.2 trln e-commerce giant’s cloud division beat the even lower bar set by rival Alphabet.