EMEA

Europe’s Starlink-lite is a worthwhile also-ran

21 Nov 2024

EU satellite players like Eutelsat are debt-laden minnows compared to Elon Musk’s SpaceX-owned behemoth. But given Starlink now owns more than 60% of all working satellites, Europe has to start somewhere. Investors shouldn’t count on galactic returns, though.

Gulf states wedge AI efforts between superpowers

21 Nov 2024

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are building home-grown silicon smarts and forging links with the likes of Microsoft. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how the region is muscling its way into a technology arms race between China and the US.

Brookfield has room to sweeten Spanish drug deal

20 Nov 2024

Grifols rejected a 6.5 billion euro offer from the Canadian firm and its founder family. That’s not surprising, given the offer is far from generous and the pharma company’s sales are recovering. Bruce Flatt’s group can afford to pay more and still clear an acceptable return.

Amcor’s cheap packaging deal hides a fragile item

20 Nov 2024

The Switzerland-based company is paying $8.4 bln for US rival Berry. It’s a low price when compared with the cost savings on offer, but the target brings with it debt and a business that is struggling to grow. Rapid consolidation among peers also raises the pressure to merge.

New Nestlé CEO wakes up and smells the bad coffee

19 Nov 2024

The KitKat maker’s boss Laurent Freixe unveiled a plan to get the $230 bln group moving again. Yet a 4% sales-growth target and unchanged operating margin seem low. Cutting $2.8 bln of costs to invest in marketing makes sense, but he’ll have to battle rising ingredient prices.

Ukraine support is cheaper option for Europe

19 Nov 2024

New US President Donald Trump could cut aid to Kyiv. But the Old Continent has the means, and reasons, to pay up. Letting Russia win would mean more defence spending, a refugee crisis and geopolitical strife. That’s a bigger toll than the 0.4% of GDP the bloc would need to spend.

Ireland’s $25 bln tax bounty reveals OECD flaws

19 Nov 2024

Dublin expects a record budget surplus in 2024 thanks to a cash deluge from tech giants. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Pascal Saint-Amans, the architect of a landmark 2021 tax treaty, explains how the US’s failure to ratify the deal allows havens to rake in billions.

Melrose flags a way through aerospace turbulence

18 Nov 2024

The $8 bln aero supplier’s shares jumped after it reported improved revenue and reaffirmed targets. Melrose’s focus on planes has coincided with big customers slowing the supply of new jets. The good news is that demand for older aircraft repairs is rising sharply.

Trump 2.0 will see more European firms do a Holcim

18 Nov 2024

The $56 bln Swiss building materials group is splitting off its US unit and listing it separately. Some CEOs may think President-elect Donald Trump will spur a growth spurt. Fear of missing out, and a huge valuation gap, will make other European companies ponder similar moves.

UK mistakes City liberalisation for a growth plan

15 Nov 2024

Finance minister Rachel Reeves wants to unleash the 153-bln-pound financial sector to boost the economy. It’s not clear that her reforms so far, like a share-trading venue for private companies, will do that. Meatier deregulation, meanwhile, would raise the risk of future crises.

ASML’s sunny AI destination has a cloudy roadmap

15 Nov 2024

The $270 bln semiconductor equipment maker has stuck to its 2030 sales guidance, thanks to growing data centre needs. But chipmakers’ strife, politics, and weak smartphone demand remain near-term headaches. Investors may like ASML’s destination, but the route there looks bumpy.

UK megafund plan is weak tonic for investment ills

14 Nov 2024

Chancellor Rachel Reeves wants to consolidate the 1.3 trln pound retirement sector to create funds with more firepower to support the economy. It’s a worthy move, but could take years to pay off. Britain’s economic problems need more radical action.

Shein margin wobble takes bite out of IPO value

14 Nov 2024

The e-commerce giant’s revenue growth slumped in the first half of 2024, and the net margin fell to 2% per The Information. Even if the business recovers, it creates uncertainty that’s compounded by a protectionist US government. Investors may struggle to see the upside.

Siemens Energy’s vicious circle becomes virtuous

13 Nov 2024

The $35 bln German group surged 20% after it revealed punchy 2028 targets. For years, troubles in its wind unit obscured Siemens Energy’s status as a green transition winner. While these aren’t all fixed, the company looks cheap if CEO Christian Bruch can hit his new goals.

Just Eat’s discount deal puts CEO on notice

13 Nov 2024

The food delivery firm finally sold Grubhub for $650 mln, a stark decline from the $5 bln it paid three years ago. Investors’ cheer reflects that they feared an even worse price, and it gets rid of a dead weight. But Just Eat boss Jitse Groen can’t afford any more mistakes.

Gulf’s AI strategy is built on more than sand

13 Nov 2024

The UAE and Saudi are raising $200 bln for artificial intelligence. A reliance on imported chips means AI superpower status akin to China or the US is unlikely. But even if the region can’t build a ChatGPT-killer, it can carve out a niche to make the exercise worthwhile.

Shell’s legal win flags need for new green metrics

12 Nov 2024

A Dutch court has nixed a 2021 ruling forcing the $204 bln oil major to cut emissions by 45% by 2030. Such metrics had already been undermined by Big Oil asset sales, which don’t stop climate change. Drillers’ spending on low-carbon energy is a better gauge of green credentials.

Vodafone M&A spree leaves German problem untouched

12 Nov 2024

CEO Margherita Della Valle has spent the past 18 months remodelling the $23 bln telco by striking deals in Britain, Spain and Italy. But the shares have trailed European rivals’. To change that, the former finance chief will have to tell a better Teutonic growth story.

The power and peril of American economic warfare

12 Nov 2024

Successive US presidents have wielded sanctions and export controls against rival nations. Donald Trump promises further escalation. In this episode of the Big View podcast, political scientist Henry Farrell explains how weaponizing finance and technology can be self-defeating.

COP29 will highlight bifurcated energy transitions

12 Nov 2024

Donald Trump’s election victory casts a pall over the UN climate confab in Baku. It will also make raising $1 trln a year from rich states to decarbonise the developing world even harder. But his return will also hasten a shift East and South in the fight against global warming.