EMEA

EU steps up lengthy attack on winner-take-all Tech

6 Sep 2023

The European Commission wants technology giants including Apple and Microsoft to give rivals more access to key services and data. It’s a serious push against Big Tech’s ability to dominate markets and squeeze out competitors. Legal battles and compliance challenges look certain.

Saudi’s odd telco raid is copycat with logic

6 Sep 2023

State-backed operator STC spent $2 bln to buy 10% of Spain's Telefonica. It mimics Abu Dhabi's move on Vodafone, except this target is not cheap and has few ways to boost value. Riyadh's main aim may be to test Europe's openness to it investing in other critical infrastructure.

Capital Calls: Saudi oil gambit

6 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: The world's top crude exporter is extending its 1 million barrels a day production cuts until the end of 2023 to boost prices.

Orsted is losing big in wind’s political lottery

6 Sep 2023

The $23 bln group has shed a third of its value since flagging $2 bln in US impairments last week. Orsted is not the only offshore wind player wanting states to sweeten subsidies. But its threat to quit projects if that doesn’t happen might leave it without a valid rebound story.

Europe faces dirtier inflation fight than US

6 Sep 2023

The euro zone is trying to emulate the United States by avoiding a recession and hefty job losses, despite raising rates. The bloc may only half succeed. Weak activity, scarce credit and higher borrowing costs all point to a downturn. European workers, though, could be spared.

Novartis $16 bln spinoff starts on a sickly note

5 Sep 2023

The $229 bln drugmaker is handing shareholders Sandoz, its generic-medicine unit and perennial problem child. High growth targets may work if the newly listed group revives its US business. But intense competition gives investors a reason to sell the stock they’re about to get.

The obesity drug boom is just getting started

5 Sep 2023

Over 1 bln people are obese, the WHO reckons. Denmark’s Novo Nordisk is ahead of the pharma pack with its Wegovy weight-loss drug. In this Exchange podcast, recorded in August as a Reuters Newsmaker, CEO Lars Jorgensen says the market will be big enough for other players too.

SoftBank’s reduced Arm price tag is still too high

5 Sep 2023

The Japanese group may float its UK chip designer for $50-54 bln. That’s lower than initially hoped, but still implies an implausible future where revenue and profitability soar. If Arm merely grows at recent rates and nudges up margins, its market worth is more like $35 bln.

Capital Calls: Burning Man, Intel/Tower

5 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: The festival’s mud-soaked disaster reveals tensions between libertarian ideals and providing infrastructure in a warming world; the $155 bln chip giant’s partnership with its former acquisition target salvages some of the benefits of a tie-up.

Nvidia gives Arm IPO a double leg-up

4 Sep 2023

The $1.2 trln semiconductor designer’s AI-inflated stock price provides a following wind for the UK group’s float. Now Nvidia and two peers may endorse its valuation by buying into Arm’s offering. Owner SoftBank will be hoping other investors buy into the somewhat circular logic.

Feel-good war on short flights misses the mark

4 Sep 2023

European states like Germany are mulling bans on air travel under a certain distance. Short-haul commercial flights make convenient climate scapegoats. But going after private jets, which can emit 45 times more carbon per passenger, would bring more benefit with less disruption.

Capital Calls: Lithium M&A

4 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: Albemarle’s $4.3 bln sweetened all-cash offer for lithium miner Liontown has financial merit, as well as offering it a handy hedge against Chile’s plan to nationalise resource assets.

The G7 is least bad group for a troubled world

4 Sep 2023

The G20 and United Nations, which hold summits this month, are broken. The expanded BRICS is a motley crew. The Group of Seven rich nations has shortcomings and could struggle if the US turns inwards. But it has the potential to keep peace and protect the planet, says Hugo Dixon.

Missing metals hit green economy pressure point

1 Sep 2023

Shares in copper producer Aurubis fell 15% after it said inventory wasn’t where it was supposed to be due to “criminal activity”. The commodity is vital for electric cables and batteries. With demand set to outstrip supply, key-metal fraud is a risk for the low-carbon transition.

Builders have shelter against UK house-price storm

1 Sep 2023

Property values are falling as demand dwindles, but the likes of Persimmon trade on decent multiples. A squeezed rental market and peaking rates mean the pain may not last long. For now, homebuilders have strong balance sheets and can generate cash by depleting their land banks.

Capital Calls: Temps frayed

1 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: Despite adding another 187,000 jobs in August, the number of short-term workers such as event staff kept falling in the United States. It’s a sign of a weakening labor market and, history suggests, a recessionary omen.

African coups will ramp up scramble for minerals

31 Aug 2023

Gabon’s government was overthrown by a military revolt, following similar unrest in Niger. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how instability in producers of key resources like manganese and uranium will lead global powers to hunt for more stable sources.

UBS cost-cut gains are a double-edged sword

31 Aug 2023

Boss Sergio Ermotti will keep Credit Suisse’s domestic unit, and hopes to slash $10 bln through the merger. His higher savings target easily offsets the hit from vanishing revenue as clients flee the acquired bank. The risk is that Swiss politicians think UBS’s deal is too sweet.

Capital Calls: Microsoft in the EU, Dollar General

31 Aug 2023

Concise views on global finance: The software giant will sell its Teams communications app separately from other software in the European Union; the discount retailer’s poor results reflect a more resilient US economy.

Body Shop sale may give Natura skin-deep makeover

30 Aug 2023

After offloading Aesop for top dollars, the Brazilian beauty giant may struggle to fetch the cosmetics brand’s original $1 bln price tag in a sale. The M&A spree reversal will simplify Natura’s structure. But sprucing up its surviving Avon arm and other labels looks hard.