EMEA

Capital Calls: DoorDash puts profit on the menu

30 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: The food-delivery service’s job cuts should pave the way to a stronger bottom line.

HSBC’s $10 bln Canada sale is ad for bank breakups

29 Nov 2022

The British lender is selling its Vancouver-based unit to Royal Bank of Canada for an eye-watering 3 times tangible book value. The buyer is paying up because it hopes to slash 55% of costs. If that’s plausible, investors should ask what else global retail banks should sell.

Consumer spending anomalies are the new norm

29 Nov 2022

High inflation and glum sentiment are changing how people use their money. In this edition of The Exchange podcast, Brookings Institution economist Wendy Edelberg explains what shoppers are loath to give up during times of duress and why strange patterns will persist.

Capital Calls: Funky debt shock

29 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: Germany property group Aroundtown won’t be the last to flout bond market convention on hybrid debt.

Juventus drama calls for an Exor exit strategy

29 Nov 2022

Chair Andrea Agnelli and the rest of the soccer club’s board quit amid an accounting scandal. For top investor Exor, controlled by the Agnelli clan, it’s a chance to rethink long-held ties to the loss-making team. After a cleanup, a 2.3 bln euro price tag looks plausible.

Private equity’s pay boom may have peaked

29 Nov 2022

The average European buyout partner has 20 mln euros of outstanding carried interest in their current fund, reckons Heidrick & Struggles, up a quarter from 2021. Junior wages soared. Yet a possible fundraising slowdown and layoffs elsewhere in finance will slow the gravy train.

China decoupling takes one step forward, one back

29 Nov 2022

Wealthy nations want to cut their reliance on the country’s factories and consumers. That’s happening in goods like electronics and auto parts, but trade and investment trends show the opposite in electric vehicles and other areas. The world is as dependent on China as before.

Capital Calls: Transatlantic chemicals deal

28 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: A potential acquisition of Univar by $10 bln German chemical distributor Brenntag makes sense, but investors may fear a bidding war.

Big Pharma will muscle in on obesity gold rush

28 Nov 2022

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s weight loss drugs are swelling their valuations, and give them a lead in a potentially $50 bln market. Yet rivals like Pfizer are not far behind, and others can snap up biotechs like Altimmune. An increasingly crowded sector may lead to lower returns.

How to design a formula to pay for climate loss

28 Nov 2022

COP27 saw countries agree to a “loss and damage” fund to help states bear the effects of climate change. But it didn’t say how it would work. Hugo Dixon proposes a formula which encourages countries to cut carbon emissions by pinning the cost on the biggest polluters.

Gulf’s World Cup love-in has uncertain shelf life

25 Nov 2022

Egypt and Turkey used the tournament to smooth over old differences, and ex-rivals Saudi Arabia and Qatar are getting along. Riyadh may even use its new oil heft to put $5 bln in cash-strapped Ankara’s central bank. The risk is new tensions, perhaps over Iran, upend the goodwill.

Oatly’s best turnaround recipe is dollops of cash

25 Nov 2022

Shares in the $950 mln faux-milk maker are down 80% this year, and revenue growth is slowing. CEO Toni Petersson will struggle to stop burning cash, and has ruled out selling the company. That means a looming capital hike may have to be much bigger than he currently thinks.

Crypto winter highlights gold’s warming qualities

25 Nov 2022

The collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange has institutional investors fleeing and regulators closing in. True believers argue their vision of decentralised digital money still holds. In a less dystopian world, the yellow metal may have more appeal, says Edward Chancellor.

FTX collapse consigns crypto to fringes of finance

24 Nov 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed crypto exchange is a huge blow to the ailing sector. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how firewalls helped protect banks, how the saga will embolden regulators, and what the future looks like for digital currencies.

Gucci designer’s exit boosts Kering’s M&A urgency

24 Nov 2022

Alessandro Michele’s departure from the bling group’s top label puts CEO François-Henri Pinault on the spot. Finding a new creative star will be hard, and he needs more brands to cut his $71 bln firm’s reliance on Gucci. A recent miss on Tom Ford also weakens his dealmaking hand.

Bank of England inflation fight easier than Fed’s

24 Nov 2022

An OECD study shows supply shocks are pushing up American prices, while strong demand is a bigger factor in the UK. That makes BoE Governor Andrew Bailey’s task more straightforward than Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s. For Britain, though, price stability will deepen economic woes.

Capital Calls: Fuzzy Fedspeak, Dr. Martens

24 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: The U.S. central bank has left traders guessing the meaning of the word “various”; shares in the recently listed British bootmaker fell 20% after sales missed expectations, and a warning that its investment needs will hurt profitability.

UK and EU’s new goodwill could be significant

23 Nov 2022

British PM Rishi Sunak wants to improve trade relations with the EU. Progress will only be piecemeal and slow, even if the two sides agree on how to implement their 2019 deal on Ireland. In the meantime small deals are possible, and they could normalise the path to closer ties.

Manchester United buyer will need love and money

23 Nov 2022

The Glazer family may sell the $2.5 bln soccer club after 17 years. It’s a good time to get out: valuations are rich and commercial revenue has held up well. A weak economy will challenge future growth, though. A new owner will have to be motivated by more than financial goals.

Credit Suisse rot infects wealth-management core

23 Nov 2022

The prized division lost 10% of its assets in six weeks, though the outflows have slowed. That undermines CEO Ulrich Körner’s narrative that the group’s problems are all in investment banking. Clients don’t make that distinction, and it’s easier to lose money than win it back.