Air Transportation

Corona Capital: Banks and government, Ryanair cash

4 Sep 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Britain’s finance minister Rishi Sunak could hurt taxpayers by forcing lenders to chase pandemic borrowers; and the Irish airline’s war chest will come in handy if rivals go under.

Ethiopian swoop would seal South Africa’s descent

4 Sep 2020

Pretoria’s bankrupt state airline may secure a parachute from Addis Ababa, a stunning reversal of fortunes from the 1990s. After apartheid, South African firms blazed trails across the continent. With corruption and dogma hobbling their home base, the tables are turning.

Fight for Mumbai airport is cattle-class affair

2 Sep 2020

Tycoon Gautam Adani is taking over India’s second busiest airport. It tramples over a stalled $1 bln deal the seller had with Abu Dhabi’s ADIA and Canada’s PSP. By acquiring debt, Adani is offering a quick out for lenders including Goldman Sachs. But it sets a worrying precedent.

Corona Capital: Zooming through Covid

1 Sep 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Zoom Video Communications, the ubiquitous video-calling outfit, reports another blowout quarter.

Corona Capital: Pools, Dell

28 Aug 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Pool firm’s dive into public markets, Dell’s hardware resilience.

Corona Capital: Nvidia, Air conditioners

20 Aug 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Nvidia goes gangbusters, HVAC units have their moment in the sun.

Corona Capital: Vegan eggs, Target’s online fiesta

19 Aug 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: A maker of chicken-free egg products accelerates its IPO plans amid Covid-19, while U.S. supermarket group Target shows that preparedness is everything in e-commerce.

Corona Capital: Telemedicine, Outdated movie rules

10 Aug 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Men’s wellness outfit Hims matches the online medical consultation trend with a financial one, namely blank-check companies; and Washington finally scraps a “Gone with the Wind”-era regulation.

IAG’s capital raise buys limited flying time

31 Jul 2020

The British Airways owner is tapping investors for 2.8 billion euros of equity. But the carrier is burning through 800 million euros of cash each month. Unless restrictions in its three biggest markets lift soon, a government bailout may be the only way to avoid a rough landing.

The depth of Boeing’s problems is still sinking in

29 Jul 2020

The $96 bln aviation giant reported another dismal quarter as struggling airlines ordered few planes. The recovery from the 737 MAX grounding and the pandemic are also edging further into the future. The outlook for the plane maker may still be catching up with the grim reality.

Corona Capital: GM, Glaxo, Shopify, Movies, Pemex

29 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: General Motors pulls further ahead; GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine-order boost; Shopify fills its revenue basket; AMC bows to online streaming’s growing power; Mexico’s oil giant puts on a brave face.

Corona Capital: Newspapers, 747s

17 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Congress may dangle newspapers a lifeline; British Airways brings its fleet of jumbo jets in for a final landing.

Corona Capital: Good news is bad news

16 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. retail sales are rising and some banks say consumers are surprisingly resilient – but a recovery once glimpsed is even harder to give up.

Airlines need surgery not a vaccine

14 Jul 2020

Delta’s CEO said business travel, recently half its revenue, may never fully recover. That suggests the health crisis is turning into a full-fledged shift in behavior. The U.S. government could re-up bailouts. But the industry needs to shrink and rethink to stay airborne.

American Airlines has jumbo-sized seating dilemma

10 Jul 2020

The Dallas-based carrier’s un-socially distanced cabins have displeased passengers and health officials. But a look at its finances suggests the alternative would be big losses. It’s hard to see how American can please the many people who have stumped up to keep it airborne.

Covid will drag on Boeing profit for years

10 Jul 2020

Certification flights for the 737 MAX are a step toward putting the $100 bln plane maker’s cash cow back in service. But monthly production next year will be about half what was planned before the pandemic. That alone probably means at least a 20% hit to profit.

Rolls-Royce flies closer to credit-card max-out

9 Jul 2020

The British jet engine maker led by Warren East incinerated 3 bln pounds in the last six months due to aviation lockdowns. At least another 1 bln may disappear in the next. Extra credit lines look increasingly like bandages over a balance sheet in need of serious surgery.

U.S. airlines are flying into stress-test airspace

29 Jun 2020

Bailouts of American Airlines, Delta and others have effectively branded the industry systemically essential. But Washington has only imposed temporary restrictions in return for taxpayer aid. Like banks, airlines need more oversight of longer-term financial flight paths.

Corona Capital: U.S.-China fight, Canada downgrade

25 Jun 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Washington deploys sanctions over Hong Kong, adding to trade and Covid-19 tensions; and a double whammy of the coronavirus and low oil prices costs Canada one of its AAA ratings.

Virgin Australia suitors strain to soar like TPG

22 Jun 2020

Buyout shop Bain and hedgie Cyrus are jostling to buy the carrier out of bankruptcy. The industry has foiled everyone from Warren Buffett to Gordon Gekko. David Bonderman’s TPG is one of the few with happy tales to tell. Replicating its success will require some fancy flying.