Conglomerates

Walmart’s JD sale displays derisking smarts

21 Aug 2024

The US retail giant has offloaded the stake held in its Chinese partner since 2016 for $3.6 bln. With 400 stores of its own in the People’s Republic, Walmart isn’t leaving. But the move reduces its exposure to a shifting economy and may put a cap on JD’s stock price turnaround.

Swire can afford to be optimistic about China

15 Aug 2024

The Anglo-Asian conglomerate is doubling down on airline and property investments in the country while others de-risk. While its options to diversify appear limited, $11 bln Swire Pacific is outperforming peers. Plus Beijing finally has a reason to embrace the trading house.

Apple loses China price battle, but will win war

12 Aug 2024

Big discounts by Huawei and other local rivals have eaten into the iPhone maker’s market share. Boss Tim Cook is fighting back, to preserve nearly a fifth of revenue. In a region that often beguiles tech outfits, the $3 trln company’s resilience is impressive – and sustainable.

Murdoch media galaxy would be better with one sun

25 Jul 2024

News mogul Rupert Murdoch reportedly wants to entrench his son Lachlan at Fox and News Corp, rather than spreading power among four siblings. For other shareholders, stability matters; Fox has beaten peers with Lachlan as CEO. Better an emperor than a squabbling committee.

Li clan take a tiny step to beat China value trap

12 Jul 2024

A plan for an additional listing, possibly in London, for their $15 bln infra company will allow investors shunning Hong Kong to buy the stock. As for CKI's larger parent, its revenue is globally diversified. The family faces a long slog to limit damage from its China roots.

Singapore’s Temasek has a sticky China problem

10 Jul 2024

The sovereign investor's $288 bln portfolio value is on the rise but its one fifth exposure to the world's second-largest economy is a drag. Temasek's private holdings and Singapore's close financial ties with Beijing make it hard for CEO Dilhan Pillay to make a big retreat.

India’s chase of foreign shorts hits close to home

3 Jul 2024

The regulator targeted Hindenburg Research for poor disclaimers in its attack on industrial giant Adani. Fresh details show the short seller and a Wall Street fund manager profited, but also how Indian lender Kotak facilitated the trade. Pursuing sceptical investors can backfire.

JAB’s Buffett impression is a work in progress

22 May 2024

The private European conglomerate, whose $50 bln portfolio includes Pret A Manger and Panera Bread, hired an executive for an insurance push. It makes sense as a funding source, as investors from Warren Buffett to KKR and Apollo proved. The snag is JAB’s patchy investment record.

Nestle’s royalty rebuke is a sign of the times

20 May 2024

Shareholders rejected a proposal by the food giant’s Indian unit to hike fees paid to its $280 bln Swiss parent. Scrutiny over payments to foreign affiliates for brands and know-how will grow. Domestic owners are increasingly assertive. New Delhi will be watching closely too.

China stock rally leaves Alibaba out in the cold

13 May 2024

The e-commerce giant’s shares are up less than 5% this year despite Tencent’s surging by a quarter. Boss Eddie Wu is promising stock buybacks and dividends. But investors are sceptical on Alibaba's growth prospects and whether it can unlock value after a botched restructuring.

Unilever and Nestlé offer two flavours of India

2 May 2024

Weak rural demand ate into earnings at the $63 bln local unit of the Dove soap maker. By contrast, its smaller and more-richly valued Swiss rival grew profit thanks to a larger share of urban customers. The divergent fortunes point to the limits of the Indian consumer’s wallet.

Amazon is the everything-plus-AI store

30 Apr 2024

The $1.8 trln company is still dominating e-commerce and cloud computing, as first-quarter earnings show. But its valuation trails Microsoft’s, which has plunged into AI. Boss Andy Jassy will play catchup in the coming year. But Amazon may not be as behind as investors think.

How Patrick Drahi can clamber out of his debt hole

11 Apr 2024

The tycoon’s Altice telecom empire is straining under $60 bln of borrowings, and creditors of its French unit are gunning for a fight. Yet loose bond terms, and the debt’s low trading prices, lend Drahi an escape route. He just needs to hope investors have short memories.

Capital Calls: Philips

10 Apr 2024

Concise views on global finance: The Dutch company’s CEO Roy Jakobs secured a win by finalising a settlement with US regulators over faulty sleep aids. But myriad other potentially costly cases remain open, justifying an ongoing share-price discount.

Bayer’s inertia will make mounting problems worse

5 Mar 2024

The $30 bln seeds and drugs maker has ruled out a rapid breakup. Bayer could have used a consumer health sale to cut debt and offset bigger US litigation costs. Betting instead that it can grow its way out of trouble risks exacerbating a yawning discount to the sum of its parts.

Ambani wedding puts new spin on Indian business

4 Mar 2024

CEOs of BP, Brookfield and Meta were among those attending Anant Ambani’s pre-nuptials bash in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Rich families are answering premier Narendra Modi’s call to shun overseas extravaganzas. For India, the prize goes well beyond the $50 bln marriage industry.

Post-crisis Adani is cranking up his IPO factory

29 Feb 2024

Indian tycoon Gautam Adani is on a comeback from a short-seller attack that stress-tested his $200 bln empire. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists explain how the spotlight impacted his group and look at the next crop of listed companies it is set to produce.

Stephen King ghost-writes trustbusting bestseller

27 Feb 2024

The US FTC is suing to block the $25 bln merger of grocers Kroger and Albertsons partly because of perceived harm to union labor. It resembles, oddly enough, a winning DOJ lawsuit over Penguin’s deal to buy Simon & Schuster. The case has a good shot at becoming a horror classic.

Capital Calls: Lyft

14 Feb 2024

Concise views on global finance: The US ride-hailing firm mistakenly forecast 500 basis points of margin improvement for 2024, causing its stock to surge some 60% before it came back to earth.

Arm’s weirdly high valuation has legs

13 Feb 2024

The $150 bln chip designer’s shares have doubled since last week’s positive outlook. The good news supports a higher valuation, but Arm’s current level is excessive. Yet with a small free float and majority owner SoftBank unlikely to sell any time soon, it may stay in the clouds.