Healthcare

Heat from Chinese e-cigarette IPO may burn

4 Feb 2020

Smoore sells battery-powered devices to the global tobacco giants. A backlash against the smokeless pastime will likely hit the company’s red-hot profitable growth. Its planned Hong Kong listing will test how much puff is left in global vaping valuations.

Beijing’s virus response leaves seeds of doubt

3 Feb 2020

China’s effort to contain the disease is tougher than most nations could manage, just as its top-down structure allowed its economy to grow fast. But a yes-man culture initially allowed the problem to spread. It’s one reason promises on market opening and such may be unreliable.

Xi’s market watchdogs get black swan for new year

3 Feb 2020

The benchmark index fell 9% as traders returning after a week-long holiday dumped stocks on coronavirus concerns. The slide may be hard to brake; Beijing’s stimulus options are constrained. Finance regulators, restructured after the 2015 crash, face a major credibility test.

Chinese virus will afflict ailing globalisation

31 Jan 2020

Trade wars and Brexit-type barriers have knocked worldwide integration. As the Wuhan coronavirus spreads and borders harden, companies have fresh reasons to rethink the merits of cross-regional businesses and supply chains. A rise in security-based protectionism can be expected.

Virus tests Hong Kong market’s resistance

29 Jan 2020

A full-blown epidemic would rock what is already the year’s worst-performing major exchange index following a fresh 3% fall. Though a protest-related tourism tumble may prove a blessing in disguise, anti-Beijing public sentiment is also complicating the health response.

Virus lockdown hands LVMH tricky start to 2020

28 Jan 2020

The $230 bln luxury group’s comparable sales grew 10% in 2019. But at least the current quarter could be rocky with the fallout from the new coronavirus likely to infect its hefty Chinese sales. That makes smooth progress towards its acquisition of Tiffany even more important.

Virus panic makes OPEC cat-herding even harder

28 Jan 2020

Oil prices have dipped below $60 a barrel on fears the coronavirus will hit growth. The Saudi-led producers group already has a job convincing the likes of Russia to keep supporting cuts agreed in December. The virus jitters might make others, such as Riyadh, want to double down.

New China virus is bigger threat for world economy

27 Jan 2020

Growth rebounded quickly after the 2003 SARS outbreak. Stronger prevention measures this time are offset by the potentially more contagious coronavirus. China’s economy is also more fragile and accounts for a larger share of world growth. No wonder investors are jittery.

Progress can’t dispel viral risk to world GDP

24 Jan 2020

It has been decades since a pathogen as frightening as new coronavirus has spread. Biotech advances and China’s modernization helps catch diseases earlier, but easier travel speeds dispersal. Vaccine development is slow. Economic damage, from mild to $3 trln, is up to chance.

China’s viral immune system open to economic pox

21 Jan 2020

A bungled swine flu cover-up doubled pork prices last year, taxing the poor. Now a human virus is panicking citizens before the start of what’s usually a $150 bln holiday spending boom. President Xi’s anti-corruption campaign has made officials less venal, not more credible.

Hospital M&A adds to U.S. healthcare absurdity

9 Jan 2020

A merger wave has made highly-concentrated local markets for hospitals more so, while raising prices and lowering quality, according to a new study. With antitrust cops having only limited powers, hospitals – already 6% of U.S. GDP – will keep sucking more blood from the economy.

One Medical IPO looks financially bedbound

8 Jan 2020

A U.S. doctor’s visit is often characterized by clunky tech, long waits and a referral to a higher-priced specialist. One Medical wants to turn the system on its head. Pleasing patients is easy. Doing so while turning a profit and reducing medical expenditure may not be possible.

Fire sale further weakens NMC’s defence

8 Jan 2020

The $3 billion hospital operator fell 15% after big shareholders dumped its stock. The sale, which follows attacks by short seller Muddy Waters, was needed to repay debt. But it highlights the reluctance of the Gulf group’s backers and management to support its depressed shares.

Big Tech will be both friend and foe to Big Pharma

3 Jan 2020

A programme developed by Google has beaten doctors in detecting malignant tumours. Artificial intelligence could save patients’ lives and help drugmakers develop more sophisticated treatments. Yet better screening could also help governments and insurers rein in drug spending.

A health craze for 2020: Chinese medicine

2 Jan 2019

A locally-developed cancer therapy from the People's Republic has won U.S. approval for the first time. For pharmaceutical giants, discovering a made-in-China blockbuster drug may be within reach. Cross-border deals will follow, as will some unexpected side effects.

NMC’s Muddy Waters vaccine needs a booster shot

20 Dec 2019

The FTSE 100-listed hospital group is under siege by the short-seller, sending shares down more than 45% this week. NMC has done the right thing in providing a detailed response - within two days. But its jittery investors could still do with greater clarity in some key areas.

China’s health grey zone is hazardous for fintech

16 Dec 2019

Soaring medical costs in the People's Republic have prompted Jack Ma's $150 bln Ant Financial and others to offer insurance-like solutions. A scandal involving a Tencent-backed upstart, though, is a reminder the sector is largely unregulated. That's unlikely to remain the case.

Doctors’ office M&A machine may not be curable

11 Dec 2019

Activist Starboard is rattling the cage at Mednax. The $2 bln U.S. physician rollup is unravelling, with stalled revenue and rising staff costs. Yet private equity’s experience with rivals like Envision is not great, either. Milking people businesses for cash just may not work.

GE Healthcare offers conglomerate life support

2 Dec 2019

The medical-imaging and diagnostics unit brings in around a third of the troubled company’s earnings. And it’s growing solidly. That may provide enough financial oxygen for more capital-intensive, cyclical businesses, and pension costs, to prevent a breakup – for now, at least.

Health data’s value blooms as anxiety looms

13 Nov 2019

Google’s tie-up with a large hospital chain and purchase of wearable device maker Fitbit aren’t inherently troubling, but expose some gray areas. Laws already protect personal data gathered from the former deal, but not the latter. Google’s interest may prompt a change.