Manufacturing

Capital Calls: Hydrogen IPO, Call centre M&A

20 Jun 2022

Concise views on global finance: Despite Thyssenkrupp postponing its clean energy listing, De Nora is still pressing on with its own one at a lower 3 bln euro valuation; customer-service group Sitel agrees to buy 2.6 bln euro rival Majorel in a cash-and-stock deal.

Tesla’s pole position is a blessing, then a curse

3 Jun 2022

Boss Elon Musk wants to cut 10% of the $735 bln automaker’s workforce, even as peers ramp investments. Tesla, unencumbered by a gas-guzzler business, outmaneuvered older rivals to dominate EVs. But not having a legacy business to fall back on means it is more vulnerable, too.

GM draws target on Tesla with EV price cut

2 Jun 2022

Elon Musk’s carmaker stepped back from an ultra-low cost vehicle. But with GM slashing the price on its Bolt, the Detroit automaker has made a big move. Now GM can use its low sticker price to grab market share. It has little to lose – except for cash, which eventually runs out.

Boeing’s chief pilot has risky path out of dive

20 May 2022

A blizzard of bad news has pushed the $75 bln U.S. plane-maker’s market value below rival Airbus for the first time. Customers are fuming about delayed orders. Assuming it can actually deliver jets, the risk is CEO Dave Calhoun keeping buyers sweet with ever bigger discounts.

Rising costs put U.S. auto revamp in a jam

29 Apr 2022

Prices of cars from makers like Ford and GM are up by 13% in a year. But higher costs have caused profits to stagnate. Revamping businesses away from combustion engines is expensive, and adds pressure. They have few levers to pull, and little cushion to fund change.

Capital Calls: U.S. GDP fall masks solid economy

28 Apr 2022

Concise views on global finance: Consumer spending and business investment are resilient amid price hikes.

GE braves cost inflation and confidence deflation

26 Apr 2022

The $99 bln machinery maker has weathered a slump in demand, only to be thwacked by supply chain and inflationary problems. Boss Larry Culp is ruthlessly cutting waste to offset things he can’t control. A 9% drop in shares suggests the market is losing patience.

Chancellor: In praise of slack

7 Apr 2022

Executives spent decades optimising strategies to boost efficiency and returns on equity. That left them exposed to shocks like the global pandemic and invasion of Ukraine. In a world that values spare capacity, Japanese firms look better placed than their American counterparts.

Capital Calls: Renault out of Russia

24 Mar 2022

Concise views on global finance: Dire prospects for the sanctioned economy make the French carmaker’s decision to leave rational, but costly.

GE chief’s pay cut is a drop in the golden bucket

18 Mar 2022

Larry Culp had $10 mln knocked off his bonus after a year of shareholder anger and poor stock performance. Given the riches Culp has received to date, it’s a token gesture. As Goldman Sachs showed after a similar trim last year, such acts of contrition can be fleeting at best.

U.S. services have better China lockdown defenses

15 Mar 2022

Chinese lockdowns spell new supply disruptions for firms like Apple and higher prices. Surging inflation is already hurting consumers. But services, like restaurants and travel, will be more resilient than during the pandemic, thanks to $2.6 trln of excess household savings.

Electric-car companies face test of endurance

1 Mar 2022

Lordstown and Lucid shares sank on disappointing estimates of how many cars they will be able to produce. Where it was once enough just to show that making a car was possible, electric-vehicle hopefuls must now prove they can make many, while squeezed by supply challenges.

Capital Calls: Continental, Harley-Davidson

8 Feb 2022

Concise views on global finance: German car-parts maker Continental may spin off its self-driving unit, while the iconic maker of motorbikes has turned supply shortages to its own advantage.

Capital Calls: Julius Baer, Siltronic

2 Feb 2022

Concise views on global finance: A slip in the Swiss wealth manager’s shares is an incentive for M&A sooner rather than later; strong results suggest the German wafer maker can expand despite Berlin’s failure to approve a 4.4 bln euro takeover by Taiwan’s GlobalWafers.

Capital Calls: Blackstone, German chips, Guy Hands

27 Jan 2022

Concise views on global finance: The $140 bln group braces for falling asset values and rising interest rates; Berlin sends the wrong signal by ignoring a 4.4 bln euro offer for wafer maker Siltronic; Britain seeks to reverse the financier’s lucrative 1996 housing deal.

ThyssenKrupp’s hydrogen hype is oddly conservative

13 Jan 2022

The German group is seeking 600 mln euros from an IPO of Nucera, which uses green power to make the gas from water. It expects the energy transition to inflate sales from almost nothing to 650 mln euros by 2025. Compared to hope-filled listed rivals, the valuation looks sober.

Capital Calls: Chanel’s CEO pick

14 Dec 2021

Concise views on global finance: The privately-owned French fashion house appointed a Unilever executive as its new leader.

Capital Calls: Risky banks, UK SPAC, AO World

23 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: A global watchdog reckons JPMorgan is once again the world’s most systemically important lender; investment firm Hambro Perks launches a UK blank-cheque vehicle; the British online retailer issues its second profit warning in two months.

Thyssenkrupp finds lost hydrogen lottery ticket

17 Nov 2021

The ailing 7 bln euro German group’s shares soared amid hopes it might list its electrolysis unit. With a few tweaks, its chlorine-making kit can produce hydrogen, a big enabler of a no-carbon world. That promise means its paltry current sales could yield a 5 bln euro jackpot.

Capital Calls: Philips, Chinese overseas IPOs

15 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: The Dutch electronics firm’s shares drop 11% as it faces new questions over a recall of faulty ventilators; the country’s cyberspace regulator makes clear that sensitive data questions for initial public offerings apply to Hong Kong too.