Shipping

Capital Calls: KKR, Ferrari, HelloFresh

2 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: The private equity company is making the most of ideal market conditions; the Italian sports car maker raises its guidance; and a positive sales update turbocharges the German meal-kit delivery firm’s share price.  

Maersk’s green ships have first-mover disadvantage

26 Aug 2021

The $53 bln container giant is buying eight vessels powered by carbon-neutral methanol. Maersk gets a green halo, and customers could shoulder its increase in costs. The catch is that clean fuel alternatives currently in development are likely to be cheaper, and greener.

Canadian Pacific has edge in great U.S. train race

10 Aug 2021

The original bidder for Kansas City Southern has returned with a $27 bln offer to challenge rival Canadian National. While the price is lower and changing railroads mid-journey for a second time isn’t free, reduced regulatory risk makes it a better deal for KCS shareholders.

Inflationary tide rises on glum shipping forecast

26 May 2021

Sea freight costs have more than tripled in the past year. Ports are backed up, containers are in the wrong place, and demand is picking up. Supply-chain disruptions won’t last forever. But, going by what companies like Maersk are seeing, pressures may persist for most of 2021.

Danish shipping raid heralds consolidation wave

27 Apr 2021

DSV Panalpina is loading Kuwait’s Agility into its hold in return for $4.1 bln in new shares. With its flotilla of medium-sized players, the global freight sector is ripe for M&A. Disruption from the pandemic and recent Suez blockage present a window for bigger players to pounce.

Trains deal takes regulatory risk on a round trip

1 Apr 2021

Canadian Pacific can effectively close its $25 bln takeover of Kansas City Southern before watchdogs approve the deal, because of a quirk of U.S. rail regulation. Sellers’ shareholders get paid out. But the combined company shoulders regulatory risk in a more complicated way.

Capital Calls: WFH deals, Suez Canal, NorNickel

29 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Fintech firm Broadridge pays a full price for trading platform; with the waterway clear, all sides will be taking up positions for a legal battle royal; the Russian nickel producer cashes in on high copper prices.

Suez blockage comes a year too late

25 Mar 2021

The Ever Given continues to block the Egyptian canal. Barring progress, shipping firms may soon have to re-route vessels around Africa, adding seven days and extra fuel costs. A year ago, with crude prices tumbling, many did that anyway. With oil dearer, it’s a painful choice.

Corona Capital: Citigroup, WeWork

14 Aug 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Citigroup’s embarrassing $900 million bank error; and a small silver lining for WeWork’s botched IPO.

Hapag-Lloyd sails into valuation Bermuda Triangle

14 May 2020

The German shipping giant’s shares have doubled in a month, to the bemusement of all including its CEO. A tiny 3.6% free-float may be part of the puzzle. But positive reasons for the valuation hike – brightening horizons, M&A fever or short-sellers caught short – are absent.

Corona Capital: Cruise ships, China/U.S. friction

13 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Royal Caribbean raises and dreams of a time when cruise ships come back into favor, while a U.S. pension fund decides to give Chinese stocks a miss.

Turkish canal is bad way to fix infrastructure gap

31 Mar 2020

President Tayyip Erdogan is building a $12 bln waterway in Istanbul. The stated aim of stopping ships from crashing into the Bosphorus fails to make up for the risk of environmental catastrophe. There’s no promise of new revenues either. The only winners will be land speculators.

Oil storage crisis is new threat to OPEC

25 Mar 2020

The double whammy of a Saudi Arabia-led price war and a virus-fuelled collapse in demand points to a huge oversupply of crude this year. Space to store the surplus may run out at this rate. If that’s exhausted, a barrel of the commodity could soon be worth less than $20.

DP World U-turn has strings attached for Dubai

17 Feb 2020

The ports and logistics group is buying back a listed stake at a hefty discount. There’s a rationale for doing so, but it will push up leverage. At a time when the emirate is battling a property slowdown, it will also raise the eyebrows of investors who see it as a capital hub.

FedEx gets caught in a trade-war vise

25 Jun 2019

The $41 bln parcel carrier is suing the U.S. government over onerous rules for exports, not least to China. Meanwhile, its own errors may land it on a Beijing blacklist. FedEx can handle a profit hit, but getting embroiled in a tariff fight would put it further behind rival UPS.

Uber’s trucking is at best a very long haul

7 May 2019

The ride-hailing app’s freight unit, 3 pct of revenue in 2018, is a growth focus as it prepares its IPO. Connecting shippers to carriers has potential but there’s a driver shortage. Uber already offered incentives. As elsewhere at the firm, the costs of expansion could spiral.

Swiss $4 bln freight battle has questionable cargo

16 Jan 2019

Activist investor Cevian has helped solicit a bid for subscale freight group Panalpina. Would-be owner DSV could face competition from Switzerland’s Kuehne + Nagel, handing shareholders a sweeter price. It’s less clear that either will make a return from a much higher offer.

Germany may outdo Italy as a bank bail-in wrecker

9 Jan 2019

NordLB needs at least 1.2 billion euros to help provision dud loans after merger talks with rivals failed. Along with smaller Italian peer Carige, the regional German lender is a prime candidate for resolution. Politics means a mix of private equity and public funds is a likelier solution.

Gig economy throws wrench into China labour policy

28 Aug 2018

App-based jobs are becoming controversial in the People's Republic, too. Factory strikes may be waning, but reports of worker protests involving startups like Meituan and Didi are rising. That's leaving Beijing stuck between two priorities: social stability and tech innovation.

Wilbur Ross proves bad behavior is new norm

20 Jun 2018

Lawmakers hammered the U.S. commerce secretary about the effect of tariffs – but barely mentioned his sale of a company’s shares days ahead of a negative news story. Congress, occupied with trade battles, is growing numb to shady conduct. Calling it out, though, matters.