Travel & Tourism

India’s airline turbulence will be felt abroad

17 May 2023

Go is the second carrier to go bust since 2019 despite a booming $12 bln industry. Blame price wars and debt-fuelled expansion. The airline’s legal battle with foreign lessors like Sumitomo will be messy too. It will raise the costs on efforts to turn India into an aviation hub.

Chinese tourists return with lighter wallets

3 May 2023

More than 240 mln people are visiting mainly domestic spots like Shanghai and Hong Kong during the Labour Day festivities. It’s slightly more than pre-Covid levels, but spending is lower as many find cheaper ways to have fun. That bodes ill for an already weak retail revival.

Airbnb swerves tech rout with constant change

2 May 2023

The $77 bln travel company weathered the pandemic and is now navigating a tech valuation bloodbath. Its co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk told The Exchange podcast that lessons learned during Covid-19 about disruption and never sitting still are key to its future.

MGM’s bet on Asia’s next Macau may age well

26 Apr 2023

The US casino operator will open Japan’s first casino. It isn’t an obvious destination for gambling: Sands and Wynn stayed away, preferring Singapore and the UAE. But the Osaka resort could be as big a money spinner for the operator as its properties in the Chinese hub.

Capital Calls: Microsoft/Activision, Subscriptions

24 Mar 2023

Concise views on global finance: The software giant convinced UK regulators to drop one of two major concerns about its $69 bln deal. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has picked an easier — and less controversial — fight than its antitrust crackdown.

Cathay’s people problem is Hong Kong’s too

10 Mar 2023

The carrier may struggle to hire fast enough to ramp up capacity. Higher salaries would be an obvious fix to lure back crew scarred by endless quarantine. In the meantime, Cathay will remain a globe-trotting reminder of the reopened city’s isolation for longer than anyone wants.

IAG takeoff weighed down by debt dilemma

24 Feb 2023

With net debt above its market value, the $9 bln British Airways owner could use a rights issue. But it’s also back in the black after a painful pandemic, and deals may yield cost savings. Boss Luis Gallego has to work out which path is likely to annoy long-term investors least.

Capital Calls: Starbucks

21 Feb 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $123 billion coffee chain’s new patent filing speaks to popular TikTok campaigns for more bespoke beverages – and other labor challenges. 

High-flying airlines still face stiff headwinds

25 Jan 2023

EasyJet shares surged on improved expectations, as rising numbers of holiday-goers look set to push the sector back into the black. But recent meltdowns show air travel has an increasing problem with tech glitches. It’s premature for investors to settle back in their seats.

Macau bounces into Year of the Rabbit

19 Jan 2023

Spring has sprung in the casino hub with the end of China’s zero-Covid. Operators will return to profit. Yet from Sands to SJM, balance sheets are stretched. How quickly they are repaired depends on if punters spend as much as before. Pandemic policies will leave other scars too.

Capital Calls: AstraZeneca

9 Jan 2023

Concise views on global finance: The drug giant is to pay up to $1.8 bln for U.S. group CinCor Pharma to beef up its kidney and heart businesses.

Capital Calls: Southwest, U.S. jobs and wages

6 Jan 2023

Concise views on global finance: Financial bumpiness caused by the airline’s major flight disruptions should be temporary, partly due to limited competition; slower U.S. wage growth raises the chances that the Fed won’t have to crush the labor market to bring down inflation.

Capital Calls: Amazon, Flying cars

5 Jan 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $855 billion e-commerce giant's layoffs could actually help its antitrust defense; Stellantis’s possible $150 mln investment in Archer Aviation is less crazy than it seems.

Return of Chinese tourists will be turbulent

4 Jan 2023

Retailers and hoteliers from Macau to Paris will welcome travellers again. Pent-up demand augurs a full recovery in $255 bln of annual spending even if flight capacity and testing requirements slow the pace. But Beijing's policies may reshape where and how money is spent.

Capital Calls: Cross-border M&A, Riches to rugs

9 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: The market reaction to U.S.-based Chart Industries’ $4.4 bln deal to buy Scotland’s Howden reinforces the idea that it’s a bad time to shop overseas, while Peloton’s founders are shifting gears with a new bespoke carpet business.

Capital Calls: Adidas

21 Oct 2022

Concise views on global finance: The 19 bln euro sportswear maker slashed its 2022 revenue outlook, dragging shares down 10%.

Capital Calls: TSMC

13 Oct 2022

Concise views on global finance: The $324 bln Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing barely addressed questions regarding U.S. technology export controls on China during its earnings call.

China’s dreary Golden Week has shades of grey

10 Oct 2022

Domestic tourism sales during the country's top holiday fell to less than 50% of pre-pandemic levels. Cities like Shanghai might get a welcome boost from shoppers that stayed put, but the sector drives roughly 30% of consumption. That’s cold comfort for the weakening economy.

Hong Kong’s opening leaves it long way from normal

23 Sep 2022

The city will no longer quarantine arrivals. It may lure Wall Street bosses to a key banking summit. But with China's mainland unlikely to reciprocate access, Hong Kong will go on struggling. Its recessionary status is leader John Lee’s best hope of winning more relaxations.

Capital Calls: SPAC unwind, U.S. trustbusters

20 Sep 2022

Concise views on global finance: Chamath Palihapitiya, who personified the excess of the blank check market, is returning cash in two of his vehicles. Investors in companies that went public via SPACs are the main losers. And American antitrust enforcers suffer a second court loss in a month.