Travel & Tourism

Capital Calls: Christine Lagarde, Bernie Madoff

14 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance: The European Central Bank president’s quest for inflation will take a while to achieve its goal; investor gullibility will live on after the death of the Ponzi schemer in a U.S. federal prison.

Capital Calls: Netflix, GameStop

9 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The video-streaming service sprays webs of money to secure movies; GameStop’s “Chewy of Gaming” strategy.

Air France-KLM’s latest rescue tests marriage bond

6 Apr 2021

The European carrier is swapping a loan from the French state for hybrid equity and raising 1 bln euros from investors. The capital rejig should help it stay aloft if the recovery is delayed. But Paris’ increased stake will strain its already tricky relationship with the Dutch.

Capital Calls: Twitter time-wasting, News Corp

25 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Congressional hearings on Big Tech get ever less productive; meanwhile, the parent of the Wall Street Journal snaps up Investor’s Business Daily.

Capital Calls: Defence IPO, ViacomCBS and GameStop

24 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Italy’s Leonardo postpones the initial public offering of its U.S. unit; ViacomCBS and GameStop's rising stocks give them both a chance to raise fresh cash.

Capital Calls: Airline IPO, Turkey’s central bank

18 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: U.S. regional air carrier Sun Country Airlines’ IPO pop is justified by positive cash flow; Turkey shows how emerging-market policymakers face trickier choices than their rich-world peers.

Capital Calls: New York, Allegro exit

17 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The Big Apple reigns in a new ranking of global cities, but the prize isn’t what it was; shareholders in Polish e-commerce group Allegro sell down early.

Capital Calls: Netflix, ECB, Glass Lewis, Zalando

16 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The streaming service’s password-sharing crackdown twists the knife; the central bank worries about identifying bad loans; the proxy adviser’s sale underscores its place on Wall Street; the online fashion giant’s bold targets.

Capital Calls: Digital art

11 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: A blockchain-protected work by Beeple sold for $69 million at Christie's.

Capital Calls: Sarkozy’s trial

1 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: the former French prime minister’s conviction for trying to bribe a judge creates a new dilemma for the companies on whose board he sits, including hotel chain Accor.

Capital Calls: WeWork, HSBC offices, Wells Fargo

23 Feb 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Co-founder Adam Neumann may get a big payment for failure after all; The bank’s plan to shrink its property footprint recalls an earlier effort; And the scandal-plagued lender takes another small step towards rehabilitation.

Capital Calls: Petrobras CEO, Kohl’s

22 Feb 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro nominates a former general to replace the oil group's market-friendly boss, tanking the shares; and U.S. department store Kohl’s has some unhappy shareholders.

Capital Calls: Petrobras

19 Feb 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Brazil's president becomes Petrobras' activist.

Europe’s airlines may need financial refuelling

12 Feb 2021

Delayed vaccines and mutating virus strains are threatening another peak tourist season, hitting carriers like Lufthansa as well as low-cost rivals such as easyJet. With debt soaring, shareholders, including governments, may need to fork out again. If so, better to beat the rush.

HNA’s final agonies deserve investor study

29 Jan 2021

The indebted Chinese travel group looks set to enter bankruptcy. That’s unusual but unsurprising: Beijing already let a bank go under last year, and allowed market-rattling bond defaults. Given the empire’s complexity and broad creditor base, distributing haircuts could get ugly.

Airlines’ virus parachutes warrant minimal padding

29 Jan 2021

Quarantines could mean carriers like easyJet face further losses over the summer boom months. In extremis, they can flog planes or tap investors for cash, although neither are ideal. Given CO2 emissions and their non-strategic nature, they don’t merit special treatment.

Corona Capital: Vaccines, Dr. Martens

29 Jan 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Quantity matters with vaccines, while Permira gets an extra kick from the bootmaker.

Corona Capital: UK’s quarantine, U.S. prisons

27 Jan 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Britain’s new quarantine rules are weak, but will still hurt the travel industry; and for-profit prisons lose business to the U.S. government.

Corona Capital: Music deals

26 Jan 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Warner Music may take a stake in the music business owned by Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.

Corona Capital: Intel, Run on guns

21 Jan 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Intel’s new boss gets closer to his big debut. Meanwhile, gunmakers are riding high on social tensions and pandemic angst, but could soon find they have fewer friends in high places.