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☆ Birkin bag maker Hermes sees no U.S. slowdown as sales jump 23%
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A craftswoman works on a Birkin bag at the luxury goods Hermes factory in Seloncourt October 4, 2013. REUTERS/Benoit TessierPARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - Sales at Birkin bag maker Hermes (HRMS.PA) rose 23% in the first quarter, above market expectations, as wealthy shoppers in China and Europe splurged on luxury fashion and accessories despite higher prices and global market turmoil. The increase of 23%, at constant exchange rates, beat a Visible Alpha consensus for 15% growth. Hermes raised prices by around 7% at the start of the year, a higher rate than its usual 2-3% annual increase. In China, where Hermes was less affected than competitors by lockdowns that dented sales for many at the end of last year, revenues grew by 23% in the quarter.

A broad measure of European shares, the STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), is trading at 14-month highs, taking this year's gains to almost 10%. James Rutland, a European equities fund manager at Invesco, noted that consistent outflows from European shares last year, when the energy crisis dealt the region a fresh blow, had left valuations at very cheap levels. A broad index of European stocks is trading at a multiple of 12.6, compared with a ratio of 18.1 for the S&P 500, according to Refinitiv data. This 5.5 point premium is above the five-year average of around 4 points, suggesting European shares look cheap compared to their U.S. counterparts. "This has broken European stocks out of their relative downward trend, so we don't think Europe is now a structural underperformer," he said.

MSCI's Europe index, for example, still trades more than a point below its average historic valuation - with the index priced at less than 13 times its 12-month forward earnings. The top sectoral weighting in the STOXX Europe 50, for example, is healthcare - at almost 23%. With British-based stocks the biggest country weighting in the STOXX Europe index at 26%, the other top four sectors in the index include the food, beverages and tobacco grouping, consumer products, industrial goods and energy. The dollar peaked late last year against most European currencies as the Federal Reserve raced to ratchet up interest rates. Some think the slide in the dollar index of some 12% since last September is barely half of the whole move.

☆ Analysis: LVMH's caution points to Americans' waning lust for luxury
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] A LVMH luxury group logo is seen prior to the announcement of their 2019 results in Paris, France, January 28, 2020. European labels including LVMH's Louis Vuitton and Dior, as well as Chanel and Hermes have been riding a wave of strong demand from Americans, who emerged from lockdowns with savings and a desire to splash out on designer labels. He added the group is taking a cautious approach to price increases this year -- not just for cognac. "It's probably the most emblematic luxury store in the world," said Guiony. Elliott Savage, portfolio manager of U.S.-based fund YCG Investments, which holds shares in LVMH and other luxury brands, said a weakening U.S. luxury market in the near term could present an opportunity for dominant players to take market share.

☆ Lula's government should revise Brazil's mandatory spending constraints, says Haddad
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, April 8 (Reuters) - Brazil's government should revise the rules for increasing mandatory expenses and budget constraints before the end of the year, once reform of the tax system has been decided, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said. "What we want to discuss, after the tax reform, is a rule that ends the chopping and changing, and gives greater stability to this type of spending," Haddad said in an interview published on Saturday by newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. Brazilian governments permanently face spending difficulties because 95% of the federal budget is tied to obligatory expenditure, leaving only 5% for discretionary spending. When they presented the new fiscal framework that proposes limiting real growth in public spending, Treasury officials said it would be necessary to revise the floor for spending on health and education, which is currently linked to the level of government revenues, to avoid reduction in other areas. Reporting by Bernardo Caram; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Almost a third of Brazilians disapprove of Lula, poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Lula, who took office in January after narrowly defeating Bolsonaro in an election last October, has the approval of 38% of Brazilians, with 29% disapproving of his performance, according to a Datafolha survey. Bolsonaro, who served as president from 2019 to the end of 2022, never formally conceded defeat to Lula. On Jan. 8, barely a week after Lula began his third term as president, Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in the federal capital Brasilia to protest the election result. After about three months in self-imposed exile in the United States, Bolsonaro returned to Brazil this week. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus two percentage points.

☆ China's super rich population drops as tech crackdown, global factors hurt wealth
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Jack Ma, billionaire founder of Alibaba Group, arrives at the "Tech for Good" Summit in Paris, France May 15, 2019. China lost 229 billionaires from the Hurun Global Rich List 2023, accounting more than half of the 445 people who disappeared from the list, which ranks moguls with a minimum net worth of $1 billion, the Hurun Report said on Thursday. The world's second biggest economy also added 69 new billionaires to the list during the period. In China, Jack Ma, founder of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding , dropped to 52nd place from 34th a year earlier, due largely to China's regulatory crackdown on its tech sector. "The only thing I am not certain of is whether there would be a global financial crisis," he said.

"Most luxury retailers don't think Hong Kong will return to the dizzy levels of 2014 when the market here peaked," said Simon Smith, Savills' senior director of research and consultancy in Hong Kong. Morgan Stanley (MS.N) forecast Hong Kong visitor numbers this year will reach just 70% of 2018 arrivals. It estimates retail sales will grow 15%, holding at around 80% of retail trade from the pre-COVID year. That outstripped total Hong Kong retail sales from a peak hit in 2013 at HK$494.5 billion ($63.0 billion), according to the city's statistics department. ($1 = 6.8510 yuan)($1 = 7.8498 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Farah Master, Jessie Pang, Anne Marie Roantree, Angel Woo and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong, Sophie Yu in Beijing, and Mimosa Spencer in Paris; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Hermes said in a court filing Friday that Rothschild has continued to market his NFTs despite the jury's verdict last month. Rothschild's attorney Rhett Millsaps said they will oppose Hermes' motion in court filings this week. Hermes sued Rothschild last year over his MetaBirkins, 100 NFTs associated with images depicting the bags covered in colorful fur. "Rothschild has continued acting as he has since November 2021 — brazenly violating Hermès's intellectual property rights," Hermes said. The case is Hermes International v. Rothschild, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No.

☆ Brazil investigates undeclared $3 million jewelry gift to Bolsonaro
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, March 6 (Reuters) - Brazilian Justice Minister Flavio Dino on Monday ordered police to investigate an alleged attempt to bring in undeclared jewelry, a gift from Saudi Arabia valued at $3.2 million, to former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. The diamond necklace, ring, watch and earrings gifted to Bolsonaro and former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro by the Saudi government were seized by customs officials at Sao Paulo's international airport in October 2021. Bolsonaro's critics said gifts to president belong to the state and must go into a presidential collection. In his only public comment on the jewelry, Bolsonaro said he was being "crucified" for a gift he never asked for and never received. ($1 = 5.2093 reais)Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ECB confronts a cold reality: companies are cashing in on inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Francesco Canepa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

"It's clear that profit expansion has played a larger role in the European inflation story in the last six months or so," said Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management. "The ECB has failed to justify what it's doing in the context of a more profit-focused inflation story." Instead, national accounts and earnings reports from listed companies are being used as proxies to paint the inflation picture. "The main story of the risks going forward is still that there's a looming wage-price spiral which should make the central bank even more aggressive in hiking interest rates." loadingloadingEven inside the ECB, labour representatives demanding higher pay for central bank staff have distanced themselves from what they described as the institution's "anti-worker bias".

☆ Wayne Shorter, master composer of jazz, dies aged 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] U.S. Jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter performs onstage during a 'tribute to Miles Davis evening' at the 45th Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux July 13, 2011. REUTERS/Valentin FlauraudMarch 2 (Reuters) - American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who wrote some of jazz's most acclaimed compositions and whose often plaintive playing changed the sound of jazz in the 1960s before he explored rock-fusion, died on Thursday aged 89. "The master writer to me, in that group, was Wayne Shorter," the keyboardist said. "Wayne was one of the few people who brought music to Miles that didn't get changed." Other hit records included "Native Dancer" featuring Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento which mixed jazz, rock and funk with Brazilian rhythms.

☆ Regulators extend shelf life of Valneva's COVID vaccine candidate
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies Valneva SE FollowPARIS, March 2 (Reuters) - Vaccines company Valneva (VLS.PA) said on Thursday that its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate product VLA2001 had its shelf life extended to 21 months from 18 months previously, as it unveiled regulatory updates for the product. "As previously announced, Valneva will not invest in further development of the vaccine, in the absence of a new partnership. It is, however, completing remaining clinical studies and submissions as agreed with regulators," added Valneva. Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Atos in talks with Kretinsky over sale of Tech Foundations business-Le Monde
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, March 1 (Reuters) - French technology consultancy Atos (ATOS.PA) is in talks with Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky about the possible sale of its Tech Foundations business, Le Monde reported on Wednesday. According to our information, the management is also talking with Daniel Kretinsky ... who for his part is interested in the group's historic business of IT services Tech Foundations," the French newspaper said. Kretinsky holds a minority stake in Le Monde. Spokespeople for Kretinsky and Atos declined to comment. In October, Atos said it had been approached by several players interested in buying Tech Foundations, which groups activities the company defines as approaching maturity, such as data centres and business process outsourcing.

Yet only 54% of all businesses say they have a business continuity and disaster recovery plan for a cyberattack. 2 2022 Small Business Profile, U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. https://cdn.advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/30121338/Small-Business-Economic-Profile-US.pdfCyber Readiness Institute (CRI) is not an affiliate of any company of the Principal Financial Group®. Referenced companies are members of the Principal Financial Group®, Des Moines, IA 50392. ©2023 Principal Financial Services, Inc.

☆ Analysis: European stocks lure global investors as rate hikes hurt U.S. more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Banks (.SX7P) accounted for nearly 16% of the STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) and have benefited from the high-rate environment, gaining nearly 20% to hit their highest in almost five years. In contrast, 35% of the S&P 500 (.SPX), the world's largest index by market value, are technology companies. Tech stocks (.SPLRCT) on the index have gained just 9% this year as rising rates make future profits for tech companies less valuable. CHEAPER IN EUROPEOn the valuation front too, the European stock market is much cheaper than the U.S. The STOXX 600 trades at about 13 times its 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio, while the S&P 500 trades at some 18 times.

☆ Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica's sales rise on solid European growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Luxury eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica (ESLX.PA) on Thursday reported a rise in fourth-quarter revenues, citing sound growth amid a challenging environment, but its performance in China declined because of COVID-19 restrictions. The maker of Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses posted a 9.4% rise in revenues to 6.11 billion euros ($6.49 billion) in the final quarter of the year at current exchange rates. The French-Italian eyewear group said Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) was its best performing region in the quarter due to solid sales growth in France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Scandinavia. Sales in the region grew 6.2% at constant exchange rates to 2.09 billion euros. ($1 = 0.9416 euros)Reporting by Jagoda Darlak; editing by Shri Navaratnam and Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond's order in Philadelphia federal court granted a request by Unisys to depose Leon Gilbert and Michael McGarvey, former leaders of Unisys' "digital workplace solutions" business unit. Representatives for France-based Atos and lawyers for Gilbert and McGarvey did not immediately respond to messages on Wednesday seeking comment. Unisys in a court filing said that "this case involves the theft of huge quantities of Unisys trade secrets," including technologies and business strategies for digital workplaces. Attorneys for Gilbert and McGarvey disputed the allegation and said "Unisys has not identified a single trade secret." The case is Unisys Corp v. Leon Gilbert and Michael McGarvey, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

☆ Hedge fund manager Chris Hohn demands Airbus drop Atos deal - letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Christopher Hohn has written to Airbus (AIR.PA) demanding it drop a deal to purchase a minority stake in French IT consulting firm Atos' (ATOS.PA) soon-to-be spun-off division Evidian. Hohn, who runs hedge fund TCI Fund Management, owns over 3% of Airbus' shares worth more than 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion), the letter said. If successful, the deal would give Airbus some say over Evidian, which groups Atos' most coveted assets such as cybersecurity division BDS and supercomputers. Hohn, in the letter, said if the deal goes through Airbus should disclose what it would spend to pay down any debt or other liabilities of Atos. Airbus shares were down 2% in afternoon trading, while Atos' shares were down 0.3%.

☆ Pfizer, Valneva to stop testing Lyme disease vaccine in some U.S. patients
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Bhanvi Satija | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Pfizer company logo is seen at a Pfizer office in Puurs, Belgium, December 2, 2022. REUTERS/Johanna GeronFeb 17 (Reuters) - Drugmaker Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and France's Valneva (VLS.PA) will stop testing a Lyme disease vaccine in roughly half of U.S. patients in a late-stage study, the companies said, citing a breach of clinical trial guidelines by a third-party contractor. Pfizer still expects to submit marketing applications for the experimental vaccine in the United States and Europe in 2025. The trial was expected to include around 6,000 participants aged 5 and older across Europe and United States, where Lyme disease is highly endemic. Paris-listed shares of Valneva fell nearly 10% to 5.72 euros following the news and U.S.-listed shares of Pfizer were down marginally in premarket trading.

☆ Atos flags talks with Airbus after offer for minority share in Evidian
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - French IT group Atos (ATOS.PA) said on Thursday it had received an indicative offer from Airbus (AIR.PA) for Atos' minority stake of 29.9% in Evidian, adding that its board had decided to continue talks in view of a deal. "Atos does not intend to grant any exclusivity to Airbus, and no assurances can be made that the parties will successfully negotiate and enter into a definitive set of agreements," Atos said in a statement. Last year, Atos had said it planned to split into two publicly listed companies by spinning off its cybersecurity operations along with some other units into a new unit dubbed Evidian. In January, the company's shares rallied after first media reports about interest in Evidian. Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Tom Hogue and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ I run 25 blogs that bring in $130,000 a month in revenue. Here’s how my husband and I set up our company.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

She started in 2000 and for years made $3,000 a month — now she makes $130,000 in revenue monthly. Insider has verified her business revenue with documentation. The considerations for choosing domain names have changed so much over the last 20 years, but I went after four-letter domains in the beginning. It was a different time back in the early 2000s — many decent domain names were still available, so I didn't have to spend a lot of money to get them. While top-tier domain names can be harder to come by now, there are still plenty of good-enough options available.

Companies Hermes International SCA FollowNEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Hermes International SCA (HRMS.PA) urged a U.S. jury on Monday to find that a creator of non-fungible tokens violated its trademark for Birkin bags, while lawyers for the "MetaBirkins" maker countered that the images were art. "He never tried to mislead anyone into believing that the MetaBirkins came from Hermes," Millsaps said, arguing that Rothschild wanted credit for the project. Warshavsky said Hermes was working on its own Birkin NFTs at the time, and accused Rothschild of "cybersquatting" by trying to beat the company to the market. He said Hermes would not have brought the lawsuit if Rothschild had complied with a December 2021 cease-and-desist letter demanding he stop selling the NFTs. Jonathan Harris, another lawyer for Rothschild, said his client added a disclaimer stating that Hermes was not associated with the NFTs after he received the letter.

☆ Europe's luxury stocks have room to rise, but becoming costly
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Lucy Raitano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/FilesLONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Europe's glittering luxury companies, the region's top stock-market performers in 2023, may see yet more gains driven by a rebound in Chinese spending, but for some the sector is starting to look expensive. An index of European luxury goods retailers (.dMIEU0TA00PUS) has rallied around 18% so far this year, outperforming the wider pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX), which is up 6.2% in the same time frame. But the fact that luxury goods companies are not as cheap as they once were is a "concern/point of attention", said Kasper Elmgreen, Head of Equities at Amundi, Europe's largest asset manager. Jelena Sokolova, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said that China reopening is the key issue for European luxury stocks this year, and is already at least 50% priced in. These shares have more room to run higher as Chinese consumers hit the shops again and luxury companies flex their pricing power.

☆ Gucci's challenge: reigniting heat while boosting timeless appeal
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

PARIS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Sabato De Sarno, newly appointed by Kering (PRTP.PA) to reinvigorate its prized Gucci brand, needs to spark heat with a new direction, analysts say - a delicate task, given the emphasis executives have also put on the label's timeless appeal. De Sarno, a senior fashion designer from Valentino, is tasked as creative director with reviving the fortunes of the brand that accounted for two-thirds of Kering's profits in 2021. Analysts welcomed Kering's choice of a seasoned but relatively unknown designer, noting that previous creative director Michele did not have a public profile when he was appointed in 2002. His experience at Valentino suggests a "less eccentric aesthetic" than Gucci's previous designer, noted Carole Madjo of Barclays. The designer rose through Valentino's ranks after his arrival in 2009 to become fashion director overseeing both the men's and women's collections, working closely with chief designer Pierpaolo Piccioli.

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