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☆ Maserati listing would need more engine power
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, March 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Maserati says it wants to be more profitable before considering a spinoff from 52 billion euro parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI). But assume Maserati were to treble sales to 75,000 units by 2025, a target the company touted in 2020, taking revenue to perhaps 6.7 billion euros, and hit the 20% margin target in that year. It could then already fetch a whopping 15 billion euros if valued at an 11 times 2025 EBIT multiple, in line with Porsche. That would make a spinoff meaningful for Stellantis, giving Grasso reason to step on the gas. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Jamie Dimon throws Staley off fortress battlements
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Suing former employees – in this case using an archaic-sounding doctrine that brands Staley a “faithless servant” – isn't a great look, but the bank led by Jamie Dimon has more reasons than most to defend itself. His $400 billion firm is being pursued for unspecified damages by a woman who argues that it knew of Epstein’s sex trafficking venture, and is also being sued by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The bank has delivered a more than 400% total return to shareholders since Dimon took over in 2006, while talking up its “fortress” balance sheet. If JPMorgan loses either of the lawsuits in which it is a defendant, it wants Staley to share in the damages. Current or future employees might worry they too could find themselves branded a faithless servant for failing to disclose moral missteps, or having clients who fall from grace.

☆ Jamie Dimon throws Jes Staley off the battlements
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Suing former employees – in this case using an archaic-sounding doctrine that brands Staley a “faithless servant” – isn't a great look, but the bank led by Jamie Dimon has more reasons than most to defend itself. His $400 billion firm is being pursued for unspecified damages by a woman who argues that it knew of Epstein’s sex trafficking venture, and is also being sued by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands. If JPMorgan loses either of the lawsuits in which it is a defendant, it wants Staley to share in the damages. Current or future employees might worry they too could find themselves branded a faithless servant for failing to disclose moral missteps, or having clients who fall from grace. CONTEXT NEWSJPMorgan on March 8 filed a complaint against former executive James “Jes” Staley, for not disclosing his relations with former client and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

☆ L&G looks overseas to fight Brexit discount
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That’s partly due to its concentration in the life sector – Wilson sold out of general insurance in 2020. L&G’s investment management unit has benefited from an international drive, with non-UK assets accounting for 43% of new money last year. On the life insurance side, some 39% of L&G’s gross premiums were booked overseas in 2022, with the U.S. a particular focus for Brexit-backing Wilson. The less L&G looks like a British company, the more attractive it will be to shareholders. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ New Carlsberg CEO’s task: stay ahead of Heineken
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Carlberg’s (CARLb.CO) new boss may struggle to maintain its newfound fizz. The $21 billion Danish brewer revealed on Tuesday that Chief Executive Cees 't Hart will retire after eight years at the helm. The company now trades at nearly 11 times its expected EBITDA for 2023 according to Refinitiv data, a premium to arch rival Heineken (HEIN.AS). In 2022, Heineken grew revenue in its Asia-Pacific market by 70%, while Carlsberg’s sales in the region rose by 22%. If the new boss can’t keep pace, Carlsberg shareholders will face a painful hangover.

☆ M&G would be a tricky hop for kangaroo raider
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - M&G (MNG.L) would be a tricky hop for Macquarie (MQG.AX). The $48 billion Australian financial powerhouse may bid for the $6 billion UK insurer. The appeal is likely to be in the fund management group. Macquarie’s own asset management arm accounted for over 30% of net profit in the first half of its current financial year. Follow @Unmack1 on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSAustralian banking group Macquarie is considering a bid for UK insurance and asset management group M&G, Sky News reported on March 1.

☆ UK housebuilders face slow and painful refurb
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UK housebuilding is facing a bleak future. In previous slowdowns, the UK’s Conservative Party bailed out the sector with packages like Help to Buy, which subsidized mortgages to help buyers. After Wednesday’s 9% share price decline, it’s share price is now worth less than half of what it was before the outbreak of Covid-19. With little help on the horizon, UK housebuilders face a slow and painful rebuild. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

The Euronext (ENX.PA) chief executive’s decision to withdraw a preliminary 5.5 billion euro offer for investment platform Allfunds (ALLFG.AS) may turn out to be a lucky escape. An alternative deal will however require the 7.5 billion euro exchange operator to build a more valuable M&A currency first. The funds platform could have helped investors that already buy shares on Euronext to access a broader range of products. Meanwhile, Allfunds’ shares may fall if it continues to struggle. Euronext shares were up over 4% at 72.34 euros, as of 0953 GMT.

☆ Abrdn turnaround is still a marathon, not sprint
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Abrdn (ABDN.L) still has one big problem. Chief Executive Stephen Bird’s turnaround at the $5 billion asset manager is gaining traction. Full-year results on Tuesday showed that interactive investor, the savings platform he acquired last year, grew revenue by 20%, despite lower trading volumes. Assets under management fell 19%, after factoring in falling markets and client outflows, to 376 billion pounds, while operating profit fell 55%. That may cost some 200 million pounds, nearly double the unit’s 2022 operating profit.

☆ UK begins long and uncertain road back from Brexit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Britain is beginning the long and uncertain road back from Brexit. Changes to the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol were inevitable. There’s still scope to improve Johnson’s trade deal, struck in 2019. The route back is uncertain, but the symbolic importance of the Northern Ireland deal is not. The agreement marks a “new chapter” in relations between the UK and European Union, Sunak said in a press conference.

☆ Fresenius takes tentative step on road to breakup
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

On Tuesday evening the $17 billion German medical technology company said it will relinquish control of its listed dialysis firm, Fresenius Medical Care (FMEG.DE), in order to focus on its core businesses. Fresenius currently controls the dialysis business and can appoint its board despite only owning a 32% stake, thanks to its arcane German legal structure. The news sent Fresenius Medical Care stock up around 12% on Wednesday. His core intravenous drugs and hospital operating divisions should be worth 20 billion euros each, according to the UK bank. That implies a total value for the group including debt of 48 billion euros, far above its current 40 billion euro enterprise value.

☆ Hotels share revival shrugs off two crises
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Hotel groups are in restoration mode. Chief Executive Keith Barr reckons the year ahead will continue to see strong demand, boosted by China’s re-opening. In 2019, the People’s Republic accounted for around 10% of the hotel market, and its citizens spent over $250 billion on international tourism, according to the World Tourism Organisation. Yet Covid-19 may still hurt spending in the Middle kingdom, and geopolitical tensions may lead to fewer Chinese people travelling. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ China ban would slow, not halt, Western solar push
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Beijing may ban the export of technology used to make solar panels, an industry which China dominates by controlling at least 75% of its global supply chain. The ban would not, however, extend to China’s solar panels themselves, protecting an export market worth $40 billion in the first 10 months of 2022, sector data shows. Losing access to Chinese solar technology, such as furnaces for melting silicon, would not be an insurmountable problem for the West. A ban would nonetheless hurt a Western push to boost domestic solar panel manufacturing. Export restrictions would include technologies used to produce large-size solar panel silicon wafers, black silicon and ultra-efficient silicon ingots, according to Chinese media reports.

☆ Big Oil mega-deals would put investors on the spot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

So are Shell (SHEL.L), BP (BP.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), but investors value U.S. oil majors way higher than European ones. $473 billion Exxon and $331 billion Chevron trade at 6 times expected EBITDA for 2023, twice the average of $210 billion Shell, $154 billion Total and $109 billion BP. One reason why is that as oil prices have soared, American drillers look more attractive than European ones that are also pressing into potentially lower-return renewable energy. Imagine Chevron or Exxon acquired BP for $170 billion, factoring in a 30% premium to its market capitalisation, plus debt. Any cross-border deal would see Chevron’s Mike Wirth or Exxon’s Darren Woods take a big bet on continuing high oil prices, and also attract political heat.

☆ Chelsea shrugs off cost-of-living crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The cost-of-living crisis has yet to reach soccer players. Chelsea Football Club, owned by a consortium led by American businessman Todd Boehly, spent a record 330 million euros in the January player transfer window, according to Transfermarkt. It brings total spending on footballers since the Los Angeles Dodgers owner acquired the club last May to over 600 million euros. It also brings total spending by Premier League clubs this season to a record 2.8 billion pounds, beating the 1.86 billion pounds spent in the 2017/18 season. The Boehly-led consortium bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich for 2.5 billion pounds, equivalent to a toppy 5.7 times trailing sales.

LONDON/HONG KONG, Feb 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - China has been a golden goose for western carmakers like Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and BMW (BMWG.DE). Chinese groups like electric vehicle leader BYD (002594.SZ), (1211.HK) are targeting foreign markets. At JATO’s estimate of 56,000 euros, the average price of an electric vehicle in Europe is still too high for most punters. The lower cost of manufacturing in China may help Chinese carmakers absorb tariffs, while western groups could suffer from reprisals. The result may be that western groups have to jostle for a smaller place in their home markets but also cut prices, hurting profitability.

☆ Vodafone travails require more than caretaker CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Vodafone (VOD.L) needs more than an interim chief executive to dig itself out of its current funk. Sales fell 1.8% in Germany in the quarter ending December, which accounts for more than 30% of the group’s overall revenue. Della Valle is accelerating the group’s 1 billion euros cost-cutting plan, and implementing her predecessor’s decisions. But an interim CEO cannot take strategic decisions, such as whether or not to sell the Italian unit eyed by France’s Iliad - whose owner Xavier Niel has taken a 2.5% stake in Vodafone. Vodafone needs a permanent CEO.

☆ Sick Britain no longer needs Dr Bailey’s medicine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Francesco Guerrera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

However, such monetary tightening increasingly looks at odds with Britain’s dire economic conditions. Bank of England hawks can point to key indicators that are still running hot, such as inflation, economic output and wages. Yet those gauges are backward-looking and will cool down this year as a recession and past rate hikes hit consumers and firms. The effects of rate hikes take time to show up in the numbers. The rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee of the BoE split three ways in December when the central bank sanctioned a 50-basis-point increase.

LONDON/HONG KONG, Jan 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Renault (RENA.PA) and Nissan (7201.T) have helped their 24-year alliance move forward after four years of stalemate. The deal marks the end of the French group’s domination of its Japanese partner, and addresses festering governance issues. The voting rights of the Nissan shares transferred to the trust will be "neutralised" for most decisions, the statement said. Renault shares fell 2.7% to 37.16 euros, as of 0837 GMT. Nissan shares were largely unchanged at 453.9 yen.

☆ Euro-banks have done their time in valuation jail
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Major euro zone and UK banks are trading at a 40% discount to the region’s wider benchmark index, using price to forward earnings multiples tracked by Refinitiv. The subsequent euro zone crisis in 2012 prompted a wave of bad debt that weighed down earnings. More recently, though, euro zone lenders have been facing up to their past sins, and offloading non-performing loans. There’s no evidence of a bank lending splurge, despite years of rock-bottom interest rates. Between November 2012 and November 2022, euro zone banks’ total lending to households and companies grew at an annual clip of under 2%, a fraction of its pre-2008 pace.

☆ Snam rethink reflects Europe’s new energy reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MILAN, Jan 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Snam’s (SRG.MI) new business priorities highlight Europe’s revised energy needs. Indeed, Snam is reducing its investments in green projects like hydrogen and biomethane to 1 billion euros from 1.3 billion euros under the previous plan. That’s a 23% increase from the 8.1 billion euros unveiled under its previous 2021 to 2025 strategic plan. This compares with 1.3 billion euros under the previous plan. Snam said it targeted EBITDA growth of around 7% a year on average despite rising interest rates, up from 4.5% in the previous plan.

☆ Bond spat is odd look for Melrose deal machine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That process will have to decide, for example, whether the demerger constitutes a transfer of “substantially all” the company’s assets or not. The relevant bonds only amount to 130 million pounds. Redeeming them at par, rather than the current traded price, would only cost just over 20 million pounds. For a company that specialises in dealmaking and careful use of leverage, it all seems more trouble than it's worth. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ UK’s giga fail is economic not environmental
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The collapse of a key battery manufacturer probably doesn’t compromise the government’s plan for the country to switch to electric vehicles. Its failure, however, knocks some 30 gigawatt hours out of Britain’s future battery manufacturing industry, over half of Britain’s forecast capacity by 2030 according to the Faraday Institution. The government’s plans to phase out new sales of internal combustion engines by 2030 can probably survive, thanks to imports from the likes of China’s BYD (002594.SZ), (1211.HK). But boosting battery production for a domestic industry will be hard, given Britain’s lack of raw materials and trade barriers with Europe. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Valuing Michael Klein is a fascinating sideshow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The two sides have discussed a deal where Credit Suisse would acquire M. Klein & Company with Klein getting a stake in First Boston. Putting a price on M. Klein & Co is hard from the outside because its accounts aren’t publicly available. The size of that holding depends therefore on the relative worth of First Boston and M. Klein & Co. A 9% stake would then be worth $320 million, implying a huge payday for M. Klein & Co shareholders. If Klein makes money, Credit Suisse shareholders would do very well too.

☆ Gaming’s winter of discontent bolsters M&A logic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The holiday quarter is traditionally a bumper one for gaming groups, as punters stay home to play. As consumers and companies focus on “mega-brands”, smaller firms will struggle to attract staff, and match investment. Sony, for example, will need to bulk up in response to Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) $69 billion swoop on Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O). However, in a tougher environment, Guillemot will need to find some way to keep his hand on the joystick. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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