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☆ HSBC vote gives Ping An a fresh shove towards exit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Ping An Insurance (601318.SS) is having an underwhelming week. Instead, HSBC’s results were decent and the AGM resolution was crushed. True, 20% of votes cast went in favour of plans for a strategic review each quarter which could assess whether to spin off HSBC’s key Asian arm, and to reinstate the bank’s pre-Covid dividend. Ping An could continue to chunter away at HSBC boss Noel Quinn from the sidelines. Throw in the lack of investor support implied by the vote, and Ping An’s essential choice – to pipe down or to sell its stake – has become ever more stark.

☆ Adidas runs harder, but also stands still
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That beat analyst expectations of 15 million euros, and was aided by double digit sales growth in Latin America and Asia. The good cheer partly reflects the low expectations of Adidas’s investors. They hold shares worth about half their mid-2021 level, and while sales globally didn’t fall 4% as forecast, they still dipped 1% year-on-year. Meanwhile, CEO Bjorn Gulden has to decide what to do with stacks of Yeezy trainers in storage ever since the company severed ties with the musician. Although certain products like Gazelle and Sambo are doing well, the 40% margins on Yeezy sales were ten times Adidas’s overall level.

☆ Crypto-silence is precious for Gensler's SEC
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But he has taken several enforcement actions against crypto firms alleging that they are selling unregistered securities, and the SEC is considering suing Coinbase. Think from Gensler's perspective, though, and there's little upside in breaking the silence. Accept that digital assets are not securities after all, and he would look foolish for not saying so sooner. Yet state definitively that they are securities, and Gensler would have to show his reasoning, opening the SEC up to more costly legal battles that it could lose. Complain as they may, Gensler's foes may just have to accept that sometimes, no answer is an answer.

☆ How Vodafone-Three can woo competition regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Vodafone (VOD.L) hopes that three will be its magic number. A merger of Vodafone’s domestic unit with Three UK, the Hong Kong conglomerate’s British business, would shrink the number of mobile operators to three from four. Mobile operators throughout Europe have long lamented antitrust authorities’ preference for keeping at least four players in a market to ensure price competition. Yet Vodafone’s case would be easier to defend if UK operators hadn’t hiked their tariffs in unison by about 11% last spring, a move they seem likely to repeat again this year. That would place the competition watchdog with a tougher choice: slick 5G networks, or four low-priced operators.

☆ UK mobile users spending millions on smartphones they've already paid for, Virgin Media O2 says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But some customers fail to switch contracts after the handset has been paid off, despite being notified by their network. The operator said its survey showed 93% of customers were unaware they could be charged for handsets they'd paid off, with older and lower-income consumers most impacted. Rivals BT's EE, Vodafone and Three said they offered split contracts and provided clear information. "Like VMO2 we offer split contracts with EE Flexpay, while providing all customers with clear end-of-contract notifications, including the best offer for them based on their usage," a BT Consumer spokesperson said. A Three spokesperson said the company already offered split contracts where customers can take out a loan to pay for their device, which is separate to their monthly airtime payments.

☆ Vodafone, CK Hutchison set to unveil 15 bln pounds UK mobile tie-up - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 4 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) and CK Hutchison (0001.HK) are close to agreeing to a 15 billion pounds (about $19 billion) combination of their UK telecoms businesses that would create the country's biggest mobile operator, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The deal will value the equity of the combined group at about 9 billion pounds, with roughly 6 billion pounds of debt, the FT said, citing three people familiar with the matter. The combination could also enable Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison to withdraw from the UK telecoms market, the newspaper added. Vodafone and CK Hutchison did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. ($1 = 0.7948 pounds)Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Shopify offloads its logistics baggage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TORONTO, May 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shopify (SHOP.TO) is finding that simpler is better after all. Investors welcomed the move: Shares of the company led by Tobias Lütke shot up over 20% in morning trade. Shopify wanted to build out its own logistics business, and now it's leaving that job to Flexport instead. That said, Shopify already uses partnerships with other companies to expand in hard-to-crack areas like fintech, including with payments giant Stripe and buy-now-pay-later company Affirm (AFRM.O). Although Shopify said on Thursday that first-quarter revenue rose 25% year-on-year, beating analyst expectations, Shopify's small-business customers are under pressure from rising interest rates.

☆ Ethiopia to offer up to five banking licenses to foreign investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ADDIS ABABA, May 3 (Reuters) - Ethiopia will issue up to five banking licenses to foreign investors in the next five years, part of plans to open up the financial services sector to foreign competition, a senior central bank official said on Wednesday. "We will give three to five licenses within five years," vice governor of the central bank Solomon Desta told reporters. Ethiopia's banking industry is dominated by state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, and the sector has 29 players, all of them locally owned. Desta said foreign investors would have different options to enter the industry, including forming joint ventures with domestic players, or establishing local subsidiaries. Foreign investors have long eyed sectors including banking, telecoms, transportation and aviation in Ethiopia, a country of more than 100 million people and one of the biggest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

☆ UAE telco super app punt uses Indian playbook
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United Arab Emirates is finding more strategic places to park its cash. The telecoms giant’s purchase follows a $4.4 billion investment in Vodafone (VOD.L) in May last year. It’s a way to advance an ambition, revealed last June, to be a technology and investment powerhouse. In a way, e& is following an investor playbook akin to that of India’s Reliance Industries (RELI.NS). The $192 billion Indian conglomerate has spent years acquiring music apps and other services in an attempt to cross-sell to its mobile customers.

☆ Vodafone says broadband down for some UK users
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 10 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L)said some UK users of its home broadband service were facing an outage on Monday morning and the company was working to resolve it. loadingDowndetector's UK website said more than 2,800 mostly landline users were having trouble accessing Vodafone at the peak of the outage. Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ South Africa fights to keep phone networks up as lights go out
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Nqobile Dludla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

A bank of expensive backup batteries, theft-proofed within a block of concrete. "Our costs have gone through the roof," lamented Sitho Mdlalose, managing director of Vodacom South Africa (VODJ.J). President Cyril Ramaphosa in February declared a national state of disaster, calling the crisis an existential threat to South Africa's social fabric. While most network towers in South Africa are equipped with a battery for backup power, more advanced systems are less common. That risks delaying South Africa's pivot to the digital economy and could leave rural areas, which already suffer from sparse coverage, lagging even further behind.

☆ Check out the 9-slide pitch deck Quantexa, a data intelligence startup, used to raise $129 million at a $1.8 billion valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Quantexa, a data intelligence startup, has become a unicorn following its latest funding round. The London-based company has raised $129 million in a round led by GIC. The startup positions itself as a "decision-making" platform that provides companies with the best data available to help reduce costs and optimize growth. The new investment values the business at $1.9 billion, bringing Quantexa's total funds raised to $370 million. The company had seen a lot of inbound interest from investors leading into this funding round, Marria added.

☆ One New Zealand to use SpaceX satellites to improve coverage
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WELLINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - One New Zealand, formerly Vodafone NZ, said on Monday it had signed an agreement with billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX to use the U.S. company's Starlink satellites to provide cell coverage to 100% of New Zealand from late 2024. The technology would initially be for text and multimedia messaging services but would later extend to voice and data services in areas of New Zealand not currently connected, One New Zealand added in a statement. One New Zealand's mobile network covers 98% of places New Zealanders live and work but currently covers only 50% of the country’s landmass. "When the service goes live, there will be coverage across the country whether you’re out on your boat, climbing a mountain, fixing a remote road or on your farm,” One New Zealand Chief Executive Jason Paris said. Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Raymond James says this telecom stock is a strong buy as it enters a new market segment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Investors should turn their attention toward Ciena as the firm plunges deeper into edge routing, according to Raymond James. He also hiked his price target to $70 from $58 on the stock, implying upside of 44%. Leopold highlighted the firm's potential success from investments in the edge routing sector, as well as continued market expansion and "Huawei displacements." CIEN YTD mountain CIena's plunge into edge routing could be the rocket fuel the firm needs to displace Huawei, according to Raymond James. But Ciena also has the opportunity to significantly displace Huawei, Leopold said, specifically in the optical transport and switching and routing markets.

☆ Xavier Niel can feast on European telco misery
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Xavier Niel is set to be more than a spectator in the looming consolidation of Europe’s telecoms industry. It earned EBITDA after leases of 3.3 billion euros last year. Those shareholdings have a combined market value of 1.2 billion euros, though they were partly funded through derivatives, potentially limiting the tycoon’s cash outlay. On a multiple of 6 times last year’s EBITDA of 652 million euros it’s worth little more than the 3.5 billion euros Niel and other investors paid in 2017. Smaller investments in Monaco Telecom and holdings in Senegal and the Comoros are probably worth a combined billion euros, bankers estimate.

☆ Ardian mobile towers pounce would be a mouthful
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, March 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Ardian’s mobile towers takeover in Italy looks a stretch. Buying the rest could cost Ardian 10 billion euros, assuming a modest 20% premium. It would also need UK telco Vodafone (VOD.L) to sell the 33% stake it indirectly controls. Mobile towers are in hot demand among private equity players because of their steady cash flow. A 20% premium may value INWIT at 17.7 billion euros, including net debt of around 4 billion euros.

Ardian, which is the second largest shareholder in INWIT behind European tower company Vantage Towers AG (VTWRn.DE), wants to take INWIT private and is working with advisers at JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) on a potential offer, the people said. Deutsche Telekom last year sold 51% of its tower business Funkturm to a consortium of Canada's Brookfield and U.S. private equity firm DigitalBridge. Any offer for INWIT could take months to materialise as preparations remain at a preliminary stage, one of the people said. The sources cautioned that an offer is not certain and asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Ardian, Vantage Towers, INWIT and JPMorgan declined to comment.

☆ UK's Ofcom delays BT fibre pricing decision after CEO remarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Rivals such as Virgin Media O2 and alternative fibre providers known as altnets are investing billions of pounds to build competing networks. 'SIGNIFICANT CONCERN'But comments made by BT Chief Executive Philip Jansen to the Financial Times - headlined "BT chief warns Openreach fibre push will 'end in tears' for rivals" - caused "significant concern", Ofcom said. Ofcom chief Melanie Dawes said in a letter to Jansen, published on Friday, that the regulator was committed to network competition. "They must question why BT Group is reducing its wholesale charges whilst increasing the prices that consumers pay for broadband," INCA said. BT's earlier wholesale pricing, Equinox, was challenged by altnet CityFibre, but Ofcom decided not to intervene.

☆ Vodafone targets some 1,000 jobs cuts in Italy - union officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, March 9 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) is looking to cut about 1,000 jobs in Italy as part of a larger cost saving plan the telecoms giant is pursuing to revamp its operations, two union officials told Reuters. As of last March, Vodafone's workforce in Italy totalled 5,765 employees, according to the group's latest annual report. A negotiation process with unions is expected to kick off in the coming weeks, the officials said. Vodafone's planned jobs cuts are focused in particular on customer care operations, one of the officials added. Like other operators in Italy, Vodafone has been grappling for years with a challenging market, characterised by aggressive price competition which has eroded earnings.

"But after years of dithering, the German 5G network is deeply dependent on Chinese suppliers. Huawei, ZTE and China's government reject these claims, saying that they are motivated by a protectionist desire to support non-Chinese rivals. GERMANY LAGGINGWhile several countries across Europe are still formulating telecom policies, only Britain and Sweden have so far banned Huawei and ZTE from supplying critical 5G network equipment. The German government was last month unable to answer a parliamentary request about how many Huawei components operators were using in their 5G networks, filed in part in response to the report. The deadline to remove all Huawei gear from Britain's 5G networks by the end of 2027 remains unchanged.

☆ There’s hope beyond moaning for European telcos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The annual Barcelona tech fest this week was in line with tradition, but a different mood music could also be heard beyond the bleatings of European telco executives. The good news for them is that European competition authorities seem to have been mollified by the constant pleading, and could take a softer approach to consolidation in the industry. Höttges compared the 55 billion euros invested by European telcos on infrastructure last year to the 1 billion euros invested in connectivity by those he calls the “hyperscalers”. The hope is now that, considering the European telcos’ low return on investment, European competition authorities will review their strict stance on consolidation in the sector. But European telcos also have means to address some of the problems they are facing without giving the impression that everything depends on forces beyond their control.

SummarySummary Companies Centrica, StanChart jump on upbeat earningsVodafone up on report exploring options for African UnitFTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 flatFeb 16 (Reuters) - Britain's internationally-focussed FTSE 100 on Thursday closed above 8,000 points for the first time as upbeat earnings from Centrica and Standard Chartered countered global risk-off sentiment after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) gained 0.2%, off an intra-day record high hit earlier in the day, but still at its highest ever closing level of 8,012.53 points. The exporter-heavy index has had a stellar start to the year, gaining 7.5% so far as positive corporate earnings and rising commodity prices supported the index. Data showed U.S. producer prices rose more than expected in January while jobless claims unexpectedly fell, fanning speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve would keep raising interest rates for longer than expected. Shares of Centrica (CNA.L) jumped to top the FTSE 100, adding 5.7%, after the British Gas owner's annual profit more than tripled and it announced an extension of its share buyback programme.

☆ FTSE 100 at record high on positive Centrica, StanChart earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies FTSE 100 hits record high, trading above 8,000 pointsCentrica, StanChart, Relx jump on upbeat resultsVodafone rises on report of looking at options for Africa unitFTSE 100 up 0.3%, FTSE 250 adds 0.4%Feb 16 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 rose to a record high on Thursday, underpinned by corporate earnings from Centrica and Standard Chartered, while higher commodity prices drove up heavyweight miners. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) gained 0.3%, trading comfortably above the 8,000-point mark it had breached in the previous session. The exporter-heavy FTSE has had a stellar start to the year as positive corporate earnings and rising commodity prices supported the index. Shares of Centrica (CNA.L) jumped to top the FTSE 100, adding 4.2%, after the British gas owner's annual profit more than tripled and as it announced an extension of its share buyback programme. Standard Chartered (STAN.L) rose 1.8% after the lender reported a 28% rise in annual pretax profit and unveiled a $1 billion share buyback programme.

☆ European shares up as travel stocks shine, Thyssenkrupp slides
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.4%, while European travel & leisure stocks (.SXTP) advanced 0.8%. TUI's German-listed shares (TUIGn.DE) rose 2.5%, with its shares listed in London adding 2.5% after the company reported more bookings and higher first-quarter revenue. In Europe, a flash reading of fourth quarter GDP is also on the radar on growing hopes that the euro zone economy most likely avoided a recession. The STOXX 600 has risen over 9% so far this year led by better-than-expected earnings and a brighter outlook for the euro zone economy. Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ KKR can limit the pain of Elliott's telco blitz
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Even so, KKR and Vodafone look insulated from the worst sort of Teutonic deal pain. Still, KKR – which has joined forces with Global Infrastructure Partners and will co-control Vantage with Vodafone – has some protections. Reuters GraphicsFollow @pamela_msg on TwitterloadingCONTEXT NEWSActivist investor Elliott Management disclosed a 5.6% stake in German phone masts company Vantage Towers on Jan. 31. The offer was recommended by Vantage Towers' management and supervisory board. Vantage Towers’ Chief Executive Vivek Badrinath is set to depart due to personal reasons.

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