Latest
– Siemens Gamesa
– Psychedelics-as-therapeutics startup
– Unilever in India
– Peloton Interactive
– Netflix earnings
– Valneva
Bitter blow. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is in a weird position. Spain’s 11 billion euro wind turbine maker is one of the market leaders in making offshore wind kit, a sector that analyst Wood Mackenzie reckons could grow at a 21% annual clip in the 2020s as the world decarbonises. But the company’s share price has halved in a year, with the latest 12% drop on Friday triggered by a third profit warning in nine months.
Boss Andreas Nauen has supply chain problems and input inflation that Credit Suisse reckons last year increased costs for all wind turbine makers by a fifth. He could, however, have better managed his misfiring onshore arm, and expectations. His previous worst-case scenario was for a 7% decline in 2022 revenue and a 1% operating margin. That’s now a 9% decline and a minus-4% margin.
Bigger Danish rival Vestas Wind Systems’ 6% share price drop on Friday shows supply chain snafus are an industry-wide problem. But Nauen’s missteps mean investors will apply a credibility discount. What to do about that is an issue for Germany’s Siemens Energy, which owns two-thirds of the stock. (By George Hay)
Magic beans. Investors in the latest psychedelics-as-therapeutics startup could be in for a bad trip. Eleusis, a UK drugmaker which is attempting to treat depression using the active ingredient in funky fungi, is going public via special purpose acquisition company Silver Spike Acquisition Corp II. Although the company reckons the market for anti-depressants is worth $21 billion, recent setbacks from peers like Compass Pathways suggest the market is failing to get the recipe right.
The terms of the SPAC offer some red flags. To start, there is no additional funding. The deal seems to rely on investors not exercising their redemption rights, which may be tricky given Silver Spike shares are currently trading below their $10 offer price. The company’s lead drug candidate has also not been tested on humans yet. If the trials fail or the readouts are suboptimal the SPAC’s value is likely to plummet. It’s encouraging to see innovators trying novel cures for depression, which affects 280 million people worldwide. But with few ‘shroom successes extant, investors will be taking a risky trip. (By Aimee Donnellan)
Bright spot. Shareholders are scrutinising Unilever’s performance following its failed bid for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer unit. The British company’s $71 billion Indian subsidiary Hindustan Unilever, though, is rapidly gaining market share in India.
Well-heeled city folks are spending at least as much on the company’s ice cream and make-up as they were before the pandemic. The seller of Kwality Wall’s frozen treats and Lakme cosmetics grew domestic sales 11% to 130.9 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) in the December quarter, compared to the…
