Lufthansa Nears Rescue Making Germany Its Top Shareholder
(Bloomberg) — Deutsche Lufthansa AG is close to a multibillion euro bailout deal that would see the state become its biggest shareholder after the coronavirus punctured a decades-long boom in air travel.
The shares gained as much as 8.3% Thursday after Europe’s largest carrier confirmed it’s in advanced talks with Germany’s WSF Economic Stabilization Fund for as much as 9 billion euros ($9.9 billion) in aid. The package would include a 3 billion-euro loan, a so-called silent participation and a 20% direct stake through the sale of new shares, Lufthansa said.
The government would also receive a convertible bond equivalent to 5% plus one share. Under German law, the 25% plus one share total stake would enable the state to block motions at annual general meetings, giving it a veto over hostile takeover attempts.
“A decision can be expected shortly,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said late Wednesday in Berlin, adding that “intensive talks” were ongoing with the company and the European Commission, which would need to approve a deal.
If agreed, the compromise deal would bring the curtain down on weeks of tense negotiations between the company and state officials. At issue was the question of how involved the state should be in the affairs of a company that’s long been a symbol of German industrial might and its identity as exporter to the world. Like other airlines across the globe, Lufthansa has been battered by a near-halt to air travel that’s ruined the finances of previously healthy carriers and forced them to seek state bailouts.
Under the plan, Germany would also receive two seats on Lufthansa’s supervisory board. The company didn’t say whether these would be political or independent figures, a matter under discussion in negotiations.
The seats should be occupied by experts who won’t influence business decisions, said Carsten Linnemann, a legislator in Merkel’s CDU-led conservative caucus group. “The goal is an early exit of the state, so that Lufthansa will be able to stand on its own feet again.”
Lufthansa advanced 5.6% to 8.36 euros as of 1:43 p.m. Thursday in Frankfurt. The stock has lost about half its value this year.
EU Decision
An accord could be completed rapidly once the European Commission grants its approval.
The commission declined to comment Thursday on specific cases. It said in an email that it’s aware of the difficulties in the aviation sector and European Union state-aid rules “enable member states to support companies affected by the outbreak.”
It would also set the scene for a dramatic extraordinary general meeting at which shareholders would vote on whether to accept a package that would dilute their own stakes.
Lufthansa would issue the shares to the government for the nominal price of 2.56 euros, a steep discount that would allow the state to profit from any upside to the price. The parties are also discussing a capital-cut option that would see Lufthansa issue shares below that price, the statement said.
Lufthansa units in Switzerland, Austria and Belgium, stand to receive some 2 billion euros in additional funds from those countries. The Swiss deal totaling 1.28 billion francs ($1.3 billion) is in place, while the Austrian and Belgian ageements are likely to follow Germany’s.
Grand Compromise
Final details of the German deal are still being worked out, according to a government spokeswoman.
The contours of a deal come after the airline warned in a letter that cash reserves continued to shrink while it negotiates the rescue package. Lufthansa’s board said it hoped the government would find the “political will” for a deal that would keep the carrier competitive against international airlines.
The German government and Lufthansa have been locked in intense negotiations for weeks over the rescue plan. While the Economy Ministry and Finance Ministry internally agreed on taking a stake of 25% plus one share, the company had opposed the move, people familiar with the matter said earlier.
Lufthansa executives had raised concerns that the terms on offer would hamstring it against international competitors who’ve received less stringent bailout conditions, a point the management board repeated in the letter to employees.
Christian Democrats had also voiced concern that the running of Lufthansa risks becoming politicized. The party is trying to prevent Ulrich Nussbaum, the deputy to Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, from taking one of the board seats. They feel Nussbaum betrayed his boss by forcing his own agenda in the talks.
“The two seats in the supervisory board must now be occupied by experts, who will aim for the economic recovery of Lufthansa and who won’t follow a political agenda,” CDU legislator Linnemann said.
Lufthansa is burning through 800 million euros each month after the coronavirus grounded most of its fleet. Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr said on May 5 that the company had about 4 billion euros in cash remaining.
(Updates with legislator, European Commission comment from seventh paragraph)
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TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
