Original link: https://www.latepost.com/news/dj_detail?id=1331
Porsche goes public, surpassing parent company Volkswagen in market value
The Porsche 911 hits the market – this time the company. On September 29, local time in Germany, Porsche was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the code P911 and issued 911 million shares. Both figures pay tribute to the company’s most classic 911 sports car series. After its listing, Porsche’s market value once surpassed its parent company’s, making it the third most expensive car company in the world.
The listing price of Porsche was 82.5 euros, the upper limit of the IPO pricing range, and the highest transaction price on the first day was 82.76 euros. Excluding inflation, and by market value, the listing valued at 78 billion euros would be the largest IPO in Europe. If ranked by the amount of financing, its 9.4 billion euros is the second largest in Germany and the third in Europe.
The 78 billion euros were allocated to Porsche’s record 301,915 new car deliveries last year, equivalent to a face value of 258,300 euros per new car.
The latest market value of Ferrari, which is also a super sports car brand, is about 36.865 billion euros. Last year, 11,155 new cars were delivered, which is equivalent to the face value of each new car of 3.305 million euros.
The company’s valuation supported by each new Porsche is 1/11 of Ferrari’s, which is much more than the difference between their average selling prices. Porsche’s revenue last year was 33.1 billion euros, and the average new car sales price was 109,600 euros. The average Ferrari sales price is around 310,000 euros.
The Porsche family and the birth of Volkswagen are directly related. In the 1930s, the German Führer wanted every family to have a car and established Volkswagen. He then recruited Ferdinand Porsche, an automotive engineer at the time, and then he had the classic Beetle.
Ferdinand Porsche was a Nazi Party member and Waffen SS (SS) officer who designed a bunch of super-heavy tanks during World War II, including the unsuccessful VK 45.01(P) that bid for the Tiger tank – 60 tons of heavy gasoline and electric motors The dual-drive tank, Porsche’s first hybrid; the 65-ton tank destroyer “Elefant” for fighting the Soviet Union; the 188-ton doomsday weapon, the “Maus”. These equipments are unique in design but not very high in production. The most “elephant” has only been built in less than 100 vehicles, which has almost no impact on the war.
His daughter later took her husband’s surname Piëch, and the two families have been divided for decades, but one side has always controlled Volkswagen. During the 2008 financial crisis, Porsche was preparing to acquire the Volkswagen Group by leverage, and once obtained a majority stake in the latter. With the deepening of the crisis and global financial constraints, Porsche, which was about to be overwhelmed by huge leveraged funds, gave up the acquisition and instead sought to be acquired by Volkswagen. This commercial merger and anti-takeover has become a classic case of many business schools.
As for this IPO, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority and other sovereign wealth funds, as well as the Porsche and Piëch families, the actual controllers of Volkswagen, subscribed for most of the new shares. The actual controller of Porsche is still Volkswagen, which already held 75% of the shares before the listing. (Gong Fangyi)
Global tourism recovers, cruise orders line up to 2028
The global tourism industry is gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels, and some indicators have even surpassed the same period in 2019. For example, according to the U.S. Travel Association, U.S. travel spending in July has been flat with the same period in 2019, reaching or higher than before the epidemic for four consecutive months.
The luxury cruise ship that has been docked for two years returns to the sea. In July this year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted the restrictions on cruise epidemic prevention and control measures. Since then, most of the major cruise lines have begun to accept customers who have not been vaccinated against the new crown vaccine. The three major cruise lines Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings have all resumed full operations.
Among them, Royal Caribbean turned losses into profits (before interest, tax and amortization) ahead of schedule in the second quarter, the entire fleet resumed voyages, and its revenue doubled compared with the first quarter. The booking volume in the second quarter was already 30% higher than before the epidemic. They expect a global load factor of 100% by the end of the year. More than 100,000 tourists are now vacationing on luxury cruise ships every day, and on-board expenses have risen by 30% compared to the same period in 2019.
According to the Cruise Ship Orderbook Report data, the current global cruise shipbuilding orders have been placed until 2028.
One of the world’s largest luxury cruise ships, Royal Caribbean’s “Miracle of the Seas” set sail in March this year. According to IGLUCRUISE, 11 of the 14 suite types on the “Miracle of the Seas” Christmas season UK homeport line as of this Thursday have been sold out. The cruise ship can accommodate up to more than 7,000 tourists and includes facilities such as Central Park and Aquatic Theater.
Royal Caribbean mentioned on the earnings call that more than 3 million millennials who retire during the pandemic and enjoy experiential consumption have accumulated more wealth… All these demographic-related changes have accelerated performance recovery.
Hotel room rates are more expensive, and people who want to hang out don’t care, pushing up room rates further. Marriott International Hotel, the world’s largest hotel group, saw an 8% increase in global average room rates in June compared with the same period in 2019. The management said at the earnings conference that they have not seen any signs of slowing down in global accommodation demand. Instead, the pent-up travel demand under the epidemic, The shift in consumption towards experiences rather than commodities, among other things, spurred a rise in travel demand.
Their June group bookings halved from the same period in 2019, and the global occupancy rate for June rooms rose to 71%, just 5 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels. Nominally the world’s largest hotel group, Airbnb, which has the most “rooms,” saw bookings rise by a quarter in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2019.
Disneyland, which calls itself the “Magic Kingdom”, has set a limit on passenger flow in some parks out of public health and safety. Even so, in the quarter ended April 2 this year, its park, experience and product revenue doubled year-on-year, and the absolute amount was higher than the same period in 2019. Per capita spending at the park is up 40% from pre-pandemic levels. (intern Xue Yujie)
Internet companies’ determination to cut costs has some investors recalibrating their expectations
Market transaction data shows that the recent southbound trading of Hong Kong stocks has been very large, especially in the Internet and state-owned enterprise sectors. But the absence of growth stories and the increasingly complex external environment have left some important companies in turmoil.
Analysts at investment bank Jefferies said in an emailed report that after discussions with more than 200 investors, they found that the market is readjusting its expectations for the new fiscal quarter based on recent industry and market developments. The points that the market is currently concerned about include:
- Restoring consumer confidence and observing the preparations of consumers and merchants for “Double 11”;
- Inflection points and growth stories are critical, especially after Internet companies show a determination to cut costs. Beautiful unit economic model and business scale expansion are indispensable;
- The most concerned about the short video field is the monetization rate. The market expects that leading companies will benefit from the traditional e-commerce peak season in the fourth quarter;
- The number of game version numbers continues to increase, and the key is how many masterpieces can be released.
On September 30, Alibaba will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders, which will be an early window for the market to observe Zhonggai Internet. (Gong Fangyi)
“Earnings fell in the first half of the year, cost control is important (including cover design)”
This sentence is taken from the front page of the semi-annual report of Xufulou, a Hong Kong restaurant group. Coupled with the full hand-painted style from the listing code, company name to logo, this should be one of the most “creative” financial reports in recent years.
In the first six months of this year, Xufulou, which owns several self-operated and franchised brands, posted a revenue of HK$420 million, down 5.4% from the same period last year. With the relaxation of anti-epidemic measures in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since April this year, the turnover has recovered rapidly, combined with cost control and the government subsidy in the first half of the year, the profit in the first half of the year was 25.6 million Hong Kong dollars.
- The self-operated brands of Xu Fu Lou include: Niu Shabu, Heping Restaurant, Yonghua Daily, Claypot King and Hao Xia Taiwan Hotpot, with a total of 16 restaurants;
- Franchised brands include Niu Jiao, Niu Jiao Tsaofang, Wen Yecai, Liu Shijia and The Matcha Tokyo, with a total of 34 restaurants;
- In the first half of the year, it received a subsidy of HK$17.8 million from the Hong Kong SAR government.
Cost control is equally important, as stated by management:
- Food and beverage costs decreased by approximately 3.3% to HK$129.2 million from approximately HK$133.7 million in the same period last year;
- Staff costs decreased by approximately 3.5% to HK$131 million from approximately HK$135.8 million in the same period last year.
Talking about future expectations, management said:
With the large-scale vaccination around the world, and the reopening of international borders that have been closed for a long time due to the epidemic in many countries during the year, and the further relaxation of entry measures for overseas tourists, the global economy and cross-border economic activities are expected to enter the recovery track. We hope that in the second half of the year, people’s daily life will basically return to normal and consumer sentiment will further pick up. The local catering industry is expected to emerge from the predicament and usher in the dawn. —— “Interim Report 2022” of Xufulou Group
40% of LEGO stores have opened in China
Lego’s latest financial report shows that its revenue in the first half of the year increased by 17% year-on-year to 27 billion Danish kroner (about 25.1 billion yuan), and its net profit was 6.2 billion Danish kroner (about 5.8 billion yuan), slightly lower than the same period last year.
LEGO attributes the revenue growth to a rich product portfolio that caters to different age groups, genders and interests. Among them, classics such as “Harry Potter”, “Star Wars” and “Technic” are still the most popular theme series.
In the first half of the year, 66 new stores were opened, of which 46 were in China. Compared with the same period of the previous two years, LEGO has accelerated store expansion this year, and the proportion of the new store in the Chinese market has risen to 70%. Since 2018, the number of LEGO stores in China has increased from 90 to 360, accounting for 43% of its 833 global stores.
Since 2017, LEGO’s annual revenue has stabilized between DKK 36 billion and DKK 38 billion. Like the game companies that benefited during the epidemic, the epidemic has stimulated more demand for decompression, which has greatly increased Lego’s revenue, with revenue of 55.3 billion Danish kroner in 2021.
In August of this year, Lego said that due to rising costs, it decided to increase prices by 5% to 25% globally, mainly for products aimed at adults. Lego, 90 years old this year, is the world’s largest toy maker and has more say in pricing, and the negative impact of price increases is limited. Lego sales rose 13 percent in the first half of the year, while the global toy market grew just 1 percent. Data shows that Lego has a market share of over 40% in the Chinese building block toy market.
Lego does face higher prices for energy, plastic materials and shipping amid rising global inflation. But more important than cost pressure may be to maintain a high gross profit margin level of around 70% and brand value all year round.
Lego CEO Niels B. Christiansen said that despite the turmoil in the global economy, sales are expected to continue well for the rest of the year. (Intern Zeng Xing)
Amazon releases a bunch of products, including a big-screen Kindle that won’t hit shelves in China
Amazon brought a slew of new products to its event on Thursday, including the Kindle Scribe with handwriting support, the Echo Dot, a fifth-generation mini smart speaker, new TVs and boxes, and a wake-up desk lamp with sleep monitoring. Wait.
Kindle Scribe, the big 10-inch Kindle is back
The new Kindle supports handwriting, the screen is increased to 10.2 inches (diagonal), the resolution is 300 PPI, and the price with the standard stylus is $339. You can also upgrade to a premium stylus with shortcut keys for another $30.
Own brand TVs, smart speakers, smart desk lamps… a more comprehensive home appliance business
The TVs are 65-inch and 75-inch Fire TV Omni OLEDs with ambient light sensors that dim the screen when no one is around. Prices start at $799 for the small screen and $1099.99 for the large screen. The updated TV box is the Fire TV Cube, and Amazon has a new eight-core CPU that runs 20% faster than the previous generation.
The smart speaker Echo Dot has been upgraded to the fifth generation. Officials say it is equipped with a temperature sensor and gesture control, and the audio experience is also better than the previous generation. The new Echo Dot comes in two versions with and without a display.
Amazon also showed off Halo Rise, a wake-up light with sleep tracking. Astro, the home robot, has also been slowly updated to add pet detection capabilities. After its release last year, Astro was invite-only, and Amazon hopes to sell it to more people in the coming months. (Gong Fangyi)
OTHER NEWS
Apple cancels plans to increase iPhone 14 production.
According to media reports, due to lower-than-expected demand, Apple canceled its plan to increase production of 6 million iPhone 14 units, and decided to produce about 90 million units by the end of this year, which is similar to the output of last year’s iPhone 13. The demand for the iPhone 14 Pro is relatively strong, after analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple has asked Hon Hai Foxconn to switch the production line of the iPhone 14 to the iPhone 14 Pro model.
The national pre-sale box office of the National Day file (October 1-7) was 15.908 million yuan.
In the same period in 2021, the national box office will be 4.381 billion yuan.
Leapmotor broke its first day on the market.
On September 29, Leapmotor broke its first day of listing in Hong Kong, and the decline once expanded to nearly 40%. CEO Zhu Jiangming said that the bad environment was a factor in the break. From 2020 to August this year, Leapmotor has delivered a total of 128,361 new cars. Although sales have taken off, Leapmotor has not yet achieved profitability, with a cumulative loss of nearly 4.4 billion yuan from 2019 to 2021.
The national standard for electronic cigarettes will be implemented on October 1, and fruit flavors will be banned.
On September 29, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration issued a notice to reiterate the prohibition on e-cigarettes. The “Mandatory National Standard for Electronic Cigarettes” will be implemented from October 1st. At that time, all fruit-flavored electronic cigarettes will be completely removed from the shelves, and only tobacco-flavored electronic cigarettes and smoking sets with child locks will be provided. , The production and operation of electronic cigarettes need to obtain a tobacco monopoly license.
BYD Europe released the “Han Tang Yuan”, which is twice as expensive as in China.
On September 28, BYD released three new models of Han, Tang and Yuan PLUS to the European market. Among them, the pre-sale price of Yuan PLUS in Germany is 38,000 euros (about 263,000 yuan), and the pre-sale price of Han and Tang in Germany is 72,000 euros (about 498,000 yuan). In China, the price of BYD Yuan PLUS is about 140,000 to 170,000 yuan; the price of Han is about 210,000 to 230,000 yuan; and the price of Tang is about 280,000 to 340,000 yuan.
Bilibili files for conversion to dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Bilibili announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on September 29 that its voluntary transfer from a secondary listing to a primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will take effect on October 3. After the conversion is completed, Station B is expected to be included in the Hong Kong Stock Connect in the near future, attracting more potential investors.
70,000 Kunming citizens are currently assigned a yellow code.
- On September 28, there were 106 new confirmed cases and 526 new local asymptomatic infections.
- Guizhou added “38+58”, of which Bijie added “38+57”.
- A total of 94 teachers and students from Yucai School in Zhijin County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province have tested positive.
- Tibet added “5+85”, of which Lhasa added “5+77”.
- Tianjin added “13+26”, 3 of which were non-control personnel.
- Kunming has newly added “3+9”. The first case in Kunming was an online car-hailing driver. The trajectory of social activities is relatively complicated. Currently, more than 70,000 people have been assigned a yellow code.
Byte employees can take an extra 17 days off a year.
At 5 p.m. on September 28, ByteDance updated the holiday arrangements other than statutory holidays through an internal letter. The most important changes include the addition of 10 working days of sick leave for family members, and full-paid sick leave for employees from one year to 8 The number of working days has been increased to 12, and the employee bereavement leave has been increased from 5 to 8 working days.
Apple could restructure its automotive team within the year.
TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple may establish a new automotive team by the end of the year. In March of this year, Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple’s Apple Car team had been disbanded. Now that the team is reorganized, it means that the development plan of Apple Car is back on the agenda.
In this crisis, Buffett has his sights on oil.
From September 26th to 28th, Buffett spent about US$352 million to add 5.99 million shares of Occidental Petroleum, and the shareholding ratio rose to 20.9%, with a total value of US$11.9 billion. Berkshire currently holds a total of about 194.4 million shares, which are worth about $11.9 billion according to Occidental’s closing price of $61.41 on the 28th. In addition to its common stock, Berkshire owns $10 billion of preferred stock in Occidental Petroleum, which generates $800 million in annual dividends.
Vietnam’s GDP in the third quarter increased by 13.67% year-on-year.
On September 29, data released by the Vietnamese government showed that due to strong manufacturing and exports and a low base, Vietnam’s GDP grew by 13.67% year-on-year in the third quarter, the fastest growth rate in decades.
Qutoutiao’s share price continues to fall below $1, and there is a risk of delisting.
Qutoutiao US stocks closed below the Nasdaq minimum requirement of $1 for 30 consecutive trading days, and has received a reminder from the exchange. Previously, Qutoutiao had received similar reminders because of the minimum market value of less than $15 million.
Amazon continues to raise wages for blue-collar workers, and porters earn about 24,000 yuan a month.
With the U.S. labor shortage, Amazon, eager to hire, continues to raise wages for workers in its logistics warehouses and delivery systems. The average hourly wage will rise to $19 from the previous $18, significantly higher than the $15 an hour average for Walmart’s U.S. employees. Based on the standard working hours of 22 days a month and 8 hours a day, a blue-collar worker earns $3,344 (about 24,000 yuan) a month at Amazon. As of the second quarter of this year, Amazon had a total of 1.52 million employees, most of which were blue-collar workers in the warehousing and logistics system. The increase will add $1 billion to Amazon’s operating costs next year.
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