Stock Markets
Volkswagen to face investor grilling on China, costs at capital markets day
Volkswagen will face investors hungry for answers at its capital markets day next Wednesday on how it will achieve high cost-cutting targets and whether it will heed their calls for an independent audit of its co-owned Xinjiang plant.
Pressure is high after a turbulent shareholder meeting in May where activists interrupted proceedings with protests against the carmaker’s jointly-owned plant in Urumqi, Xinjiang and investors grilled executives on their plans to take on Chinese competition in electric vehicles.
“The 21 June CMD is an opportunity to reset a fraught relationship with investors, a challenging exercise,” Jefferies wrote in a note on Friday.
The carmaker has invited investors to the “Porsche Experience Center” at a racetrack in southwest Germany to test-drive its cars, hear presentations on its brands and get an updated financial strategy from CEO Oliver Blume and CFO Arno Antlitz.
The Porsche-Piech family, who own 31.9% of Volkswagen, are expecting Blume to begin replicating his success from Porsche at Volkswagen, a source close to the families said, with the caveat that a multi-brand group cannot achieve the same margins as a luxury player.
One source close to the company said Stellantis, who have a similar number of brands as Volkswagen but higher margins, was viewed by some as a benchmark – as well as growing Chinese EV giants like BYD.
Investors also demanded that Volkswagen conduct an independent audit of the Urumqi plant, which executives have is only possible with the agreement of joint venture partner SAIC.
Two investors, who declined to be named, said they expect the topic to come up again on Wednesday.
Alongside targets, investors needed details on how the carmaker expects to make its EV production more cost-effective, Daniel Roeska of Bernstein Research wrote in a note on Thursday.
“The risk is that instead we see more punchy earnings and volume targets, with little to support them,” he added.
Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:) Corp. is on the verge of acquiring Calpine Corp., a move that could mark one of the most significant transactions in the power generation industry, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Baltimore-based Constellation is negotiating with Calpine’s private equity owners to finalize the terms of a deal that could place the value of Calpine at approximately $30 billion, including the assumption of debt, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The potential acquisition, which could be announced within the next few weeks, is still subject to ongoing deliberations, report added.
Constellation’s interest in Calpine underscores the strategic moves within the power sector as companies seek to consolidate and expand their market presence.
While the exact terms of the deal are still being discussed, the acquisition’s completion would likely have considerable implications for both Constellation and the wider power generation sector.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.
By John Irish and Alexander Ratz
PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) -European Union sanctions in Syria that obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid and hinder the country’s recovery could be lifted swiftly, France’s foreign minister said Wednesday.
The United States on Monday issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months after the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule to try to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance.
Speaking to France Inter radio, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the EU could take a similar decision soon without giving precise timing, while adding that lifting more political sanctions would depend on how Syria’s new leadership handled the transition.
“There are other (sanctions), which today hinder access to humanitarian aid, which hinder the recovery of the country. These could be lifted quickly,” said Barrot, who met Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday with Germany’s foreign minister.
“Finally, there are other sanctions, which we are discussing with our European partners, which could be lifted, but obviously depending on the pace at which our expectations for Syria regarding women and security are taken into account.”
Three European diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity said the EU would seek to agree to lift some sanctions by the time the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Jan. 27.
Two of the diplomats said one aim was to facilitate financial transactions to allow funds to return to the country, ease air transport and lessen sanctions targeting the energy sector to improve power supplies. A third said Germany had put forward a position paper on the potential sanctions to be lifted.
“Due to the new situation, existing sanctions are under scrutiny. Germany has already pitched ideas on this issue,” German foreign ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner said on Wednesday.
“The focus lies on economic questions and return of funds of the Syrian diaspora,” he said.
Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available two or three hours per day in most areas. The caretaker government says it aims to provide electricity for up to eight hours per day within two months.
The U.S. waivers allow some energy transactions and personal remittances to Syria until July 7, but do not remove any sanctions.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that Nippon Steel’s blocked acquisition of U.S. Steel received a “thorough analysis” by an interagency national security review body that was sent to President Joe Biden.
Yellen, in a live interview on CNBC, said she could not discuss specifics of the review of the merger blocked by Biden last week that is now the subject of a lawsuit that alleges that the review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) was not conducted in good faith and was prejudiced by Biden.
“I think, as you know, there is ongoing litigation over this case, and as head of CFIUS, I regret there is very little substantive that I can say to you about this,” Yellen said. “Other than that, CFIUS did analyze the specifics, as it always does of this situation, and prepared a thorough analysis to go to the president.”
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