From Breakingviews: BHP rides China’s return, and water is proving to be Danone’s dampest business. Plus: SAP proves why putting two ferrets in a sack is dumb. Catch up with the latest pandemic-related insights here:
WHEN IRON IS HOT. The world’s biggest miners are riding on the return of industrial activity in the People’s Republic. BHP, said production for iron ore, a key steel-making ingredient, rose 6.3% year on year in the March quarter. The $92 billion company also kept its output guidance at 273 million to 286 million tonnes for the fiscal year, despite a surprisingly grim outlook for the rest of the world, where steel production is expected to “contract by a double-digit percentage” in 2020.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE. Danone’s water slowdown may point to another sign of changing consumer habits post-Covid-19. First-quarter sales in the division cascaded 6.8% from the year before to 928 million euros. Most of the fall was down to lower sales of more expensive smaller vessels in cafes and restaurants, many of which are shut, and on-the-go sales. The yogurt maker said first quarter overall sales grew 3.7% year-on-year to 6.2 billion euros on a like-for-like basis.
DUEL LEADERSHIP. As if boards needed more evidence that the co-CEO structure is a dud , $150 billion software behemoth SAP has added another case study to the annals of a bad governance idea. American Jennifer Morgan will depart, the company said Monday, leaving her erstwhile German partner Christian Klein in charge.
DISCOUNT DESPAIR. Flogging cheap T-shirts and jeans to young teens only works in volume. Just look at UK retailer Primark: It hasn’t a made a single sale since shuttering its doors on March 22. More worrying for investors in its $19 billion parent, Associated British Foods, is CEO George Weston’s planned revival. He reckons Primark’s 376 stores across 12 countries should not be opened until Covid-19 is “suppressed”.
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