Innehållsförteckning för 1117 från MoneyWeek

One of the most intriguing statistics in economic history is that in 1914 Argentina was richer than Germany. Its GDP per head was 92% of the average of 16 developed economies. In 2014, its income per capita was 43% of those same 16 economies. Why? “There is a lot of ruin in a nation,” said Adam Smith. But not an unlimited amount. Economies can shrug off a great deal of poor governance, but Argentina breached the limit. Dictatorships, a poor education system and statist, populist policymaking were fertile ground for hyperinflation in the 1990s and recent debt crises. What about the developed world? Before we smugly dismiss Argentina as an irredeemable mess, however, we should ask what Adam Smith might make of the club of rich countries these days. I…

“It has been a long time since ‘greedy banker bonus’ stories dominated the front pages in the aftermath of the financial crisis... self-restraint in the face of public disgust... meant that the most egregious awards were scaled back... but [now] there are growing signs that wages in the City... are creeping back up. This time it is... skilled younger talent in chronically short supply rather than the swashbuckling Masters of the Universe of yore... The most high-profile example is the jaw-dropping inflation in young City solicitors’ salaries, rising to as much as £185,000... Bloomberg reports that BNP Paribas had increased base pay for junior bankers to retain talent... It is vital that London holds on to the talent it needs to [remain] a... powerhouse. But it would not be good…

“The pandemic TV-streaming party” ended long ago, says Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph. But for Netflix, the “hangover may only just be kicking in”. Its rival, Disney, the home of Mickey Mouse, Star Wars and Marvel, now has 221 million paying customers across its Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN+ brands, edging out Netflix with 220 million. Disney’s streaming is still loss-making, to the tune of $2.5bn this year. But the vast Disney empire (theme parks, holidays, cruise ships) can absorb such losses “while it continues the quest to gain meaningful market share and scale – a luxury that a debt-burdened, standalone Netflix does not have”. Can Disney do still better? Third Point, the hedge fund run by billionaire Dan Loeb, thinks so, says Lex in the Financial Times. Two…

French insurance giant AXA incurred costs of around €300m related to the war in Ukraine in the first half of 2022,largely because it had to pay claims for hundreds of planes trapped in Russia. Spring storms in France didn’t help either. Yet the bottom line increased by 3% to €4.1bn, showing that the core property-casualty business is in good shape, says WirtschaftsWoche. AXA could eclipse last year’s annual profit of €7.3bn. Higher interest rates are increasing its return on investments, while the life-insurance business is being extended and the asset-management arm could benefit from a potential market recovery later this year. The shares yield an impressive 6.3%.…

Record numbers of British teenagers have been rejected by elite universities “in favour of lucrative overseas students” and now “face a scramble” for less prestigious places, say Sian Griffiths and Anna Lombardi in The Times. Four in ten UK applicants have been turned down by Oxbridge, the highest ever rejection rate. Experts say elite universities are focusing on foreign students who pay an average of £24,000 a year, £15,000 more than domestic applicants. As a result, 25% of undergraduates attending Russell Group universities are now from overseas. At the LSE, 70% of students are now recruited from abroad. Meanwhile, Clare Marchant, CEO of UCAS, the body that oversees university applications, has proudly stated that “disadvantaged pupils have been ‘put first’”, says Allison Pearson in The Telegraph. That’s a “genius move”…

The FBI’s raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Largo mansion and the ensuing political fallout has only shifted the markets slightly against the former president making a successful return to the White House. With £1.36m matched on Betfair, and £997,000 on Smarkets, Trump (pictured) is at 4.7 (21.3%), only just behind Ron DeSantis at 4.5 (22.2%). The incumbent Joe Biden is way out at 7.4 (13.5%) on Smarkets and 7.6 (13.2%) on Betfair. When it comes to winning the Republican nomination, Trump remains the favourite at 2.36 (42.4%). It’s a bit too early for firm recommendations, but I sense that Trump’s support is gradually starting to recede. The various revelations from the 6 January inquiry damaged him with the public, and many Republicans are now starting to distance themselves from…

When Disney announced its plans for a streaming service to take on Netflix it was greeted with scepticism. In 2018 Netflix had already overtaken Disney as the largest media conglomerate in the US and there seemed little chance it could recoup all the ground it had lost. It had joined the party too late. That’s not how it turned out. Last week, Disney Plus overtook its great rival. Helped by hits such as Obi-wan Kenobi, the latest in the Star Wars production line, the company has now racked up 221 million subscribers, edging ahead of Netflix with 220 million. With a market value of $225bn compared with $107bn for Netflix, Disney has reclaimed its crown. With subscriptions growing, even as they fall for Netflix, and with plans for a cheaper…

A “real” interest rate is simply an interest rate that has been adjusted to take inflation into account. (A “nominal” interest rate is one that has not been adjusted for inflation.) Real rates matters because inflation reduces the value of any future stream of income. Take a bank account into which you plan to place £1,000. If inflation is running at 1% then a 2% nominal interest rate looks respectable – your savings will have more purchasing power a year from now. However, if inflation is running at 3%, your savings will have less purchasing power when you withdraw them in a year’s time, even though the £1,000 will have grown (in nominal terms) to £1,020. Of course, the advertised rate on savings account will be the nominal one, not…

“Britain is suffering from a crisis of everything at the moment, it seems, but the situation evokes memories of a scene in Fawlty Towers where Basil is told ‘just remember Mr Fawlty there’s always someone worse off than you’, to which he replies: ‘Really? I’d love to meet them. I could do with a bloody laugh’.” Columnist Ben Marlow in The Telegraph “However much money I earn doing it, I won’t earn any self-respect. I spent a lifetime trying to get my self-respect back. Since getting clean, I’ve done gigs where someone’s come over and told me I’ve changed their life. That’s more lucrative than money.” DJ Fat Tony on turning down a well-paid gig in Saudi Arabia, quoted in The Sunday Times “We are not going to target the…

thehustle.co Joseph Lawrence, a doctor and drug developer who fought in the American Civil War, created a formula for cleaning and disinfecting wounds in the late 1860s, says Michael Waters. It didn’t catch on, so when a local pharmacist asked to buy the formula, Lawrence licensed it out. The original contract stated that, for every gross (144 bottles) of Listerine moneyweek.com sold, the pharmacist would pay Lawrence’s “heirs, executors or assigns” $20. That contract lives on, and it makes a mint for those who own a stake. Listerine is now owned by Johnson & Johnson, which is still obliged – despite legal attempts to shrug it off – to pay royalties to those who own a share of the Listerine royalty trust. The Baird Foundation, for example, a non-profit, has…

PTC (Nasdaq: PTC) provides a range of software and services for manufacturing companies focused on the internet of things and collaborative software, as well as advanced data analytics, automation and augmented reality. Revenue has grown by roughly 10% a year since 2016, while profits have mushroomed more than 60-fold since 2017, with a double-digit return on capital employed (ROCE). At the current share price of $125, it trades on 24 times forecast 2023 earnings. Schneider Electric (Paris: SU) specialises in energy management and industrial automation, and its products should play a key role in smart factories. The group operates in 200 locations around the world and collaborates with a wide range of companies, including Cisco and Microsoft. Schneider’s profits grew by 70% between 2016 and 2021 and are set to…

The latest energy-price forecasts suggest that the bill for the average household will top £4,200 next year, wreaking havoc with family budgets. So what can you do about it? Soaring oil and gas prices are to blame for rocketing bills. Later this month Ofgem, the energy regulator, will announce what the energy-price cap will be from October. The cap dictates the maximum amount per kilowatt hour (kWh) energy firms can charge customers on a basic default tariff, also known as a standard variable tariff. It currently works out at £1,971 per year for the average household. It is forecast to rise substantially in October. Analysts at Cornwall Insight believe it will go up by 82%, taking the average annual energy bill to £3,582. It will then rise again in January…

Are you missing out on a valuable pensions tax perk that could save you hundreds of pounds? Research from Mercer, a consultant, suggests that a fifth of employees are failing to sign up for salary-sacrifice arrangements, even though these could be a more tax-efficient way to save for retirement. In a traditional occupational-pension scheme, you make contributions to your savings out of your pay, claiming income-tax relief at your highest marginal rate of tax – up to 45% for the highest earners. Salary-sacrifice schemes offer exactly the same tax relief, but require you to forego the proportion of your salary you would have paid into the pension scheme; instead, your employer then covers the cost of your contribution. Exactly the same amount of cash ends up in your pension scheme…

Rising inflation and economies on the brink of recession are dominating headlines across most global markets. But it is crucial to maintain a long-term perspective during volatile times. I remain focused on companies with strong long-term prospects trading at reasonable valuations. Good risk-reward opportunities often emerge during periods of volatility. The US and European countries have begun tightening monetary policy to counter inflation, but China has maintained an easing stance, which history shows often supports markets. This monetary policy, combined with structural tailwinds such as growing self-sufficiency, increasing disposable incomes and rising domestic consumption, provides investment opportunities in the Chinese market. Thriving in adversity Shandong Sinocera (Shanghai: 300285) is a leading player in fine ceramic materials in China. It is actively taking market share from global competitors in all product…

2021 Quinta da Fonte Souto, Rosé, Serra de São Mamede, Alentejo, Portugal £21.50, noblegreenwines.co.uk I find it somewhat frustrating that many of the most noteworthy new wines that make it to our shores each year have so few retail listings, and I imagine it must annoy my readers, too, but hey ho. Every wine I have written up on this page over the last 16 years can be ordered to your door, so I hope you feel driven to track this week’s thriller down, too. After shunning a Provençal rosé last week in favour of a superior white from the same property, this week I have found you an elite rosé from a red wine specialist! Made from aragonez (or tempranillo in Spanish), this tiptoe light, 13% alcohol thriller…

US labour productivity has suffered the biggest crash ever recorded and labour costs have soared by the most since 1982, reports Breitbart. The productivity of the business sector has fallen by 2.5 % compared with a year ago and unit labour costs jumped 10.8% in the second quarter. From the year we were born until now, productivity could be counted on to increase. And productivity, more than any other single measure, tracks our wealth. There are only ever 24 hours in a day. We are wealthy inasmuch as we are able to use those minutes to produce goods and services. The more output, the richer we are. But now, time goes by and we have less and less to show for it. How did that happen? Did masons forget how…

Frederick Barclay, the former owner of the Ritz Hotel in London, has avoided jail after a judge gave him three more months to pay a £100m divorce settlement owed to his ex-wife, Hiroko, says The Guardian. Barclay (pictured) was once estimated to share a £7bn fortune with his twin David, who died in 2021, but says that he is unable to access the money because it is held in trust for his daughter, Amanda, and nephews. He was found in contempt of court in July for not paying £245,000 in legal fees and maintenance. That amount has now been paid through a loan from his daughter, who “has made it clear that she will not pay any more”, Barclay’s lawyer told the court. Hiroko Barclay’s lawyer called for her ex-husband…

Crude-oil prices fell by 5% on Monday on the news that Chinese retail sales rose by 2.7% year on year in July, much worse than the expected 5% and down from 3.1% in June. Industrial production rose by just 3.8%. Youth unemployment hit a record 19.9%. “The world’s economic engine is sputtering,” says Matt Phillips on Axios. The central bank has cut interest rates by “a tiny one-tenth of a percentage point”. That won’t do much. In past downturns measures of credit have surged as Beijing sought to stimulate the economy. Yet this time “there’s little indication that the government is decisively trying to prop growth up”. Retail sales fell 2.4% in July, underlining “just how weak... domestic demand really is”, says Craig Botham of Pantheon Macroeconomics. The “halfhearted” efforts…

“After two extraordinarily busy years,” New York capital-markets lawyers have time on their hands, says Nicholas Megaw in the Financial Times. Fundraising for US initial public offerings (IPOs) is down 95% so far this year, compared with the same period last year. Total equity issuance – which also includes other types of equity fundraising – is also struggling, as the chart shows. Previous dry spells, such as the early 2000s and the 2007/2008 crisis, coincided with corporate collapses and restructurings. Yet for now balance sheets are solid: firms loaded up on cheap credit during Covid-19. Falling markets and a shaky economy have dented optimism. Uncertainty over US interest rates means activity looks unlikely to pick up before 2023.…

Rio Tinto and its fellow shareholders in Turquoise Hill Resources are “squaring up to each other” over Mongolian copper, says Karen Kwok on Breakingviews. The $96bn mining group owns 51% of the Canadian-listed Turquoise, which in turn owns a two-thirds stake in Oyu Tolgoi, a Mongolian mine that will soon be one of the world’s biggest. Rio Tinto wants to get the Turquoise minority shareholders “out of its hair”, so it can “simplify the tangled ownership structure” and improve cash flow from the project. But so far the minorities aren’t playing ball. True, they are “within their rights to say no to the $2.7bn on offer, but doing so looks riskier for them than Rio”. Yes, analysts at Berenberg point out that recent deals were struck at higher multiples of…

The emirate of Dubai is to raise $1bn through the sale of shares in its road-toll collection system next month, says Bloomberg. Dubai’s eight toll points are operated with an automated system run by state-owned company Salik. It collects four dirhams (90p) from a prepaid account each time a vehicle passes through the points. Sales at the firm rose by 22% to 1.69bn dirhams (£382m) in 2021. The initial public offering (IPO) is part of a plan to privatise ten companies to bolster local capital markets. The region was “a bright spot” for IPOs in the first half of 2022, but Dubai’s last two, property firm Tecom Group and supermarket operator Union Coop, slumped when they started trading.…

Cambridge Darktrace wooed: Cisco, Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike are among the tech giants expected to join US private equity firm Thoma Bravo in a £3.5bn race to buy British cybersecurity company Darktrace, says Russell Hotten in The Times. The shares leapt by a quarter on Tuesday to 515p, following a “tumultuous” ride since going public in April last year, when it was listed at 250p a share. Darktrace uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect vulnerabilities within computer systems to prevent cyberattacks as opposed to building “walls” around networks. It was founded in 2013 with backing from British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch (pictured), who is currently fighting extradition to the US over fraud charges, which he denies. While no longer a director at Darktrace, he retains a 12% in the…

● Takeaway delivery app Deliveroo “has turned into a right floperoo”, says Alistair Osborne in The Times. The firm floated at 390p in March 2021, valuing it at a “Sainsbury’s-topping” £7.59bn. Now the shares are worth 98p. Founder Will Shu (pictured) has “kept on pedalling as eagerly as ever” to grow the business and has had some success in expanding into supermarket deliveries and non-food products from WHSmith and Boots. Orders rose by 10% last half and revenue by 12%. Still, growth in gross transaction value slowed from 12% to 2% between the first and second quarters as consumers feel the pinch. Marketing costs and overheads rose by 29% year-on-year to £369m, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) losses widened by 163% to £67.9m. “When it comes…

Don’t get excited about prospects for a rebound in Chinese stocks, says Hao Hong, the former chief strategist at investment bank Bocom, who left the firm in May after his Chinese social-media accounts were frozen following a string of bearish posts. Stockmarkets in mainland China and Hong Kong “will have much difficulty breaking out of their trading ranges”, he told Bloomberg last week. China’s economy is unlikely to grow at even 2% per year over the next ten years, reckons Hong, as it will be held back by a severe real-estate slump. Most economists forecast growth of 5% in 2023 and 2024, but that looks unlikely. ”Nobody can see what the new growth engine is or where to invest in. Industries such as new energy or semiconductors could help lift…

whynow.co.uk Go looking for older articles on the internet – perhaps those linked to in Wikipedia, for example – and often you’ll find they have disappeared, says Simon Brew. Websites, like other publications, come and go. But sizeable redesigns and restructures also lead to the loss of material. Despite some valiant attempts at rescue, there is often no archive or trace left behind. Much of what disappears is thin content, of little value, perhaps. But as archivists and historians will tell you, “it’s what’s in the margins or tucked away in small pieces that otherwise seem irrelevant that lead to gold”. On the internet, however, it’s the algorithms that decide what’s worth keeping and what isn’t – or, to get to the heart of the matter, what can and can’t…

HMRC is doing increasingly well from inheritance tax (IHT). In the 2021-2022 tax year, receipts from the unpopular death duty hit a record £6.1bn, up 14% on the previous year, as house prices kept climbing and allowances remained frozen. One little-known way to avoid IHT is with an insurance policy. Under IHT rules you can pass on an estate worth up to £325,000 before tax falls due at 40%. You also get a separate allowance if you are passing the family home on to direct descendants. On top of that you can give away up to £3,000 each year free from IHT. Anything else you give away is subject to a sliding scale of inheritance tax if you die within seven years of the gift. But you can buy gift-insurance…

The Pensions Regulator has begun accepting applications from employers who want to set up a new type of occupational-pension fund. Collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes went live on 1 August, with pensions minister Guy Opperman predicting that the new arrangements could transform employer pension provision. CDCs are intended to offer some of the advantages of defined-benefit schemes without forcing employers to fund a guaranteed level of pension benefit for each member in retirement. Your pension from a CDC will depend on how successfully the scheme invests your money, but unlike in traditional defined-contribution plans, your money is pooled with that of other scheme members rather than held in an individual pot. The pool is then invested with the aim of delivering a targeted level of retirement income. The idea is…

Germany’s Encavis (Frankfurt: ECV), a producer of electricity from renewables, is having a good year. The wind and solar park operator has just raised its sales forecast for 2022 to €420m compared with €333m last year; operating income is expected to hit €185m, a rise of 24%. The group has expanded production capacity and is profiting from higher electricity prices. The EU’s target of raising renewable energy’s share of final consumption from 22% to 40% by 2030 bodes well for the longer term. The stock, which trades in the mid-cap segment of the German market, has gained 52% in a year.…

“My whole life, up to now, has been tennis,” writes Serena Williams, the tennis ace, announcing her retirement at the age of 40 in Vogue. Williams (pictured), often described as one of the greatest athletes of all time, and winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, wants to have a second child, and feels she is no longer able to combine top-level sport with “the physical labour” of growing the family. She is not, she insists, retiring – “I have never liked the word retirement “– but rather “transitioning” to spending more time with her family and working for Serena Ventures, a venture-capital (VC) firm she set up when she heard that less than 2% of all VC money went to women. “Someone who looks like me needs to start…

Solving the jigsaw puzzle Yorkshire jigsaw-puzzle maker Simon Stocken found a nice line to land this week’s slam. Mr. Stocken, South, received the Knave of Diamonds lead. Winning the King, he had four Trumps with East to worry about (he could do little if West held Queen-Knave-small-small, and also his third Club). He found a fine play that enhanced the chances of resolving both issues. Declarer cashed the Ace of Spades, followed with the Ace of Diamonds (throwing a club) and a third diamond, ruffing in dummy (in order to eliminate the suit). He then led and passed the nine of Spades (key play). Declarer would avoid a second Trump loser if East held four Spades (although East might have made his life more awkward in such a scenario by…

$1m The value of burritos to be given away to teachers in 2,000 US schools by fast-food chain Chipotle this August. Parents and pupils can nominate their favourite teachers and the winner will be drawn by lot and announced on social-media outlets. €15,000 How much the town of Saint-Gervais is now charging climbers to ascend Mont Blanc. Tourists will need to pay the sum to cover the average cost of rescue – or burial – if they wish to hike up Europe’s tallest mountain. More and more inexperienced and ill-equipped hikers have been getting into trouble on the mountain. £700,000 The daily cost paid by the UK government to store unused personal protective equipment (PPE) in warehouses. A report from the National Auditing Office found that 14.2 billion items of…

“Peace is the natural effect of trade,” wrote Montesquieu in 1748. Alas, his faith is proving misplaced, says Guillaume de Calignon in Les Echos. The globalisation of the past few decades has not spread world peace, and global trade seems to be fracturing into “regional blocks”. US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan sent regional bond and stockmarkets on a rollercoaster ride, says Nathaniel Taplin in The Wall Street Journal. Yet even that turbulence “doesn’t reflect the real import of the event”. The military drills launched by Beijing in response “look like a trial run for a real blockade” of the island. The persistent threat of cross-strait escalation will “raise the cost of doing business with Taiwan” and shake faith in the security of regional manufacturing supply chains, not…

Three to buy British American Tobacco Interactive Investor A £957m impairment from exiting Russia has hit market sentiment towards BAT, but investors are overlooking plenty of good news. While global tobacco sales are stagnating, the group’s vaping operations are enjoying vigorous sales growth, leaving BAT well-positioned for the future. A strong dollar is also helpful for a business that derives 76% of its profits from the US. The stock looks a solid pick for the “current tough times”, especially given the 6.5% dividend yield. 3,230p Learning Technologies Shares This online staff-training business has fallen victim to the tech sell-off, despite being “highly profitable and cash-generative”. The firm works with corporate and public clients to help them burnish their skills, giving it a front-row seat in a market set to be…

On the 75th anniversary of his country’s independence this week, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi pledged to break the vicious cycle of poverty and to transform his country into a developed nation within the next 25 years, says The Times. Change is needed. Although India has seen “massive transformation” since independence, it still has a way to go if it is to reach parity with the rich world. It is forecast to grow by more than 7% this year, the fastest rate among major economies, but GDP per capita is just $2,277, putting India in 144th place out of 194 countries ranked by the World Bank. The scale of the challenge is shown by the fact that India has been overtaken by China over the last 30 years – the…

Cash is hard to get right. If the market crashes, you wish you had more of it. If it goes up, you regret holding so much. Last month’s rally was a fine example of this dilemma. US stocks rose by 9% – one of the all-time best months – yet just 28% of large-cap fund managers beat their benchmarks, according to Bank of America. Growth, value and core (ie, neither growth nor value) managers all underperformed, seemingly because they had too much squirrelled away in cash and deployed too little as the market rose. The fundamental problem is that holding cash has been a losing game in the past few decades. Global stocks have risen strongly over time – even if individual markets such as UK large caps have sometimes…

Lockdowns caused our debt crisis Daniel Hannan The Daily Telegraph Our national debt stands at £2trn – 100% of GDP and up from under 30% in 2000 – and is increasing at an accelerating rate, says Daniel Hannan. Much as some would like to blame this on Brexit, the Tories, the war in Ukraine, or global inflation, the real reason is that we “unexpectedly dropped half a trillion pounds during the pandemic”. Just as there is a “postponed reckoning” if, as an individual, you take two years off work and maintain your income by borrowing, the same happens with the nation’s finances. The “most dangerous group” concealing the “vastness of our fiscal crisis” is the Tories themselves. With a PM who boasted about the generosity of furlough and the “massive…

spectator.co.uk The Tory leadership contested has “descended into a low-tax auction”, says Tim Stanley. That is “not a good thing”. It implies that Tories think the state should shrink “just at the very moment when private enterprise is letting us down” (soaring energy bills) and “the state seems to be on its knees”. They should instead “rediscover an older Tory tradition of state-building” – call it “Tory socialism”. Liberals start by asking how we can grow the economy to make us rich and give us freedom. Tory socialists begin by asking what kind of society we want, and then choose the economic strategy to produce that aim. That may well mean free markets and tax cuts. But it might also mean protectionism if we want home-grown food, for example. And…

● If you have £25,000 or less left on your mortgage, you may want to consider a personal loan rather than a mortgage. Usually a secured debt, such as a mortgage, is cheaper than an unsecured one – such as a loan – because they are less risky: the lender can always sell the asset to recoup their money if you default on your repayments. “But a rapid rise in mortgage rates… has flipped this on its head,” says George Nixon in The Sunday Times. Someone owing £25,000 and repaying over five years could get a mortgage rate of 3.09% from First Direct. Monthly repayments would be £450. A personal loan from RateSetter or Finnable would come with a 2.8% rate, costing you £447 a month for five years and…

● Seven in ten divorcing couples took no account of pension savings when agreeing a financial settlement, new research from consumers’ group Which reveals. The UK’s legal system has allowed courts to split pensions since 2000, with thousands of “pension-sharing” orders granted since then. However, most couples do not pursue such orders. They focus instead on more tangible assets, such as the family home. Overlooking pensions could see spouses financially disadvantaged later in life, Which warns, with women particularly vulnerable. ● The Environment Agency is facing criticism after it emerged that its pension fund has substantial investments in many of the UK’s largest water companies – despite the watchdog’s public criticism of the sector’s performance. The row highlights confusion in the occupational-pensions sector over the extent to which schemes can…

Polymer-maker Synthomer (LSE: SYNT) has seen its share price tumble following the acute phase of the pandemic, says The Times. Pre-tax profit halved to £116m in the first half of 2022, compared with £345m in the same six months the year before. The firm produces nitrile butadiene rubber, a key component in the disposable rubber gloves used in hospitals around the world, demand for which has slowed in the past few months. The firm’s share price has fallen to its lowest level since March 2020 and has slipped by 62% over the last 12 months.…