9fin featured content

UPDATE — Fedrigoni — ESG QuickTake (9fin) (9 Jan)

TLDR: Fedrigoni, a manufacturer of paper and paperboard products based in Italy, reports some steps taken to assess its physical and transitional climate risks. However, there are some gaps in its approach. Fedrigoni has a long-term target to be carbon neutral by 2050 and an SBTi near-term target well below 2ºC target. Fedrigoni is likely to be impacted by the EU deforestation-free products regulation. It has taken limited steps to address the nature-related risks in its operations. Fedrigoni is involved in an ongoing investigation related to a work accident that occurred at one of its plants in 2021.

Grifols short attack garners mixed views (9fin) (9 Jan)

Grifols’ traded debt instruments and listed equity dropped precipitously following the publication of a short-seller report, produced by Gotham City Research, on Tuesday morning (9 January). Gotham alleges that Grifols’ true leverage likely stands in the region of 10-13x, compared to the 6.9x reported by the company at end-H1 23. Gotham’s short thesis revolves around the fact that Grifols consolidates the results of two companies — Haema and BPC Plasma — into its accounts, despite not owning any equity in these businesses. Combined, these two businesses account for around 40% of Grifols’ profit, according to Gotham.

HY company news

Nation's largest Bojangles franchisee enters compliance agreement, pays $27K in penalties after Department of Labor finds child labour violations again (9 Jan)

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour division found child labour violations at a Bojangles location in Powell. This is the second time in less than two years the company has been alleged to have committed similar violations. The agreement entails improving living conditions for minor-aged employees and compliance with federal labour regulations at the company’s 118 locations.

Citrix Systems, LoanCare sued over November data breach (9 Jan)

According to a lawsuit, Citrix and LoanCare allegedly failed to implement adequate data security measures to prevent a data breach that took place in November 2023. Information exposed in the November data breach included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and loan numbers. The plaintiff, Shirley Dailey, seeks compensation for all affected by the breach.

Maxar gets green light for $27m settlement in fraud suit (10 Jan)

Maxar Technologies Inc and its key executives have received approval from a federal judge for a $27m settlement in a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that they were involved in securities fraud by making false statements regarding its satellite business and accounts.

News stories

UK climate watchdog chief quits as Sunak green policy comes under fire (11 Jan)

Chris Stark, the head of the UK’s Climate Change Committee has announced he will depart from his role in April, which may leave the organisation without both a chief executive and permanent chair. The decision comes just three months after Sunak’s decision to roll back a series of green measures. Under Sunak, the UK has been criticised for its climate policies.

World’s biggest banks made $3bn on green debt last year (3 Jan)

In both 2023 and 2022, the world’s biggest lenders generated more revenue underwriting bonds and providing loans for green projects than from financing oil, gas and coal activities. According to Bloomberg data, in 2022, the world’s largest banks earned a total of around $3bn from underwriting green debt.