JD.com’s arrival in European consumer goods retail sets an important precedent for the sector and represents a further shift in commercial spheres of influence in the region.

The proposed new methodology lays out Scope’s analytical approach for telecommunication companies. The methodology as proposed is expected to have no rating impact on outstanding ratings if implemented as proposed.

BP’s appointment of Meg O’Neill, the CEO of Woodside Energy, as the first woman and the first outsider to head the integrated oil and gas company (IOC), completes the reset of top management and strategy.

Norway’s power utilities are facing rising capex demands against a constant call on cash to pay dividends to municipal owners. This is creating a cash squeeze on utilities in the north of the country.

The European retail sector, particularly in food and electronics, continues to face a challenging operating environment shaped by shifting consumer behaviour, rising cost pressures and investment-heavy structural transformation, says Scope Ratings.

Europe’s telecoms operators are on course to reduce leverage to the lowest level in a decade as the capex cycle continues to turn down over the next two years, assuming no major outlays on M&A and technology.

The buzz around private credit since First Brands’ bankruptcy shows that investors need to be alert to the risks of engaging with this market. But it is also important not to exaggerate the credit risks or rate of growth of this market.

The recent collapse of First Brands, in casting a shadow over the direct-lending sector in the US, raises important questions: does the rapid growth in private credit amplify corporate credit risk and will this be different in Europe compared with the US?

Climate change can materially affect the creditworthiness of all issuer types and asset classes, so we have harmonised our general framework for capturing this risk, which can be applied to produce issuer-specific Key Climate Risk Indicators (KCRIs).

Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium need far more investment to modernise their electricity transmission grids through 2034 than southern European countries, hence the importance of having secured most of the EUR 200bn-plus in required funding.