Economy of Germany | GlobalPost

ThyssenKrupp to axe 3,000 jobs as losses widen in Q2

Agence France-PresseMay 15, 2013 03:31

German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp said Tuesday it plans to axe 3,000 administrative jobs worldwide as its losses widened in the second quarter. "Overall the number of employees in administrative functions in the group worldwide is to be reduced by around 3,000 from its current level of around 15,000," ThyssenKrupp announced as it calculated that its net loss stood at 89 million euros ($116 million) in the period from January to March. ThyssenKrupp runs its business year from October to September. spm/lc

Germany's Volkswagen plans new China car plant

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 04:24

German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) will build a plant in central China, a spokesman said Tuesday, as it battles US rival General Motors to be the top foreign automaker in the world's biggest car market. The plant in the city of Changsha will start production in early 2016 with an annual output capacity of 300,000 vehicles, a Beijing-based spokesman for VW told AFP. "We are quite close to an official announcement. I think it will come this week," the spokesman said, but declined to give an investment figure.

Germany and Spain's auto sales spur recovery hopes

Thomson ReutersMay 8, 2013 18:02

By Laurence Frost and Andreas Cremer PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) - Car sales rose in Germany and Spain last month, industry data showed on Friday, adding to signs that Europe's austerity-driven auto slump could soon bottom out. Spanish car sales jumped 11 percent, partly due to holiday timing and government incentives. Registrations in Germany, the region's biggest market, advanced 3.8 percent for the first gain in six months - and the biggest since December 2011.

Commerzbank sees bleak 2013 as it fishes for investors

Thomson ReutersMay 7, 2013 13:39

By Arno Schuetze FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Commerzbank <CBKGk.DE>, Germany's No.2 lender, will have to work hard to entice investors to its 2.5 billion euro ($3.3 billion) share call this month after painting a bleak outlook for the rest of this year. Chief Financial Officer Stephan Engels said 2013 would be a year of transition for the bank, which posted a net loss of 94 million euros in the first three months as it booked a 493 million euro restructuring charge linked to 4-6,000 job cuts.

German factory orders surprise to upside in March

Agence France-PresseMay 7, 2013 08:15

Hopes that Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has put its recent soft patch behind it received a boost on Tuesday with better-than-expected data for factory orders. Industrial orders rose unexpectedly strongly in March, propelled by rising demand -- both at home and abroad -- for German-made goods, economy ministry data showed. Industrial orders jumped by 2.2 percent in March compared with February, after already rising by the same magnitude the previous month.

ThyssenKrupp eyes sale of railway, construction ops

Agence France-PresseMay 6, 2013 12:30

German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp said Monday it is looking to sell its rail and construction activities due to the limited growth prospects. The management of ThyssenKrupp's material services division informed the group's supervisory board "of its decision to initiate a sale process for the railway and construction operations, with combined sales of around 400 million euros ($523 million) and roughly 800 employees," the group said in a statement

Siemens sees 2Q rise in profits, but reduces full-year forecast

The Canadian PressMay 2, 2013 06:45

BERLIN - German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG warned Thursday that its 2013 forecast would be at the "low-end" of what it had anticipated due to numerous one-off charges and restructuring costs, despite posting a rise in second-quarter net income. Siemens, which makes a wide variety of products including high-speed trains and wind turbines, is in the middle of an overhaul aimed at increasing competitiveness dubbed "Siemens 2014." Charges related to the program are estimated to come in at 900 million euros ($1.2 billion) for 2013 — lowering the company's bottom line this year.

Slow markets, investment in new technology make sales, earnings dip at BMW

The Canadian PressMay 2, 2013 03:00

FRANKFURT - Tough auto markets worldwide — including a deep slump in Europe — and investment in new technology dented first-quarter earnings at German automaker BMW AG. BMW's net profit fell 3 per cent to 1.312 billion euros ($1.73 billion) as revenues declined 4.1 per cent to 17.55 billion euros. The earnings figures follow a quarter in which the European car market shrank 9.8 per cent as many countries have sunk back into recession. Still, the company's drop in profit for the quarter was smaller than its German competitors, Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG.

Volkswagen says 'watchful' after drop in Q1 profits

Agence France-PresseApril 29, 2013 08:45

German auto giant Volkswagen vowed Monday to remain watchful after seeing its profit swerve sharply downwards in the first three months of the current year. "We're looking to the rest of the year with our usual realism and with great watchfulness," chief executive Martin Winterkorn said on presentation of VW's first-quarter report. Winterkorn expressed confidence that, "despite all the economic imponderables, VW will gather momentum throughout the course of the year and grow faster than the overall market."

Bayer to buy US firm Conceptus for $1.1 bln

Agence France-PresseApril 29, 2013 03:45

German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer said Monday it has agreed to buy US women's healthcare specialist Conceptus for $1.1 billion (852 million euros). "Bayer intends to broaden its portfolio in the field of contraception. Bayer HealthCare LLC has therefore signed a merger agreement with Conceptus, Inc.," Bayer said in a statement. California-based Conceptus developed the Essure procedure, a non-surgical permanent birth control method.