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☆ KfW CEO says there is 'no doubt' the German economy is competing
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailKfW CEO says there is 'no doubt' the German economy is competingStefan Wintels, CEO of KfW, discusses his optimism for Germany's economic resilience and what is needed in the country to stay competitive on the international investing landscape

Persons: Stefan Wintels

And perhaps best of all, money — from selling the electricity generated by the wind turbines studding the flat green fields stretching out to the North Sea. A slice of the cash goes to the villagers themselves, with the local buy-in making this windy farming enclave near the border with Denmark a showcase for ways to push ahead with renewable energy projects. The S&P Global Clean Energy Index of shares in companies with clean energy-related businesses has fallen 26% over the past year, even as broader market indexes have surged to records. In sub-Saharan Africa, where half the population lacks access to electricity, renewable projects face even steeper challenges with financing. In Nigeria, where blackouts are an everyday event for about half of the country’s 213 million people, some 14 solar projects have stalled because the finances don’t add up.

Persons: ”, Astrid Nissen, moos, “, Mackenzie, it's, Nissen, Christian Andresen, Andresen, Orsted, Vattenfall, David Shepheard, Edu Okeke, Taiwo Organizations: U.S . Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, University College London, Solar, Energie Andresen GmbH, Energy, logjams, World Bank Locations: SPRAKEBUELL, Germany, Denmark, village's, Spain, Italy, Africa, Flensburg, Sprakebuell's, German, Danish, New Jersey, Swedish, North American, Saharan Africa, Nigeria, Katsina, Abuja

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's state-owned development bank has sold shares in the company that owns the national postal service for about 2.17 billion euros ($2.3 billion), reducing the government's stake and raising money to help finance improvements to the country's rail network. The sale cuts the state's stake in DHL to 16.5%, though it is still the largest single shareholder. The proceeds are to be used to strengthen the capital of Germany's main railway operator, the state-owned Deutsche Bahn, to help it upgrade railway infrastructure, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The government is turning to privatization proceeds to help finance improvements to the rail network after a court ruling forced it to plug a big hole in this year's budget and reconsider its wider financial plans. The maneuver ran afoul of Germany’s strict self-imposed limits on running up debt.

Organizations: BERLIN, —, Deutsche, DHL Group, DHL, Deutsche Bahn, Finance Ministry Locations: — Germany's, Germany's

Underscoring the frustration, Economy Minister Robert Habeck, a member of the pro-spending Greens, called the verdict "a huge blow to industrial policy". Speaking to parliament, Habeck warned the court ruling put at risk support for the steel sector, which is counting on subsidies to decarbonise and stay competitive. Finance Minister Christian Lindner meanwhile said it was too early to discuss the consequences of the court ruling. "The steel industry alone can contribute to reducing a third of total industrial emissions - and thus has enormous leverage to save millions of tons of CO2 in the coming years." "The political bottom line is that many coalition disputes will reopen as serious budget constraints kick in.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Christian Lindner, Robert Habeck, BERLIN, Wednesday's, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Habeck, Yesenn, DBRS Morningstar, hawkish Lindner, Lindner, Bernhard Osburg, Carsten Brzeski, Eurointelligence, Maria Martinez, Christian Kraemer, Andreas Rinke, Markus Wacket, Tom Kaeckenhoff, Matthias Williams, Alexandra Hudson, Susan Fenton Organizations: Finance, Climate, Economy, Greens, CHANGE, Budget, European Central Bank, Thomson Locations: United States, Berlin, Germany

Mendoza, a former fighter for the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, dragged her children back inside the house. In interviews with Reuters, those people recounted how the attacks left conservation projects adrift, with conservationists withdrawing from environmental protection works because of fear of more violence. Municipal data from local environmental authorities and the Colombian Institute of Meteorology (IDEAM) also showed that in the year after each killing, deforestation at a local level was worse than national trends. Santofimio's killing brought his hard-fought conservation project to a halt. In the tree nursery, which stopped work after Santofimio's killing, saplings bask in the dappled sunlight beneath protective nets.

Persons: Duberney Lopez, Jorge Santofimio, PUERTO, Leidy Mendoza, Mendoza, Jorge !, they'd, Susana Muhamad, Muhamad, Colombia's, –, Armando Aroca, Santofimio, Lopez, Kevin Murakami, Comuccom, Aroca, Javier Franciso Parra, Francisco couldn't, Andres Felipe Garcia, Cormacarena, Parra, Garcia, Luisz Martinez, Martinez, La, KfW, Roberto Gomez, Gonzalo Cardona, Sara Ines Lara, Oliver Griffin, Julia Symmes Cobb, Katy Daigle, Claudia Parsons Organizations: Revolutionary Armed Forces, Colombian, Villagers, Reuters, Environment Ministry, Global, Colombian Institute of Meteorology, Comuccom, International Narcotics, Law, Affairs, U.S, National Liberation Army, UN, Programme, Meta, UNDP, Progress, World Wildlife Fund, Security, USAID, Thomson Locations: Colombia, PUERTO GUZMAN, Putumayo, Bogota, La, Meta, La Macarena, Amazonia, Puerto Guzman

☆ Germany buys stake in EnBW's high voltage grid for $1.1 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Solar panels of Germany's largest solar park Weesow-Willmersdorf by energy supplier EnBW AG are seen during sunset in Werneuchen, Germany September 21, 2023. EnBW earlier this year already sold a 24.95% stake in TransnetBW to a savings banks-led consortium for around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion). The group confirmed that KfW had bought its stake at the same conditions, without providing details. "We are delighted to welcome two long-term oriented and reliable co-investors on board at TransnetBW," EnBW finance chief Thomas Kusterer said in a statement. "This provides EnBW with additional funding for growth investments to accelerate the implementation of the energy transition in Germany."

Persons: Lisi Niesner, firming, KfW, Thomas Kusterer, Christoph Steitz, Jan Harvey Organizations: EnBW, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Werneuchen, Germany, TransnetBW, Berlin

☆ Germany halts e-cars solar subsidy programme amid high demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A logo depicting an electric car is seen on the floor of a charging bay inside an ALDI supermarket car park in Manchester, Britain, September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Phil Noble Acquire Licensing RightsBERLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Germany's state-owned KfW bank on Wednesday said it had halted a new subsidy programme for charging electric vehicles with solar power at home a day after its launch as the funds were exhausted immediately due to high demand. The programme is aimed at boosting the switch to electric cars and reducing the need for public charging stations. The transport ministry had allocated some 500 million euros for the programme, but 200 million euros were reserved for next year under a "first-come, first-served principle". ($1 = 0.9463 euros)Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Andreas Rinke, Editing by Friederike HeineOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Phil Noble, Riham Alkousaa, Andreas Rinke, Friederike Heine Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Manchester, Britain

☆ Germany's KfW bank will no longer grant promotional loans to China from 2026
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsFRANKFURT/BERLIN, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Germany will no longer grant promotional loans to China from 2026, the Federal Development Ministry (BMZ) confirmed on Tuesday, in the latest measure to reduce Germany's strategic dependence on China. The German ministry informed the Chinese Ministry of Finance in mid-September of the federal government's decision to permanently stop granting promotional loans to China. Contracts for promotional loan projects between German state-owned KfW Bank and the Chinese Ministry of Finance can only be signed up to and including 2025. "These promotional loan projects must have ambitious impacts in the areas of climate and environment," the ministry said. From 2013 to 2022, promotional loans with a total volume of 3.451 billion euros were agreed with China.

Persons: Ralph Orlowski, Svenja Schulze, Andreas Rinke, Emma, Victoria Farr, Leslie Adler Organizations: KfW, REUTERS, Federal Development Ministry, Chinese Ministry of Finance, KfW Bank, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, FRANKFURT, BERLIN, China

Companies Uniper SE FollowGazprom PAO FollowDUESSELDORF, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Uniper (UN01.DE) announced plans on Tuesday to triple its green investments in the coming years as it confirmed strong financial results in the first half driven by favourable market conditions in a turnaround for Germany's bailed-out utility. Uniper said it would invest 8 billion euros ($8.79 billion) through 2030 for its green transformation alone, triple its average annual investments of the past three years. In May, it flagged profits of more than 2 billion euros expected from hedging its gas supply commitments. Expecting no further financial losses from procuring replacement gas volumes, Uniper said on Tuesday no further capital increases from the German state would be necessary. Its credit line from the KfW state lender has been reduced ahead of schedule to 11.5 billion euros from 16.5 billion euros, the company said.

Persons: Germany's, Uniper, Michael Lewis, Vera Eckert, Rachel More, Friederike Heine, Muralikumar Organizations: Gazprom, Thomson

☆ Europe’s Economy Expanded in Spring, and Inflation Has Eased
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Gross domestic product in the eurozone grew 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2023, a stronger result than predicted by economists. Italy, Austria and Latvia all saw output fall in the second quarter. Inflation across the eurozone dipped to an annual rate of 5.3 percent in July, down from 5.5 percent the previous month. “On the whole, the eurozone economy recorded another underwhelming quarter,” said Ricardo Amaro, a senior economist at Oxford Economics. He noted that “the second half of the year is likely to be as underwhelming, if not more than the first half, with the eurozone economy risking stagnation or worse.”

Persons: ”, Fritzi, KfW, Christine Lagarde, What’s, Lagarde, ’, Ricardo Amaro Organizations: Gross, European Central Bank, Oxford Economics Locations: Germany, Europe’s, Ukraine, Germany’s, Italy, Austria, Latvia, Spain, France, Europe, Russia

☆ European software startup investor Notion Capital has raised $327 million for fifth and largest fund to date
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

London-based Notion Capital has raised its fifth and largest fund to date. The software-as-a-service investor has brought in $327 million from new and existing LPs. Notion has backed companies like fintech unicorn GoCardless and Currencycloud. London-based investor Notion Capital has raised 300 million euros (around $327 million) for its fifth fund. The fund focuses on software-as-a-service and fintech companies in the UK and Europe with its latest fund domiciled in Luxembourg and denominated in euros.

Persons: GoCardless, Stephen Chandler, we're, didn't, Chandler, Itxaso del Palacio, Stephanie Opdam, Kamil Mieczakowski Organizations: BlackRock, Visa, Tiger Global, Patient Capital, Novo Holdings, Cortes Capital, KfW, Itxaso Locations: Currencycloud, London, Europe, Luxembourg, Shelby County Tennessee, Upvest, Germany

☆ European Central Bank set to inch closer to the end of its hiking cycle as inflation slows
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Annette Weisbach | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), announced a new rate decision Thursday following new inflation data. "On the other hand, growing wage pressure and falling but still high inflation expectations call for caution." Recent inflation data shows that price dynamics are abating but consumer price rises are still far too high. At 6.1% year-on-year for the headline rate, and 5.3% for the core rate, inflation remains too high for comfort in Frankfurt with wage pressures still building. The bank's benchmark rate is currently at 3.25%.

Persons: Christine Lagarde, Fritzi, Mark Wall Organizations: European Central Bank, ECB, FRANKFURT, Deutsche Bank Locations: Frankfurt

☆ TripAdvisor rival GetYourGuide nears $2 billion valuation as it raises fresh funds to invest in A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Berlin-based company said Thursday it had raised the funding through a mix of equity and debt, with $85 million of equity investment being led by U.S. asset management firm Blue Pool Capital. The investment values the company at nearly $2 billion, up from GetYourGuide's last publicly-disclosed valuation of $1.4 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. Total investment in GetYourGuide, including both equity and debt, now stands at just over $1 billion. Rather than advertise hotels, flights and other forms of transportation, GetYourGuide sells its users experiences and things to do in unexplored places. These experiences are offered through third-party suppliers on its platform, with GetYourGuide taking a commission on each booking.

Persons: UniCredit, Johannes Reck, GetYourGuide, Reck, didn't Organizations: U.S, Blue Pool Capital, GetYourGuide's, KKR, Temasek, BNP, Citibank, KfW, GetYourGuide, CNBC, omicron Locations: U.S, Berlin, GetYourGuide

☆ Tui’s pandemic payback sets path for takeoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, March 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tui’s (TUI1n.DE) 1.8 billion euro capital raise releases it from government clutches and sets it up for brighter skies. The travel operator said on Friday it plans to issue new stock to raise 1.8 billion euros, at the high end of the 1.6 billion to 1.8 billion euros flagged in December by Chief Financial Officer Mathias Kiep. Like many travel companies Tui required funds to keep it afloat during the pandemic when holidays were cancelled and flights were grounded. The 2.7 billion euro company received a staggering 4.3 billion euros of German state aid during the Covid-19 outbreak and is repaying much of the remaining 2.6 billion euros of debt with its fresh funds. Tui’s revenue is expected to soar by over 17% this year to top 19 billion euros, according to Refinitiv estimates.

☆ Germany’s electricity headache has an M&A cure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Sorting out a rickety power grid is an especially pressing issue in Germany, but luckily Scholz also has the means to act. Cutting carbon emissions means powering more cars and homes through zero-carbon electricity rather than fossil fuels. It has to transport electricity all the way from wind turbines in the northern regions to its southern industrial heartland, which means the power network is often overloaded. The German power network is also unusually complex. Germany’s historic dependence on Russian gas deepened its energy crisis last year, and underscored the risks of relying on foreign-owned critical assets.

☆ Elia's 50Hertz to invest $9.3 billion in power grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, March 6 (Reuters) - 50Hertz, the German high-voltage power grid owned by Belgium's Elia (ELI.BR), plans to more than double investment in upgrading its network to 8.7 billion euros ($9.3 billion) over the next five years, it said on Monday. The investment, to be made over the 2023-2027 period, is more than twice the amount it invested between 2018 and 2022 and up by more than a half from the 5.6 billion euros earmarked for the 2022-2026 period. Sufficient profitability is essential to maintain the financing capability and the partial financing of the investments," Nix said. Germany's power grids need tens of billions of euros in investments over the next few years to make sure they can manage a growing inflow of solar and wind power, as the country tries to wean itself off fossil fuels. ($1 = 0.9398 euros)Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Editing by Friederike HeineOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Shares in EnBW rose 5.5% after the news to end the day at their highest level in five weeks. The savings banks in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where EnBW is based, are part of the final bidding round, their president Peter Schneider said last week. KfW, EnBW and CIP declined to comment. EnBW Chief Financial Officer Thomas Kusterer in November said EnBW hoped to conclude the sales process in early 2023. ($1 = 0.9297 euros)Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Markus Wacket Editing by Miranda Murray and Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Scientists can spike startup bets in Planet A's new $172 million climate tech fund even if they have a good business case. Check out the 20-slide LP deck it used to raise the fresh cash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

German VC Planet A has just closed its first 160 million euros (around $172 million) fund. Planet A, a European venture capital firm, has just closed its inaugural 160 million euros (around $172 million) fund to back startups doing just that. Founded in 2020, Planet A is looking for market-ready tech startups with significant impact potential in climate change mitigation, waste reduction, resource savings, and biodiversity protection. The early-stage investor will write checks of between 500,000 euros to 3 million euros to startups in Europe, the UK, and Israel. The Planet A team intended to raise 100 million euros, Detzner said, so the fund was oversubscribed.

Organizations: & $

Below are answers to the most urgent questions:HOW HAS GERMANY RESPONDED TO THE LOSS OF RUSSIAN GAS? Germany launched a multi-layered strategy to reign in demand and source alternatives following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent decline in gas deliveries. Germany is now getting more pipeline gas from neighbouring Europe and Norway, buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) via existing European terminals, and constructing new LNG terminals on German coastlines, as well as achieving gas savings. Gas stocks are 89% full, enough to get Germany to the end of March even in a prolonged cold spell, according to most recent statistics, before re-filling starts in the April to September storage season. As a rule of thumb, Germany depletes its stocks by a rate of around 1% per day if temperatures fall below zero degrees, the regulator has said.

☆ Germany's KfW lends Tunisia 300 million euros to finance development
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 23 (Reuters) - German state lender KfW (KFW.UL) on Friday lent 300 million euros ($319 million) to Tunisia to finance projects in renewable energy, water and rural development, officials said. The agreement was signed in Tunisia's foreign ministry. ($1 = 0.9417 euros)Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Uniper (UN01.DE) has already booked billions of euros of losses on derivatives, exacerbating a crisis as it rushed to plug the gap left after Russia turned off the taps. Like other energy firms, Uniper uses derivatives, such as securing an option to sell gas at a set price in the future, to guard against energy price swings. "In total, we have derivative positions of about 216 billion euros as of September 30 2022," a spokesperson for Uniper said, adding that the riskier part of this was small. According to its accounts, Uniper held around 198 billion euros of receivables from derivative instruments as assets. It is also more than the 131 billion euros Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE) had at the end of June, public data shows.

☆ Germany's half-a-trillion dollar energy bazooka may not be enough
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Christoph Steitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Almost half a trillion dollars, and counting, since the Ukraine war jolted it into an energy crisis nine months ago. The money set aside stands at up to 440 billion euros ($465 billion), according to the calculations, which provide the first combined tally of all of Germany's drives aimed at avoiding running out of power and securing new sources of energy. That equates to about 1.5 billion euros a day since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Energy rationing is a risk in the event of a long cold spell this winter, Germany's first in half a century without Russian gas. There's no security in sight either, with the push to build up of two alternatives to Russian fuel - liquefied natural gas (LNG) and renewables - years away from targeted levels.

☆ ECB must hold course to reduce inflation, KFW chief economist says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailECB must hold course to reduce inflation, KFW chief economist saysFritzi Köhler Geib, chief economist at KFW, discusses the latest ECB rate hike and the projections for the euro area growth in 2023.

☆ The rise and fall of Wirecard
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

July 2: The head of Germany's financial watchdog calls the accounting scandal at Wirecard "a massive criminal act". July 6: German prosecutors arrest the head of a Dubai-based subsidiary of Wirecard. 2021Jan. 29: Felix Hufeld, president of German financial watchdog BaFin, steps down. 2022Jan. 14: German prosecutors file first charges in Wirecard fraud, the Financial Times reports. Sept. 21: A Munich district court said it had admitted charges against former Wirecard executives, paving way for a trial.

☆ Germany nationalises Sefe to oust Gazprom, secure gas supply
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Germany will nationalise gas importer Sefe, formerly known as Gazprom Germania, the economy ministry said on Monday, in a move to protect it from bankruptcy and force Russia out of the company. Sefe was dropped by Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) earlier this year and put under German state trusteeship in April. It has since received close to 10 billion euros ($10.3 billion) in state-backed credit lines. Under the ordered measures, Sefe will then issue new shares to the same nominal amount that will be subscribed by Germany. In addition to the nationalisation, Berlin also announced that it would boost Sefe's loan from state lender KfW to 13.8 billion euros from a previous 11.8 billion euros.

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