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☆ U.S., Germany foil alleged Russian plot to assassinate CEO of German arms firm sending weapons to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Dan De Luce | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

U.S. intelligence agencies discovered the plan to go after Papperger earlier this year and informed the German government, the sources said. We have also been clear that Russia's actions will not deter Allies from continuing to support Ukraine." The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA and the German embassy in Washington all declined to comment. The Intelligence Committee is closely following these threats, which only strengthen our resolve to support Ukraine." And in February, the company signed a memorandum with Ukraine to set up a joint production plant for artillery ammunition.

Persons: Rheinmetall AG Armin Papperger, Ronny HARTMANN, RONNY HARTMANN, Armin Papperger, Papperger, Adrienne Watson, Biden, Watson, Oliver Hoffman, Putin, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Vladimir Putin, Rheinmetall's Papperger Organizations: Rheinmetall AG, Rheinmetall, AFP, Getty Images, U.S, Lynx, CNN, White House National Security, NATO Allies, National Intelligence, CIA, Democratic, House Intelligence, NATO, Intelligence, NBC News, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Unterluess, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Moscow, Russian, United States, Washington, cyberattacks, Kyiv, United Kingdom, London

☆ Ukraine is getting a prototype artillery shell that can strike 3 times as far as regular rounds: report
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Germany plans to send Ukraine a prototype artillery shell that can travel 62 miles, Handelsblatt reported. AdvertisementGermany is gearing up to send Ukraine a prototype artillery shell that can travel up to 62 miles, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported. That would more than triple the reach of the conventional 155 mm artillery rounds Ukraine is heavily reliant on, depending on what system is used to fire it. It's not clear what the prototype munition actually is. Earlier this year, Germany announced a $5.3 million military aid package for Ukraine, including 10,000 artillery rounds from its own stocks, Politico reported.

Persons: They'd, —, It's, Handelsblatt, Russia's, Armin Papperger, Germany's, Olaf Scholz, Scholz Organizations: Service, Associated Press, Rheinmetall, Defense, Politico Locations: Germany, Ukraine, Berlin

☆ Tesla's stock wraps up one of its worst quarters on record as global dominance wanes
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Lora Kolodny | In Lorakolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Deliveries are the closest approximation of sales reported by Tesla but are not precisely defined in the company's shareholder communications. Tesla's Model 3 is about $4,000 more than that. Aging lineup, early days for Cybertruck While EV sales are still gaining popularity worldwide, the growth rate has slowed. In a push for end-of-quarter sales, Musk recently mandated that all sales and service staff install and demo FSD for customers before they hand over their cars. Despite its name, Tesla's premium option requires a human driver at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at any moment.

Persons: Florence Lo, Tesla, Troy Teslike, Tesla's, China's BYD, BYD, Lei Jun, Emmanuel Rosner, Rosner, Elon Musk, Krisztian Bocsi, Rohan Patel, Musk, Sandy Munro, Forbes, Larry Magid, Donald Trump, He's, he's, Investor Ross Gerber, who've, Brad Gerstner, Gerstner, FSD Organizations: Reuters, FactSet, Independent, Qin, Tesla's, China Passenger Car Association, Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank, Tesla, Volvo, Elon, Tesla Inc, Getty, IF Metall, IF Metall's, IF, Pew Research, Gallup, Investor, CNBC, Bears, S3 Partners, U.S Locations: Beijing, China, China In China, Shanghai, Europe, Red Sea, Iran, Gruenheide, Germany, Brandenburg, Berlin, Swedish, Sweden, U.S, Austin , Texas, San Jose , California, Fremont , California, Florida, Haiti, Texas, Delaware

☆ Tesla to offer German workers pay rise this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBERLIN, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) said on Thursday it will offer a pay rise to workers at its German plant, where unions have said they earn below the industry average. The U.S. electric vehicle maker said it will inform staff in November of the level of the pay rise, adding it raised wages by 6% last year. Under last year's agreement, workers at Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) and BMW (BMWG.DE) were offered a 5.2% pay rise in June 2023 and a 3.3% pay rise in 2024 as well as an inflation premium for full-time workers of 3,000 euros ($3,160). German union IG Metall has previously said that Tesla wages were around 20% below those offered under the collective bargaining agreement. IG Metall said Tesla told workers of the upcoming raise at a series of meetings held at the plant this week.

Persons: Annegret, Tesla, Metall, Victoria Waldersee, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Benz, BMW, Metall's, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Brandenburg, Gruenheide, Germany, U.S

Companies Tesla Inc FollowGRUENHEIDE, Germany, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) workers at the carmaker's Brandenburg plant are joining the IG Metall union in rising numbers over concerns around health, safety and overwork, the union said on Monday. Reuters was not able to independently verify the union's claims and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Union representatives met workers at the factory gates, on the platforms of nearby stations and inside the factory on Monday handing out stickers stating "Together for safe and fair work at Tesla". "The law gives all workers the right to organise in a union and stand openly for that at their workplace. That counts at Tesla in Brandenburg as well," Dirk Schulze of IG Metall said.

Persons: Tesla, IG, Dirk Schulze, IG Metall, Victoria Waldersee, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Tesla, IG, Reuters, IG Metall, Thomson Locations: Germany, carmaker's Brandenburg, Brandenburg, Poland

☆ After Ukraine's success with US-made HIMARS, European militaries are looking for their own rocket artillery
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Other European countries are pursuing their own rocket artillery, buying HIMARS or building new systems. Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesMultiple launch rocket systems have been around since World War II, when the legendary Soviet Katyusha battered Nazi forces. But Russia adapted and moved its command and supply centers out of HIMARS range, though at the price of compromising some efficiency. Rocket artillery can't replace howitzers, which offer some advantages, such as the ability to fire barrages continuously for hours. Still, rocket artillery is certain to join howitzers as the backbone of Western artillery.

Persons: Lockheed Martin, HIMARS, PATRIK STOLLARZ, Biden, ATACMS, salvoes, Jakub Porzycki Organizations: Russia, Service, Rheinmetall, Defense News, Lockheed, Getty, US State Department, Army Tactical Missile Systems, Ukraine, Storm, Nazi, Anadolu Agency, Russian, GPS Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Germany, Munster, AFP, Poland, France, Soviet, Warsaw, Russia

☆ German union calls for better staffing at Tesla plant amid expansion plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, July 17 (Reuters) - Germany's top union IG Metall on Monday called for Tesla to improve staffing conditions at its German gigafactory as it prepares to expand, with the carmaker due to publish its expansion plans for feedback from the community later this week. The expansion plans will entail adding more jobs to the 12,000 planned for the first expansion phase of Tesla's first European product hub, of which roughly 11,000 have been hired so far. Tesla's plans are a clear commitment to Brandenburg as a location," IG Metall's Dirk Schulze said. "Before the expansion of the plant, the expansion of the working conditions of the colleagues in Gruenheide must now finally have priority." Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Victoria Waldersee; editing by David EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tesla's, Dirk Schulze, Schulze, Tesla, Christoph Steitz, Victoria, David Evans Organizations: Metall, Tesla, Brandenburg, Citizens, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Germany, Brandenburg, Gruenheide

☆ Rheinmetall could be worth 17 billion euros over medium term, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, June 10 (Reuters) - The CEO of Germany's largest defence contractor Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) said he expected a further boost to the company's stock market value due to the Ukraine war and increased defence spending in Europe. "Our operating income in 2025 should be about 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion), maybe even 1.7 billion euros. "A valuation of 17 billion euros is realistic for Rheinmetall over the medium term," he added. Rheinmetall's current stock valuation is about 10.5 billion euros, on 2022 operating income of 754 million euros. The stock market value of the company, a maker of tanks, ammunition and other war equipment, has tripled since December 2021 and it joined Germany's blue-chip DAX (.GDAXI) index earlier this year.

Persons: Armin Papperger, DAX, Christian Kraemer, Holger Hansen, Sabine Siebold, Kirsti Knolle, Madeline Chambers Organizations: Rheinmetall, RND, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Ukraine, Europe

☆ Rheinmetall and Ukraine's Ukroboronprom form JV to build, repair tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 13 (Reuters) - Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) has founded a joint venture with Ukrainian state-owned conglomerate Ukroboronprom to build and repair tanks in Ukraine, the company said on Saturday. Closing of the agreement to set up the joint venture is scheduled for late June with operations to begin from mid-July. The German company expects to sign contracts for two more joint ventures in the coming days for ammunition and air defence, according to Handelsblatt. Rheinmetall has ridden a rise in defence spending since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, with Germany also supplying aid and weapons to Kyiv. Rheinmetall makes ammunition and other military equipment as well as jointly producing the Leopard tanks that Germany is sending to Ukraine with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.

Bowing to pressure from allies, Germany's government this year agreed to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, one of the big ticket items sought by Kyiv as it gears up to mount a counteroffensive against Russian forces. Duesseldorf-based Rheinmetall makes the cannon of the Leopard 2 while the Munich-based KMW makes its chassis. A district court in Munich in a statement on Tuesday said KMW was seeking legal protection to prevent Rheinmetall from making statements it saw as "untrue, misleading factual assertions that violate its rights". Higher defence spending pushed Rheinmetall to record earnings last year and saw the company enter Germany's DAX blue-chip index. ($1 = 0.9106 euros)Writing by Matthias Williams Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A German company is offering Ukraine the benefit — and burden — of being the first military to get its brand-new tank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Prominent German defense firm Rheinmetall is offering Ukraine its new Panther Kf51 tank. Rheinmetall DefenceRheinmetall is reportedly negotiating with Ukraine to build a tank factory there, though it's not clear whether it would produce the Panther or the older Leopard 2 tank. The Kf51 Panther is a new tank with some old features. A German Leopard 2 tank in Munster in May 2019. Like the next-generation Abrams tank, the Panther's turret can be unmanned, with its crew operating the vehicle behind the thicker armor of the tank's hull.

☆ Delivery Hero ramps up interest payments to raise 1 bln euro convertible bond
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Germany's Delivery Hero (DHER.DE) is offering investors significantly higher interest payments than it has done historically to raise 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) through a new seven-year convertible bond announced on Monday. Though Delivery Hero is a recurrent issuer of equity-linked securities, the deal illustrates a trend among listed European firms choosing to refinance debt through convertible bonds as an alternative to straight-up equity or debt. However, despite rising interest rates, the industrials firm was able to secure cheaper terms than Delivery Hero, an international food-delivery service. Rheinmetall's bonds, due in 2028 and 2030, pay interest of 1.88% and 2.25%, respectively. Alongside the convertible bond sale, the banks on the deal are placing up to 300 million euros worth of existing shares on behalf of convertible bond investors as a hedging manoeuvre.

DUESSELDORF, Jan 28 (Reuters) - German arms maker Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) had a record year in 2022 and is approaching an order backlog of 30 billion euros, CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters in an interview. "We are approaching an order backlog of 30 billion euros, and I expect to see an order backlog of 40 billion euros next year," said the CEO of the company, which sells a whole range of defence products but is probably most famous for supplying the 120mm gun of the Leopard 2 tank. Rheinmetall expects sales to grow to 11 billion-12 billion euros ($12 billion -$13 billion) in 2025, he told German magazine Stern. The projection is higher than the 10 billion-11 billion euro range Rheinmetall gave during its capital markets day in November. For 2022, the company expects 6.5 billion euros in sales.

☆ Germany's Leopard tank move puts spotlight on its maker: Rheinmetall
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Christoph Steitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A day later, Germany's long-awaited decision to send heavy Leopard tanks to Ukraine, which Rheinmetall produces jointly with peer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, pushed shares in the nearly 134-year old firm to a record high. You can see that right now in Ukraine," Papperger, a trained engineer who joined Rheinmetall in 1990, said. The group has said it can deliver a total of 139 Leopard tanks - 51 of the model 2 and 88 of the older model 1 - to Ukraine. Rheinmetall has said that 29 of the Leopard 2A4 tanks could already be delivered by April or May. Analysts at Stifel Equity Research estimate Leopard deliveries could bring in between 300 million euros and 350 million euros of sales for Rheinmetall this year and next.

☆ Tank maker Rheinmetall raises sales view as Ukraine war boosts demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Shares in Rheinmetall, which together with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann makes the Leopard tanks Germany is under pressure from Kyiv and some allies to send to Ukraine, have risen 170% in the past year. For 2022 the company expects sales of 6.5 billion euros. A company spokesperson told media group RND that it could deliver 139 Leopard tanks to Ukraine if needed. It could also supply 88 older Leopard 1 tanks, the spokesperson said, without giving a timeframe for potential delivery. It said positives, including mid-term defence spending, had been priced into the stock.

☆ A major union in Germany says workers at Tesla's Berlin factory face unreasonable working hours and fear speaking out
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A major German union has criticized the working conditions at Tesla's giant Berlin plant. IG Metall said long hours mean workers have too little time for "leisure, family, and relaxation." At the conference, IG Metall, a German union representing workers at Tesla's Gigafactory has criticized the electric carmaker for poor working conditions, Reuters reported. Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal US working hours. Tesla struggled to hire at the Berlin-based factory because of low wages, IG Metall told Bloomberg in June.

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