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These include plans by ArcelorMittal , the world's second-largest steelmaker, to spend 2.5 billion euros to decarbonise its German steel mills, efforts that depend on now-uncertain government support. "What we're seeing here is devastating for Germany as a business location globally. Besides the 6 billion euros of steel investments, other sectors potentially affected by the court ruling include 4 billion euros in the area of microelectronics and 20 billion euros for battery cell production, according to an economy ministry paper seen by Reuters. Those have previously been estimated at 68 billion euros. "Important industries in Germany, such as chemicals or steel production, need economical energy prices," Oliver Blume, CEO of Europe's top carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Robert Habeck, Christian Lindner, Reiner Blaschek, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Stefan Rauber, Intel INTC.O, Taiwan's, Bernhard Osburg, Oliver Blume, Christoph Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff, Andreas Rinke, Catherine Evans Organizations: Climate, Finance, ArcelorMittal, SHS Stahl, Reuters, IMF, Intel, TW, Infineon, Steel, BASF, Wacker Chemie, Volkswagen, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, DUESSELDORF, Berlin, Germany, Asia, United States, U.S, USA, Steel Europe

Steel coils are waiting for delivery at the storage and distribution facility of German steel maker ThyssenKrupp in Duisburg, Germany, November 16, 2023. As a result of the impairment, Thyssenkrupp, which has been trying to divest its steel division for several years, posted a 2-billion-euro net loss for the fourth quarter. Shares of the company, which proposed a stable dividend of 0.15 euros apiece, were indicated to open 1.8% lower in pre-market trade. Thyssenkrupp - which apart from steel builds submarines, car parts and operates a large materials trading business - said it was in constructive and open-ended talks with EPH about a potential steel joint venture. EPH, controlled by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, would support Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe with its energy expertise in any joint venture, the company said.

Persons: Wolfgang Rattay, Miguel Lopez, Daniel Kretinsky, Thyssenkrupp, Christoph Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff, Sandra Maler, Miranda Murray, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: REUTERS, Wednesday, EPH, Thyssenkrupp Steel, Thomson Locations: Duisburg, Germany, FRANKFURT, DUESSELDORF, Czech, Europe

Miniatures of windmill and electric pole are seen in front of Siemens Gamesa logo in this illustration taken January 17, 2023. One Frankfurt-based trader said the investor event, where Siemens Gamesa disclosed around 400 million euros in cost cuts by 2026, was bringing "no new insights". At 1610 GMT, shares in Siemens Energy, in which Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE) owns a direct 25.1% stake, were still down 6.3%. Siemens Gamesa will likely cut onshore turbine capacity outside Europe and outsource the production of some components, the division's Chief Executive Jochen Eickholt said, outlining the group's restructuring roadmap. Reuters last month reported that Siemens Gamesa was considering shutting plants and sales offices as well as outsourcing some production.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Siemens Gamesa, Christian Bruch, Jochen Eickholt, Eickholt, Christoph Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff, Danilo Masoni, Madeline Chambers, Miranda Murray, David Evans Organizations: Siemens, REUTERS, Siemens Energy, Siemens Gamesa, Siemens AG, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Europe, FRANKFURT, DUESSELDORF, Frankfurt

It comes as hydrogen technology is getting a boost from favourable legislation in the United States and Europe, which are both seeking to strengthen the technology to help carbon dioxide-heavy industries, including steel and chemicals, to decarbonise. "A potential IPO would enlarge the financial flexibility of Thyssenkrupp Nucera and raise its profile as a leading supplier of technology for the production of green hydrogen," he said. The listing, which is run by Citi (C.N) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), will primarily consist of new shares, Thyssenkrupp Nucera said. First-half sales were up 74% at 306 million euros, while the group's earnings before interest and tax rose 87% to 13.3 million euros. "With our electrolysis technology we want to shape a new era of the energy transition," said Werner Ponikwar, chief executive of Thyssenkrupp Nucera.

Persons: Nora, Italy's De Nora, DNR.MI, Miguel Lopez, Thyssenkrupp, Thyssenkrupp Nucera, De Nora, Nora's, Norway's Nel, Werner Ponikwar, Christoph Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff, Francesca Landini, Miranda Murray, Clarence Fernandez, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Reuters, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Thyssenkrupp, Britain's ITM, Energy, U.S ., Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, DUESSELDORF, Ukraine, United States, Europe, U.S

The letter did not disclose either how much Berlin had proposed in state help, or by how much this had been reduced. The conflict lays bare how much industrial heavyweights depend on aid to decarbonise their businesses as well as the need for governments to approve subsidies quickly to avoid companies from shifting investments or stopping them altogether. Thyssenkrupp in August made the investment decision for the so-called direct reduction iron (DRI) site at its steel base in Duisburg, provided substantial subsidy commitments by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin were fulfilled. Tekin Nasikkol, who heads the works council of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, told Reuters last week that Berlin needed to quickly approve hundreds of millions in subsidies for the site, adding workers' patience had run out. ($1 = 0.9084 euros)Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz and Christian Kraemer; Editing by Friederike HeineOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Tom KaeckenhoffLEVERKUSEN, Germany, April 5 (Reuters) - Incoming Bayer (BAYGn.DE) chief executive Bill Anderson says he is keeping an open mind on whether to break up the company into smaller pieces, as some fidgety investors want. "That's why I said I am going to have an open mind," he said. On the stock market Bayer, once the most valuable company on Germany's DAX blue-chip index, is now worth only about the same as it paid for Monsanto. At Bayer, he said he did not have his own desk and made use of the company's meeting rooms as needed. Professing a love of American football, hiking and snowboarding, he was also effusive about Bayer as a company and its heritage of medicines such as Aspirin.

☆ Deutsche Telekom reaches majority stake in T-Mobile U.S. - CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 5 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) now holds a majority in T-Mobile U.S. (TMUS.O), the chief executive of the German telecoms company said on Wednesday. The company reached a majority stake in T-Mobile U.S late Tuesday, CEO Tim Höttges said at the company's annual general meeting. "We have the majority and are the largest shareholder of the world's most valuable telecommunications company - T-Mobile U.S.," he said. Since 2013, the value of T-Mobile U.S. has increased by 153 billion euros ($167.44 billion). The increase in value for Deutsche Telekom's shareholders stood at more than 70 billion euros, Höttges said.

Concerns of an impending recession in the U.S., coupled with the war in Ukraine, have caused prices for steel to fall and customers to empty their inventories. That has impacted Thyssenkrupp's materials trading division, where profits tanked by 91%. "There is limited visibility in respect of future economic developments," Chief Financial Officer Klaus Keysberg said in a statement. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, came in at 254 million euros ($272 million) in the October-December period, while sales remained stable at 9.02 billion euros, the company said. ($1 = 0.9328 euros)Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Sandra Maler, Miranda Murray and Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The company, which nearly collapsed after Moscow cut and then stopped gas supplies to Germany, now sees a net loss of 19.1 billion euros ($21 billion) for 2022, it said on Wednesday. It said on Wednesday that losses caused by costs to replace Russian gas volumes reached 13.2 billion euros in 2022. "The development of the gas price has a major impact on Uniper's losses for realized and future gas replacement procurement. She said the significant decrease in gas prices at the end of 2022 meant expected losses for future gas replacement costs were reduced to 5.9 billion euros from 30 billion euros. "The actual losses and anticipation of losses from gas replacement cost in the future will continue to significantly fluctuate with changing gas prices," Uniper said.

"We have the ambition to become a profitable company in 2023," Laege said, adding the group had also secured long-term regasification capacity at the planned Hanseatic Energy Hub terminal in Stade, Germany. Laege said that Sefe, formerly called Gazprom Germania, was successful in sourcing LNG mainly from the United States, both short-term deals and for longer periods. The company, whose name is short for Securing Energy for Europe, had already unloaded a first cargo at Dunkirk, he said. However, next winter and beyond could be tight again if cold periods and a fast recovery of Asian LNG demand coincide. Reporting by Vera Eckert, Christoph Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff, editing by Kirsti Knolle and Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) was once Uniper's biggest supplier of gas, but a big drop in deliveries after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine forced the German gas importer to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices to honour its contracts. Uniper's investors voted in favour of the two main measures at Monday's meeting, an 8 billion euro capital injection by the German state and allowing a further injection of up to 25 billion euros by Berlin. Maubach said Uniper currently had access to around 2.5 billion euros of funds. As part of the bailout, the German government will end up owning just below 99% of Uniper, Germany's largest gas trader, following two share issues. The loss of Russian gas, Moscow's retaliation for Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, triggered a 40 billion euro net loss for the importer, which provides around a third of Germany's gas, the largest loss in German corporate history.

The dividend proposal of 0.15 euros is on par with the company's last shareholder payout for the 2017/18 fiscal year, but lower than an estimate of 0.19 euros on Refinitiv. The submarines-to-car-parts firm still gave a muted outlook for the current fiscal year ending in September 2023, saying it expected sales and profits to fall as prices drop again. Thyssenkrupp shares were indicated to open flat in pre-market trade, with one trader saying the outlook was "too cautious for shares to open higher". Refinitiv estimates show 2023 sales are expected to decline by 11% to 36.5 billion euros. Thyssenkrupp said that, apart from falling prices, higher energy costs were also a key driver of the expected decline.

Apart from generating and selling electricity, RWE also operates a large desk that trades in electricity, gas and CO2 certificates as well as other commodities, which can lead to bumper profits in times of significant price swings. "We have a very fundamental understanding of how markets work," Chief Financial Officer Michael Mueller told reporters on Thursday. Stifel Research, keeping a "buy" rating on RWE shares, said trading results were driven by so-called contango, where the futures price of a commodity is higher than spot levels. Nine-month adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to 4.1 billion euros ($4.1 billion), up from 2.4 billion a year earlier. Apart from the strong performance in trading, where profits were up 59%, results also benefited from higher electricity wholesale prices for gas and biomass, Mueller said.

[1/2] Logo of Uniper is pictured at the company's headquarters in Duesseldorf, Germany, September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Wolfgang RattayFRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Soon-to-be-nationalised gas importer Uniper (UN01.DE) unveiled a record 40 billion euro ($39.3 billion) net loss, among the biggest in German corporate history, reflecting expected future losses in the wake of Russia's move to stop supplies. Uniper said the net loss factored in 10 billion euros of realised losses the company incurred by replacing Russian gas volumes on the spot market at much higher prices as well as 31 billion euros of future losses related to this problem. "We are also working intensively to restructure our gas portfolio in order to minimise risks and to end by 2024 the losses resulting from suspended Russian gas deliveries," Tuomela said. Among the group's top priorities remains the planned exit from the Russian market, where it owns a 83.7% stake in Unipro (UPRO.MM), it said.

BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Initial offers for RTL's 48% stake in French TV channel M6 are expected by Friday after a failed tie-up with France's TF1 broadcaster, a person familiar with the matter said. RTL has been "inundated" with expressions of interest in the M6 stake since TF1 and M6 called off their planned merger last week, its boss Thomas Rabe told the Financial Times on Thursday. Other potential buyers include French media group Vivendi (VIV.PA) and Altice, owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi, alongside Italian media conglomerate MediaForEurope (MFE), Reuters reported on Monday. If RTL wants to sell M6, a deal must be completed by spring 2023, because M6's broadcasting license comes up for renewal in May. In March 2021, when Bertelsmann confirmed talks to sell its stake, French media reported the RTL's stake was worth 1.5 billion euros ($1.48 billion), valuing all of M6 at around 3 billion euros.

☆ Deutsche Telekom drops planned sale of T-Systems unit - Handelsblatt
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Christian Kraemer | Tom Käckenhoff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterBrochures with the logo of Deutsche Telekom AG are pictured at the shop in the headquarters of German telecommunications giant in Bonn, Germany, February 19, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang RattayBERLIN, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) has halted the planned sale of its T-Systems unit after negotiations with remaining interested parties failed, the Handelsblatt reported citing sources familiar with the matter. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterWriting by Rachel More Editing by Paul CarrelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The logo of the energy company Fortum headquarters a subsidiary of Uniper is pictured in Espoo, Finland July 22, 2022. Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva/via REUTERSRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterCompanies Fortum Oyj FollowUniper SE FollowBERLIN/DUESSELDORF, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Germany is set to buy Fortum's (FORTUM.HE) stake in Uniper (UN01.DE) and inject a further 8 billion euros ($8 billion) as part of a nationalisation of the gas importer, Uniper said on Tuesday. The capital injection, which would come via a capital increase subscribed only by Germany's government, would bring the total package of loans and equity used to stabilise Uniper so far to at least 29 billion euros. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterFortum, which owns a 78% stake in Uniper, said that the deal will include the "return of the financing Fortum granted to Uniper" which the Finnish group has put at 8 billion euros. ($1 = 1.0019 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Markus Wacket and Riham Alkousaa in Berlin, Tom Kaeckenhoff in Duesseldorf and Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt, editing by Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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