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☆ Germany's Scholz says want to deepen relations with India, meets Modi
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Adnan AbidiNEW DELHI/BERLIN, Feb 25 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday said he wanted to deepen his nation's relationship with India ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. "India and Germany have very good relations and want to deepen them. That will be the topic of our talks and, importantly, peace in the world," Scholz said on Twitter. India has also sharply raised its purchases of oil from Russia, its biggest supplier of defence hardware, although prices have fallen. Scholz is travelling with a business delegation in a hope of growing that number, with a focus on investment in green technology.

☆ Munich Re Q4 profit up 74%, surpasses full-year target
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The German reinsurer Munich Re (MUVGn.DE) on Thursday said it posted a 74% rise in net profit in the fourth quarter, helping it surpass a full-year earnings target despite claims related to the war in Ukraine. 2022 was a challenging year for insurers, which also faced claims from Hurricane Ian in Florida, pandemic losses and high inflation. Net profit in the fourth quarter of 1.516 billion euros ($1.61 billion) compares with 871 million euros a year ago. 2022 profit of 3.419 billion euros was up from 2.932 billion a year earlier and greater than the 3.294 billion euros that analysts had expected. Munich Re had targeted 3.3 billion euros.

☆ In comeback, Commerzbank to join Germany's DAX blue-chip index
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A company logo is pictured at the headquarters of Germany's Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, Germany, February 13, 2020. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File PhotoFRANKFURT, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Germany's Commerzbank (CBKG.DE) will rejoin the DAX index on Feb. 27, Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) announced late on Friday, marking a comeback for Germany's No. "This shows that we are on the right track with our restructuring - and spurs us on to continue with the same energy," Commerzbank AG said on Twitter in response to the announcement. Following Wirecard's demise, Deutsche Boerse AG, which compiles the DAX index, revamped it to include 40 companies, rather than the previous 30, and made membership criteria tougher. Other members include Siemens AG, Volkswagen AG, and Allianz SE.

The bank said it would aim for a 2023 result that is "well above" 2022, helped by higher interest rates, despite "another demanding year in view of the challenging environment". Reuters GraphicsNet profit of 472 million euros ($505.3 million) in the quarter was higher than 421 million euros a year earlier. It was well above average analyst expectations of 350 million euros, according to a consensus forecast published by Commerzbank. For the full year, Commerzbank generated net profit of 1.435 billion euros, up from 430 million euros a year earlier, and better than expectations for around 1.359 billion. Commerzbank forecast net interest income "well above" 6.5 billion euros for 2023, "with clear additional upside potential".

They stressed that the reallocation would be gradual and not result in fire sales, with new money going largely into fixed income rather than alternative investments. Goldman Sachs' asset management arm is planning to significantly reduce its $59 billion of alternative investments. Credit rating agencies Moody's and S&P, which both give Allianz high marks, have pointed to the greater risk posed by comparatively illiquid alternative investments in Allianz's portfolio. Alternative investments come at a price, requiring Allianz and other insurers to set aside more capital to own them because they are less liquid than bonds. In its wake, Allianz has had to close down Allianz Global Investors in the United States in a serious blow to the company.

[1/4] A Russian police officer stands in front of a branch of the Raiffeisen Bank in Moscow, Russia, February 27, 2016. It made a net profit of roughly 3.8 billion euros last year, thanks in large part to a 2 billion euro plus profit from its Russia business. Of UniCredit's more than 20 billion euro total revenue last year, Russia accounted for more than 1 billion euros. Meanwhile, Russian savers lodged more than 20 billion euros with the bank, which offers a place to deposit funds with fewer sanctions risks. It banned investors from so-called unfriendly countries from selling shares in banks, unless the Russian President grants an exemption.

☆ Bayer picks outsider Anderson as CEO after investor pressure
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

News of the CEO change sent the German drugs-to-pesticides giant's shares to their highest level in nearly eight months. Shares in Bayer closed up 6% on the news of the new CEO, reaching the top of Frankfurt's blue-chip index and hitting their highest level since June last year. "Bill Anderson's mission is clear: enable Bayer to realize its full potential and create sustainable value for our shareholders, farmers, patients, consumers, employees, and all stakeholders of the company," Winkeljohann added. Sources told Reuters earlier this week that activist investor Jeff Ubben had contacted fellow investors to drum up support for big changes at Bayer, including the swift replacement of Baumann. Reporting by Patricia Weiss, Kirsti Knolle and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Tom Sims and Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Deutsche Bank Q4 surges in 3rd year of annual profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

FRANKFURT, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank's (DBKGn.DE) fourth-quarter profit surged, exceeding expectations and contributing to a third consecutive year of profit that was helped by higher interest rates and buoyant trading but damped by a slump in dealmaking that has shaken the industry. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.803 billion euros ($1.99 billion) in the three months ending Dec. 31, figures published on Thursday showed. That compares with a profit of 145 million euros a year earlier, and it is better than analyst expectations for a profit of around 951 million euros. ($1 = 0.9074 euros)Reporting by Tom Sims and Marta Orosz Editing by Paul CarrelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON/FRANKFURT, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Rising borrowing costs are giving a long-awaited lift to Europe's beleaguered banks, but they come with a sting in the tail. Last year central banks ended a decade of rock-bottom interest rates as the U.S. Federal Reserve and then the European Central Bank moved towards tightening. But while rising rates are good news for bank profits, they herald a slowdown in an economy hit by war and runaway prices that squeeze borrowers and could prick pricing bubbles, most notably in property. "On the one hand, interest rates are going up, which is good and helps banks," said Jerome Legras of Axiom Alternative Investments. Germany's financial regulator BaFin recently warned that a rapid rise in interest rates could weigh on some banks, and that loans may sour.

☆ British motor insurer Direct Line's CEO Penny James steps down
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 27 (Reuters) - Direct Line Insurance Group's (DLGD.L) chief executive of nearly four years, Penny James, will step down with immediate effect after the British motor and home insurer faced "significant headwinds" in recent months, the company said on Friday. James, who joined Direct Line as finance chief in late 2017, took over as CEO in May 2019 and steered the company through the COVID-19 pandemic, when motor insurers performed well as restrictions limited the number of drivers on the road, leading to fewer accidents. The appointment of a new CEO will allow the company to "reset and rebuild" after a "tumultuous time", JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note. The company appointed Chief Commercial Officer Jon Greenwood as acting CEO, with Chair Danuta Gray saying Greenwood would focus on driving performance and restoring the balance sheet. Spells of extreme weather in Britain over the past year have also led to more claims for subsidence and burst pipes.

☆ Perella Weinberg puts employee in insider trading probe on leave -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The advisory firm Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP.O) has placed an employee who is being investigated as part of an insider trading probe in Germany on leave, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. On Thursday, German authorities said they were investigating five suspects, including one who was in custody, for allegedly profiting on upcoming M&A transactions between 2017 and 2021. Perella said in a statement: "The firm is assisting in an investigation by German law enforcement authorities. The firm is not the subject of the investigation, and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of the firm." The Perella employee is based in London, the two people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

☆ Race against the clock for Germany's top Nazi hunter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Tilman Blasshofer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Nazi hunter Thomas Will, head of Germany's main agency responsible for the investigation of war crimes during Nazi rule looks into files at the Central Office of State Judicial Authorities for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in Ludwigsburg, Germany, January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Timm ReichertLUDWIGSBURG, Germany, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Germany's top Nazi hunter, Thomas Will, is hopeful of securing further convictions over the Holocaust even as the remaining suspects, many now in their late 90s, die. So as long as perpetrators are still alive, we will pursue the cases," he said from his office outside Stuttgart in southwestern Germany. Will heads Germany's Central Office of State Judicial Authorities for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes. The conviction last month of a 97-year-old woman who worked as a concentration camp secretary "was certainly one of the last", Will said.

☆ Germany signals shift in veto on Leopard tanks for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Leopard tanks, which are held by an array of NATO countries but whose transfer to Ukraine requires Berlin's approval, are seen by defence experts as the most suitable for Ukraine. Western allies pledged billions of dollars in weapons for Ukraine last week but they failed to persuade Germany to lift its veto on providing the tanks. French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, said he did not rule out the possibility of sending Ukraine Leclerc tanks. Ukraine has never publicly said that the town was taken by Russian forces. On Sunday, the general staff of its armed forces said in a daily update that Russian forces had fired on Ukrainian positions in the area.

☆ Bayer investor criticizes company chair for lack of initiative
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The Bayer (BAYGn.DE) investor Union Investment criticized Bayer's chair for a lack of engagement, such as exploring a spin-off of the company's consumer health division, according to an interview in WirtschaftsWoche. Bayer is facing demands from activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners to break up, with a sale of the company's consumer health unit and, at a later stage, for a separation of Bayer's pharmaceuticals and agriculture businesses. Bayer Chair Norbert Winkeljohann "does seek dialogue with investors, but he should have initiated more," Markus Manns, portfolio manager at Union Investment, told WirtschaftsWoche. "It would definitely have been a matter for the supervisory board to help initiate a spin-off of Consumer Health," Manns added. "But generally speaking we are always open to a constructive dialogue with our stakeholders," the spokesperson said.

☆ Wolfspeed plans multi-billion dollar chip factory in Germany, Handelsblatt reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. power chip maker Wolfspeed Inc (WOLF.N) is planning to build a factory in Germany for more than 2 billion euros ($2.17 billion), Handelsblatt reported on Saturday. The German auto supplier ZF will hold a minority stake, the the business newspaper said, citing unidentified sources familiar with the project. Production should begin in four years at the site in the small southwest German state of Saarland, the report added. A spokesperson for the economics ministry of Saarland declined to comment. ZF declined to comment.

☆ Wolfspeed plans multi-billion dollar chip factory in Germany - Handelsblatt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

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.

☆ Santander lagging behind on inflation payment for German bank staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Spain's Santander (SAN.MC) is the only major bank operating in Germany that has not announced a special payment to local staff to help them with soaring inflation, union officials told Reuters, although the bank said talks were ongoing. Last year, German union Verdi called on banks to give some of their lowest-earning workers a special payment to help them combat higher energy prices. "Santander is the big exception among public and private banks," said Stefan Wittmann, a Verdi official negotiating on behalf of Santander employees. On Friday, Santander and union officials agreed to take up the issue at a meeting next week, but Santander hasn't made a binding offer, Wittmann said. Santander said it was in talks with Verdi on amending its collective wage agreement, and the inflation demands came up in talks late last year.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment. The person did not give details of the size of the overall bonus pool for the whole of Deutsche Bank, which also includes retail, corporate and asset management divisions. Deutche's investment bank is expected to report 3.7 billion euros in pretax profit for 2022, roughly flat versus 2021, based on a consensus forecast of analysts. Reuters GraphicsDeutsche has been heavily reliant on its volatile investment bank for its return to profitability, but is hoping to depend instead on more stable businesses that serve companies and retail customers. The Financial Times first reported the Deutsche investment bank bonus decline.

☆ Germany's Commerzbank sues EY for Wirecard losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] A Commerzbank logo is pictured before the bank's annual news conference in Frankfurt, Germany, February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File PhotoFRANKFURT, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The German lender Commerzbank (CBKG.DE) is suing accounting firm EY over the 200 million euros ($216.12 million) in losses that it incurred in the collapse of Wirecard, a bank spokesperson said on Thursday. EY was for years the firm that audited and certified Wirecard's books even as journalists and investors raised questions about its finances. The Commerzbank spokesperson said the case had been filed in Frankfurt court in recent weeks. An EY spokesperson said "claims against EY for damages do not hold up".

☆ Berlin will allow exports of German tanks to Ukraine if U.S. sends its tanks -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Germany will allow German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defense against Russia if the United States agrees to send its own tanks, a German government source told Reuters. Western allies will meet at a U.S. air base in Germany on Friday to offer more weapons for Ukraine. Poland and Finland have already said they will send Leopard tanks if Germany approves them. The United States has committed roughly $24 billion to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian forces. The Wall Street Journal, citing senior German officials, first reported Berlin's condition on tanks earlier on Wednesday.

☆ German online bank N26 to expand crypto trading
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - German online bank N26 said on Tuesday that it would expand the list of countries where its customers may trade cryptocurrencies to include those in Germany and Switzerland. In addition, N26 said it would provide the service for customers in Belgium, Portugal and Ireland. Last year, N26 began offering crypto trading for some customers in Austria only, in its first foray into the asset class. N26 said it would roll out the expanded trading gradually over the coming weeks. Reporting by Tom Sims and Marta Orosz Editing by Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BERLIN, Jan 10 (Reuters) - German carmakers, Tesla, chip producers and battery maker Northvolt met the German chancellor and cabinet ministers on Tuesday to discuss topics from European law on vehicle emissions to energy prices, according to two participants. The annual summit was formerly only for carmakers but was this time dubbed a "mobility" summit, with the broader focus signalled by Northvolt's presence on the guestlist for the first time. Tesla (TSLA.O), was not on the first draft of the guest list shared with participants but was present, according to a participant, alongside German carmakers Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), BMW (BMWG.DE), Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) and Opel. Associations, including cyclist club ADFC and rail association "Allianz pro Schiene", criticised the summit as still too car-focused. German chancellor Olaf Scholz, Economy Minister Robert Habeck, Transport Minister Volker Wissing and Labour Minister Hubertus Heil were among those present from the government, the other participant said.

Losses from natural catastrophes covered by insurance totalled around $120 billion last year, similar to 2021, though short of 2017's record damages, Munich Re (MUVGn.DE), the world's largest reinsurer, said. Annual insured losses of $100 billion appear to be "the new normal", he said. Total losses from natural catastrophes, including those not covered by insurance, were $270 billion in 2022. The United States once again accounted for a big portion of the losses with Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida in September, causing $60 billion of insured damages and $100 billion in total losses. Floods in Australia early in the year and again in October resulted in $4.7 billion in insured damages and $8.1 billion overall.

☆ German finance regulator warns of 'Godfather' malware attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 9 (Reuters) - German finance regulator BaFin on Monday warned consumers that the malware known as "Godfather," which records user input, has been attacking 400 banking and cryptocurrency apps, including some in Germany. BaFin said that it was unclear how the malware infected consumers' devices. The malware displays fake websites of regular apps that can collect user login details and transmit them to cyber criminals, BaFin said. Reporting by Tom Sims and Marta Orosz Editing by Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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