Dpa-AFX Overview: COMPANIES from 07.03.2024 - 15:15

March 08, 2024 at 08:28 am EST

ROUNDUP: Slump in consumer spending puts a damper on Hugo Boss - share price plummets

METZINGEN - Fashion retailer Hugo Boss expects slower growth until 2025 due to the consumer slump and geopolitical tensions. The sales target of five billion euros for 2025 is also likely to be "slightly delayed", the company announced in Metzingen on Thursday. At the same time, however, Group CEO Daniel Grieder and CFO Yves Müller want to improve profitability. Investors do not like the sluggish development at all. On Thursday morning, Hugo Boss shares lost almost a fifth of their value.

ROUNDUP 2: Conti takes on more in the problem child car supply - share price down

HANNOVER - The automotive supplier and tire manufacturer Continental is once again taking on more after significant improvements in the weakening automotive supply business last year. The initiated cost-cutting program with job cuts in the division should provide tailwind as well as higher sales prices and efficiency improvements. For the first time since 2019, the Hanover-based company was back in the black in this area last year. Conti CEO Nikolai Setzer was able to present a jump in profits for the Group as a whole on Thursday. Conti shares nevertheless fell.

TOTAL-ROUNDUP: Labor disputes paralyze rail and large parts of air traffic

BERLIN - Thousands of train cancellations, hundreds of canceled flights, millions of affected passengers: since Thursday morning, industrial action by two unions has led to considerable restrictions in both air and rail traffic. Anyone who wanted to travel within Germany had to switch to their own car, long-distance buses, hire cars or car-sharing agencies. Verdi and the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) have not coordinated their strikes. However, both organizations are now focusing on making their strikes and warning strikes as unpredictable as possible. This further increases the uncertainty for passengers.

ROUNDUP 2/Office real estate crisis: Deutsche Pfandbriefbank wants to calm the market

GARCHING - Following a slump in profits and share price losses, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) is trying to reassure investors. "We are a very healthy bank, we have more than three billion in capital," said CEO Kay Wolf at the annual press conference in Garching near Munich on Thursday. The recently appointed head of the bank emphasized that the bank is profitable. "We know that we have to regain trust in the capital market." For this year, the Management Board forecast a significantly better result than in 2023. However, following a sharp drop in profits last year, the bank is surprisingly not paying a dividend. The share nevertheless remained on a recovery course.

ROUNDUP: Drägerwerk wants to increase dividend more than expected - share price rises

LÜBECK - Shareholders of the medical and safety technology group Drägerwerk can look forward to a significantly higher dividend. The dividend for the preference shares listed on the SDax is to be increased from 19 cents for 2022 to EUR 1.80 for the past year, the company announced in Lübeck on Thursday. Experts had expected the dividend to be increased, but not to this extent. For the ordinary shares, which are mainly owned by the Dräger family, the dividend is to rise to 1.74 euros after 13 cents for 2022.

ROUNDUP: GFT Technologies disappoints with profit target - share price plummets

STUTTGART - Following setbacks last year, IT service provider GFT Technologies is aiming for stronger growth again in 2024. While day-to-day business is expected to grow by a double-digit percentage, the Executive Board anticipates a positive one-off effect from the acquisition of core banking specialist Sophos Solutions on pre-tax profit. Excluding this item, the target for pre-tax profit in 2024 is below analysts' average expectations, the company announced in Stuttgart on Thursday. The news was poorly received on the stock market.

ROUNDUP 2: Merck hopes for improvement after profit decline

DARMSTADT - After an unexpectedly long slump in demand, the pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals group Merck is hoping for a better run again. "We are now focusing on a gradual return to growth in the course of the 2024 financial year," said CEO Belen Garijo at the presentation of the financial statements in Darmstadt on Thursday.

ROUNDUP: Plant manufacturer Gea targets further growth - higher dividend planned

DÜSSELDORF - Plant engineering company Gea is confident for the current year following growth in sales and operating earnings. "We want to continue to grow organically," said Group CEO Stefan Klebert in a conference call on Thursday. Accordingly, turnover is set to increase by two to four percent this year under its own steam. Although this is slightly less than in the last two years, it is in line with the current economic development. The company is starting with a good order backlog. Investors on the stock market reacted skeptically. The share came under pressure in the course of trading.

ROUNDUP: Brenntag cautious for new year - declines in 2023

ESSEN - After a decline in sales and earnings in 2023, chemicals trader Brenntag is taking a cautious view of the current year. The company expects the sequential recovery in sales to continue in 2024. The war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East, geopolitical tensions and the slow decline in inflation continue to cause uncertainty regarding the global economy, the DAX-listed company announced in Essen on Thursday. For the current year, Brenntag therefore expects a slight decline in operating profit in the worst-case scenario. The share price fell by around three percent in the morning.

ROUNDUP 2: Lufthansa wants to get out of strike mode - share price up and down

FRANKFURT - In the midst of the ground staff strike, Lufthansa must prepare for an end to its upward flight. The return of the desire to travel and higher ticket prices brought the Group the third-highest profit in its history in day-to-day business in 2023. But further big leaps are not in sight, estimates CEO Carsten Spohr. The sharp rise in ticket prices since the coronavirus pandemic should be over for now. Shareholders can at least look forward to a dividend again, as Lufthansa announced in Frankfurt on Thursday. However, the news did not trigger a clear reaction on the stock market.

Further news

-Court of Auditors: Federal government 'not on track' with energy transition

-ROUNDUP: Signa founder Benko files for insolvency as an entrepreneur

-ROUNDUP: ProSiebenSat.1 makes more losses

-Federal government wants digital companies to pay for DMA control

-Large warning strike - Long queues at Düsseldorf airport

-ROUNDUP/IW: One day of rail strike costs up to 100 million euros

-ROUNDUP: Tesla production at a standstill until the end of next week after attack

-After real estate dent: Financial services provider MLP wants to increase operating result

-ROUNDUP: Apple refuses to restart 'Fortnite' company Epic in Europe

-Home office and construction crisis: Number of new office buildings almost halved

-Spanish Telefonica group wants to take German subsidiary off the stock exchange