ROUNDUP 2: Fresenius dares to do more again thanks to radical cure

BAD HOMBURG - After difficult corona years, the healthcare group Fresenius is slowly getting back on its feet. Progress in its cost-cutting program as well as growth in the hospital business and in the Kabi pharmaceutical division helped the DAX-listed company to a surprisingly high result in day-to-day business in 2023. Fresenius announced in Bad Homburg on Wednesday that this result is set to increase even more in the current year. The news was well received on the stock market - even though the demerger from dialysis provider Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) resulted in a high loss for the Group.

ROUNDUP: Write-downs overshadow HSBC's record profit - shares plummet

HONG KONG/LONDON - The major British bank HSBC has strongly increased its profit in 2023 despite a dampener at the end of the year. Compared to 2022, net profit rose by around half to a record figure of just under 24.6 billion US dollars (22.8 billion euros), the bank announced in Hong Kong and London on Wednesday. The rise in interest rates and higher income from securities trading drove earnings up sharply. However, analysts had expected even higher profits. On the stock market, the news was met with a slide in share prices.

Building materials group Saint Gobain wants to buy Australian competitor CSR

COURBEVOIE/SYDNEY - The French building materials group Saint Gobain wants to take over its Australian competitor CSR for a billion euro sum. The French company is offering nine Australian dollars in cash for each CSR share, as announced in Courbevoie on Wednesday morning. This corresponds to a premium of around 34 percent compared to the closing price on Tuesday. Saint Gobain would thus be putting a total of around 4.3 billion Australian dollars (2.6 billion euros) on the table.

Compugroup shareholder wants to double dividend

KOBLENZ - The software provider Compugroup, which specializes in medical practices and hospitals, is to double its dividend. The general partner of the company, which operates in the legal form of SE & Co. KGaA, has passed a resolution to this effect, the company announced on Tuesday evening. Against the backdrop of the stable financial and earnings situation, the dividend payment is to be increased to a higher level in the long term, it said. The shareholder therefore intends to propose to the Annual General Meeting that this be doubled to EUR 1.00 for the 2023 financial year. Analysts previously only expected EUR 0.60. The Supervisory Board will discuss the dividend increase as soon as the final business figures for 2023 are available, the statement added.

Wolters Kluwer earns more operationally - higher dividend planned

ALPHEN - Dutch information services provider Wolters Kluwer aims to be at least as profitable in the current financial year as in 2023. 26.4 to 26.8 percent is the target for the operating profit margin adjusted for special effects, as the EuroStoxx 50-listed company announced in Alphen on Wednesday. The Group does not expect the margin to improve until the second half of the year due to investments. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to increase in the mid to high single-digit percentage range. The share price recently fell by around one percent.

Glencore profit slumps after record year

BAAR - The commodities trader and mining group Glencore earned significantly less last year. Profit from day-to-day operations (adjusted EBITDA) slumped by half to 17.1 billion US dollars (around 15.8 billion euros), as the company announced on Wednesday in Baar, Switzerland. The bottom line for shareholders was a profit of 4.3 billion dollars, 75 percent less than in the previous year. Depreciation of almost 2.5 billion dollars had a negative impact. In addition, Glencore had benefited from the turbulence on the energy markets in 2022 and posted record profits. However, analysts had hoped for significantly more in 2023.

Rio Tinto earns significantly less - China recovers slowly

MELBOURNE - The slow recovery of the Chinese economy from the coronavirus pandemic has weighed on the balance sheet of British-Australian mining group Rio Tinto. The net profit attributable to shareholders fell by 19 percent to just under 10.1 billion US dollars (9.3 billion euros) in the past year compared to the same period last year, as the group announced in London on Wednesday. In addition to weaker business, a write-down on an aluminum production facility in Australia weighed on the result.

Telefonica Deutschland attracts hundreds of thousands of customers - millions in profit

MUNICH - Telefonica Deutschland (O2) has won hundreds of thousands of new customers in the Christmas business and made more profit on the bottom line. For the new year, company boss Markus Haas is confident of gaining further market share. After deducting terminations, more than 284,000 new mobile phone contracts were concluded between October and December, the company announced in Munich on Wednesday. This is almost three times more than its competitor Vodafone had recorded in Germany. Deutsche Telekom will follow this Friday with its figures.

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Further news

-Automotive supplier ZF wants to cut costs by six billion euros

-Mercedes-Benz extends contracts of two board members

-London Heathrow Airport posts small gain for the first time since the pandemic

-Peso devaluation weighs on Carrefour - Cash flow better than expected

-Bundeswehr receives new anti-aircraft gun tanks

-Von der Leyen on combustion engine phase-out: 2026 review is 'very important'

-Heraeus acquires stake in Japanese chemical start-up

-ROUNDUP 2: Negotiations at Lufthansa after end of warning strike

-ROUNDUP: Verdi to protest again against MSC deal

Cable manufacturer Lapp grows more slowly - employees on short-time work

-Federal Motor Transport Authority finds unlawful emissions manipulation in BMW diesels

-Sale of ZF safety technology becomes more concrete

-ROUNDUP/BGH: Cartel office may give Google internals to competitors

-ROUNDUP: 'ChatGPT for engineers' - Hannover Messe puts AI in the spotlight

-Tesla defends expansion plans, but relies on cooperation

-Tesla critics: Vote is a victory for democracy and nature conservation

-EU Commission wants to drive forward the expansion of digital infrastructure

-Experts propose CO2 levy for agriculture in Denmark

-Survey: Almost half of fans reject investor involvement

-Dispute over mobile phone frequencies - expert opinion backs 1&1

-Apple makes chat service iMessage resistant to quantum attacks

-DAK: Majority of young people see major cannabis health risk

-Parcels from the air - first scheduled flight service with drones launched

-Head of City Council: trademark rights taken over by 'cock and hen' manufacturer

-Bundeswehr gets new anti-aircraft gun tanks

-Hardly any orders at Singapore's air show - China's jet in focus

-Ministry of Transport does not approve new hydrogen demand for the time being

-Halloumi cheese remains protected: EU court rejects complaint

-Eon claims leadership role in energy transition

-Planned cannabis approval in Germany clears another hurdle

-ROUNDUP: Collective anger at BVB - Sammer: 'Don't put up with it'°

Customer note:

ROUNDUP: You are reading a summary in the company overview. There are several reports on this topic on the dpa-AFX news service.

/jha