ROUNDUP: Vonovia makes billions in losses - dividend to rise nonetheless

BOCHUM - Germany's largest residential real estate group Vonovia slipped significantly deeper into the red last year. Due to a further devaluation of the real estate portfolio, the bottom line was a loss of just under 6.8 billion euros, as the DAX-listed company announced on Thursday after the close of trading in Bochum. In the previous year, Vonovia had reported a loss of around 669 million euros. The value of the rental portfolio was around 83.9 billion euros at the end of December 2023. The value fell by 6.6 percent in the first half of the year and by 4.2 percent in the second half. A year earlier, Vonovia had valued its properties at 94.7 billion. The share price fell by more than five percent on Friday.

ROUNDUP: Bechtle expects significant growth - share climbs

NECKARSULM/FRANKFURT - The IT service provider Bechtle expects further growth after an increase in profits last year despite a gloomy economic outlook. Revenues and earnings are expected to increase "significantly" this year and the pre-tax margin should remain more or less stable, as the MDax company announced in Neckarsulm on Friday. "Significant" at Bechtle means an increase of between five and ten percent. The share price rose to an almost two-year high in the afternoon.

ROUNDUP: Salzgitter sees slight recovery after profit slump

SALZGITTER - Steel manufacturer Salzgitter sees a slight upturn in 2023 after a weak year. The market environment should increasingly brighten over the course of the year, the company announced when presenting its annual figures in Salzgitter on Friday. Group CEO Gunnar Groebler believes that the European and, in particular, the German steel industry will remain under pressure. In 2024, he expects only slight sales growth at best.

Hellofresh struggles with even greater customer loss

BERLIN - The meal kit delivery company Hellofresh continues to struggle with the loss of its customers. Between October and the end of December, the number of active customers fell by 6.5 percent to 6.6 million compared to the same period last year, the MDax company announced in Berlin on Friday. The decline thus increased somewhat after Hellofresh had already been able to encourage fewer customers to place orders in the previous quarter.

Forvia subsidiary Hella earns less - dividend shrinks

LIPPSTADT - Headlamp specialist Hella made less profit last year and is paying a lower dividend. Net profit amounted to 266 million euros, as the company announced in Lippstadt on Friday. In the short financial year 2022, Hella had earned 352 million euros in seven months (up to the end of December). However, the Westphalian company had benefited greatly from the sale of a shareholding. Hella had already presented preliminary figures for the past year and an outlook for 2024. This year, the company, which is part of the French automotive supplier Forvia, expects slight improvements in sales and earnings, but also intends to cut costs, particularly in Europe, due to low profitability.

ROUNDUP: Baywa wants to cut dividend - share slips

MUNICH - The agricultural trader and conglomerate Baywa does not intend to pay its shareholders a dividend for the past year. While the operating business was satisfactory, interest and taxes had a significant negative impact on the consolidated result, the company announced in Munich on Thursday evening. The Management Board has therefore decided to propose to the Annual General Meeting that the dividend payment be suspended. This is intended to strengthen the Group's equity base. The share price fell on Friday in reaction to the news from the previous evening.

ROUNDUP: Chemical industry sees first signs of recovery after crisis year

FRANKFURT - After weak business in 2023, the crisis-ridden chemical industry does not see a rapid turnaround, but there are tentative signs of recovery. After the long period of drought, during which the chemical industry suffered heavy production losses in the midst of the energy crisis, the first signs of hope are emerging, said Wolfgang Große Entrup, Managing Director of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), in Frankfurt. "Since February, individual companies have reported a slight improvement in the order situation - especially abroad." Hopes are pinned on the USA and China. However, these are isolated glimmers of hope, emphasized Große Entrup. A recovery is not expected until the second half of the year at the earliest.

VW delivers fewer vehicles in February - China weaker due to New Year celebrations

WOLFSBURG - Due to the Chinese New Year celebrations, the Volkswagen Group was unable to match its January delivery figures in February. Last month, 605,500 vehicles of all Group brands were delivered worldwide, 1.1 percent fewer than in the same period last year, the Group announced in Wolfsburg on Friday. This was due in particular to double-digit percentage declines in China. This is because, unlike in 2023, the Chinese New Year did not fall in January this year, but in February. Business in the car trade regularly declines during the festival.

ROUNDUP: Planned arbitration for Lufthansa ground staff gives hope

FRANKFURT/HANNOVER - There is a glimmer of hope for passengers in Germany who are suffering from strikes. After five rounds without an agreement, arbitration is now to bring a solution to the deadlocked wage dispute for Lufthansa ground staff. At the same time, aviation security staff continued their warning strikes at several German airports on Friday. According to estimates by the airport association ADV, a total of 662 flights were canceled due to the two-day strikes by security staff, affecting more than 100,000 passengers.

Building software provider Nemetschek increases dividend

MUNICH - The building software specialist Nemetschek intends to pay its shareholders a higher dividend for the past year. A dividend of 0.48 euros per share is to be distributed, compared to 0.45 euros in the previous year, as the company announced in Munich on Friday. The payout is thus at the average level expected by analysts. Nemetschek had already presented preliminary business figures for 2023 at the beginning of February.

Wind power project developer PNE needs new boss

CUXHAVEN - The wind power and photovoltaic project developer PNE must look for a new boss. CEO Markus Lesser intends to step down from his position at the end of July 2024 for personal reasons, the company, which is listed in the second-line index SDax, announced on Friday. The company is therefore now discussing an early termination of his contract. "In parallel, the Supervisory Board will look for a suitable successor candidate for the position of CEO." The PNE share price came under some pressure following the news. The share was recently down almost one and a half percent.

ROUNDUP: Swisscom takes over Vodafone Italy - Vodafone plans share buyback

BERN - The Swiss telecom provider Swisscom has finalized the takeover of the Italian business of the mobile phone company Vodafone. The Swiss want to pay 8 billion euros for the division, as the largest Swiss telecommunications group announced on Friday. The business is to be merged with the Milan-based Swisscom subsidiary Fastweb, creating the second-largest telecoms provider in Italy behind top dog TIM. According to a press release, the British telecoms group Vodafone is now planning a share buyback of 4 billion euros. The plans were equally well received on the stock market.

Adobe disappoints investors with outlook

SAN JOSE - The software company Adobe has disappointed the stock market with its outlook for business in the current quarter. The share fell by more than ten percent at times in after-hours trading on Thursday. Adobe, which is known for its image editing program Photoshop among other things, forecast earnings of between 5.25 and 5.3 billion US dollars for the current financial quarter. Analysts had expected an average of 5.31 billion dollars.

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Further news

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-ROUNDUP 2/The draw: Wembley revival Bayern v BVB possible

-Skoda plans entry-level electric car for around 25,000 euros

-'HB': Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile US wants to build fiber-optic network

-Protest camp against Tesla car factory - deadline expires

-Trade ship hit by missile in the Red Sea°

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.

/stk