ROUNDUP/Following sales decline: Cheaper Teslas coming faster

AUSTIN - After a significant drop in sales at Tesla, company boss Elon Musk wants to bring cheaper models onto the market faster than planned. They are now to go into production ahead of the originally targeted date in the second half of 2025. The electric car pioneer has recently come under pressure from cheaper competition from China and buyers' interest in hybrid models. Musk insists that the future only belongs to purely electric drives and promised once again on Tuesday that Tesla will change the industry with self-driving cars.

ROUNDUP: Evotec spooks with cautious outlook - realignment planned

HAMBURG - The Hamburg-based pharmaceutical drug researcher and developer Evotec is responding to a difficult market environment with a realignment. Following the surprising departure of CEO Werner Lahntaler at the beginning of the year, the focus is to return to sustainable profitable growth. The new Group CEO Christian Wojczewski, who will take up his position in the middle of the year, will be responsible for this. Last year, the Group was also badly hit by a cyber attack. The uncertain business outlook spooked investors on the stock market.

ROUNDUP: Gucci owner Kering warns of profit slump - sales in China plummet

PARIS - The French fashion group Kering is expecting a significant drop in profits in the first half of the year after a poor start to the year. The group behind brands such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga announced on Tuesday evening in Paris that recurring operating profit is now likely to fall by 40 to 45 percent compared to the previous year's figure of a good 2.7 billion euros. This caused the share price to slide on the stock exchange on Wednesday.

ROUNDUP: Consumer goods group Reckitt beats expectations - sales recovery in sight

LONDON - The British consumer goods manufacturer Reckitt has made a slow start to the new year. Negative currency effects caused sales to fall in the first quarter, as the company announced in London on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the Group performed better than expected. The British company was able to grow on its own. In addition, there is light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the decline in sales. The management is sticking to its forecast for the year.

ROUNDUP: Car manufacturer Volvo earns less despite higher demand - share price slide

GÖTEBORG - The Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars has suffered a drop in profits in the first quarter despite higher sales figures. The company sold almost 182,700 cars, twelve percent more than a year earlier, as it announced in Goteborg on Wednesday. However, turnover and net profit fell surprisingly because income from contract production fell and losses from associated companies increased. The news was not well received on the stock market.

ROUNDUP: VW wants to take on China's e-car manufacturers - two difficult years ahead

PEKING - Volkswagen is expecting two difficult years in its race to catch up in the Chinese e-car market. "We are running at high speed to improve in this segment," said the head of the Volkswagen Group, Oliver Blume, on Wednesday in Beijing, where one of the world's most important motor shows begins this Thursday.

Surprisingly many customers opt for AT&T cell phone service

DALLAS - Thanks to an unexpectedly high influx of new customers, the US telecommunications group AT&T earned slightly more than expected at the start of the year. Between January and the end of March, the rival of Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile US was able to rake in around 349,000 net new mobile phone contracts, as it announced in Dallas on Wednesday. This was significantly more than analysts had expected on average. The AT&T share price rose by around three percent before the announcement.

Boeing remains in the red because of 737 Max

ARLINGTON - The crisis surrounding the 737 Max medium-haul jet has caused the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing to post another loss in the first quarter. However, the net loss of 355 million US dollars (332 million euros) was 16 percent lower than a year earlier, as the competitor of the world's largest aircraft manufacturer Airbus announced in Arlington on Wednesday. Analysts had expected an even larger loss. The adjusted cash outflow of 3.9 billion dollars was also not quite as high as had been feared.

ROUNDUP: Linde competitor Air Liquide starts the year with a drop in sales

PARIS - The French industrial gases manufacturer Air Liquide has felt the effects of lower energy prices and negative currency effects in the first quarter. Sales fell by 7.3 percent year-on-year to 6.65 billion euros, as the Linde competitor announced in Paris on Wednesday. Analysts had expected slightly more on average. The Group passes on energy price fluctuations to customers. On a comparable basis, i.e. adjusted for the effects of the fall in energy prices and the euro exchange rate, turnover rose by 2.1 percent. The share lost around 1.5 percent to 187.70 euros around midday.

ROUNDUP: Roche checks off corona consequences - strong franc weighs on the start of the year

BASEL - At the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, the loss of coronavirus sales in the first quarter of 2024 has had its last impact. On Wednesday, the Group confirmed its previous targets for the financial year as a whole. On the Swiss stock exchange, however, this was not enough to provide positive price momentum; instead, the share was pushed to the bottom of the leading SMI index in Wednesday trading with a discount of around two and a half percent.

ROUNDUP: Deutsche Borse earns significantly more than expected - share price rises

ESCHBORN - Deutsche Borse remains on record course thanks to a takeover and good business. In the first three months, earnings climbed by 16 percent year-on-year to 1.43 billion euros, mainly thanks to a takeover, the DAX-listed company announced in Eschborn on Tuesday evening. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 13 percent to 875 million euros. While the increase in income was as expected, the operating result clearly exceeded experts' expectations. CEO Theodor Weimer also confirmed the forecasts for the current year. The share price rose on Wednesday morning.

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Further news

-ROUNDUP: Creditors demand two billion euros from insolvent René Benko

-PEKING: Mercedes head of development wants more speed for China

-Eni puts even more money into share buyback due to high earnings

-Texas Instruments exceeds market expectations

-Visa with significantly higher profit

-Targobank makes more profit - fixed-term deposits quadrupled

-Intershop is only slightly in the red

-ROUNDUP/DFL on TV rights dispute: No restart despite DAZN bank guarantee

-ROUNDUP: Vonovia sells around 4500 apartments in Berlin

-VW gives car freighters of Chinese brands little chance

-UBS president concerned about discussions about additional capital requirements

-ROUNDUP: Tiktok bill approved by US Senate - ownership to change

-ROUNDUP: Italian antitrust authority fines Amazon millions

-Kneipp suffers defeat in EU court in trademark dispute

-Hydrogen production from electricity to pick up speed - uncertainties remain

-ProSiebenSat.1 extends exclusive contract with presenter Opdenhovel

-Billion-dollar valuation for Google challenger Perplexity AI

-ROUNDUP/Addiction report: Problematic cannabis use has increased

-Stoschek resigns as Brose shareholder chairman

-Dehoga: Challenging situation for company canteens

-Cash withdrawals in supermarkets - retailers no longer want to pay fees

-Novartis receives FDA approval for drug Lutathera for children aged 12 and over

-Court confirms Amazon's paramount importance across markets

-Headwind for unpackaged stores - but low point overcome

-Verdi: More money for freight forwarding and logistics workers in Lower Saxony

-Flight attendants accept wage agreement for Lufthansa cabin crew

-EU Parliament votes in favor of stricter rules against packaging waste

-ROUNDUP: Heating plaintiff Heilmann takes case against climate protection reform to Karlsruhe

-AOK for greater specialization of clinics in Germany

-Hamburg Airport back in profit for the first time since corona

-PEKING: Volkswagen faces two difficult years in China

-Sale in Mexico leads to jump in profits at Iberdrola

-ROUNDUP: EU Parliament votes in favor of European supply chain law

-8.4 million passengers - Stuttgart Airport continues recovery°

Customer note:

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

/jha