Germany

German consumers face a rise in prices for goods across the board as more and more companies in Europe's largest economy pass on higher production costs, driven by widespread supply shortages and a spike in energy prices, Reuters reported. While the development is helping firms to improve corporate margins after the coronavirus shock, consumers are feeling the pinch of higher prices, which could hurt household spending and ultimately domestic demand if wage growth is not keeping up.

German power retailer Ziegler Strom-Vertrieb said on Thursday it would stop delivering to customers in Kappelrodeck in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg at the end of 2021 due to spiralling wholesale prices, Reuters reported. It is the second small power supplier in Germany this week to announce it will stop operating due to the surge in gas prices. “With our procurement conditions, we can no longer offer customers market-compatible prices,” Ziegler said in a notice on its website.

Frankfurt Hahn Airport, a German international budget flights hub, has filed for insolvency, according to a court filing published on Tuesday, Reuters reported. It was not immediately clear how the insolvency would affect flight operations. The airport, which is primarily used by low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and cargo airlines and served about 1.5 million passengers in 2019, is 82.5% owned by Chinese airport group HNA, while the German state of Hesse has a 17.5% stake.

Germany will cut a power surcharge levied on consumers to support renewable energy by 42.7% to help households cope with soaring energy prices, network operators said on Friday, Reuters reported. Germany and other governments in Europe are seeking to provide relief for consumers as gas prices skyrocket. The reduction in the German levy, to 3.723 euro cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), confirms a Reuters report on Thursday. It will not take effect until Jan. 1. read more The government will help fund the cut with 3.25 billion euros ($3.77 billion) in revenue collected from carbon taxes.

Otima Energie, a small German power and gas retail company, on Wednesday declared itself insolvent, the latest victim of soaring energy prices, while E.ON, Entega and EnBW temporarily withdrew their gas deals from price comparison portal Verivox. Suppliers across Europe are struggling with rocketing prices due to factors ranging from insatiable Asian demand to Europe's carbon policy and a period of lighter winds.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG paid off a chunk of the German government’s remaining bailout package, eliminating part of its so-called silent participation support with 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of the money it raised in a rights offering last week, Bloomberg News reported. The 2.16 billion-euro equity raise is now completed and new shares issued, Lufthansa said Monday in a statement. The company plans to repay a remaining 1-billion-euro silent participation to Germany’s Economic Stabilization Fund by year-end.

TUI AG will raise 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by selling new stock, making it the latest travel company to tap investors for cash to reduce a giant pandemic debt pile, Bloomberg News reported. The share sale, at a discount price of 2.15 euros each in a rights offering, will allow the world’s biggest tour operator to reduce its draw on a state-backed rescue loan to zero, TUI said Wednesday in a statement. Airlines have been selling stock to firm up balance sheets as easing border restrictions begin to revive bookings.

In Germany, where one in four jobs depends on exports, the crisis gumming up the world’s supply chains is weighing heavily on the economy, which is Europe’s largest and a linchpin to global commerce, the New York Times reported.

A U.S. judge said Germany's Allianz SE must face investor claims it wrongly "abandoned" the investment strategies it promised to use on hedge funds that suffered massive losses as the COVID-19 pandemic shook markets early last year, Reuters reported. In an 81-page decision, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan said that investors could try to show Allianz was negligent and lacked good faith in managing its Structured Alpha funds. She also dismissed some state law-based claims.