Germany

German manufacturing orders climbed for the first time in six months in June, driven by a revival in orders in the car industry, a potential sign of hope for the beleaguered industrial sector, the Wall Street Journal reported. Industrial orders were 3.9% higher than the prior month, German statistics office Destatis said Tuesday, rebounding after they fell 1.7% in May. That was better than the 0.5% rise expected by a consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. The uptick was the first since December last year.
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A court in Dusseldorf has initiated insolvency proceedings for fashion retailer Esprit's European operations, impacting Esprit Europe GmbH and six other German subsidiaries, according to court documents published on Thursday, DPA International reported. The global firm, which filed for bankruptcy in May due to insolvency and over-indebtedness, has appointed Lucas Flöther as custodian. About 1,300 employees have been notified and salary payments are assured until insolvency-related terminations take effect.
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Car seat manufacturer Recaro Automotive has filed for bankruptcy, Autocar reported. The German firm, which supplies major brands including BMW, Ford and Volkswagen, was yesterday approved for self-administration by the Esslingen District Court. Local reports suggest that employees hadn't been informed that it would be filing for bankruptcy.
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At the end of last week, Priogo AG filed an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings with the responsible district court in Bonn, PV-Magazine.com reported. The judges appointed lawyer Franz Zilkens from the Voigt Salus law firm as provisional insolvency administrator, as noted in the public announcement. The reason for the bankruptcy application has been the extremely difficult market situation since the middle of last year, sources told pv magazine. There is strong competition in the region, which affects not only PV installations, but also the heating industry.
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