German business activity contracted at the fastest pace for more than three years in August, a preliminary survey showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The HCOB German Flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, fell to 44.7 from July's 48.5, hitting its lowest since May 2020 and confounding analysts' expectations for a reading of 48.3. The indicator was below the 50 level denoting growth in activity for the second consecutive month.
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The U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday said it will set preliminary anti-dumping duties on tin-plated steel from Canada, Germany and China, in a move to shield domestic steelmakers that will prompt warnings of higher prices for cans made from the steel and the foods, paint and other products they contain, Reuters reported. The department said it will propose preliminary anti-dumping duties of 122.5% on tin mill steel imported from China, 7.02% on imports from Germany and 5.29% on imports from Canada. A formal Federal Register notice is expected later on Thursday.
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Deutsche Bank has settled the loans it extended to Go Airlines out of court with its promoters Wadia Group, people aware of the development said. Go Airlines, which operated Go First Airlines, is undergoing voluntary liquidation, the Economic Times of India reported. Last week, Deutsche Bank conveyed to its resolution professional Shailendra Ajmera and lenders that it wants to relinquish itself as a member of the committee of creditors (CoC) since it has separately settled its debt with the promoter.
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A Munich-based property developer said on Friday that it had filed to open insolvency proceedings with a local court, in the latest sign of stress in Germany's real estate sector, Reuters reported. Euroboden GmbH, with 115 million euros ($126 million) in bonds outstanding and facing possible downgrades in its credit rating, said in a statement that negotiations for property sales had fallen through, hurting its finances. It also cancelled a meeting with bondholders later this month, where it had hoped to restructure its debt.
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Germany's largest real estate group Vonovia slipped to a 2 billion euro ($2.19 billion) second quarter loss and wrote down the value of its properties by 3 billion euros on Thursday in the latest sign of stress in the country's property sector, Reuters reported. After a decade-long property boom, Germany is undergoing a sharp reversal of fortune after an era of cheap money ended. Vonovia's quarterly loss compared to a profit of 1.8 billion euros a year earlier, and Germany's biggest landlord confirmed its forecast for a 2023 drop in a key profit measure.
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A German data watchdog has been investigating OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Worldcoin project since late last year due to concerns over its large-scale processing of sensitive biometric data, the regulator's president told Reuters. Worldcoin, which launched last week, requires users to give their iris scans in exchange for a digital ID and, in some countries, free cryptocurrency as part of plans to create a new "identity and financial network".
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Steinhoff International Holdings NV shareholders had little choice but to vote to dissolve the shell of the scandal-hit global retailer on Wednesday, drawing a line under a 5-1/2 year saga that turned into a windfall for lawyers and advisers, Bloomberg News reported. Those who have held stock via listings in Frankfurt or Johannesburg stand to gain little after the creditors who control the company get paid. But outside parties have received €447 million ($495 million) since late 2017, according to annual reports, and managers have also continued to be remunerated.
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Indian auto parts maker Samvardhana Motherson International (SMIL)said on Monday that it made a second acquisition this month, buying Germany's Dr. Schneider Group for 118.3 million euros ($131.6 million), Reuters reported. Dr. Schneider Group, a unit of Dr. Schneider Holding, manufactures interior components for vehicles such as panels and lighting. The German company had filed for insolvency in September 2022 due to "a failed operational and financial restructuring", Samvardhana Motherson said in a statement, referring to the acquisition, which was done through an insolvency process.
Amid the ruins of a city ravaged by World War II, Karl Haeusgen’s grandfather invented a hydraulic pump he was so proud of that he founded a company to sell it, the New York Times reported. Back then, there were no revenue projections or five-year growth strategies. The plan was survival: “It was just about grabbing chances,” Mr. Haeusgen said. Seven decades and three generations later the family business, Hawe Hydraulics, ships some 2,500 parts around the globe. Instead of scrambling for sales, though, Mr. Haeusgen must parse the geopolitics of an ever more polarized world.
Germany plans to slash social benefits and rein in government debt but increase the amount spent on the military in 2024, according to a federal budget approved Wednesday by the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the New York Times reported. The proposed package foresees spending 445.7 billion euros ($485 billion) next year, down about 6 percent from this year, while taking on just €16.6 billion in fresh debt, a considerable cut of more than 50 percent.