FRANKFURT (Reuters) – SolarWorld, Germany’s top solar company, will see its margins drop this year as its premium price strategy comes under attack, hurting one of the last intact investment cases in the sector.

Despite looming cuts in solar incentives in Germany — the world’s biggest market for the sector’s products — and an industry crisis caused by overcapacity and a price slump, SolarWorld is still one of the few profitable players with a good strategic position.

FRANKFURT, March 11 (Reuters) – Q-Cells Chief Executive
Anton Milner quit on Thursday, taking responsibility for a
record 2009 loss and paving the way for a quicker restructuring
at the struggling solar cell maker.

“The dramatically weak 2009 figures have led to a huge loss
of confidence, above all in the capital market,” Milner, one of
the four co-founders of Q-Cells <QCEG.DE> and a former McKinsey
management consultant, said on Thursday.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Phoenix Solar, Germany’s sixth-biggest solar company, is expecting business in the ongoing first quarter to be significantly better than in the year-earlier period, the company’s chief executive told Reuters.

“The first quarter of 2010 has been going well so far and it will be significantly above the first quarter of 2009,” Andreas Haenel said in an interview on Tuesday.

HANOVER, Germany, March 2 (Reuters) – Taiwan’s Acer Inc <2353.TW>, the world’s No.2 PC brand, aims to grow in Germany this year and is off to a good start with first-quarter sales above the 2009 period, the head of its German unit told Reuters.

“Revenues and unit sales are above last year’s level (in the first quarter) so far,” Stefan Engel said in an interview on Tuesday during the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover, without providing specific figures.

FRANKFURT, March 1 (Reuters) – German business software company Software AG <SOWG.DE> aims to keep its 2009 dividend stable compared with 2008, when it paid out 1.10 euros ($1.50) a share, its chief executive told Reuters in an interview.

“We assume that we will pay a dividend (for 2009) and we also assume that the dividend will remain stable,” Karl-Heinz Streibich said.

FRANKFURT, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Q-Cells <QCEG.DE>, the world’s
fourth-biggest maker of solar cells, echoed competitors in
warning on Tuesday of an uncertain year ahead as countries cut
financial support for solar power and low-cost producers
pressure prices.

While Q-Cells is sold out for the first half of the year it
sees “unclear pricing dynamics” from July onwards, it said,
adding that it could only say of 2010 that it aims to be
profitable as prices remain so unpredictable.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank and the European Commission will join forces to monitor Greece and to draw up “necessary additional measures” to maintain stability in the euro zone, the ECB said on Friday.

Greece has been pounded by financial markets after revealing its 2009 budget deficit was 12.7 percent of the gross domestic product, more than four times the EU ceiling of 3 percent and three times initial estimates.

PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA> shares
plummeted over 10 percent on Thursday to their lowest in nearly
three months after the Franco-Dutch flag carrier’s warning of
heavy losses this quarter, blunting hopes of a sector recovery.

In a statement issued after the Paris market closed on
Wednesday, the airline said it expected another 500 million
euros ($689.6 million) or so of operating losses between January
and March, on top of worse than expected 245 million loss in the
third quarter. [ID:nLDE6192G9]

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – SAP <SAPG.DE> surprised markets with news Chief Executive Leo Apotheker had resigned and two board members — Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe — were taking over as co-CEOs.

Some analysts see the new leadership team as well qualified, but others believe the abrupt change at the helm could slow down the world’s largest business software firm’s decision-making and reduce its focus on performance.